The fight against apathy

At least somewhat of a blame game is bound to result when a federal election is caused by the opposition parties voting down a minority government. And all of the parties have done their best to try to deflect that responsibility elsewhere. But it's worth noting that while the opposition parties may each want to avoid being held responsible for an election, they also have a strong collective incentive not to do so in a way which deflates voter interest or validates the idea that Canadians should be fatigued or angry about the prospect of an election.

As the conventional wisdom goes, it tends to be high-turnout elections that result in a change of government - which presumably all of the opposition parties would like to see following the next trip to the polls. And that theory goes doubly where the current governing party has relied on transparently cultivating voter apathy and cynicism to try to eke out a majority government where an engaged population would want nothing of the sort.

Unfortunately, each of the opposition parties (yes, including the NDP) has at times fallen into the trap of suggesting at least implicitly that Canadians should see an election campaign as a source of frustration rather than an opportunity for change. But I'll suggest that while there may not be any agreement as to how the votes from newly-engaged citizens should shake out in the end, it's best for everybody concerned other than the Cons if the opposition parties regularly discuss the importance of taking interest in an election rather than suggesting that there's reason to tune out.

Edit: Or put another way, this is bad.