SYDNEY MINES, N.S. — Moments after casting her ballot, 102-year-old Rodena Moore exited her local polling station, squinted into the brightening election day sky and nodded.
“What a beautiful day — now the people have no excuse not to get out and vote,” declared the politically astute and bright-eyed centenarian, who showed up to vote dressed in a smart-looking autumn jacket adorned with a heart-shaped lapel pin.
“Voting is a privilege and it’s something everybody should do.”
That Moore doesn’t take her right to vote in political elections for granted is apparent. After all, she was born on Oct. 19, 1917, during the First World War and a full six months before the Unionist Party government of then-Prime Minister Robert Borden enacted legislation that gave Canadian women the same federal voting rights as men.
She admits that while her long-term memory is not what it once was, she reckons she first voted in the late 1930s. And she’s been voting ever since.
“I can’t remember not voting — maybe once when I was sick or something, but I always try to make it out to vote,” said the lifelong Sydney Mines resident.
Moore, whose maiden name was MacMullin, was accompanied on this voting occasion by daughter Mary Ross.
“She’s the one who knows what’s going on — she really follows politics, she’s been that way for years,” said Ross.
The pair voted at the John J. Nugent Firemen’s Centre, where election workers reported a steady stream of voters at the centrally-located polling station. And, again, as she made her way to her daughter’s car to head off for a bite of lunch, Moore nodded in approval as she passed those heading in to cast their ballots.
“It matters — you don’t want to end up with somebody you don’t want,” she said.
“I’ve seen some really good prime ministers and some really bad prime ministers — in the end, it’s up to us who gets in.”
Moore cast her ballot just before 1 p.m., early enough to get some rest before what she expected to be an exciting evening of watching the returns on television.
“I’ll be up until it’s over,” she said.
She hesitates before making a prediction as to the final outcome, but Moore indicates she’s hopeful that Justin Trudeau’s Liberals will still be in power once all the votes have been counted.
“There seems to be lots of people that don’t like him and say hateful things about him, but I’m hoping he’ll do good,” said Moore, who added she was also a fan of the late Pierre Elliot Trudeau.
“I think he was the best prime minister we ever had. He did more for us than anyone. He did way more than a couple of the bad ones who, well, I won’t say their names.”
For Moore, this election marks the 30th time since she was born that Canadians have gone to the polls to elect a federal government. It is also the 30th time women have been able to vote in a Canadian national election.
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