Party politics trend in local election
An NDP MPP campaigns door to door with a city council candidate in St. Catharines. A Tory MPP robocalls his support of a candidate in West Lincoln. A regional candidate declares he is part of “Team Blue.”
Party politics has always been alive in Niagara municipal elections, but it’s rarely been as blatant and inyour-face as in 2018.
While there is nothing preventing a party and its representatives from endorsing municipal candidates, it can be a gamble.
“There’s an idea that citizens don’t like party politics at the local level,” said Brock University political science professor David Siegel. “A candidate that was drawing on party resources might get some negative views from some citizens.”
Judging by election lawn signs, most candidates try to distance themselves from any political party, using purple, pink and other non-traditional party colours. Former longtime Liberal MPP Jim Bradley is one of the exceptions, using red signs for his regional council bid that are similar to his provincial ones.
Siegel said MPPs have a right to participate in a municipal election by endorsing a candidate just like anybody else.
However, it is unusual to see as much involvement as this election.
Niagara Centre NDP MPP Jeff Burch has endorsed candidates and has been photographed with St. Catharines NDP MPP Jennie Stevens helping Merritton candidate Greg Miller on the campaign trail.
Niagara West PC MPP Sam Oosterhoff has reportedly recorded a robocall message supporting West Lincoln Mayoral candidate Dave Bylsma.
The trend is happening across the province, with several provincial MPPs and federal MPs endorsing candidates. It culminated Friday with Ontario NDP leader Andrea Horwath endorsing Hamilton’s incumbent mayor Fred Eisenberger.
A political action group called A Better Niagara — which is opposed to the current conservative-leaning leadership at Niagara regional council and has endorsed candidates across Niagara — was launched by people with direct ties to Ontario’s NDP, including Burch who left the group after he was elected.
A Better Niagara executive director Ed Smith said the group is not an agent of the NDP.
“We actually think partisan politics is what has created the problems at the Region in the first place,” said Smith. “Politicians can have party loyalties, but at the municipal level, we are talking about roads and sewers and affordable housing. Those are not provincial issues.”
Smith said the line is crossed when the priority of a party becomes the priorities of municipal politicians or councils.
Siegel said for politicians like Oosterhoff and Burch, who don’t have cabinet posts, endorsements are not such a big deal, but he’s surprised Horwath would back someone because it would appear to be coming from the party.
The last time a political party got heavily involved in a municipal election was in 1969 when the Liberal Party strongly endorsed Toronto Mayoral candidate Stephen Clarkson, Siegel said. It did not go well.
Clarkson finished third and what resulted was the idea that there’s only a downside for a provincial or national party to get involved in a local election.
“If your candidate loses, you look bad. If your candidate wins, so what? How does that help you on the floor of the provincial legislature or the federal House of Commons? There’s generally been a sense that there’s only a downside.”
For municipal candidates, the possible drawback may be turning off people who don’t like the party that is supporting them. St. Catharines regional council candidate Alan Caslin said recently on TVO’s The Agenda that he’s on “Team Blue,” referring to the provincial Tories.
“The way politics in Ontario is now, whatever party you support, the majority of people do not support that party,” Siegel said. “Things are divided just about in thirds now. Whichever party supports you, you’ve got two-thirds of the people who might be against you.”
Siegel said they could also be alienating people who don’t like the idea of party politics at the local level.
“People take their support where they can get it when they’re running a campaign, but I think there is some danger in what they’re doing.”
One of the arguments against people at the local level getting involved with parties is there’s a feeling it could have an impact on the provincial-municipal relationship.
Siegel said the safest course for any local politician when it comes to municipal and provincial relations is to make it clear they are working for their municipality no matter what — not plotting a course for any particular political party and are doing everything they can to further the interests of their community.