Are we making room for newcomers and new ideas?
It was just a testy exchange on Twitter. But read between the lines, and the angry words speak volumes about an important issue that lies below the surface in this municipal election.
Are people who have lived here for many years taking up too much space at the table where decisions are made? Is there enough room for newcomers to contribute with their ideas?
On Friday, while the beer and Gemütlichkeit was flowing at the opening of Oktoberfest, Beisan Zubi and Jane Mitchell had a few words away from the stage.
Both are running for two spots representing the city of Waterloo on Waterloo regional council. There are four candidates in total: Zubi, Mitchell, Sean Strickland and Jim Erb.
Zubi is 32. She works in the tech sector and moved here a couple of years ago.
Mitchell is 65. She has been a local politician for 28 years, first as a school trustee and, since 2000, as a councillor for Waterloo Region.
The two of them don’t agree on exactly what was said Friday afternoon.
Mitchell said that Zubi asked her to step aside to make room for her to win. Zubi said she doesn’t recall saying it in those words, but the thought that Mitchell should step aside “was in the back of my mind.”
Mitchell said on Twitter to Zubi that “you felt I was splitting the vote and my participation means the men will win. You told me you are a woman of colour, young and in the tech sector.
“I replied to you that I had worked in tech and have worked side by side with ethnic groups.
“To which you replied ‘ethnic’ is not an appropriate word to use. I feel sad that you feel that the only way to step into a post is to ask another woman to ‘step aside’ I wish you nothing but the best in the coming election.”
Zubi remembers the conversation differently. “I asked her to endorse me,” she told me.
She said she told Mitchell, who has a track record of encouraging women to run: “If you support me, this is your most concrete chance to get a young woman of colour into office.”
She says Mitchell then asked Zubi what she could bring to the table other than being “an ethnic.” Zubi said she was shocked to hear that term.
But Mitchell said later that she would never use the term “an ethnic” about anyone, and she didn’t use it to refer to Zubi.
“You and I both know that is a lie,” she told Zubi in the online conversation.
These harsh words for one another are distressing, because both Zubi and Mitchell are so deserving of admiration and support from voters.
Mitchell has long been a champion for better child care and women’s rights. She spent many years operating a “women’s campaign school” which offered practical advice and mentoring for other women who wanted to run for office.
Graduates of the school include: Kitchener councillors Sarah Marsh and Yvonne Fernandes; former Cambridge MPP Kathryn McGarry, former Waterloo mayor Brenda Halloran; and Cambridge regional councillor Helen Jowett.
Meanwhile, Zubi has loads of life experience and new ideas to offer. She is community relations manager at Communitech, and has also worked on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, where she did research for then-New Democratic Party leader Jack Layton.
A newcomer sees everything with fresh eyes. Like more and more of the young people who live in Waterloo Region, Zubi doesn’t own a car. She thinks Waterloo Region should be clearing sidewalks promptly on regional roads and at bus stops, so that people can get around in winter. She thinks public transit should be as easily available for people who work late shifts as it is for the nine-to-five crowd.
But it’s hard for new people to get onto council. Incumbents have a huge advantage.
Barring a big scandal such as the financial fiasco involving RIM Park in Waterloo many years ago, most municipal incumbents are returned to office as long as they want to stay. Many stay for decades.
The numbers tell the story: The average age of the 16 members of Waterloo regional council is 63. The median age of Waterloo Region residents is 38.
There’s more. If you look at all 59 of our elected mayors and councillors, only one — Kitchener councillor Paul Singh — is a person of colour.
That’s 1.6 per cent, a complete failure when you take into account that 19 per cent of the people living in Waterloo Region are visible minorities, according to the 2016 census.
Interestingly, when you look at the five MPs and five MPPs who represent our region at the national and provincial level, that group is much younger and more diverse.
The average age of our MPs is 47, and our MPPs, 39.
And at least 40 per cent of our MPs and MPPs are people of colour: MPs Bardish Chagger of Waterloo and Raj Saini of Kitchener Centre, who are Indo-Canadian; Marwan Tabarra, MP for Kitchener South-Hespeler, who was born in Lebanon; and Kitchener Centre MPP Laura Mae Lindo, who is black.
The Coalition of Black Trade Unionists says that Cambridge MPP Belinda Karahalios, whose father is Trinidadian, is also black. It included Karahalios in a list of seven black MPPs elected earlier this year. Karahalios did not respond to my inquiry asking if she identifies as black.
Why is there such a difference between municipal politicians and provincial/national ones? I think the answer has to do with party politics.
Political parties are aware of campaign optics. They’re keen to bring forward women and minorities as candidates. The parties’ fortunes also rise and fall more quickly, so there is less opportunity for the same people to stay at the job for decades. In the last provincial election, for example, Waterloo’s Catherine Fife was the only elected MPP from Waterloo Region who had been doing the job before. Everyone else is a newcomer.
Municipal politics are completely different. Voter turnout is lower, so a person with a decadeslong track record in the community, who knows many people, has an advantage. And without party politics being involved, municipal elections are less volatile than at the provincial or national level. If things are going well, with services being maintained and proper planning for the future, most people won’t see a need to make changes.
But Waterloo Region is a dynamic, growing area, known for innovation. It’s crucially important that local government, which affects so many aspects of our daily lives, reflect the voices of all its people.
A way has to be found to include the ideas of those who have come here more recently, and who are building the future of the community.
Does that mean term limits for councillors? Perhaps we need to talk about that.
For now, a balance between trusted incumbent and energetic newcomer is something to keep in mind as you make your choice Oct. 22.