The Sandor Report

With the Ontario municipal elections behind us, I would now like to make a request to all of the Councillor Elects, Mayor Elects and citizens everywhere.  For the next four years, would it be too much to ask to keep party politics out of municipal affairs? To set the record straight, there are no parties in local government.  You did not vote for a Liberal councillor or a Conservative mayor.  Likewise, to all of you newly elected officials, you do not represent a provincial or federal party.  Nevertheless, over the last 10 months of campaigning, I have heard countless times refrains such as "I'm not voting for a filthy Conservative for Mayor" or "Those scheming Liberals have taken over City Hall".  What's worse, candidates not only propagated this misconception by declaring that they would be a Conservative or Liberal politician, but in fact told citizens to vote along provincial or federal party lines. For higher levels of government, it may be easy ...

Recently I had the good fortune to join and develop content for a group working to have ranked-choice voting ("RCV") adopted in my hometown of London.  Although still in its infancy, 123London.ca  joins a growing number of similar movements across Ontario that want to see a move towards an electoral process that better reflects the realities of modern municipal politics.  If you don't know what ranked-choice voting (A.K.A. instant runoff voting, A.K.A. alternate vote) is, I highly recommend this YouTube video by CGPGrey which very concisely explains the process over just a few minutes of your time. Just don't forget to come back here when you are done watching!  Obviously I wouldn't have taken the time to get involved with this group unless I believed in the cause, and so, I am here to tell you why ranked-choice voting is beneficial for local elections. But - as Reading Rainbow taught us as children - you don't have to take my word for it! I tweeted last w...

With the deadline to declare candidacy for the upcoming municipal election now past, the campaigns are ramping up.  So too is the news coverage surrounding city council and mayoral candidates.  There is however one other position that you will have the opportunity to cast your ballot for: school board trustee.  This position is frequently overlooked by many during the campaign and at the ballot box but it is important that we recognize the impact that trustees can have on their community.  For example, if your community has been affected by the closure of a local school, then you have been affected by an elected school board trustee. The Ontario Education Act outlines the responsibilities of the school boards and by extension the elected trustees.  Among these responsibilities, trustees are expected to ensure appropriate policies and structures are in place to ensure academic achievement; maintain positive school environments including bullying prevention a...

This morning the London Free Press ran an article outlining Ward 7 candidate Josh Morgan's position that municipal candidates ought to be residents of the municipality that they are running in.  I have spoken to several people over the years who are of the understanding that municipal candidates and politicians are required to live in their electoral ward.  They have been surprised (and perhaps you will be too) to find out that this is not the case.  In fact, there are a number of misconceptions about municipal elections that you might be surprised to learn - such as the fact that elected politicians are not elected as representatives of their wards.  A quick look at some of these misconceptions might change the way you look at municipal elections and certainly lends some credence to the argument that the current electoral rules do not reflect the understanding and expectations of voters. We'll start with the most obvious misconception: that you need to live in th...

Just before Christmas, the George Morris Centre published a report that revolved around on the closings of the Heinz Leamington and Kellogg’s London plants as indicators of a transition in food manufacturing.  A number of points that the report raises seem to resonate well beyond the food industry.  A close look at the report suggests that cities in southwestern Ontario such as London need to fundamentally rethink the way they approach economic development.  The days of large plants employing many workers are on the way out and there is no going back.  Instead, the future of economic success lies in attracting many small firms producing speciality goods and employing fewer than 50 workers.  The George Morris report does not even make it past the introduction before pointing out that the food industry is in a state of transition and although we are seeing multiple plant closures, the industry is ripe with opportunity for investment for those willing to acc...