Put one hundred political junkies up on stage, have them debate policy, deliver speeches, and field questions from the media, then have the audience vote for their favourite contender. The prize? Lots of publicity and a team of volunteers to assist the winners’ campaigns for Toronto city council. Think of it as Canadian Idol gone political.
And a U of T student has taken one of the top spots.
After seeing a mere 38 per cent of voters turn up at the last municipal election, and seeing how many candidates for city council become acclaimed due to lack of competition, city busybody Dave Meslin felt compelled to jumpstart civic interest in municipal politics.
Meslin created the City Idol competition, part of a larger project called “Who Runs This Town?” to buck the apathy trend and stimulate voter turnout.
“From the air we breathe, to the water we drink to the quality of our workplace and neighbourhoods, political decisions impact our daily lives,” said Meslin. “Yet, so many people have tuned out of the process. We’re trying to inject a new energy into local politics to get more people involved.”
But the competition isn’t about finding that experienced political hand hiding in the woodwork (in fact, in this race, experience in politics may even be a hindrance). City Idol is about locating the candidate, experienced or not, who shows the right amount of enthusiasm, optimism, and knowledge-and a desire to make the city better.
Enter Bahar Aminvaziri.
The 27-year-old U of T Engineering grad student became the first of four winners of the competition June 3, beating out a field of five (very) qualified candidates to become the City Idol representative of North York.
To hear Meslin tell it, Aminvaziri embodies what City Idol is all about.
“Bahar is incredibly enthusiastic about the issues and committed to making a difference,” he said. “She has a lot of knowledge about local environmental issues such as waste management and energy conservation, as well as an understanding of social justice issues such as homelessness and child poverty.”
An immigrant from Tehran, Iran, the reserved Aminvaziri, though a political greenhorn, is not immature nor are her ideas simplistic. Rather, she’s professional, astoundingly polite and extremely busy. Before she entered the political fray, Aminvaziri was already balancing graduate studies with a full-time job at the Ministry of the Environment. She will now fit campaigning into her schedule.
What is most striking when speaking to Aminvaziri is the complete absence of political rhetoric one has become so accustomed to from the talking heads of CNN and CBC. There’s very little hyperbole in Aminvaziri’s speech, little fire to her words. Granted, that makes it difficult to imagine her delivering a rousing oratory and inspiring voters to get involved.
But it’s also refreshing not to have to wade through the “politico-speak” to find her point. Her answers are literal and heartfelt. In fact, in many cases, when Aminvaziri is short on specifics, she refrains from speaking in vague terms. When asked what her ward will look like after her first term in office (should she win), Aminvaziri simply replied, “I want the people to be happier. I want them to see that their government cares about them.”
Her issues are seniors, families, children, and the environment. “It’s all about those issues,” she said. When pressed for specifics on how she’ll fix each, she admits that she doesn’t know-yet. Of course, if Prime Minister Harper were to give such an answer to a policy question, he’d be grilled. But Aminvaziri can be excused. For one, she’s new to politics. Two, there’s something very real about a politician who can admit “I don’t know.”
Aminvaziri realizes how difficult the job may be, but she’s up to the task. “When people vote for you, you’re indebted to them to deliver…. I have to win for them. People are counting on me to be the best councillor I can be. Now I realize how difficult that is,” she said.
