Tuesday marks a new era for Burlington

Regardless of the outcome, new city council will feature several new voices

Many don’t realize that municipal voting lists are generated by the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC), not city staff. And they’re terrible. Example — my apartment building was left off 2014’s list, but was realized in time, and Burlington staff did an enumeration in the building.

So 2018’s was right? Wrong! We were told we would receive voting cards by Oct 1. It turns out many (probably most) weren’t on, again. Again city staff spent a morning in our building, but notice was only posted on a Friday for Tuesday. Not the city’s fault — they had deadlines — but turnout was disappointing, probably from frustration with the repeat mess, which didn’t stop there.

In 2014 I voted easily online, but this time an error message told me there was no Joan Little, and to phone City Hall. The election worker I spoke to told me MPAC’s list must have had a default Jan. 1, 1900 date of birth for some voters. (I’m not 118)! Using that birthday would enable me to vote. Can’t MPAC get anything right?

Council approves local voting policies, though, and in my opinion, they’re inadequate for 2018, bound to anger voters. For one thing, there are only 24 polling locations in all of Burlington. Four per ward times six wards. And there were only three advance voting days — last Saturday and Wednesday in central Burlington, and Wednesday in east Burlington — no evenings! (Neighbouring municipalities had more, and some with evenings.)

This time polling stations are walkable for very few. Given the internet hassle, how do conscientious voters vote?

Democracy is a treasured right, and it’s hard to understand why the system is geared to frustrate voting. To save money? Whose call was that? We can vote at any voting venue in our ward. But given the poor voters’ list, and potentially high number of voters who’ll have to register voting day because of it, staff may have to keep working long after the posted 8 p.m. close.

Will frustrated voters give up, saying, “forget it”? That’s unfair to them and to the excellent candidates in this crucial election. Hopefully the city anticipates these roadblocks, and will have extra staff deployed.

A Ward 6 candidate mentioned a potential problem with one ward voting location. The right address is St. Paul the Apostle Church at 2265 Headon Rd., not to be confused with St. Paul’s Presbyterian on Headon Forest Road. So similar!

City Clerk Angela Morgan is Burlington’s returning officer. I don’t envy her. As if refereeing candidate complaints and watching for rule breeches isn’t enough, this year she must also handle third-party advertisers.

Last week’s column mentioned an ad by Ward 3 candidate Peter Rusin “comparing” mayoral candidates Marianne Meed Ward and Rick Goldring, and I am now aware of a formal complaint lodged about it.

There are five third-party advertisers registered: an individual and four numbered Ontario companies. Interestingly, on the city’s website, the individual lists contact information; the numbered companies don’t. By the way, they are consecutively numbered, which suggests a connection among them. So much for transparency! Meed Ward attack ads are already appearing on Facebook, and their sources appear anonymous, saying “sponsored.”

On a positive note, most candidates are worthy, and have engaged in good discussions on the issues. Central was that citizens must be more involved through various avenues, from ward councils to town halls to advisory committees, and with improved communications.

It’s highly unlikely gridlock can be wrestled down, but many concerns were addressed, including the Lakeshore bottleneck, insufficient condo parking, traffic calming measures, and affordable housing.

Do they have all the answers? Perhaps not, but thorough discussions could yield impressive improvements.

At least three council changes will occur — maybe more — with two members retiring and two running against each other. Incumbency this time may not be the advantage it once was because of the many unresolved contentious issues.

Please vote Monday. Next week will begin a new era in Burlington.