Toronto council reversal on ranked ballots criticized
Proponents of ranked ballots note the public was not given a chance for input before city council reversed its support.

TheStar.com
Oct. 2, 2015
David Rider

Torontonians were shut out of city councillors’ surprise rejection of electoral reforms that aimed to increase diversity and reduce incumbents’ advantage in being re-elected, say proponents of ranked ballots.

Thursday night’s council vote, urging the province not to allow municipalities to use ranked ballots, was very different than one in 2013, where the previous council embraced the change, said Dave Meslin, co-ordinator of 123Ontario.

Two years ago, he noted, councillors had seen Torontonians give presentations and submit written input at two committees before they voted 26-15 to ask the province to let the city use a system whereby voters rank candidates in order of preference, and nobody wins without support from more than half of voters.

This time, there was no chance for public input before rookie Councillor Justin Di Ciano proposed that Toronto reverse its stand. The motion, part of debate on proposed changes to the City of Toronto Act, passed 25-18, with the support of seven councillors who reversed their earlier support for ranked ballots.

“It was out of the blue, and there was no chance for any consultation whatsoever,” Meslin said.

“There’s no doubt that self-preservation is a motivation for a lot of councillors to not support ranked ballots... There’s a lot of unpopular councillors who are winning their seats because of the current system where the majority of their constituents are voting against them.”

Under ranked ballots, a candidate with a majority of first-place votes — 50 per cent plus one — wins, just as in the current system. If nobody meets that threshold, the candidate with the fewest first-place votes is knocked out. The second-place choices of that candidate’s supporters are added to the totals of the remaining hopefuls, and so on, until somebody has a majority.

“The way it happened was entirely undemocratic; it really feels underhanded,” said Katherine Skene, of Ranked Ballot Initiative. “But we’re hopeful that there is still the possibility for change.”

In an interview, Di Ciano rejected the criticism, saying his motion just reflected the views of a duly elected city council that had not yet had its say on ranked ballots.

He proposed the motion, he said, because city staff who canvassed councillors for a committee told him most councillors are no longer keen on a major shakeup.

“My understanding is this whole initiative was brought forward because we’ve got problems in this city, we’re not happy with the performance of our government,” Di Ciano said. “That has nothing to do with who is in the (council) chairs.”

In fact, he argued that ranked ballots would boost incumbents’ re-election chances. “You’re going to vote for your friend, and you’ve got to put a second choice and the name you know is the (sitting) councillor,” he said.

Asked why he changed his mind on ranked ballots, Councillor Gary Crawford, the budget chief, said: “I guess I’ve reconsidered when I’m looking at, you know, whether or not ranked balloting is something — I just felt it was better to stick with the status quo.”

Councillor Jaye Robinson, the public works chair, told the Star she thought she was just voting for a review of ranked ballots, rather than outright rejection of it.

The motion states the province should not proceed with amendments to provide for “ranked choice voting” and that, if it does, it be optional for Toronto and permitted only after public consultations and a referendum.

Mayor John Tory voted against that motion. He still supports the use of ranked ballots, a spokeswoman said.

Last fall’s Toronto election saw only one sitting councillor defeated, with split votes helping to pave the way for the return of many veterans. Sixteen council members, including Tory, were chosen by fewer than half the voters.

The overwhelmingly white and male 45-member council — with 14 women and seven members of visible minority communities — looks little like Toronto.

Despite Toronto council’s vote, the provincial government is forging ahead with plans to give Ontario municipalities the option of using ranked ballots, said Mark Cripps, senior communications adviser to Municipal Affairs Minister Ted McMeekin.