According to the official election results, only 36 per cent of voters turned out this year, and that’s not good. Now there will be, and have been already, a lot of discussion about why that is.
Did no online voting in this election have something to do with it? Probably. We can’t deny that there were people that voted last time because of the ease and accessibility of internet voting who likely didn’t vote this time.
It also seems likely that this election just wasn’t energizing. There’s been no big scandal the last four years for people to rally against incumbents with. There were just two mayoral candidates, which projected a sense of general satisfaction with city leadership.
I’ve also heard commentary that suggests that people don’t consider voting in the municipal election as “important” when compared to voting in the provincial or federal election. The issues aren’t as “big” in other words.
This, of course, is hogwash, but it also may be the most important consideration in looking at what we can do to increase voter turnout.
I know I’ve mentioned this before, but I’m thinking of the time someone emailed me about whether members of the public were allowed to attend council meetings. Then, just a few days ago, someone else asked me how they would go about bringing an issue before city council.
The enemy isn’t apathy, I think. The enemy is ignorance.
As we begin the next four-year term of council, one of things that’s expected to be looked at is the make-up of council. Do we need to redraw the wards? Should Guelph move to a system of full-time councillors? Things of this nature.
Part and parcel with that should be a course of educating the public about what it means to engage with our local government and that does not mean yelling at them on Twitter or bemoaning the lack of a daily newspaper.
If we have a community full of people that think that nothing important is going on at city hall in the council chambers, then we’ve really got a problem.
Do you use the library? A park or rec centre?
Do you drive on the roads? Use transit?
Do you want to do work on your home? Trying to decide where to buy a home?
Interested in culture or local festivals?
Do you like shopping at local markets? Worried that there’s no amenities where an amenity should be?
Do you put out the garbage? Do you like plowed streets?
Congratulations, you might be interested in local governance after all!
Now that we’ve reawakened a sense of civic pride inside you, what do you do? And sorry, you can’t vote again for another four years.
That’s where things get tricky.
I know from personal experience that getting into the covering and observation of council can be a tad unwieldy. Entering the council chambers is a bit like stepping into a foreign country with its own unique customs and language, but its not impossible to get orientated with time.
I think nearly everyone who ran for council that weren’t incumbents know this. They’ll tell you that there was a big learning curve, a lot of time getting to know city agencies and officials, learning the separations of powers and limits of a councillor’s abilities. I got to know many council candidates at council meetings before ever seeing them on the campaign trail.
There was a lot of discussion about experience during this election cycle, but do we count different types of experience equally? Where in the list of priorities in skill sets of a candidate is political organizing, delegating to council, taking part in committees or organizations?
These are considerations, of course, but do we ask people running for government how well they know how the government works? If you were hiring a plumber, you’d want to know where they apprenticed to be a plumber, right?
Of course, when it comes to politics, we can all be “plumbers.” We all have the ability to become apprentices in the art of politics, and frankly, the city should be doing all it can in the next few years to give people the tools to be their own political plumber.
Using clear, concise language people should be able to read and understand how they can bring forward an initiative to city council, how to delegate, how to put together a presentation, and who they should talk to at city hall if they need help trying to say what it is they want to say.
It should be a big red button on the front page of the city website. Press it, and it will tell you where you can start if you want to be more active in city politics, and the main people you can engage with be they city employees or engagement groups in Guelph that are active on an issue.
The debate for the next four years should include everyone, and if so few people are involved in the beginning of the process, the election, how can we know we’re not leaving more people behind by the time we get to the next one?
