By: Yildiz Subuk, Staff Writer
The federal and provincial governments dominate political discourse in Canada. They tend to make the news highlights and generate the most engagement from the Canadian population. However, local politics also affect a person’s day-to-day life. For example, they are responsible for building, maintaining, and improving a city’s infrastructure. The most recent by-election in Vancouver made clear that people are getting more involved. Participation in local politics has much to do with putting power in the hands of the local community.
Local governments, such as the Vancouver municipality, control factors such as: housing, education, transportation, and bylaws. While laws are appointed by the federal and provincial governments and apply to everyone in the country, bylaws are community-specific. Bylaw categories include waste management, noise control, and public safety. Each bylaw category can be tied to a larger issue that affects members of the community. For example, zoning focuses on how the housing is built and how many housing units are built. Zoning laws can also have a role to play in housing affordability, as they can create barriers to building more housing, which drives up the cost. What seem like minuscule factors in municipalities’ jurisdictions have a significant role in shaping a community.
Despite the importance of local elections, federal elections see more than twice the turnout. What might be causing the disparity in turnout? Both provincial and federal elections have some similarities, as they feature parties the public is familiar with and draw engagement through campaigning. Inversely, the campaigning gets less publicity during a municipal election, and there are no familiar parties, but individual candidates representing the people. This means voters must learn about each candidate to make the most informed decision. While these factors can make local elections difficult to keep up with, sources such as CivicInfo BC can provide valuable information on the candidates.
While it can seem like matters are stagnant, major changes come from the local level.
Even though local politics have had low engagement in the past, there has been a recent shift in BC. During the most recent by-election, which took place April 5. Sean Orr and Lucy Maloney — two progressive candidates — were elected as city councillors by a large margin. There has been an 84% increase in advance voting as compared to 2017, signifying an increased involvement with local politics. Currently, the people of Vancouver have been outraged by Ken Sim’s work as the mayor. Critics of the mayor and his party have complained they are building properties that are unaffordable for many, while targeting the unhoused population by spending money on law enforcement to dismantle encampments. Currently, 7 out of the 10 members of Vancouver’s city council are made up of ABC members, but in this current by-election, which focused on filling two spots, the city spoke loud and clear.
Orr launched his campaign focusing on housing rights, homelessness, and transportation, while Mulaney focused on protecting tenants and creating better mental health services. Meanwhile, ABC candidates failed to secure even a third of the votes. Orr is part of the coalition of progressive electors (COPE), which ran attacks on Sim, outing him for corruption. One of the campaign’s motto was “evict Ken Sim” which refers to how the mayor puts many people at risk due to making housing unaffordable. COPE targets the fact Sim wants to sell public land to private developers who can set expensive pricing for property. Affordability is being put in the hands of someone incapable. However, this time around the movement has gained traction and Orr received the most votes. Due to Sim’s policies, and clear devotion to upholding regressive standards favouring the elites, the general public stood in solidarity with Orr to ensure ABC has less autonomy within city council.
While it can seem like matters are stagnant, major changes come from the local level. The most recent by-election is a reminder that the needs of the communities can eclipse those who chase power to uphold elitist standards. Although federal and provincial politics are important, it is vital to not let them overshadow the local scale. When communities make informed decisions together, tangible change becomes more within grasp.
