A fairly prominent person within the political circles affiliated with the Newmarket-Aurora Liberal Party of Canada riding association was recently overheard complaining about the dearth of what he considered to be "ideal" candidates for next year's municipal election.
To paraphrase the comments:
- Local politics have become "too mean"
- People who would previously be considered shoo-ins are not interested in running for election because of personal attacks
- The quality of people on council will suffer because of what he considered inferior candidates were going to win
Oh my.
It sounds like we're in for a whole lot of trouble.
What will ever become of our beloved community when:
a) we don't have a council dominated by wealthy business men (such as former bankers), or the sons/ daughters of previous mayors?
b) when ordinary people with regular, everyday common sense take centre stage at Town Hall and pass budgets and enact legislation that reflect the needs of residents?
It sounds just terrible, (No, not really).
Personally, I am just pleased as punch to see that the elite are finding so-called barriers to public life. I am a true democrat through and through which means everyone has the right to participate in politics, not just those privileged by wealth or birth.
I promised to provide advice (free of charge) to the Town of Newmarket about reducing barriers to political life. Here is my list predicated upon the idea that municipal politics is intended to be a part time job for everyone other than the Mayor.
More community involvement via committees - We need to reform how volunteer-based advisory committees are used. Many staff reports should be submitted to the appropriate committee, debated and then have a recommendation sent to Council to accept or revise. When the committees are not used effectively, there is a greater burden upon the part time council members.
Oppose reducing the size of Council - A larger council means it is easier for a candidate who is not as well funded as others to campaign on a relatively level playing field. One candidate was elected in 2010 after receiving just a few hundred votes. That wouldn't have been possible in a small council scenario. Yet this particular Councillor has made such a significant impact to the way Council functions in terms of transparency and accountability that its hard to imagine what it would be like if she hadn't won. People who want to reduce the size of Council want to reduce opportunities for all except the well funded candidates.
Hold meetings in the evenings or on Saturdays/ Sundays - The fact that currently there is such a heavy time commitment involved during the regular work day means that ordinary people can't run for office. Only those who are retired or own their own well established businesses can afford to be at a mid-day meeting. There are times during the seven-day week that most people can be available, (including time for when members of the public who would like to observe can have a chance to do so). Let's remember that Council is supposed to work for us so they should work the hours that are convenient to us (and not them).
Going to Galas and Fancy Dress Parties are not part of the Council Members' job - There has to be a way to prevent incumbent council members from using their tax funded expense account to attend these parties. It is a significant barrier for aspiring politicians, (who don't have a tax funded expenses account), and especially women, (who frankly don't have the time after family commitments). If the Era really cared about "Women In Politics" as much as they say they do, then the publisher needs to make it the paper's policy not to publish photos of politicians at these events in his paper. Such a policy by the Era would actually make it easier for aspiring female candidates to recognize that they can contribute equally on Council on the real business of the town while not be penalized for not having the time to attend some unimportant gala.
These very simple measures don't require any significant changes to legislation etc. I'd like to see these items be adopted and enacted right away so those people who are considering running in 2014 can be assured that there will be balance in their home/ work/ and political life should they be chosen to lead.
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