It's a rare day that you'll hear someone say they're off to Ottawa to make sure our MPs, Alice Wong and Kerry-Lynne Findlay, are doing their job properly in parliament.
And it's just as unlikely for a neighbour to nudge you with the news that they're heading for a ferry to Victoria to cast a critical eye over the work of Richmond's MLAs in the legislature.
So why is it then that the only level of government - where Joe Public can actually engage with elected officials on an almost daily basis and physically watch over them at meetings - can't buy a friend among an apathetic electorate when it comes to election time?
A record low voter turnout of just 22.11 per cent in 2008, down from 25.72 in 2005, is startling considering the vast array of municipal services that people's property tax dollars pay for - services that elected councillors can have a hand in.
As the graph shows, of the 49 per cent of the tax dollar the city receives, a large chunk - 37 cents goes to police and fire-rescue.
However, the remaining 63 cents gets plowed into parks and recreation, roads, libraries, community services, engineering, planning and development, community recreation centres, storm drainage and bylaws - services that most people come into contact with every single day.
Stung by the paltry turnout three years ago, the City of Richmond has gone out of its way this time around to make it as easy as possible for citizens to make their mark, offering up a whole host of voting opportunities and locations across the city.
But have the city and, more importantly, the candidates done enough to tempt people back to the polls this Saturday?
Richmond's former mayor, MLA and soon-to-be ex-councillor, Greg Halsey-Brandt, who is stepping down this time due to his disillusionment with council, has praise for at least one of the parties.
"I think the efforts made by the city, in terms of the campaign guide, the increased advance voting opportunities and locations on Election Day, deserves a lot of credit," said Halsey-Brandt.
"I was at an all-candidates meeting today (Tuesday) and I heard one of the candidates say that the city should be doing more to get people out to vote. I can't think what that would be.
"However, I would have expected (the candidates) to be out there more, in the media for example. I can understand the incumbents not wanting to attract attention, they want to keep things smooth.
"But I've been disappointed in some of the challengers in terms of what they're unhappy about."
Halsey-Brandt, who's bowing out of civic politics because he got fed up with a council he said simply rubber-stamps everything staff present to them, can't put his finger on why so few people bothered to vote in the last city election.
However, he's optimistic that the tactics employed by the city this time around and a fresh injection of Asian blood among the council hopefuls will breathe new life into an ailing civic election body.
"I'm very pleased to see all the candidates with an Asian background that have come forward.
"The school board looks as though it could have a majority (of trustees of Asian background), so it will be interesting to see what happens in the council election as well."
Another theory behind 2008's embarrassing turnout is that people are being turned off by the perception that city staff are a law unto themselves in terms of spending priorities and how the tax dollar is ultimately distributed.
However, the city's corporate communications manager, Ted Townsend, said that the spending priorities are essentially laid out soon after an election when the new council sets its "council term goals."
"The term goals set the broad guidelines in terms of what (the council) wants to do," Townsend said.
"We try to balance the additional demands from the public - but every decision has to be approved by council."
When it comes to constructing the annual budget itself, determining how much the property tax will be and where the money will be spent, the city's finance director, Jerry Chong, said many challenges are faced.
Not least, said Chong, is the fact that less than half of the tax dollar reaches the city and of that slice, more than a third goes to police and fire-rescue.
"Police and fire-rescue are two items we don't have much control over," said Chong.
"Taxpayers are also looking for more services and departments are being stretched to accommodate it. (The city is) taking on more things with the same amount of manpower - we're doing more with less.
"There's been a lot of talk about how the other governments budget. But we have to provide a balanced budget and have to be financially conservative with our projections."
Every budget, long before it gets presented as a draft to council, goes through an exhausting and continual process, said Chong, of being examined by managers, department heads and then the general managers' group.
The end result has to be approved by the elected officials, added Townsend.
"Council provides us with a pretty clear direction and have a five-year plan that gives us a sense of what their priorities are and that is fed down to staff.
"The bottom line lies with council in terms of spending."
If the advance voting polls are anything to go by, that council will have at least enjoyed the biggest voter turnout for several years.
By Nov. 14, 3,199 people had cast their votes, surpassing 2008's total of 2,942. By the time the advance poll closed on Tuesday, Townsend said they hoped it might hit the 4,000 mark, which would represent a 30 per cent spike from the previous advance poll.
"We've done a lot, and time will tell," Townsend said of the measures undertaken to engage the electorate.
"The "vote anywhere" option is costing us money, but we hope that's going to make a big difference for people.
"I have a lot of acquaintances who talk a good talk about federal and provincial elections. But then I find that the Sunday after a civic election they didn't even vote because they were busy with taking the kids to soccer or something."
With more voting locations across the city than ever before, wherever people are on Saturday, there should be a place to vote nearby, Townsend said.
Halsey-Brandt also urged people to get out and vote, saying that it "takes very little effort to make a difference."
"Obviously, people live here for a reason," he said.
"They must use the services, so they have a say. Their votes really do matter.
"This is the time to get out and raise a little hell."
