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One of the tenets of representative government in a democracy, is that the people are duly represented. Hamilton benefits from a very diversified mix of citizenry. If we step away from that, you would expect that our elected officials mirror or approximate, to a reasonable extent, that make up. Council is made up of 16 councilors (including Mayor Fred). Two are women. None appear to be members of visible minority groups. There also appears to be noone who is living with a disability (I could be wrong - disabilities are not always visible). The makeup is noteworthy, because it does not mirror or approximate Hamilton's diversity or gender balance. Representative government works best when the government actually represents the community in which it governs.
Certainly one can achieve an understanding of issues related to different cultures and race, gender etc. by being connected to those communities/people. I’m not suggesting that we have no effective form of representation. But it is not an ideal substitute for the perspective that could be brought to bear from those with lived experience.
Of course, this is not an issue that I lay at the foot of council. The roots of the problem are complex. Systemically, there seems to be nothing in place that ensures or promotes arriving at a better balance, other than the opportunity for anyone to run for office.
Do you think we would be better served by a council that mirrors or aproximates our citizen make-up? Would we be better off if we had, for example, an equal distribution of women on council and within the whole distribution, representation from people from a wide range of groups that live in our communities? If you believe it matters, what can be done to ensure a better balance?
Great topic ... butI have no easy answers to what should, or even could, be done. I would be open for any ideas that other bloggers on this site may propose regarding this matter. While I certainly would oppose any structural hindrance to anyone running for municipal office based on gender, ethnicity or physical status, equally I would find it difficult to agree to any artificial advantages being given anyone based on the same criteria. One thing which should be enacted is that there should be a ban on corporate donations to election campaigns, a step which would help level the playing field. I hope that there will be a good discussion on this and that some workable suggestions made.
ReplyDeleteIt seems that if the people of a city were the ones putting their government in office, the government would mirror the population more closely. Banning corporate donations seems like a no-brainer. The system would be more fair, isn't it supposed to be? Aside from this, the city's culture may be an obstacle preventing more of the people's people to pursue governance. By this I ask, are minorities represented elsewhere in the city's public institutions? What is the makeup of the police, courts, school system, etc.?
ReplyDeleteNo matter who runs, I think what is more importannt is get more people involved in the process.
ReplyDeleteMaybe part of the problem is that when elections are running, that there is not enough public open debates, in which the citizens can come and see listen to them.
The voter turnouts are so low,and well people need to be more engaged, that is what I think and feel.
Cal, good evening...
ReplyDeleteGreat topic by the way. Where do I start? I guess I would have to echo what's been said already regarding the bad voter turnout. How do you get more people interested in voting? How do you get the community more involved? Well, for me I think we should have municipal elections every two years. That's the first point I'd like to make here. The second point is councillors and the Mayor should only be allowed to serve two consecutive terms, each term two years in length. After they serve two consecutive terms they have to sit out for at least one term, step aside and allow someone else to take their place for the following term. After sitting out that one term they would be able to toss their hat inside the political arena and run for office once more.
Now, the scenario that I propose above would do a number of things. First, by having elections more often it would keep the politicians on their toes, they would be motivated to do a better job if they knew the next election was only in two years. Secondly, by having them serve two term limits this would allow for more new candidates running for office and I believe that this alone would help to increase public interest of municipal politics and increase the public turnout at the polls. Add to the fact that elections are also good for the economy. In addition to all of this I also believe that politicians that serve too many consecutive years tend to get burnt out so having them sit out for 1 term after serving for two consecutive ones would also be good for their health. It would allow them the opportunity to get away from politics for a bit and "recharge their batteries."
