Article content

In this glorious age of republics and constitutions, it’s hard to imagine just how controversial was the idea of democratic government when it was first proposed.

God-appointed monarchs weren’t perfect, to be sure, but was it really a good idea to put something as important as government into the hands of people?

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Tristin Hopper: We’re all hopeless idiots. The only time we're not, in fact, is when we vote Back to video

People, after all, are idiots.

There are hundreds of Canadians who believe that Prime Ministers set gas prices and interest rates. There are hundreds more who believe that Tom Mulcair is a secret Marxist or that Stephen Harper is on a clandestine Evangelical quest to dismantle secular government.

More than 42% of Canadians think 9/11 is a government coverup, according to a 2011 Harris Decima poll. Early in the campaign, a vandal spray-painted “Down with Harper” on a Liberal campaign office—apparently unaware that the current Prime Minister is a Conservative.

And come Election Day, the votes of these maniacs will count just the same as yours and mine. In plenty of swing ridings across Canada, the choice of MP could come down to the demographic of voters who think vaccines cause autism.