Rural Election Coverage Disappearing

“National media coverage of rural Canada during elections is thin, and local outlets are disappearing. The overall quality of Canadian debate suffers.” So says Barry Wilson in the online magazine policyoptions.irpp.org as a long time rural resident myself I cannot help but agree and so will highlight a few of Mr Wilsons valid points below, the link above will take you to the full article.

Reaching voters thinly spread across large areas with often-poor internet connectivity can be a daunting and expensive task. But rural voters represent a powerful electoral force. When the voter base in a constituency is just a fraction the size of densely populated urban ridings, winning over an individual rural voter can carry more election-day weight than garnering the support of three or four urban voters.

Certainly its harder for candidates to get their message out in rural areas be it via the internet or in person due to both the distances involved and the reduced communications infrastructure however I disagree that the voter base size has much impact. A quick look at the chart of voter populations vs individual riding reveals that there is little correlation within each province, there is a difference between provinces however with the less populated provinces having as much as half the number of voters per riding.

However, if election coverage in 2019 follows the well-established historic pattern, rural issues and analysis will receive scant detailed attention.... Besides, national election outcomes rarely are decided in rural Canada, and a commitment to spend limited resources on expensive, in-depth rural issues research is a hard sell. For rural voters, the scant coverage of their issues means their infrastructure, income or market access concerns will lack the broader political attention needed....

Even the rural candidates themselves rarely talk much about 'local' issues the order of the day for most candidates be in in rural areas or larger centers seems to be regurgitating the party line of their particular 'leader'. Given that said 'leader' (or more accurately his handlers) 'vetted' said candidate before letting him stand under their polotical banner this is hardly surprising!

Meanwhile, the challenges and costs of investing in infrastructure and services for low-density populations spread over vast distances add complexities that do not exist when programs are delivered to concentrated urban areas.

“The reality is that the per capita costs of providing services in rural areas is far higher than providing comparable services in urban areas and the political payback is less because there are fewer people benefiting,”

Its the old story, the squeaky wheel get the grease and noises from rural areas seem to get lost in the cacophony issuing from urban populations.

“The local community paper, although an increasingly rare breed, is the best vehicle for covering local issues, and people read it cover to cover,” he told me. “Urban outlets try, but they quickly find rural issues are complicated, demands and needs are different than in urban ridings and reporters don’t have the background.”

A factor in the limitations of rural election coverage is the steady erosion of rural media outlets and independent voices. As in urban Canada, the number of rural media outlets is falling, centralized ownership is increasing and newsroom budgets are tightening.

“The erosion of rural media outlets and independent voices.....” The 'erosion' hardly covers it, how about the elimination? Sure there are paper published is some larger rural communities but they are by enlarge owned by and much of the content 'controlled' by multinational newspaper chains. The truly independent LOCAL paper is a rare breed indeed, as is LOCAL online community news coverage (although I see some encouraging developments of 'citizen run initiatives' in this area). Is it little wonder that rural issues receive so little attention.

One final note here about what is meant by 'rural', Statscan defines it as settlements of under 1000 folks or with less than 400 folks per sq km which certainly does not include many areas in 'rural riding's' which include many communities defined as Rural and Small Town having less than 100,000 occupants which then included small cities which clearly are not rural. In short its hard to say what is and is not a 'rural riding' and even harder to separate issues of 'small town' residents from those from true 'rural' folks, each with somewhat different issues that need addressing. Is it any wonder that someone elected to represent this diverse population at a legislature overwhelming comprised of 'big city folks' has difficultly getting anyone to understand the various complexities of rural communities!

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Who is running Ontario?

Dean French was Mr. Ford’s campaign chair. The day after the PCs won power in June, Mr. Ford named him his chief of staff. Since then, he has emerged as something even that job title can’t fully capture: an omnipresent force seen by some of the new government’s members as more powerful than the Premier who employs him.
So says an article in the G & M after said Mr French after he forced the firing of Alykhan Velshi from a job at the energy utility Ontario Power Generation on his first day on the job at a possible cost of $500,000 to Ontario taxpayers.

