Guelph election upcoming

[vaneramos]

I can't remember whether I've ever voted in a municipal election before. Municipal government arguably has more direct influence over quality of life than federal or provincial, but I never know enough about the candidates.

This November I want to vote, because the current City Council has side-tracked Guelph from its tradition of strong environmental initiatives. This was one of the first communities in North America to pilot a blue box recycling program in the 1980s, but during the past three years the city started mixing dry and wet waste and trucking it across the border to be incinerated. The council, without extensive public consultation, has also scrapped an existing long-term development plan in favour of industry. This region of Ontario is experiencing rapid growth, so tactics like these are irresponsible.

I had already decided to vote for former mayor Karen Farbridge, who lost to Kate Quarrie in 2003. Farbridge is known for her sympathy toward environmental issues and a more transparent style.

Quarrie's website features grammatical errors and redundancies, plus this remarkable assertion: "My city includes everyone, not just unelected vocal special interest groups."

Tonight I did something unprecedented: spent two hours reviewing how councillors voted on major issues, as indicated by an emailed PDF file from Guelph Civic League. I decided against both Ward 1 incumbents, Laura Baily and Rocco Furfaro. My preference goes to two new candidates whose websites I found through Wikipedia of all things: Bob Bell and John Allan. Are we allowed to vote for one or two? I'm about to learn.

We will also be asked whether the city should retain the ward system as a method of electing councillors. I vote yes, wards offer a more democratic form of representation.

And I discovered this: The Fountain Pen, "Guelph's online newspaper".