Now, as far as the makeup of the group goes, I don't think it's a good idea ever to vote for someone OR hire someone for the job simply because of race or gender. You hire the best person available for the job and you also vote for the best candidate available. Some may ask "Why do we not see more women as councillors down at Hamilton City Hall?" well, maybe they're just not as interested in running for politics like the men are. Having said that I've seen it where we've had some females run for public office and they still don't get enough votes to win the election and why not? because the other folks they ran against had better, stronger looking resumes. The other thing that may be playing a factor here with the gender is maybe most of the people that come out to vote have this perception that men are better for politics and leadership positions? who knows? Now having said all that, I know all about Hamilton being famous for having some noteworthy "firsts" when it comes to gender and race in politics:
* Lincoln Alexander: became Canada's first black Member of Parliament when he was elected to the Canadian House of Commons in 1968 as a member of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada.
* Ellen Fairclough: was the first female member of the Canadian Cabinet.
Now, I realize we're talking about politics at the municipal level but I think if we had more females running and maybe more folks from other ethnicities running in future elections we would see the makeup of the councillors and Mayor reflect that but this all comes back to the question, "How do you get more of these people involved and interested?" By doing what I propose at the top of my blog entry. Elections every two years, each politician allowed to only serve for two consecutive terms and then they have to sit out for at least two years, (1 term), and make way for someone else with fresh ideas and a new energy to add to Hamilton City council.
Rick Cordeiro
www.rickcordeiro.actorsite.com
I agree that, "Representative government works best when the government actually represents the community in which it governs." I do not agree that, "None appear to be members of visible minority groups." I cannot confirm this because the Hamilton.ca site is strangely unresponsive tonight, but any councilor who is actually married represents a true minority group.
ReplyDelete0]The 2006 census shows 51.5 per cent of adults are not married. Hamilton is bucking a national trend that shows for the first time in Canada's history, married people are a minority among the adult population.
I know this is not what Cal meant by visible minority groups but let's take a harsher look at the nuts and bolts of this utopian "Representative Government" from a different perspective.
1] 4,165 households in Hamilton are within spitting distance (1 1/4 percentage points) of the current LICO (Low-Income Cut-Offs). Our poverty rate is sitting at about 20 per cent. This could jump to 28 per cent or higher with a higher population, according to Fraser.
THEREFORE 4 councilors should be poor folk
2] About one out of every six families with children in the Hamilton region is headed by just one parent. Among the lone-parent families in the Hamilton region, 82.5 per cent are headed by females.
2a] In a tough area: one-quarter of families have a single parent and low incomes
THEREFORE among households where women are leaders, this is approximately 10% or 1.6 members of council. Two is close enough. Both should be women and one must be dirt poor.
3] New census data indicates that senior citizens make up 15.1 per cent of the population who live in and around Hamilton. The number of children in the Hamilton region those aged 14 and under makes up 17.9 per cent of the regions population.
3a] There are more citizens aged 100-plus in the population than ever before, Statistics Canada reported. Since 2001, their number jumped 22 per cent to 4,635 and the vast majority, some 3,800, were women (nationwide).
THEREFORE we need 2 seniors age 80+ with 1 preferred at 100+ to be mayor (eat your heart out Hazel) and of course, we must have 2 teenage councilors for balance.
4] About 20 per cent of Canada's population was born abroad and Hamilton has Ontario's second-largest proportion, 24.4 per cent, of people born outside Canada.
* Less than half of Hamilton-area households have children;
* One in five households is a lone person, often a senior;
* About 60 per cent of immigrants to Ontario are now arriving from Asia and the Middle East;
* 25 per cent of people in the Hamilton CMA work in sales and service;
* 6.5 per cent work in processing, manufacturing and utilities;
THEREFORE 4 councilors should be foreign born and 2 could be bachelors or spinsters
IN ADDITION at least 4 councilors should be salesmen and at least 1
of the following:
* Laid-off steelworker
* Laid-off autoworker
* Foreclosed farmer
* College student
* Transfer nurse
* Cable guy
* A butcher, a baker or a candlestick maker!
5] And lastly, only 68.4 per cent of Canadian households were owned by their occupants
THEREFORE 31.6% of our elected representatives must be renters (or homeless) which is about 5 in all.