Mr. French is portrayed by insiders almost precisely as Mr. Ford’s critics perceive the new Premier to be: mercurial, bent on settling scores and indifferent to boundaries that his job usually involves. Most chiefs of staff keep relatively low profiles and make some show of deferring to elected representatives. Mr. French is an extreme exception!

There is the unusual control that Mr. French appears to exert over his government’s appointments processes. He is said to have a tendency to conduct negotiations for high-profile public positions presenting them to Mr. Ford as done deals. The reported $350,000 salary for Conservative insider Ian Todd to serve as Ontario’s trade representative in Washington was cited by multiple sources as an example.
In proceedings where political staff usually aren’t welcome to participate, he has taken a lead role including actively engaging in cabinet meetings, as well as the smaller committee of senior ministers who are supposed to set the government’s agenda. And he uses those positions to clamp down on any semblance of dissent both there and at caucus meetings..

With the above in mind I have to ask who exactly is the Ontario Conservatives 'Leader' the Premier or his chief of staff, I believe that Ford has never been more that a loud mouth 'figurehead' as evidenced by his refusal to interact with the Press in any meaningful way during the pre-election process. What we appear to have is an unelected 'aide' effectively running Ontario, giving the 'Premier' his speaking notes and effectively silencing those few conservative MPPs who dare to question any 'policies' Mr Ford has been told to bring forward.
A bit harsh you say? Time will tell, meanwhile keep your safety belts buckled for we are in for a rough ride!

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Democracy Under Ford?

This blog was started back in 2009 to highlight what I and my then blogging partner viewed as the declining respect for democracy by the then recently elected federal leader , one Stephen Harper. I now find myself appalled to see a similar mind set being displayed by the freshly elected Ontario leader Doug Ford who less than a month into his mandate is arbitrarily and with little or no consultation shutting down many long standing programs.

Whilst the specific programs and initiatives being discontinued are in my view more in need of a tweak or two than elimination it is the manner in which such changes are being announced or made that bothers me more. I doubt very much that the dozens of 'new' MPPs are even up to speed yet and I suspect that even those who are members of the Con inner circle have not been 'consulted' on any of the sudden and fundamental changes being almost daily announced by Ford. The announcement regarding the composition of Toronto council just as the election nomination process closed being one such example.

The Ontario legislature is somewhat different from the federal one which is where my focus was for nearly 10 years, it having no secondary chamber of checks and balances and with a majority government in power effectively has no limits upon legislation it can pass. Even it would seem being able to dictate to municipalities the composition of their councils without further debate, at least in the case of Toronto who discontinued their association with the Association of Municipalities of Ontario some years ago.

Even those smaller municipalities who are members of the AMO could in theory be dictated to by the province (i.e. Ford) in that they only have a Memorandum Of Understanding with the province who can override their wishes any time they wish (as happened during 'amalgamation). The AMO should be 'consulted' but has no recourse in law.....

“The objective of consultation with AMO is to receive input on proposals and to identify impacts that would arise from a proposed statutory or regulatory change and its implementation.

In the spirit of fairness, openness and good faith, any proposed change in legislation or regulations that, in Ontario’s opinion, will have a significant financial impact on the current municipal budget year or on the current municipal budget planning cycle will be accompanied by prior consultation.

….....Failure of the parties to comply with this Memorandum does not affect the validity of any action taken by the parties or give rise to any rights or remedies by the parties.

In short it seems that a majority Ontario government can dictate to any and all municipalities the structure and composition of their councils should they be so inclined. Under the current 'leader' and his minions that thought is very scary given his recent announcements and promised actions.

Less you think that such thoughts are alarmists you may wish to review a few of the actions of the Harper government before they really got rolling with their undemocratic agenda by viewing our early posts in the lists to the right.

 

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I'm Tired......

