Waterloo Region Council Election Discussion

[welltoldtales]

To focus on the ranked ballot system, the regional election is the PERFECT system to try this out.  They're foolish for not doing it.  With multiple people being elected, why not try.

Because we need new voices. Regional council has so many multi-term councillors and none of them care to step down. They all believe that they can wait as a councillor and then become chair. I hope that changes this election.

Elizabeth Clarke has been refreshing to have on council as have the additions of Berry and Dave, even in their limited capacities as City mayors.

[Spokes]

Clarke is a multi term councilor though, no?

I do agree with you. Being an incumbent is a HUGE advantage in municipal politics.

[welltoldtales]

Clarke is a multi term councilor though, no?

I do agree with you.  Being an incumbent is a HUGE advantage in municipal politics.

Clarke was appointed in 2015 after Wayne Wettlaufer passed away while on council.

[danbrotherston]

Clarke is a multi term councilor though, no?

I do agree with you.  Being an incumbent is a HUGE advantage in municipal politics.

Clarke was appointed in 2015 after Wayne Wettlaufer passed away while on council.

To be fair, she was close behind Wettlaufer...they didn't appoint a random person.

[Spokes]

Thanks for clarifying that. Why am I thinking she was around before that? Wonder who I'm thinking of.

[welltoldtales]

Clarke was appointed in 2015 after Wayne Wettlaufer passed away while on council.

To be fair, she was close behind Wettlaufer...they didn't appoint a random person.

Oh yes. I am not suggesting this was a bad decision. Just that she was new on council and actually got on through an appointment and that has been really beneficial to council in my opinion. We need more new voices around the horseshoe.

[Spokes]

Are there individuals you think NEED to be replaced, or just that we need new voices in general for new ideas?

[danbrotherston]

Are there individuals you think NEED to be replaced, or just that we need new voices in general for new ideas?

I'll preface this with saying that this is my opinion, based only on my observations in the past little while, and no comprehensive research.  I think the whole council is pretty weak.  They talk a good talk about some of the issues I care about (with a few exceptions), but generally take little substantial action.  Clarke was on the recent transportation master plan and I found that plan to be pretty devoid of strong actions.  Was pretty much business as usual, build a few mediocre bike lanes and bike paths, consider some more protection, nothing in constrained corridors, no hard choices.  When it comes to decisions like Weber St. they were unwilling to make any compromise to even the impression of speedy vehicle travel, in order to support safer infra. Others on committee have supported sharrows as infrastructure.

Overall, I'm unlikely to vote for any incumbent as a result.

(One exception to the "good talk, no execution" rule I know of would be Sean Strickland who was pretty explicit that cycling/pedestrians were second fiddle to cars.)

[Chris]

When did Jay become "PRO"-LRT?
https://votejay.ca/my-platform/

I am committed to developing and supporting a more efficient and equitable Rapid Transit system within Waterloo Region.

My transportation plan is simple.

I will find a way to make the existing Light Rail Transit (LRT) system in Kitchener-Waterloo work.

I will follow the existing Regional Transportation Master Plan while extending the LRT from Kitchener to Cambridge.

Would it be too cynical of me to think that after seeing a pro-LRT council get elected last time that convinced him to change his tune? He can collect anti-LRT votes from the people that supported him last time and don't research his current platform and pro-LRT people that are doing their research this time.

[Viewfromthe42]

If you read into Jane Mitchell's response to Beisan, it seems to paint a very different story, and adds more context that doesn't look good on Beisan at all.
"Beisan I hope you are not referring to me. If you are that is taking our conversation completely out of context and leaving out your part in it.
Today at lunch you approached me and requsted that I "step aside" so you could win. #wrvotes
Because 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. #wrvotes
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 #wrvotes"

I would never refer to anyone as an "ethnic" (I am caucasian, with my family from Scotland, Ireland, and England, any of which technically is an ethnicity), but is it wrong to refer to groups formed to support different ethnicities "ethnic groups"? I've known Jane a long time, and she's anything but what Beisan's making her out to be. If I lived in Waterloo, frankly, the two of them would be getting my votes.

[KingandWeber]

If you read into Jane Mitchell's response to Beisan, it seems to paint a very different story, and adds more context that doesn't look good on Beisan at all.
"Beisan I hope you are not referring to me. If you are that is taking our conversation completely out of context and leaving out your part in it.
Today at lunch you approached me and requsted that I "step aside" so you could win. #wrvotes
Because 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. #wrvotes
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 #wrvotes"

I would never refer to anyone as an "ethnic" (I am caucasian, with my family from Scotland, Ireland, and England, any of which technically is an ethnicity), but is it wrong to refer to groups formed to support different ethnicities "ethnic groups"? I've known Jane a long time, and she's anything but what Beisan's making her out to be. If I lived in Waterloo, frankly, the two of them would be getting my votes.

