apathy

Thursday June 9, 2022

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday June 9, 2022

October 29, 2014

‘A clear crisis’: Ontario voter turnout prompts renewed calls for electoral reform

Advocacy groups are renewing calls for electoral reform in Ontario after Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservatives were re-elected with another majority last week despite historically low voter turnout and most voters casting ballots for other parties — though experts say it’s likely a non-starter.

In the June 2 election, 40 per cent voted for the Progressive Conservatives, handing the party 83 seats. Close to 53 per cent in total voted for the NDP, Liberals and Greens, but those parties will have a combined 40 seats. The Liberals won nearly a quarter of the popular vote but will hold just eight of the 124 available seats. Turnout was a record-low 43 per cent.

“The Ontario election results were a gross misrepresentation of what voters said with their ballots,” read a Twitter post from Fair Vote Canada, an organization that supports moving to a proportional system. “Majority governments should have the consent of a majority of voters.”

Electoral reform advocates says the Ontario results prove the province should scrap the first-past-the-post system, in which voters pick one candidate in their riding and the person with the most votes wins. The successful candidate doesn’t need to win a majority of votes to take the riding.

September 11, 2007

Many would like to see proportional representation, under which the percentage of seats a party holds would reflect their share of the popular vote.

Cameron Anderson, a political science professor at Western University, said people are understandably frustrated with the outcome, though he noted that the results could have been murkier if, for example, the party with the most votes didn’t win enough seats to form government.

“It was a fairly decisive victory among those who cast ballots, but the aftermath is what it is, and it’s unpalatable to many, for sure,” he said in an interview.

Amid calls for change, Anderson noted that supporters of the current system can make the case that majority governments offer stability without disruption or fear of snap elections. He also pointed to referendums on electoral reform that have been held in a number of Canadian provinces — including in Ontario — that ended up sticking with the status quo.

In 2007, Ontarians voted against a mixed-member proportional voting system. That model — which the NDP campaigned on this time around — tries to lend some of the stability of the first-past-the-post system to a fully proportional government, by having some legislators elected in local districts and others from party lists.

September 3, 2021

“Changing the system is not easy and is no panacea,” Anderson said, adding that finding compromise or agreement on a new system is challenging when balancing the interests of citizens and political parties.

Three of the four major parties promised to change the province’s electoral system during the 2022 campaign. But Ford, maintaining that his party received a clear mandate, ruled out the possibility the day after the election.

“I think this system has worked for over 100 and some odd years. It’s going to continue to work that way,” he told reporters.

The federal Liberal government also promised — and failed to deliver on — electoral reform.

While campaigning in 2015, Justin Trudeau said the federal election held that year would be the last to use the first-past-the-post method, a pledge he would ultimately renege on. (CBC) 

 

Saturday December 12, 2020

December 12, 2020

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday December 12, 2020

Trump largely mum on toll of coronavirus as he continues to fight election results

U.S. President Donald Trump has been highlighting lots of really big numbers this week: New highs for the stock market. The 100-plus House members backing a lawsuit challenging his election loss. The nearly 75 million people who voted for him.

November 24, 2020

All the while, he’s looked past other staggering and more consequential figures: The record numbers of coronavirus deaths, hospitalizations and new cases among the citizens of the nation he leads.

On Friday, Trump’s team blasted out a text with this strong, high-minded presidential message: “We will not bend. We will not break. We will never give in. We will never give up.”

But it was not a rallying cry to help shore up Americans sagging under the toll of a pandemic that on Wednesday alone killed more Americans than on D-Day or 9-11. It was part of a fundraising pitch tied to Senate races in Georgia and to Trump’s unsupported claims that Democrats are trying to “steal” the presidential election he lost.

November 6, 2020

Of Trump’s tweets over the past week, 82 per cent have been focused on the election and just 7 per cent on the virus — almost all of those related to forthcoming vaccines — according to Factba.se, a data analytics company. Nearly a third of the president’s tweets on the election were flagged by Twitter for misinformation.

As he talks and tweets at length about the election he is futilely trying to subvert, the president is leaving Americans without a central figure to help them deal with their grief over loved-ones’ deaths and the day-to-day danger of the pandemic that still rages. His strategy is to focus totally on the shiny object coming soon — the prospect of a vaccine.

Friday night, the the Food and Drug Administration gave the final go-ahead to a vaccine from Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech, launching emergency vaccinations in a bid to end the pandemic. But Trump’s three-minute internet address hailing the vaccine made no mention of the toll the virus has taken.

July 28, 2020

Calvin Jillson, a presidential historian at Southern Methodist University, said Trump has proven himself unable or unwilling to muster the “normal and natural, falling-off-a-log simple presidential approach” that is called for in any moment of national grief or crisis.

“He simply doesn’t seem to have the emotional depth, the emotional reserves to feel what’s happening in the country and to respond to it in the way that any other president — even those who’ve been fairly emotionally crippled — would do,” Jillson said.

November 21, 2020

Trump did convene a summit this week to highlight his administration’s successful efforts to help hasten the development of coronavirus vaccines and prepare for their speedy distribution. And he spent part of Friday pressing federal authorities to authorize use of the first-up vaccine candidate from Pfizer.

At his summit, the president put heavy emphasis on the faster-than-expected development of the vaccines, calling it “an incredible success,” “a monumental national achievement,” “really amazing” and “somewhat of a miracle.” He’s also claimed credit, though Pfizer developed its vaccine outside the administration’s “Operation Warp Speed.”

In a passing nod to the pandemic’s toll, Trump promised the coming vaccines would “quickly and dramatically reduce deaths and hospitalizations,” adding that “we want to get back to normal.” But it will be months before most Americans have access to a vaccine.