I'm tired of the impossible promises that Doug Fraud keeps spouting, many issued before his newly elected MPs (blindly Con supporters?) had a chance to have any say in the matter.

No one could accuse Ontario Premier Doug Ford's government of being unambitious in the agenda set out in its first speech from the throne. He did not say when Ontario motorists will see the price of gasoline drop 10 cents per litre, as he promised during the election campaign. That would be achieved by eliminating the cap-and-trade system, which accounts for 4.3 cents per litre, and reducing the excise tax by another 5.7 cents.

Lowering electricity bills. Cutting business and personal taxes. Reducing gas prices. Ensuring "long-term stable funding" for the health-care system. Adding 15,000 new, long-term care beds. Launching a commission of inquiry into government finances. Building a "world-class transit system" in the Toronto area.

I'm tired of hearing how incentives to reduce our carbon footprint, as modest as they are, are to be canceled and how much money 'we' will save. Fraud's expenditures (as shown on the Gov books) may well be reduced but at what cost to our climate, education and underprivileged?

Ontario's new Progressive Conservative government is canceling 758 renewable energy contracts, in what it says is an effort to reduce electricity bills in the province. Energy Minister Greg Rickford said the move will save provincial ratepayers $790 million -- a figure industry officials dispute, saying it will just mean job losses for small business.

In a statement Friday, Rickford said the government plans to introduce legislation during its summer sitting that would protect hydro consumers from any costs incurred from the cancellation. (Yeh right !!)

Ontario buyers of Tesla’s Model 3 sedan who are still waiting for their cars to be delivered have a difficult choice after the province’s new government cancelled a rebate program for buyers of electric vehicles – fork out $14,000 or give up on a car they have been waiting years to drive.

I'm tired of hearing about all these cuts with no alternative plans being offered to either industry or individuals effected

The new Education Minister, Lisa Thompson, announced Wednesday that schools in the fall would go back to teaching the 1998 curriculum, which predates same-sex marriage in Canada by seven years, and doesn’t include topics like cyber-bullying, social media or LGTBQ issues.

Thompson said the ministry is aiming to launch consultations for a new curriculum that could be introduced in the 2019-20 school year. (Oh yeah, that works, consult AFTER canceling the program!!)

I am even tired of the BS being disseminated in order to justify the expansion of pipeline capacity from the tarsands in Alberta to the waters of the BC coast and parts west. I understand somewhat the need by Alberta and the oil barrens to promote this 'resource' but I have yet to see the question asked as to why said 'oil' is not processed at the source thus eliminating the need to dilute it for 'transport' with further pollutants and increasing to capacity of the existing pipeline. If you must ship oil then ship oil not dilbit!

I'm tired of politicians in general and right wing ones in particular for whom the words cooperation and consultation or even respectful debate are just words to use in speeches but to avoid actually doing. To finish up this rant I can only include the following comments from Owen Grey's blog a little while ago which sum it up nicely......

I recall us having a leader who wasn't interested in evidence of the sort provided by officials and experts. His name was Stephen Harper. While voters eventually gave him the toe, Ontarians still haven't learned to ignore politicians offering tax cuts and easy fixes for complex problems.
Cap

That's exactly what's depressing about the recent Ontario election, Cap. Despite ten years of Stephen Harper, it would appear that a good segment of the province's voters -- not a majority, but enough to win a majority government -- haven't learned a thing.

Owen

I am so very, very tired of the political BS from all 'leaders' that further commentary may be some time coming!

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Voting A B C

I'm voting ABC ….. Any But Conservative ! Whilst I have nothing against our local conservative MPP and actually liked our previous MPP of the same persuasion, one Bill Murdoch now retired after putting the local needs ahead of provincial politics for many years, the new 'leader' is something else.

Frankly the thought of Ford in control of our province scares the living shit out of me, I am firmly convinced that he will do and say anything to gain power, nothing he says can be taken at face value, his figures (what few he has provided) do not add up and he even makes Wynne look almost palatable!

