Today marks the end of what has been a long and gruelling election campaign for Canada’s largest city. Unlike Americans, who enjoy elections so much that they carve them in stone on their national calendar, we Canadians like our campaigns to be spontaneous: short, fierce, and sweet. Unfortunately municipal races- with their endless entrees and exits, minor scandals, and image politics – leave citizens almost exhausted as the candidates themselves. After a long and gruelling campaign that now has an impressive tally of casualties (Adam Giambrone, Giorgio Mammoliti, Sarah Thompson, Rocco Rossi) and several more nearly-rans (John Tory, David Miller) Torontonians are set to go to the ballot box to elect a new mayor, city council, and a group of school trustees.
In addition to its exhausting length, the present campaign has been marked by a cynicism and negativity which have left voters confused and frustrated with the process. Recent commentary has focused with near total uniformity on the mayoral race and the issue of strategic voting to the detriment of a broader discussion about the future of our city. To paraphrase Benjamin Disraeli, there are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and poll numbers. Toronto’s news media have conferred upon themselves a perplexing form of temporary omniscience: the ability to determine just what percentage of voters will vote for which candidates later today. Though polling is undoubtedly an important component necessary for the covering of elections it should not be the primary basis upon which citizens found their decision at the ballot box. In a representative democracy such as ours, voting is the most direct participation in the civic process most of us will take part in. What is more, our mayor and city councillors are the democratic representatives closest to us and, regrettably, the ones who receive the least attention both during and after elections. When Toronto last went to the polls just over four years ago only 39 per cent of its 1.5 million voters decided to cast a ballot and the voter turnout among students was depressingly even lower.
This is why it is important for you, the student voter, to resist the cynicism of unscrupulous popular commentators and vote in a way that is meaningful to you. Toronto is the country’s largest city: with a 45-seat council and an elected mayor for whom more citizens cast their ballots than for any other elected position in Canada. This vote is not just about electing a mayor but also a new slate of councillors and school trustees, all of whom will have a significant impact on the city’s future. This is why The Varsity asks you to participate today in the democratic process in the fullest way possible.
