To the editor:
I found your recent publication series on local democracy and the work that is going into the Council Composition Review Committee to be enlightening and engaging. Though the series was very detailed and in depth, I still have to ask: why has there been no discussion regarding how changing the composition of council could present the opportunity for increasing voter turnout and civic engagement?
Personally, I find our current hybrid model to be cumbersome for voters and redundant for representation. This complexity makes it harder for voters to be more informed on the candidates running for election and creates extra steps and hurdles when going to the polls to vote.
Simplicity
Making the voting process as simple as possible will remove barriers that may be keeping voters from the polls. Consider the committee option where council is composed of 10at-large councillors and one mayor:
In our 2022 hybrid model municipal election, voters had to choose five at-large representatives. To be an informed voter we had to research a list of 24 at-large candidates and choose five whom we felt best represented our interests.
Now contrast that with the task of voters having to choose our 10 most representative candidates from a list of 54 people (all candidates in 2022). In this case the burden to be an informed citizen has more than doubled with no efficiency gains in representation at all. This extra burden placed on citizens is likely to increase the chances that voters will be overwhelmed and turned off of the democratic process all together.
Community Identity
Communities create a sense of identity for individuals, a powerful tool for developing pride in one’s community. A sense of identity is also useful for incubating a desire to be engaged in the outcomes of the decisions that impact one’s community.
Community building also creates public value. This community value can be an influential contributor to council making decisions that are in the best interest of the city at-large. In removing community boundaries and names from wards, or by removing wards entirely, council is no longer capable of capturing this community value and tragically, our sense of community identity no longer informs council’s decisions.
Competition
Communities can also add value through competition. Just as in the business world, competition between communities for limited city resources adds diversity, breeds innovation, promotes cooperation, and most importantly, encourages engagement.
Often, local entrepreneurs choose to name their businesses after their communities in an effort to leverage the value community focus generates. As an example, consider the argument: “Current River Bakery makes the best persians in Thunder Bay.”
The statement not only engages pastry fans from Thunder Bay at-large in a debate that promotes shopping locally, some readers may also experience nostalgia over the idea that the Current River Bakery is still making persians after all of these decades of being a staple of the Current River community. That community value needs to be represented on council.
A Proposed Third Option
To see what a community focused approach to council could look like in practice, I would like to propose a third option for the citizens of Thunder Bay to consider as a community-based composition of city council:
• McKellar Ward is split into a north ward and a south ward to reflect the reality that they are two distinct communities that should each be able to compete independently for city resources.
• The remaining six wards retain boundaries that consider community demographics.
• Council is made up of eight ward councillors and one mayor.
• Citizens vote for their choice of ward representative and their choice of mayor, who represents the city at-large.
This is a simple model that captures the public value that our communities provide, is easy for voters to understand, is more accessible, encourages civic engagement, and creates efficiencies. This model increases the likelihood of electing councillors who are more representative of the unique needs that our diverse communities have and the focus on a sense of personal identity could help to increase voter turnout overall.
I would like to insist to the reader that any and all comments be directed at the Council Composition Review Committee through their survey on the City of Thunder Bay website or in paper format at your local Thunder Bay Public Library branch.
Cory Bagdon,
Thunder Bay
