We are now just days away from our North Shore mayoral, council and school board elections. This election, like most in recent memory on the North Shore, seems to hinge on a fundamental question. Should our municipal councils enshrine what is familiar and much loved or accommodate local change in a rapidly changing world?
It’s a heavy proposition to place on the shoulders of the populace. But if the past is any indication, barely a third of eligible voters will bother to show up. It’s a number we should all strive to see higher. Much higher. The polls close at 8 p.m. on election night, Oct. 15. Grab a friend on your way. Grab two, even. We believe the quality of our governance later reflects the quality of our engagement now.
If you’re feeling an obligation to exercise your franchise but you don’t want to spend the next few days cramming for the final exam, we’ve got a good study guide for you. We have now published our popular pre-election questionnaire with responses from candidates in the City of North Vancouver, District of North Vancouver and District of West Vancouver. The rest of our council coverage can be found on our election page.
You’ll find our ballots are a bit crowded with candidates, so we urge to you to apply some critical thinking. For politicians, it’s all too easy to campaign on motherhood and apple pie issues like affordable housing or rapid transit without saying how they’ll achieve it. It’s better to bone up, because the ballot of a well-informed voter counts equally as one cast by someone who bumbled into the ballot box without having done the required reading.
And when the polls are closed and the counting begins, we’ll see you there.
What are your thoughts? Send us a letter via email by clicking here or post a comment below.
