Waterloo Region Council Election Discussion

[ijmorlan]

If the Chair said we shouldn't do LRT, I expect Dougie would listen to the Chair, favouring strong-mayor councils as he does.

OK, that’s a good point. But I don’t expect LRT funding from the current crew anyway.

[trainspotter139]

Lol, you're right about that.

I guess we're giving voters the benefit of the doubt in understanding that a conflict of interest may prevent him from doing things.

Is it a given that having an interest near Phase I would necessarily translate into a conflict of interest issue wrt Phase II?  I know they must try to avoid even the appearance of conflict, but that seems a stretch to me.  In the case of Aissa, if he opposes Phase II, how does that translate into a conflict?

If Phase II was a completely separate line there wouldn't be even the appearance of a conflict. However since he owns property on the existing line, his voting on the extension of that line would be, even if it's just the appearance of a conflict. This would be because decisions made wrt Phase II would affect various aspects of Phase I.

[panamaniac]

Is it a given that having an interest near Phase I would necessarily translate into a conflict of interest issue wrt Phase II?  I know they must try to avoid even the appearance of conflict, but that seems a stretch to me.  In the case of Aissa, if he opposes Phase II, how does that translate into a conflict?

If Phase II was a completely separate line there wouldn't be even the appearance of a conflict. However since he owns property on the existing line, his voting on the extension of that line would be, even if it's just the appearance of a conflict. This would be because decisions made wrt Phase II would affect various aspects of Phase I.

Unless you could quantify a benefit to his "interest" of proximity to Phase I due to non-construction of Phase II, I'm not sure I see it, if the vote is NOT to build Phase II.

[Viewfromthe42]

Put it this way, while not everyone who might get on the LRT in phase 2 would affect phase 1's usage, if you were a property owner near the 401, and it had been built from Windsor to Kingston, and now they were going to extend it to Montreal, you would probably expect that the highway would get busier, getting across it would be harder, and it might need to be widened.

[danbrotherston]

Put it this way, while not everyone who might get on the LRT in phase 2 would affect phase 1's usage, if you were a property owner near the 401, and it had been built from Windsor to Kingston, and now they were going to extend it to Montreal, you would probably expect that the highway would get busier, getting across it would be harder, and it might need to be widened.

Or it could be like extending a local road, really little to no effect on the extreme other end.

The fact is it's silly for us to speculate.  This is a clearly defined legal requirement, that likely has only a little to do with the things we're discussing, and I know I'm not a lawyer so I know I don't know whether the conflict of interest law would apply.

What I do know is that having someone in the chair position opposing the LRT wouldn't be good for the LRT.

[fakepnijjar]

I want to gather information on the regional candidates. 

So far, all Jay has is a Facebook page with a few pictures. The most troubling of which is attached.

This election I am helping develop https://waterlooregionvotes.org , which is also trying to gather information about candidates. We could really use some help! If you can track down webpages of candidates and submit them, I would be so grateful.

[panamaniac]

I want to gather information on the regional candidates. 

So far, all Jay has is a Facebook page with a few pictures. The most troubling of which is attached.

This election I am helping develop https://waterlooregionvotes.org , which is also trying to gather information about candidates. We could really use some help! If you can track down webpages of candidates and submit them, I would be so grateful.

Bio notes, CV, policy positions/past public statements, along with links to their e-sites?  Anything else?

[fakepnijjar]

This election I am helping develop https://waterlooregionvotes.org , which is also trying to gather information about candidates. We could really use some help! If you can track down webpages of candidates and submit them, I would be so grateful.

Bio notes, CV, policy positions/past public statements, along with links to their e-sites?  Anything else?

Those are good ideas. I had not thought of going so deep.

We are trying to be informative but strictly nonpartisan, in a Wikipedia-ish way. There has been some talk about aggregating policy positions, past voting records, etc, but it seems like a fair amount of work to gather that information. You can see some of the ideas on our Github page: https://github.com/civictechwr/wrvotes/issues .

I think the way we have been handling the kinds of information you are suggesting (bios, past positions) is by linking to third party news articles. Even there has been some controversy about what counts as news and what counts as opinion or advocacy. So I do not want to shoot your ideas for independent research down, but it is important to think about how to integrate this information in a thoughtful way.

We definitely want to link to questionnaires put out by special interest groups. Those are helpful for comparing policy positions. We want to keep an eye on media sources and link to their news stories. We especially want to keep on top of events and all-candidates meetings so we can integrate that information too.

Does that address the question?

[timio]

Jay has his campaign office at the former car dealership on Kingsway again.

[jgsz]

Jay has his campaign office at the former car dealership on Kingsway again.

That’s very fitting for a man who sounds like a used car salesman.

[ijmorlan]

Jay has his campaign office at the former car dealership on Kingsway again.

Actually I believe it was at the former LCBO next door last time.

Not that it matters.

[timio]

You may be right. Regardless, his name is in large letters along a main thoroughfare.

[jeffster]

Jay has his campaign office at the former car dealership on Kingsway again.

Actually I believe it was at the former LCBO next door last time.

Not that it matters.

I'm not touching this one.

[Rainrider22]

This election I am helping develop https://waterlooregionvotes.org , which is also trying to gather information about candidates. We could really use some help! If you can track down webpages of candidates and submit them, I would be so grateful.

I checked out the website, and I like the idea of a one-stop shop for information gathering. It's a good idea, and good layout. I have nothing further to contribute at this time, but will pm you if I stumble across other pertinent information not covered, or has already been suggested in previous posts.

My question is how to get the word out. While talking to my neighbours yesterday, they didn't even know an election was coming,  let alone where to find candidate information.

How scary is that, they didn't even know an election is coming. Municipal politics probably have the most direct impact on your life, yet peple don't vote and have a say.

[jgsz]

How scary is that, they didn't even know an election is coming. Municipal politics probably have the most direct impact on your life, yet peple don't vote and have a say.

I agree 100%.  I suppose it's because all the candidates say the same things at election time.  You know, they're accountable, approachable, listen to the citizens, etc., etc.  Some are just single issue candidates like Jay.  It's enough to make me barf.  How is the ordinary person supposed to decide?  

One solution would be to have municipal parties or blocks.  The most obvious solution would be for candidates to come out of the closet and declare their political affiliation.  I know they all have them and 'party' workers will help with their campaign by knocking on doors, delivering flyers, etc.  The only ones who don't know this are the non-political voters, who often don't vote in municipal elections.  Yet they will vote in the Provincial and Federal election because they know which party and policies they generally support.   As it is, with all candidates saying more or less the same thing, it becomes a political crapshoot with dismal voter turnout.