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LETTER: In support of the ward system and full-time councillors

Joanne Moores urges people to become engaged in the current city review of its council makeup
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GuelphToday received the following letter from Joanne E. Moores

I am grateful to live in a country where regular elections are held at all three levels of government and many people understand the value of living in a democracy. What is not always so clearly understood is that a democracy needs continuous maintenance by engaged, vigilant citizens. Without active public participation, democracies cannot survive. 

A significant opportunity to participate in our local democracy is currently available via an online survey asking for citizen views on key elements of how Guelph’s democracy is structured. The way democracies are structured is important because the degree of public participation is affected. The survey closes soon on Sept. 4. I urge you to have your say. 

For your consideration, my view is that there are two key opportunities in this first phase of the review to help ensure our democracy is maintained and enhanced. Conversely, if we don’t act our local democracy could be significantly weakened. 

The first opportunity to maintain and enhance strong and diverse representation on Guelph city council is by reconfirming that Guelph is better served through a ward system of voting with two councillors elected per ward, rather than councillors being elected at-large in city-wide elections (the way the mayor is currently elected). The second opportunity is to strengthen representation by indicating support for moving from part-time to full-time councillors. There are a number of clear reasons to support these views. 

The ward system of electing two councillors per ward helps to build diverse representation of Guelph citizens and neighbourhoods on council.

A ward system is better than an at-large system because less funding is needed by candidates to cover the cost of campaigning. Research has shown that campaign spending is a determining factor in the success of candidates running for municipal office. We also know that at-large elections require more funds to be able to campaign effectively over a larger area. This makes it more difficult for women and new candidates (non-incumbents) from diverse backgrounds to win council seats.

These candidates often rely on self-funding and individual donations from friends and family making it challenging to raise the needed funds to run effective city-wide campaigns. Although corporate and union donations to municipal candidates are no longer allowed, candidates that represent the interests of developers may still be more likely to attract the donations needed for successful campaigning. As stated above, we know that more campaign funding leads to increased vote shares. To maintain a healthy democracy, we must always be vigilant to help ensure that those with greater financial resources are not able to unduly influence the outcome of elections. Maintaining the ward system helps to maintain a level playing field for candidates within our local democracy.

Another reason to maintain the current ward system is that Guelph citizens democratically confirmed that the current system is preferred to an at-large system in a 2006 referendum. Since then, there has been no indication from citizens that there’s dissatisfaction with the current approach.

Finally, it’s well-known that lower voter turnout is associated with difficulty in accessing and comparing information about candidates and their views. In the current ward elections, voters only need to familiarize themselves with the perspectives and platforms of a handful of candidates. In an at-large election, voters may need to familiarize themselves with dozens of candidates running city-wide. This approach could easily overwhelm voters and lead to reduced democratic participation. 

The second opportunity to maintain and enhance our democracy is by supporting the conversion of our current 12 councillors to full-time from their current part-time status.

In my view, we have the right number of councillors, but as the population of Guelph continues to grow and the number and complexity of matters needing council attention increases, we need to enable our councillors to do their jobs.

With a 2016 population of 136,000 anticipated to continue growing rapidly, we would be wise to equip the city with dedicated governance resources to help guide administrators at city hall and work with community partners to help find innovative solutions to issues facing the city. Decisions made today can affect the lives of citizens for decades to come - let’s invest in our decision-makers and their ability to represent our views and visions for the future in all their diversity.

Joanne E. Moores

PhD Candidate, Political Science, University of Guelph