If you thought that Mississauga was finished with elections on October 24 th you were wrong. In Mississauga Lakeshore (often called Mississauga South) we are currently having a By-election at the federal level.

What causes a By-election?
The most common cause is the departure of the MP who was in the riding, in this case, the resignation of Sven Spengemann who left political life for the UN. That sets in motion a process leading to the call of an election or as you may hear “dropping the writ”. In this case the election will be held December 12th with advance polls on the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th .
There are even ways to get your ballot by mail. You can register online to vote but you don’t need to, want to see what options there are for voting you can see more and a full list of candidates by checking out By-election in Mississauga–Lakeshore (Ontario) – Elections Canada.
Not sure if you live in the riding? Check out the map here.
Federal Politics receive a lot of press coverage but it is often focused on the leaders of the parties. However here in Canada we don’t vote for the leader but for the candidates themselves. This by election will not change who leads the government or who is opposition or any other facet at that level.
So why should you vote?
Great question and the answer lies in the important areas that our federal government looks after.
Below are just a few of the key areas that our federal government is responsible for.

 Passports

 Procurement (like vaccines)

 Defense including our international efforts

 Transportation like VIA or Airport rules

 Income Tax

 CPP, GST and CBP

 Immigration

Of course, they also look after so much more from our global diplomatic relations to supporting Canadians in the event of an emergency like a hurricane. All these functions are things that we and our fellow Canadians rely on each day. It is important that we vote in each election. There may not be things you wish to vote for but there are certain to be things you wish to vote against!
Make the time to go and vote. You can even vote right now at the returning office located at 2155 Leanne Blvd suite 203, our democracy depends on all of us getting involved.