Your address matters
Posted Sep 22, 2010 03:28:41 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Where you live could go a long way in determining your success in the municipal election campaign. But perhaps not for the reasons you may think.
Of the 91 candidates registered in Kitchener, Waterloo and Cambridge, about a quarter are running to represent wards in which they do not live, including some incumbents. And according to a 570 News poll conducted Tuesday, 91 per cent of you believe it’s important for a candidate to live in the ward where they’re running.
While there is no rule stating that a candidate must live in the ward in which they’re running, some experts believe it’s helpful.
“You don’t have to live there to actually know the issues (in the riding),” admits Dr. Rob Leone, political science professor at Wilfrid Laurier University. “You could work there, you could drive through there, you could have lots of family or friends there and spend some time there to understand the ins and outs of these things.”
But Leone is quick to point out that voters may be reluctant to send someone to council who they feel lacks the intimate knowledge of the neighbourhood in which they live. Leone also thinks that candidate will be put in a position of having to explain how they can effectively represent some people who are not their neighbours.
And it also leaves the door open for the competition when it comes to campaign strategy.
“If I was running against somebody who didn’t live in my ward, I would certainly bring that up as being opportunistic,” Leone states.
Leone believes some candidates have used the “no boundary” rules as a part of their own strategy, running where there is no incumbent to improve their own chances of success. In other cases, Leone thinks some candidates may choose not to run in a particular ward because they had a friend running there and did not want to compete against them.
Despite the fact there is no legislation that requires a candidate to live where he or she is running, Leone believes voters will have the final say. If we refuse to elect representatives who are running where they do not live, Leone says candidates will eventually get the message.
