Progressive choices in Ward 4

1. Please tell your progressive friends: don’t vote for Susan Stevenson. She’s a People’s Party of Canada supporter who is not progressive.
2. My ranked ballot in Ward 4 would include Fisher, Murphy and Nicolaidis. But we don’t have ranked ballots. Based on what I’m seeing in the ward, the three progressive candidates have different geographic bases of support within the ward. I trust the voters of Ward 4 to make a good collective decision tomorrow.
3. Make sure you vote!

If you care about climate action, a more affordable, compact city that’s easier to get around, whether you take the bus, cycle, walk or drive, a city that’s accessible and inclusive, ending homelessness, building housing that’s attainable and affordable…tomorrow is an important day.

In a ranked ballot election at the municipal level, deciding who to vote for is fairly easy. You can rank your top three candidates and if your first choice doesn’t get enough support from other voters to make it to the final ballot, your second choice is counted, and so on. But the provincial conservatives have forced us back to first-past-the-post, where you only get one choice.

I have been truly honoured to represent the residents of Ward 4 over the past eight years, where there are seven candidates running. The most similar election in the ward is probably the 2006 election, which had five candidates running and no incumbent. In that election, Stephen Orser was elected for the first time with 1,758 votes (29%). I’m worried about a similar outcome.

In this election, only four candidates attended the all-candidates’ meeting: Jarad Fisher, Colleen Murphy, Matt Nicolaidis and Susan Stevenson. Orser has abandoned his previous election strategy of spending a lot of money to put signs up on public property (he has no signs up at all) and mailing out thousands of flyers filled with lies in favour of standing in front of grocery stores and talking to residents.

The four candidates who participated in the all-candidates’ meeting all have support throughout the ward, visible from signs up that are up in people’s front yards and when talking with residents.

Thank you to the candidates, their families and the volunteers who have stepped up and done the hard work of campaigning (in some cases for months) in Ward 4. Our local democracy depends on people putting in the work.

Friends talk to their friends about not voting for Stevenson

One candidate who has quite a few signs up on private property (and clearly a well-funded campaign) is Susan Stevenson. Here’s the thing about Stevenson: she’s a major donor ($1,500+) to the People’s Party of Canada (in 2019 and 2020). In the 2019 election, here are just a few of the terrible ideas the People’s Party of Canada campaigned on:

1. Taking no meaningful action on climate change or reducing emissions because of the “uncertainties about the scientific basis of global warming.”
2. Repealing M-103, the anti-Islamophobia and anti-systemic racism motion passed in the House of Commons.
3. Cutting immigration by more than 50%, accepting fewer refugees, abolishing family reunification for parents and grandparents and building a fence between Quebec and the USA at Roxham Rd.

This is the kind of platform Stevenson not only supported but donated in a major way to support, both to the local riding association and the national party.

Residents in Ward 4 don’t all have the same political priorities. But the vast majority of residents do not support these terrible ideas: the PPC only received 8% in the 2021 federal election.

Even more concerning, in the early phase of the campaign (likely before she received a bunch of donations to pay for her new signs), Stevenson was reusing the election signs of Paul Gray, a PPC member, past candidate in Ward 4 and current candidate for school board trustee in Wards 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6. You don’t have to look hard to find his far-right, sexist and anti-LGBTQ and anti-Muslim posts on social media (I’m not linking directly to them). Gray has a Stevenson sign on his lawn.

So, progressive voters in Ward 4: don’t vote for Stevenson! And don’t vote for Gray, either. Gonzalez, Larsen, Osbourne and Kablawi are all much better options for school board trustee.

Progressive choices in Ward 4

Thanks to the Thriving London survey (Fisher, Murphy, Nicolaidis) and the candidates’ own websites (Fisher, Murphy, Nicolaidis), it’s fairly easy to get a sense of who the progressive candidates are in Ward 4. They agree on a lot of policy issues and priorities and I believe they would all do a good job as the councillor for Ward 4, although it is clear that they bring different backgrounds and experience to the role and would do it differently.

Murphy has the most experience as a citizen activist and has been working on a lot of the key issues facing our city and the ward for a long time (during, between and after elections). My entire time on serving on council, she has consistently advocated for the same issues she’s talking about now as a candidate. She knows her stuff and the people who know her from her work in the community as an advocate and artist or as a neighbour are supporting her throughout the ward, especially in the Northwest part of the ward. She’s a good communicator. I made a donation in support of her campaign but haven’t volunteered.

Nicolaidis has a lot of political organizing experience from his work on NDP campaigns and a real passion for issues that affect renters, which I love. We need a lot more of that in politics. He definitely has support from NDP volunteers and supporters, particularly North of Oxford St, but his very clear choice to use NDP branding on his signs and literature has not seemed to translate into widespread support at the municipal level, despite the fact that over 40% of the ward voted NDP in the 2021 federal election. Keep in mind that most tenants don’t have lawns, so support from tenants won’t be as visible as support from folks living in single-detached housing. I haven’t donated or volunteered on his campaign.

Fisher is relatively new to political campaigns but has been advocating on issues related to 15-minute cities during both my terms on council. He’s a policy wonk and he has clearly established a significant and visible base of support in Old East Village, where he lives. Similar to Murphy, his own neighbours really like him, with signs on virtually every other lawn all down the street. He also has visible support in many different neighbourhoods, from the Southeast to North of Oxford. I’ve been out canvassing with him myself a couple of times and he is doing well at the doors. I also donated to his campaign.

In 2014, Sheryl Rooth dropped out of the race in order to prevent Orser from being re-elected. It’s infuriating that we have been forced by the province back to a first-past-the-post system where voters can, once again, only make one choice. Sometimes people vote for the person who is most closely aligned with them on policy or best represents their lived experience or identity, or who seems to have the best approach to decision-making, or who has the best set of skills to convince other members of council, or who is close on one or several of these dimensions and has the best chance of winning (in their view).

Given the support Stevenson has throughout the ward, and her very problematic support for the People’s Party of Canada, progressive voters have a tough choice to make. If it were a ranked ballot, mine would include Fisher, Murphy, and Nicolaidis. But it’s not.

Now it’s up to the voters in Ward 4 to choose who the best person is to represent them. I trust they will make a great choice tomorrow.