In the end, the announcement came without drama or surprise. Prime Minister Stephen Harper Sunday morning visited the Gov-Gen. Michaëlle Jean at her residence. They spoke privately for some 20 minutes.

The conversation was probably more about the summer’s pastime rather than a writ for an upcoming election. The prime minister then emerged from the meeting and announced to the waiting assembly of reporters what they and the entire population of Canada already knew.

There will be a federal election on Tuesday, Oct. 14.

For the Jewish community, the date is unfortunate. It falls on the first day of Sukkot, one of the three pilgrimage holidays of the Jewish calendar. Observant Jews will not be able to participate in the election on that day. It was a conflict of scheduling, apparently, that the prime minister felt he could not avoid. And he took pains to explain that to various leaders of the community.

However, Jews intent on voting will have no difficulty in doing so. As is the case in all elections, there will be sufficient opportunity and one imagines, too, sufficient convenience, to cast one’s ballot at the advance polls.

And as is also the case in all elections, we urge every eligible voter, as a matter of duty, to make the time to go to the polls and vote. That is the very minimum that our democracy needs, if not also, expects of us.

Beyond the minimum, there are, as our readers know, more robust ways to fulfil democracy’s needs, all of which hinge upon personal involvement in the larger electoral process.

Such involvement can be in one of two ways, or both. It can be on behalf of a candidate (or party) to help press his or her worthiness upon fellow voters. Or it can be on behalf of a cause (a communal concern) to help press its worthiness upon the candidates. In either case, the voter must turn away from indifference and apathy and step instead toward caring and commitment. As the record of Canadian public and civic life show, the Jewish community has well-established credentials in political activism, caring and commitment.

As our readers also know, this newspaper will not advocate on behalf of one party or any candidates.

The well-being and good governance of Canada, including as a high priority, its foreign affairs, concern us all. The Jews of Canada are a diverse group. We are decidedly not monolithic in our party politics, philosophies and preferences. We manifest our activism and commitment in wide and varied ways, each according to conscience.

Such are the burdens and the duties of democracy that the more we become involved, the better it serves all people, and the better it serves all people, the stronger our democracy becomes.