Credits:
[0]The nuclear family isn't so typical anymore
http://thespec.com/article/247809
[1]More of us can count on being poor today
http://thespec.com/article/191291
[2]One-parent Hamilton families on rise: Census
http://thespec.com/article/247487
[2a]Beating the odds
http://thespec.com/article/351249
[3]Seniors, Boomers make up nearly half of Hamilton's population
http://thespec.com/article/220805
[3a]Mental, physical fitness helps Canadians reach beyond 80 and past 100: experts
http://thespec.com/article/220802
[4]Not the same old city
http://thespec.com/article/453435
[5]Owning a home became more expensive in second quarter, RBC report says
http://thespec.com/article/208343
It cost's about $20 grand to run a competative municipal campaign. Not too many people have that kind of loot laying around to self-fund a campaign, although some incumbents do this.
ReplyDeleteOver the years there has been many minority candidates running in the many wards, they never seem to win. Money talks, good intentions walk.
MSW: It costs that much? I wonder if whomever had a really good volunteer base, that could go knockin gon every door in their particular ward? Just a thought I know.
ReplyDeleteI do not know, it shouldn/t be about money, it should the message, the person is trying to deliver. I call for more public debate, open forums. Organizing by citizen's group to get this done, while it takes consierable work, they can be effective. The CAWDB put on the all mayoral canadiates debate in the last election. It was really great to see all the canadiates in one spot and for the people themsleves to have the opportunity to ask questions and get responses.
Here's another thought, recorded votes so that each elected official has a record of each decision, for or against. How hard is that to keep track of given the information age? I recall CATCH making an effort in this regard, but change has to come from within.
ReplyDeleteMAW: Yes if the public in each ward could see how the person was voting on each issue, it would throw some light on the elected officials responses and you could weight against your own thoughts about any one particular issue.
ReplyDeleteThis way as an individual it would give you the info needed to either vote or not vote for that person depending on how you feel about their performance.
Cal, good evening...
ReplyDeleteThere's another point I'd like to make here regarding the makeup of Hamilton City council. It would help someone's cause if they were serious about running for Hamilton city council or the Mayor's position if they joined up with the Freemasons.
When I was doing all of my work on Hamilton over on wikipedia.org and I was looking over biographies of famous and well known Hamiltonians from days gone by I discovered that a great many of the politicians were in fact members of Freemasonry, "the brotherhood." All you have to do is go down to the local Hamilton Public Library, 3rd floor history department and look for a 4 volume set of books titled, "The Dictionary of Hamilton Biography" and in it you will find bios of all the Mayors and some of the key councillors from days gone by in Hamilton. From my tally close to 90% of them, according to this 4 volume set of books, were freemasons, and not only does these books state that they were freemasons they even give you the actual Lodge name/ number that these men belonged to. The one that seems to come up a lot is the Barton Lodge #2, especially with a lot of the earlier politicians. Now, the females might think that "this is a man's world" but my understanding is that they have something else similar for the ladies called "Order of the Eastern Star" that they can join up with if they are serious about getting some strong support by some "key" individuals in the city who are also members of this group as well as Freemasons.
Once I made this discovery I found out about an open house they had in one of the Masonic Lodge's in Stoney Creek called "Strict Observance Lodge" and it was a rare opportunity for a Non-member such as myself to take a glimpse inside of an actual Masonic Lodge. When I arrived an older chap, or shall I say, an older "brother", was assigned to show me around the Lodge. When it appeared that we were far enough away from the rest of the group he basically told me that things were not well with this particular Lodge and that the membership numbers were drastically declineing. I was a bit shocked to hear this from the "brother" especially when you consider the fact that they were having an open house for Non-members like myself to come in and explore the possibilities of joining up with them. I mean, they had an open house and here was this "brother" trying to talk me out of joining, you go figure.
Anyways, the point I was trying to make here is if you want a serious crack at Hamilton politics it would help your cause to join up with the Freemasons.
Best Regards!
Rick Cordeiro
www.rickcordeiro.actorsite.com
Mr. Difalco
ReplyDeleteThank-you for raising this issue. I don't know why the women in council are not stamping their feet about this. You hit the nail on the head.
Amy - from Hamilton mountain