That leaves some very difficult choices, if I was voting for the leaders it would be no choice and NDPs Horwath is way better than the other choices, yes I have some concerns with their former strong affiliation with the unions, who in my view have become far to powerful in influencing political decisions, but they are looking to be the best choice provincially. But we vote for our local candidate and such choice may or may not have much influence upon which party holds the reigns of power when its all done. So whilst I think that my choice will be my local NDP candidate much will depend upon who I perceive to have the best chance of unseating the current conservative MPP and if that looks like being the liberal candidate then so be it.

One of the problems up here in what the GTA crowd think of as the boonies is that finding out who here has the most support is next to impossible, unlike in the 'big city' it is doubtful if we we see any pre-vote poll results for our riding and so its a guessing game. Perhaps I will just have to flip a coin it makes just about as much sense as anything else when I am voting against an individual who is not even on my voters list.......

No wonder the turnout is generally only around 50% !

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Promises, promises, promises...

With the Ontario election period rapidly approaching the major political partys are busy trying to buy your votes with your own money (or actually promises to spend it by putting various shiny things in the window) whilst at the same time using 'creative accounting' to say how much it will cost. With the daily revolving door of promises and attacks its hard to keep up so much of my commentary will be 'last weeks news' however here are a few observations regarding a few recent announcements.

First up the child care thing where they all are promising the impossible in which they promise unavailable spaces for all in some distant time in the future!

The Ontario Liberals are set to unveil a pre-election budget with billions in new spending, including a plan to provide fully government-funded child care for preschoolers by 2020.
(costing) $2.2-billion over the next three years to provide child care from the time children turn 2½ until they are eligible for kindergarten.
For every parent, even those in rural areas without access to 'aproved' child care spaces?
The NDP child-care plan would be phased in over five years, would be free for households that earn $40,000 or less, and would grow to include infants, toddlers and preschoolers.
Fees for parents earning more than $40,000 would be based on ability to pay and the party says the average fee for families would be $12 a day. The party projects five consecutive deficits to pay for its plan, with a $3.3 billion deficit in 2018-2019 and a $1.9 billion deficit in 2022-2023.
A more reasonable plan with a sliding scale of user pay but like the other plans I have to ask 'what of those parents who cannot access external child care and have to (or choose to) care for their own children at home (with the associated costs of doing so including loss of income)?
Ontario's Progressive Conservatives announced Saturday that if elected in the province's spring election, they will cover up to $6,750 of childcare costs for Ontario families through a tax rebate program.
Low-income families would receive 75 per cent of their child-care costs back, at a maximum of $6,750; higher income families would receive an incrementally lower rate, bottoming out at 26 per cent of child-care costs for families earning $150,000 or more.

So up to about half (they say 75%) of the typical 'approved' child care costs as a tax credit, guess you would have to be in that 150,000 bracket to get any back, the poor low income bugger trying to survive on minimum wage wont get much (if any) benefit (you have to pay it in first to get a 'credit!).

As someone who raised their children at home without child care subsidies I could say more on this but recognize that the situation in urban areas may be much different from those for us rural residents both in access to services and to 'subsidies' but both should have the same access to funds.

Whilst on the subject of the Ontario PCs I see that Doug Trump (sorry Doug Ford, its hard to tell the difference sometimes) has now not only denied the press access to his campaign bus but is now producing his own 'news reports' where his spin and BS cannot be questioned or edited by the real press. Gota keep those lieing 'fake news' purveyors from reporting on gods gift to the Ontario Voter, one Rob (my shovels bigger than yours) Ford. Given that he will say and do anything that is convienent to his narrative its not surprising that he does not want 'independent' news reporting, take the reversal of the pave over the green belt idea and now the firing of Granic Allen the 'king maker' who he once endorsed and now rejects. Like his buddy to the south you cannot believe a word he says, its going to be hard (if not impossible) to select a 'good' government in Ontario but the above eliminates one choice without further consideration! 

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