Dear editor:
Full disclosure: I volunteered on Marcus Wong’s mayoral campaign, my first foray into local politics.
People reading this may dismiss my words as biased or sour grapes; I would have written this win or lose. I speak only for myself.
I wish I could say the experience was a good one and that I would do it again. Yes, I met some great people. Yes, I learned a lot. Unfortunately, most of what I learned has left me shaken and disturbed. During this election cycle I observed:
- intimidation, both verbal and written;
- circulation of disinformation and misinformation;
- racism;
- homophobic and hateful graffiti on candidates’ signs;
- social media sites that became little more than venues to spout vitriol and attack candidates;
- organizations (whether registered as a third party sponsor or not) supporting candidates even though their websites or newsletters claim they are nonpartisan and/or claim they do not endorse candidates;
- all-candidates meetings of questionable efficacy and three of the four meetings consisted of pre-formulated questions without opportunity for attendees to participate;
- candidates who appear to have violated the Local Elections Campaign Financing Act by failing to include the mandatory financial agent information on campaign materials that require it; and
- mayoral and council candidates who ran as a slate, which, while efficient, carries potential risks if/when elected.
Am I the only one aware that these things happened? Of course not. Will anyone else stand up and speak out?
Have election campaigns in the District of West Vancouver always been like this? Maybe. Or have we adopted the United States’ playbook of division and “win at any cost” while convincing ourselves that we, as Canadians, are better than this and would never engage in this kind of politics?
Election campaigns like this one will not help turnaround voter apathy and low turnout (35.2 per cent of eligible residents voted this election, down from 38.3 per cent in 2018). The new council, while legitimate, was elected by just over one-third of eligible residents, who do not fully represent the diversity in West Vancouver.
This community faces urgent issues. I would add another one: Who are we? Who do we want to be? How will the answers be reflected in our values, behaviour and elections going forward?
West Vancouver is not looking very beautiful right now.
Melanie Hess
West Vancouver
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