Municipal Politics Matters

I grew up in a village in New Brunswick, where candidates running for office would campaign by waving from the side of the main road at cars driving by, creating a traffic jam as people slowed down to see if they could get any gossip on who their neighbours supported.

This, among many other reasons, is why I’m excited about Hamilton’s municipal election on Monday, Oct. 27. Hamilton’s population numbers over 500,000, rivalling the entire population of the province where I grew up. In cities like Hamilton, municipal politics matter.

Local politics are often an entry point into careers in politics, so the candidate you elect as your school trustee today may be tomorrow’s premier. Furthermore, many issues at both the Ward and mayoral level affect our daily lives in tangible ways.

If you live on Emerson you might be interested in Ward 1 candidates discussing turning the Emerson corridor into the next Locke street.

Or you might care about the proposal to make Main Street West a two way street and the impact this would have on traffic.

If you bike to campus you might want to read up on the candidates’ stance on bike lanes and how they interpret the results of the Cannon St. bike lanes.

At a mayoral level you might want to look up what candidates think about waste management or violence downtown. You may, like me, be intrigued by Brian McHattie’s proposal to create a nationally significant park in Hamilton.

Even though you may be from another city and see this as a temporary part of your life, while you’re at McMaster, you’re a Hamiltonian, and you get to help decide the path of our community.