Please vote for me: Casting your best ballot in Ontario's municipal election

When candidates come knocking, how do you know if they are telling the truth?

Yorkregion.com
September 27, 2018
Kim Zarzour

We won’t use his name here because that’s not really relevant. What is relevant is that he is a candidate in the upcoming municipal election and he called York Region Media Group this week out of frustration.

He says he is disillusioned with democracy.

“Matt” seems like a decent guy, a newcomer to politics who genuinely wants to make a difference in his local community.

Instead, when he went knocking on people’s doors, he felt like his feet were kicked out from under him.

Everywhere he went, he says, he heard about lies and misinformation being spread by the candidates who’d door-knocked before him -- a trail of misleading “facts” about council business, about his qualifications or the candidates’ involvement in town affairs or work experience.

“Here I am trying to be honest in everything I say; it makes me wonder how I can possibly compete? It seems there’s no way to hold people accountable for what they say on the campaign trail.”

If your doorbell isn’t ringing yet, it likely will be soon as Ontario edges closer to the Oct. 22 municipal election.

There will be doorknob hangers, flyers in the mailbox and strangers at your doorstep hoping to solicit your vote.

How do you separate the wheat from the chaff -- and the truth from the lies?

We asked several long-serving local politicians who are not running for re-election this year what questions -- based on their many years of experience in public office -- they would ask candidates at their doorstep.

The answers were surprisingly similar.

Most recommended asking candidates about their history of community involvement, their knowledge of the community and council, and proof of their integrity -- and they warned against falling for those who offer the kind of empty promises people want to hear.

But as Matt has discovered, what is said on the campaign trail often stays on the campaign trail -- and the average voter may be none the wiser.

Can most citizens tell whether a candidate is presenting the truth?

“The short answer is no,” says Dennis Pilon, York University associate professor in political science. “The reason is, at a local level, the information-gathering cost is simply too high.”

In the old days, you may have recognized a candidate because they volunteered at your daughter’s Girl Guides or ran the local general store.

In today’s growing, transient communities, the candidate is more likely to be a stranger.

And the larger the ward, the less likely you will know that candidate -- which is why Doug Ford’s move to reduce the number of Toronto’s wards is so dangerous, he says.

If there were political parties at the municipal level, that might help voters sort out claims and make candidates accountable, Pilon says. “It’s an information shortcut to help you figure out where they stand and did they keep their promises.”

But in Ontario, there is no organized party system. As a result, Pilon says, it is not individuals but investors, usually developers, who define local politics.

Campaigning costs a lot of time and money -- something investors have and most individual candidates do not, he says.

Individual voters also don’t have a lot of time. The world is complex, lives are busy. Working out what is truth or lie is not a priority, Pilon says. Instead, people use their own personal knowledge and experience to figure out what to believe.

This makes us vulnerable to the plethora of new groups popping up to offer spin and “alternative facts” -- and it makes us vulnerable to the approach used by Rob and Doug Ford and Donald Trump, the “wild west, anything goes, truth-be damned” politics.

Candidates see that this approach has been successful, Pilon says. "They proceed as if fact-checking is out the window and all that matters is result."

In his presentation to the Association of Municipalities of Ontario this August, pollster Nik Nanos warned about this “blurriness of truth and lie.”

One survey showed only 17 per cent of respondents believed the truth, 47 per cent believed the lie even after it was made public that it was a lie, Nanos said.

 

“Even if you’re telling the truth, even if you’re sharing evidence, there are some people who will not believe it.”

This has led politicians to tap into symbolic, versus literal, promises -- like Trump’s wall, or Doug Ford’s buck-a-beer, Nanos said. The issue is not whether a candidate’s promises will or will not happen, but the symbolic message that this politician will somehow make things better.

“In politics today, the truth doesn’t matter,” Pilon says. “The only thing that matters is what people believe to be the truth.

“It’s a shame because the shape of our communities is fundamentally shaped by local government.”

Concerns have already been raised in some communities, like Richmond Hill and Aurora, where candidates appear to have breached the rules on lawn signs, posting them before they are legally allowed. Other candidates have been accused of stretching the truth in flyers and mailouts. Now that they are appearing at our doorsteps, how do we know if they are speaking the truth?

In a world of blurred truth, it’s easy to be cynical -- but if you’re like the majority of people surveyed, you still believe it is your civic duty to cast a vote.

Before you do, York Region’s long-serving politicians advise you to do your research by asking the right questions. Here's what they suggest you ask candidates when they appear at your doorstep or local meet-and-greet:

Tony Van Bynen, Newmarket mayor and politician since 2000

• What have you done that shows me your commitment to making our community better?

• What have you done to show me your leadership skills and ability to work with others?

• How will you ensure we are building a complete community that is sustainable for future generations?

Dave Kerwin, Newmarket councillor for 39 years

• What have you done for the community to deserve to be elected?

• Are you prepared to work seven days a week, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year?

• Are you prepared to adhere to the code of conduct and ethics?

 

Evelyn Buck, longtime Aurora politician who held public office between 1963 and 2014

• How long have you lived in this municipality?

• What's your understanding of the function of council?

• What do you think is the main challenge facing the municipality?

Vito Spatafora, elected politician in Richmond Hill for 24 years

• Does the candidate have a history of community involvement or volunteer services prior to the election? Do their activities demonstrate a passion for public service?  What have they done to show they care about the community?

• Has the individual made an effort to listen and learn about the community needs? Is he/she addressing issues pertinent to the position being sought at the regional or ward level?  Does the candidate have qualifying education or experience to sit on council?

• Is the candidate “looking you in the eye”? Are they making empty promises?  Is the candidate telling you the truth, or what he/she thinks you want to hear? Is the response practical and achievable? Are they offering easy fixes to complex issues?