Calling all candidates

The health of local democracy can be measured in a few ways. Voter turnout is one key barometer — the level of participation of local citizens in choosing their mayors, councillors and school trustees.

Another measure is the number of candidates who run for council and school boards. Are these seen as desirable roles, recognized as a chance to make a difference? Are incumbents being challenged? Are there competitive races in municipal wards that ensure vigorous debates on important municipal and educational issues?

Voter turnout at the municipal level has always been a challenge. In the 2018, turnout was 41 per cent in Toronto and lower in neighbouring municipalities.

Now there are troubling signs on the second front. Fewer people are running for municipal and school board positions. That has worrisome implications for the quality of debates, ideas and vision for the future of our schools and cities.

The deadline to register as a candidate in the Oct. 24 municipal election is Friday. As of Thursday morning, just 271 people have registered to run in Toronto — 141 for mayor and council positions and 130 other for school board seats.

That’s down dramatically from 2018 municipal election, when 501 candidates ran — 35 for mayor, 242 for councillor positions and 224 for school board trustee.

A similar trend is occurring in other Greater Toronto municipalities. In Mississauga and Oshawa, the total number of candidates for school boards and municipal councils is down about a third and in Vaughan down by almost half. The diminished showings highlight that these jobs — acting as the intermediary between public policy and residential concerns — hold dwindling appeal.

Just ask the seven incumbents who are leaving council. Among them are politicians like Mike Layton (University-Rosedale) and Ana Bailão (Davenport), who also served as deputy mayor. They no doubt could have enjoyed additional terms on council had they chosen. Tellingly, they didn’t.

Frankly, who would want to be a politician these days and make themselves a target for nasty, partisan attacks?

Lacking the party structure at the provincial and federal level, municipal politics has generally been more collegial and, by necessity, more co-operative. But it’s not been immune to the deterioration in tone that we’ve seen in provincial and federal politics.

Councillors are often at the centre of divisive neighbourhood debates on a variety of topics, from development proposals to bike lanes. Debates too often turn into name-calling and online witch hunts. Sometimes those online threats become physical threats. In 2019, shots were fired at the home of John Filion, councillor for Willowdale. We all can play a role in addressing this problem to ensure our civic discourse remains respectful.

The 2018 decision by Premier Doug Ford to slash the size of Toronto council to 25 wards from 47 has no doubt factored in the decision of some not to run. With that change, each ward now has upwards of 100,000 residents. The workload means it’s difficult for each councillor to give full attention to the multitude of concerns and issues that demand their attention each day.

One can’t discount that a more recent decision by the premier to give the Toronto mayor additional powers — at some expense to the influence of individual councillors — has also discouraged some from running.

Mike Colle, a veteran of municipal and provincial politics, cites the increased workload that accompanied the “megawards” and the onslaught of harassment abuse and threats that now comes with the job. “The big change is just the online threats that just never existed before. Non-stop threats about everything. During the pandemic, we had all these anti-vaxxer people, anti-lockdown people. It is the combination of all those things is the reason why you’re not attracting people,” said Colle, who is running in Eglinton-Lawrence.

“It’s sad because there is incredible work to be done,” he said. There is incredible work to be done that will shape the quality of our urban life, the future of our cities, the services we get. Fewer candidates diminish the vigour of debates about the municipal and educational issues. Unless incumbents are challenged, the status quo prevails. Politics stagnates.

It should concern us all that fewer people want these jobs.