And so it begins. Ontario premier Doug Ford has called a snap election for Feb. 27, kicking off another election cycle that will include a federal election, likely to take place this spring.

In calling a quick election, Ford is hoping to take advantage of the 18-point lead the Conservatives currently have in the polls over the Liberals, under the guise that he needs a “strong mandate” in order to stand up to Donald Trump and the threat of higher tariffs.

The truth is that he already has a strong mandate by the fact that the Conservatives currently occupy 79 of the 124 seats in the Ontario Legislature. The NDP have 28 seats, the Liberals nine, the Green Party three and the rest are all occupied by independents.

A skeptic might say he’s greedy, or at the very least an opportunist. The fact is that there’s just as good a chance he might lose a couple of seats rather than pick any up.

As for the Liberals, while their chances of forming the next govern-ment are slim at best, the snap election actually comes as good news as it gives them a chance to once gain become the official opposition. In the 2022 General Election, they only managed to pick up one seat after being reduced to just seven seats in 2018. They gained another seat since, but they are still 19 seats shy of the NDP.

With all that said, it is still up to you and I and the rest of Ontario voters to decide who gets elected.

The right to vote is an important responsibility and one that should not be taken lightly by those who simply vote along party lines.

During every election the call arises to institute mandatory voting, but while I don’t argue not enough people vote, the even bigger problem we have in Canada is that not enough people who do vote bother to educate themselves on the issues, especially since we have this wonderful thing called the Internet at our fingertips.

The Internet allows us to easily educate ourselves about those issues that matter most to us and to size up the individual candidates in our specific riding. In Orléans, you have Liberal incumbent Stephen Blais, Progressive Conservative candidate Stéphan Plourde, Green Party candidate Michele Petersen and an NDP candidate who had still not been chosen when I sat down to write this editorial.

So please take the time to do a little research, educate yourself on the issues and where each party stands, and vote accordingly – even if you’re voting along party lines, or simply against a particular party or leader. It’s the least any of us should be expected to do.