Candidates in local elections having agendas of outside political affiliations are nothing new. In the US, GOP election deniers are running as candidates for State Secretary offices in order to gain control over – among other things – local voting. A similar phenomenon may now be surfacing in Canada. The Capital Daily, in Victoria, ran a story this morning [see below] claiming that a new “non-partisan” organization with ties to Maxime Bernier’s Peoples’ Party of Canada has fielded a slate of candidates in the upcoming, local, municipal election. Small wonder, then, that questions are now appearing on social media about a seemingly inter-connected group of Nanaimo candidates (they all nominated one another) running in the upcoming Nanaimo municipal election. We need to be sure the ideological baggage of candidates is compatible with our own.
A new ‘non-partisan’ slate in Victoria’s election has extensive ties to the People’s Party of Canada. Capital Daily. September 14, 2022. “VIVA Victoria’s municipal and school board election effort is in line with successful conservative movements elsewhere—prompting some progressive candidates to join the race.”
September 14, 2022 at 7:25 pm
I am naive enough to still believe a candidate must represent the people, not be a bought and paid for hack for power brokers, corporations, etc.,
September 14, 2022 at 11:35 pm
Unfortunately the alarm bells should always be ringing… Civilization, communication and complexity are combining to distort order at an alarming rate which doesn’t leave a lot of wiggle room.
September 15, 2022 at 8:54 am
I certainly think that one should vote in an informed way, rather than going along with whoever is popular at the time, without knowing why they are popular. Thus there are many things that one should check about the candidates.
I have never really taken as in-depth a look at municipal politics as I have since living in Nanaimo. It doesn’t mean that I wasn’t an informed voter before, I had just never involved myself as much in the process of how things work. And I am definitely a process person. The end does not justify the means. If and when I move to a different community, my intention is to be less involved.
In my observation of the process, there is a factor that is often overlooked but is more consistent over the course of a number of election periods. That is the bureaucracy that is “informing” the Council decisions. We don’t get to vote for those individuals (sadly in my mind sometimes). I can’t imagine how frustrating it must be for a bureaucrat to work on some project and spend many hours\days\weeks on it (Reimagine Nanaimo for example) and then have a whole new Council arrive and want to move in a different direction. That being said, the bureaucracy, through good management on the part of the CAO (who is the link here), are there to carry out the visions of the politicians. In my observation, that does not always happen.
Given what happened during the previous council and the CAO then, I suspect that this Council is afraid to ask the questions that need to be asked. That is only my opinion and observation of course.