From my perspective, calling someone an "ethnic" as a noun is unacceptable, but using "ethnic" as an adjective can be perfectly acceptable based on context. For instance, the Canadian Charter and Ontario Human Rights Code both use the term "ethnic origin." 

If Mitchell's version is correct and she said she worked alongside "ethnic groups", I don't see the problem. It would probably have been more current to say "cultural groups", but I really wouldn't split hairs on that point. That being said, if Mitchell called Beisan an "ethnic", she is certainly in the wrong.

And then there's the context about Beisan asking Mitchell to drop out of the race. If that's true, I think that's quite a disappointing move by Besian, even if Mitchell's response was inappropriate. I would vote for neither of the two in that case.

[Spokes]

Are there individuals you think NEED to be replaced, or just that we need new voices in general for new ideas?

I'll preface this with saying that this is my opinion, based only on my observations in the past little while, and no comprehensive research.  I think the whole council is pretty weak.  They talk a good talk about some of the issues I care about (with a few exceptions), but generally take little substantial action.  Clarke was on the recent transportation master plan and I found that plan to be pretty devoid of strong actions.  Was pretty much business as usual, build a few mediocre bike lanes and bike paths, consider some more protection, nothing in constrained corridors, no hard choices.  When it comes to decisions like Weber St. they were unwilling to make any compromise to even the impression of speedy vehicle travel, in order to support safer infra. Others on committee have supported sharrows as infrastructure.

Overall, I'm unlikely to vote for any incumbent as a result.

(One exception to the "good talk, no execution" rule I know of would be Sean Strickland who was pretty explicit that cycling/pedestrians were second fiddle to cars.)

I think a lot of councils in a lot of cities can be described this way.  How often do you see a council that in it's four year term makes RADICAL changes.  Even if needed.

Municipal politics seems to play the slow game.  Sadly.

[Spokes]

If you read into Jane Mitchell's response to Beisan, it seems to paint a very different story, and adds more context that doesn't look good on Beisan at all.
"Beisan I hope you are not referring to me. If you are that is taking our conversation completely out of context and leaving out your part in it.
Today at lunch you approached me and requsted that I "step aside" so you could win. #wrvotes
Because 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. #wrvotes
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 #wrvotes"

I would never refer to anyone as an "ethnic" (I am caucasian, with my family from Scotland, Ireland, and England, any of which technically is an ethnicity), but is it wrong to refer to groups formed to support different ethnicities "ethnic groups"? I've known Jane a long time, and she's anything but what Beisan's making her out to be. If I lived in Waterloo, frankly, the two of them would be getting my votes.

I too was surprised it was Mitchell she was referring to.  

Also, maybe I'm clueless, but I didn't think it was wrong to say ethnic groups. Very different than "an ethnic."  That's where this will be seen as being right or wrong.

[Spokes]

If you read into Jane Mitchell's response to Beisan, it seems to paint a very different story, and adds more context that doesn't look good on Beisan at all.
"Beisan I hope you are not referring to me. If you are that is taking our conversation completely out of context and leaving out your part in it.
Today at lunch you approached me and requsted that I "step aside" so you could win. #wrvotes
Because 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. #wrvotes
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 #wrvotes"

I would never refer to anyone as an "ethnic" (I am caucasian, with my family from Scotland, Ireland, and England, any of which technically is an ethnicity), but is it wrong to refer to groups formed to support different ethnicities "ethnic groups"? I've known Jane a long time, and she's anything but what Beisan's making her out to be. If I lived in Waterloo, frankly, the two of them would be getting my votes.

From my perspective, calling someone an "ethnic" as a noun is unacceptable, but using "ethnic" as an adjective can be perfectly acceptable based on context. For instance, the Canadian Charter and Ontario Human Rights Code both use the term "ethnic origin." 

If Mitchell's version is correct and she said she worked alongside "ethnic groups", I don't see the problem. It would probably have been more current to say "cultural groups", but I really wouldn't split hairs on that point. That being said, if Mitchell called Beisan an "ethnic", she is certainly in the wrong.

And then there's the context about Beisan asking Mitchell to drop out of the race. If that's true, I think that's quite a disappointing move by Besian, even if Mitchell's response was inappropriate. I would vote for neither of the two in that case.

I was surprised by this too.  Especially at this stage in the election.  It's still relatively early.  What incumbent would drop out this early.

If what Mitchell says is correct, why is Beisan making this a gender issue?

[Pheidippides]

I think the whole started as a misunderstanding by Mitchell. Zubi was asking for an endorsement from Mitchell because of her history of supporting and developing female politicians, not to get her to drop out. Having interacted with Mitchell on several occasions and seen her during council debates I can easily see how she could have missed or misunderstood the ask and totally believe Zubi's narrative of the events.

I think Mitchell has endorsed Ted Martin this year and Zubi was hoping for support too. Also, it was Mitchell that outer herself and took a private discussion public.

All in all a very unusual situation for WR politics; thankfully the drama is usually limited to Toronto council.

If I lived in Waterloo both would get my support.