Mayor John Tory's Toronto

[JWBF]

That's why you have different levels checking each other. The provincial government could just mandate ranked ballots and that would be it. Except they don't want to get involved and Toronto wants to pretend it is all grown up.

Different levels checking each other? Grand allusions but little substance.

 

[JWBF]

Would you want to have Rob Ford elected with a "strong mayor" system?

There is something between a Mayor as dictator, and what we have now. Mayor should have the power of roughly half of Council. He has power, but can still be defeated.

And the answer is yes. If you want democracy than you have to respect the voting intentions of the people.

I would prefer to keep the non-partisan system we have, and also a mayor chosen by the counselors since the role of mayor is to be one of an ambassador not dictator. If we think council is screwed up now... imagine constant partisan fights with people taken out of the equation, now there is democracy.

The problem is that most voters are terribly informed and are susceptible to demagogues like the Ford brothers. It's not so simple as just respecting the voters' intentions. Most people probably have no idea what they're really voting for and base their decisions, not on research, but sound bites and rhetoric. Many people also just vote for whomever their friends or family vote for.

When I hit voting age I was expected to only vote for Liberals, a family tradition. Needless to say I voted my conscience from I like to think was and is an informed decision. You are quite right, a lot of people don't think for themselves, there is perceived safety in a tribe and it's group think.

 

[Videodrome]

I would prefer to keep the non-partisan system we have

I like a non-partisan council as well, instead of examples around the world.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_City_Council

For example, the NYC system uses party affiliation. There is a majority party (the Democrats) and the minority party (the Republicans).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reykjavík_City_Council

Reykjavik, the capital of Iceland, also uses party affiliation.

 

[Tulse]

Interestingly, in both the case of NYC and Reykjavik, the cities hold about half of the population of the state and country (respectively), and so it may not be as surprising that the city councils have parties -- they are in a sense proxies for the entire state/country. Despite being the centre of the universe, Toronto only has about a quarter of Ontario's population, and so doesn't necessarily capture that function.

 

[SunriseChampion]

Democracy is supposed to function in a conciliatory way. Winner-take-all dictatorialism isn't democracy no matter how many times the Conservatives say it is. I joined both the provincial and federal Green parties when I was 18 and studying poli Sci in university for one reason (mostly): one of their core principles was the belief in reforming our undemocratic (and it is undemocratic, see: Conservative majority in Ottawa with 39% of votes) electoral system. Needless to say, the intervening years have slowly eroded my faith in my fellow Canadians as well as my interest in politics and optimism for a better way of doing things in our legislatures. The self-serving swine on council just add to this erosion. The political climate in this country as a whole has become so toxic in the last decade that I've seriously come to consider moving away. It really isn't funny anymore.

 

[Videodrome]

Well, even John Tory and the Blue Jays can't be good luck for the Leafs...

 

[WislaHD]

Someone sent an email to Robinson regarding the Ranked Ballot vote, this was her response:

Thank you for your email – I appreciate your frustration.

As you know, I supported ranked ballots when it came before City Council in 2013 and continue to support ranked ballots as an option worth exploring.

Unfortunately, when this issue came before City Council last week, I made a mistake when voting. The vote took place after a marathon twelve hour day and was one of more than twenty motions on this item.

I've contacted the Ranked Ballot Initiative to correct the error.

Warm regards, Jaye

Given the strange wording of the motion, I can give her the benefit of the doubt.

 

[Armour]

I'd like to hear Denzil defend his decision.

 

[JWBF]

Hmmm... nice gesture.

Tory hands family Jays tickets
Mayor John Tory hit a home run with one Toronto family on Friday.

http://www.torontosun.com/2015/10/09/tory-hands-family-jays-tickets

 

[salsa]

This councillor is pathetic.

 

[W. K. Lis]

The current federal election is 11 weeks long. Most people are complaining that it is too long.

Yet how about the city election campaign? The city election is measured, not in weeks, but in months, from January to October. Haven't heard anything about shortening that campaign.

 

[Tuscani01]

Haven't heard anything about shortening that campaign.

Really? Must not have been paying attention during the last mayoral election then:

http://globalnews.ca/news/1637734/o...-shorten-municipal-election-campaign-by-2018/

http://www.thestar.com/news/city_ha...city_election_campaigns_yes_please_james.html

http://www.torontosun.com/2014/06/10/olivia-chow-vows-to-shorten-campaign-period

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toron...-mayoral-election-period-in-toronto-1.2671208

 

[WislaHD]

The current federal election is 11 weeks long. Most people are complaining that it is too long.

Yet how about the city election campaign? The city election is measured, not in weeks, but in months, from January to October. Haven't heard anything about shortening that campaign.

I worry how much shortening the campaign will hurt our local representation.

Our councilors will have to rely a lot more on name recognition with a shorter campaign. Less time for newer candidates to establish themselves.

In the past election one thing I observed was that canvassing in the last week prior to the election was not so important due to the abundance and availability of advanced voting.

 

[W. K. Lis]

Really? Must not have been paying attention during the last mayoral election then:
...

But nothing officially. It's all "maybe", "should", "could", etc. Promises made during the election campaign can be and have been tossed to the side or "postponed until...". Just like ranked ballots, they agree to it outside the council chambers, but inside it's completely different.

Wonder how many will "pressed the wrong button".

 

[Tuscani01]

But nothing officially. It's all "maybe", "should", "could", etc. Promises made during the election campaign can be and have been tossed to the side or "postponed until...". Just like ranked ballots, they agree to it outside the council chambers, but inside it's completely different.

Wonder how many will "pressed the wrong button".

Yea but you didn't mention action. You simply said talking about. And there was talk. Just like there is talk now and no action.