During the last Federal Election in 2008 voter turnout dropped to a record low of 59.1%
The Ontario provincial race was even worse at 52.6%
Canadians are largely becoming disengaged from the process of government and this leads to several problems such as extremists and fools gaining disproportionate power (both in parties and government) and in many cases the recruitment of fewer and lower quality candidates.
Enter Newmarket’s Election history where we have a meagre 30% participation rate in municipal elections. This, my fellow citizens is an absolute disgrace. To further highlight our democratic dysfunction look at the nominations for the 2010 contest so far; the Mayor, Regional Councillor, and both the ward 1 and 5 incumbents are facing no challengers. So far nobody even wants to run for York Catholic District School Board trustee.
With the exception of ward 6 with 4 contenders (which is a healthy number) all other wards only have 1 candidate contesting the incumbent. Either ward 6 is an aberration of democratic zeal or everyone is taking advantage of the fact the incumbent is not running again. I'd love to spend a couple of hours and a couple of beers with Dennis Ramsarran to get the real scoop on council. If you are out there Dennis the offer is open.
What does this say about us?
It says many of us don’t realize or don’t care how much municipal decisions impact our lives. Municipal government supplies our roads, parks, water, schools, libraries and emergency services; things which matter more in the average life than a federal law allowing free trade with a corrupt state like Columbia.
It says that we don’t care about getting the best person for the job, any willing fool will do.
It says the part time nature of the positions with both day and night responsibilities disqualifies a large portion of the citizenry who work full time or out of town.
It says we don’t care how the $3,000…$4,000… $5,000 … in property taxes we pay each year is spent. If you really don’t care how your money gets spent send it to me, I do care.
It says we don’t care about choice. This is the really bizarre thing because people don’t like a restaurant that only serves one thing one way. We don’t drive the same car or own the same house yet we are willing to suffer no choice in our electoral races. You know what you get when you have no choice? You get the lowest common denominator, average people, doing an average job at best. The equivalent of pepperoni pizza for life, no other toppings, no chillies or garlic power to sprinkle on top and no choice beverage to wash it down with, everyone gets no name cola. Yummm!
People like you and I need to wake up and smell the stale burnt coffee. We need to follow council, encourage bright people who’ve never considered running or run ourselves. Support a candidate because they are smart, capable, articulate and want the same things you do, not because you know them or they’ve asked to be your facebook buddy. Demand detailed policy points not mindless platitudes and at the very least pay attention and actually vote.
Occasionally we do see slight glimmers of hope as we did just a few short weeks ago when 200 or so concerned citizens rallied against a cynical attempt to quiet the House of Commons' democratic right to question and investigate the ruling government. I want to see more of this kind of zeal at the town level.
As an Aside
If you are concerned about the erosion of our democracy at any level of government please keep the evening of Thursday Feb 25th open for the first in what may become a series of Town Hall meetings hosted by Citizens Engaging Democracy. This event will be held at Trinity Anglican Church in Aurora from 7:00 -9:00ish featuring guest speaker Professor Marco Fonseca who will speak to the issues of the degradation of democracy and grass roots civil movements.
The organizers would appreciate small donations at the door to cover the event. I’ll have more on this in coming days.
No comments:
Post a Comment