Calgary is reviewing the costs of transit passes and considering making adjustments. At present an annual pass for seniors costs $55/year, while a monthly pass for low-income individuals costs $40 per month. The city is considering offering a further discount for low-income individuals and making it easier for them to access recreational services, transit and tax assistance.
Preliminary calculations for ballots cast in Saturday's municipal election show that only 29.51% of eligible voters cast ballots. The municipality of Greenwood had the highest voter turnout at 69.84% and Chilliwack had the lowest with 17.50 %. Read more at CivicInfo BC.
In a newly released Centre for Civic Governance poll, 67.1% of British Columbians surveyed said they would be in favour of their municipality adopting a living wage bylaw which would ensure that all directly-employed city staff, as well as staff contracted by the city to work on service contracts are paid a locally calculated living wage. This response reflects a key concern for many: the economy. When asked about issues, 32% of British Columbians expressed strong concern about the economy.
The Saanich Civic League has released a report card giving voters information on how individual councillors voted on specific issues. The Saanich Civic League is a non-partisan group, but they acknowledge the report card only covers a portion of the votes cast in council, and shows mainly where council votes were not unanimous.
The city of Vancouver has doubled the number of advance polling days, mailed a package with voting info, including candidate's bios to every household in the city, developed a voter iPhone app that includes civic news, and is using social networks such as facebook and twitter to get the word out. The city had also hoped to allow an advance poll on-line voting pilot project, but the province rejected the proposal.
Fabrice Murtin, an OECD economist in Paris, and Romain Wacziarg, a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, compared 74 countries’ democracy scores from 1870 to 2000 with their educational attainment. The study found that primary education had a far greater Impact on participating in democracies than did income. The authors suggest that primary schooling leads to higher literacy amongst populations and that literacy is one of the keys to political participation. Read
One year later Calgary's Mayor Naheed Nenshi is as popular as ever. With an 86% approval rating, Nenshi has the support to make things happen. Since taking office he's added 144,000 transit hours, built 3 new libraries, and the city is in the process of adding 4 new recreation facilities. All these changes come with a cost, but citizens are supportive of the 10.4 per cent tax hike. Nenshi's popularity has a lot to do with his citizen engagement strategy.
Moncton's low voter turnout – at 35% - is not unusual across Canada, but rather than accept the status quo, the city is looking at ways to increase turnout. Some councillors blame the Province, which has reduced the number of polling stations, creating line-ups so long some would-be-voters are turned off. Others think the current rules around campaign contributions and advertising spending need to be addressed. The city is putting together a Citizen's Committee to address the matter and find solutions.
Hamilton Ontario has created a voluntary climate action charter that can be used by local individuals, businesses and organization to foster communication and commitment on addressing climate change. Signees are expected to keep informed on climate change issues, set targets, show leadership, report annually on climate change measures, and to educate fellow Hamilton residents. A copy of the charter can be found here.
Many on-reserve First Nations don't have government issued id which has made voting difficult or impossible in the past. Saskatchewan's chief electoral officer is changing the rules in time for the upcoming election allowing people to vote if they have a witness on hand to vouch for their identity. Read more at the CBC.
