By Pepper Parr
October 27th, 2022
BURLINGTON, ON
Few line ups at the polling stations
Of the 142,218 eligible voters in Burlington, 39,217, or 27.6 per cent, voted in the 2022 election.
Guess that pulls the rug from under that claim that the city is fully engaged.
In the 2018 municipal election, 39.79 per cent of eligible voters cast a ballot.
As to what the numbers tell us more time and consideration is going to be required.
It is certainly not something to be proud of – there is some hard work to be done to get a very complacent society to take up their responsibility.
Kevin Arjoon, City Clerk said: “I am honoured to announce the names of those elected for the 2022-2026 term of office.”
Actually he is required to do just that.
The lack of any type of viable news media in this city is ridiculous. In order to vote responsibly, one needs at least a basic understanding of who is running and what their platforms are. That was nearly impossible to find out.
I think the province should play a big role on getting better messaging out there on ‘what local politics do for you’. this should be done through their media outlets. I suspect low turnout numbers result in lack of knowledge on how local politics play a role in our daily lives. What ends up happening, the same people turn out to vote for who is going to ‘protect’ their interests…not necessarily do what’s right and makes sense. Pepper wrote another article about people’s main concerns were high rises and development…so they will vote Kearns and Ward?? This makes no sense, since both these people have done nothing to stop any of that. I suspect, that voter turnout for council was many homeowners who have seen their house values double since last election…so why change the status quo. I don’t believe Ward or council got voted in because they do a great job…actually, quite the opposite…they coast for the most part. They got voted in likely because those who showed up to vote, don’t want to see anything change. The others who didn’t vote…I know many…they either have given up or they lack the awareness on how local government’s can benefit their daily lives.
I would like to connect with others to champion the province changing current system…it is so slanted to give the incumbents a huge advantage over others. Not only do they get to leverage position to campaign, they are even getting paid through to end of year. They also have gotten to know many business owners who will work with them on displaying signage etc…how do we know if these people are getting preferential treatment when it comes to local activities. The province needs to take elections away from the municipalities and standardize it provincially.
Our political system is the most abusive to the general public. Once giving a magiority with only 34% of voters, should be considered a minority.
Why such abuse!
I count my blessings that I live in a country where I can have a say. Since I became eligible to vote, I don’t believe that I have ever missed the opportunity to mark that card, municipally, provincially, and federally. The average voter turnout throughout Ontario for this municipal election was a meager 33%. Very disappointing. We can sit here and complain or do something about it.
I decided to create a dialogue with my children (our future) on the importance of voting as well as their responsibility to make an educated vote. We need to explain how government decisions can effect their everyday lives. They should also be prepared to accept that their choice may not align with the majority, this happens, don’t be discouraged. There are only a few types of votes that are squandered. One that isn’t used, and one that is placed based on what someone else told you to do, essentially giving them two votes.
We all know that we can’t rely on one source.
Read the brochure, if you get one.
Look to Social Media, but don’t get pulled down an algorithm rabbit hole.
Use Conventional Media and stick to the facts. Opinionated statements that don’t back up their claims should be ingested with caution.
Read the Candidates website.
Attend a debate or information session, this is a great way to see how they react under pressure.
Contact the candidate, let them speak, you’ll figure out real quick whether this individual aligns with your values.
In a world where so many people have no say why would you waste your opportunity to make a difference and shape your future?
Please go back to Jack Fernihough’s comments!
In the 2018 election this is exactly what happened! The sharing in Ward 2 of a collected e mail list was shared between MMW and her choice at the time for Council replacement in Ward 2 Lisa Kearns! Kearns used that list to vault her campaign over the other four contenders! She was able to reach out directly by e mail to multiple hundreds of Ward 2 / Mead Ward council subscribers!
The four contenders of course had no knowledge that this was happening!
A complaint to the City of Burlington at the time produced the following results!
Lisa Kearns had to appear to the city clerk in charge and produce her ‘ doctored house call sheet’ ( copies are available ). An internal investigation by the city concluded that because no City personnel or equipment was used in accumulating such an e mail list, they were powerless to admonish both MMW and Lisa Kearns!
The City advised ( by letter ) that two recourses were available to lodge a complaint!
1: The new Federal Government ‘ Anti Spam Legislation ‘ would certainly prevent the mis-use of personal e mails! Four years later we are still waiting for a response!
2. The City Manager also suggested filing an official complaint to the office of the “ Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario “.
This was also followed up and a case file MC20-00048 was established!
Despite frequent follow ups this file has not been completed! The last communication suggested Covid encumbrances with personnel etc. the reason for a three year delay!
As a result any Ward 2 residents who received direct e mails from Lisa Kearns should be aware that the other two candidates did not have equal access!
This aspect of allowed campaign activity must be made illegal as it obviously gives a paid for member of our city Council a very unfair advantage over their competition!
This combined with the apathetic and perhaps justified lack of interest allowed the incumbent to glean 71 % of the Ward 2 vote!
It is incumbent on younger voters to at least examine their options and engage in exercising their mandate!
Another four years of bickering and struggling combative municipal government unfortunately!
Its evident with all recent low turn outs that Canadians have in my opinion justifiably lost faith and trust in all levels of governments to properly represent their needs and interests.
The number of people who turned out to vote, is appalling! As the going says, “If you don’t vote, you can’t complain”.
This is disappointing to say the least….there can be no democracy when there is no will of the citizens to engage in the voting process.
] one starts to wonder if this is democratic. How can this be the will of the people? I got one brochure in the mail. Not one door visit. For sure, Board of Ed should be scrapped in favour of appointments. I had no idea what any of them represented. As far as Council, they all build their data base during their term, send out the newsletter every month and the competition gets nothing. It’s such a strange advantage that has emerged over the last ten or so years. The data base needs to be shared, it was built using taxpayer funds. Let’s m I re to say but this is really bad for democracy.
You can bet the other 72.4% will be whining when something happens they don’t like, on top of another 10% or so who didn’t vote for the winners.