Asked what message he had for Americans suffering great hardship as the holidays approach and the virus only gets worse, Trump’s answer had an almost clinical tone.

April 23, 2020

“Yeah, well, CDC puts out their guidelines, and they’re very important guidelines,” he said, “but I think this: I think that the vaccine was our goal.”

To focus otherwise would undercut Trump’s goal of minimizing the national pain of the virus’ toll and his claims that the danger will soon vanish.

Trump’s successor, Joe Biden, on Friday answered that approach with a promise for greater presidential leadership. Of the virus, he said: “We can wish this away, but we need to face it.”

Jeff Shesol, a presidential historian and former speechwriter for President Bill Clinton, said Trump’s failure to express empathy was a “personal pathology manifesting itself as political strategy.” (Global News) 

 

Saturday December 16, 2017

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday December 16, 2017

Exclusively rural Flamborough ward is coming apart

Farmers may feed cities but based on the Ontario Municipal Board’s ward boundary ruling it looks like cities politically devour farmers.

April 26, 2012

The most lamentable change in the board’s redrawing of Hamilton’s electoral map is the elimination of the current Ward 14 in west Flamborough, effectively shutting down the one voice around the city council horseshoe which speaks exclusively for rural residents.

Under the plan, the ward will be wiped out and partitioned between Ancaster and Dundas, reshaping the unique agricultural community into a mixed urban-rural precinct. In its stead a new ward will sprout on the Mountain.

Ward 14 comprises more than one-third of Hamilton’s total land mass and accounts for a big portion of the $1 billion plus economic activity which agriculture annually contributes to Hamilton’s economy.

June 24, 2016

For the past 11 years Coun. Robert Pasuta, a farmer himself, has been the voice of that community, which since amalgamation has become part of the flavour and fabric of the city.

Pasuta’s updates to council on the state of asparagus, corn, and soybean crops are a quirky but restorative reminder of how singularly blessed Hamilton is, how just a short distance from the choking traffic and concrete of the big city the elemental forces of nature still call the tune that people’s lives and livelihoods dance to.

The weather and soil will remain if the board decision stands. An independent political voice for farmers will not.

Word of the board decision knocked the wind out of Pasuta. He’s got his legs back under him now. If legal grounds permit, he firmly supports appealing the ruling. (Continued: Hamilton Spectator) 

 

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Wednesday October 29, 2014

Wednesday October 29, 2014Editorial cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday October 29, 2014

Where did you go, Hamilton voters?

Not good enough, Hamilton.

That was the consensus among disheartened democracy boosters after voter turnout plummeted to a record low of 34 per cent in Monday’s city election. By contrast, 60 per cent of eligible Toronto voters cast a ballot.

Thursday August 1, 2013Sure, Hamiltonians weren’t motivated by a world renowned mayoral soap opera — but we did have a three-way battle for the top job, four empty council seats and a polarizing LRT debate.

“People just aren’t interested,” said Larry Pomerantz, chair of the Hamilton Civic League which supported a People’s Platform resident engagement effort this election.

We’re not alone — cities throughout the GTA saw turnout under 40 per cent, with some, like Oshawa, even dropping to 26 per cent.

Pomerantz said the key is to convince residents it’s in their interest to join the civic debate. “Do we really want more voters, or more informed voters?”

Education is essential, says mayor-elect Fred Eisenberger. “Voting is a learned behaviour we need to instill in our children,” he said.

Eisenberger also argued that the city can make it easier to vote. He vowed to “aggressively” pursue online voting options, which the city will study in advance of the 2018 election.

Online voting helped Ajax reach its best turnout in decades — even if it was just 30 per cent.

Apathy letter to editorMunicipal Affairs Minister Ted McMeekin also said Tuesday Ontario is “committed to moving ahead” with offering a ranked ballot option to cities — and “quite possibly” a shorter campaign period.

Ranked ballots allow voters to list candidates by preference, with second choices used in a run-off until a candidate earns 50 per cent support.

While Hamilton’s election day had some snafus, they shouldn’t have kept voters away from the polls, said election manager Tony Fallis, who called the vote one of the smoothest he’s seen in the city.

Fallis received five complaints about electioneering at polling stations and a parking problem at a Flamborough school.

Councillor Judi Partridge said she also fielded complaints from upset voters who claimed the station opened late, leading to lineups.

Fallis said he was not aware of any delays in opening of any of the 209 polling stations. (Source: Hamilton Spectator)

 

Thursday, August 1, 2013

Thursday August 1, 2013By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator, Thursday August 1, 2013

Ontario byelections: Wynne faces 1st test as premier

Whatever the results of the five Ontario byelections today, Kathleen Wynne will remain premier and the Liberals will continue their minority rule.

But the five contests represent the first test for Wynne at the polls, and the first indication of how voters view the Liberals after the resignation of Dalton McGuinty as premier.

The post-McGuinty era has thus far been marred with revelations of the cost of cancelled gas plants in the Toronto area and the ensuing controversy. That issue has dominated many of the races in these byelections, but it is not the lone issue on voters’ minds.

The very first issue in the byelections was their timing. Wynne chose a late-summer voting date for all five byelections, even when she could have delayed some into the fall.

The Aug. 1 poll day also falls on the Thursday before a long weekend for many Ontarians.

With slowed summer schedules and vacations for many, pundits predict a low voter turnout.

Both opposition parties were critical of the choice of date.

“We know that on the long weekend, when most families across Ontario are prepared to take that extra day to spend with their family, Ms. Wynne has decided that she would like to subvert democracy,” said Progressive Conservative Lisa MacLeod.

“This is the same old kind of thing that we expect from the Liberals, when they arrange things so that they’re most opportunistic for themselves,” said Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath. (Source: CBC News)