The Blue Mountains Mayor Alar Soever would like to see all candidates running in the municipal election this fall get access to the entire voter’s list in their community.
Soever brought forward a notice of motion at his council’s meeting on May 10 that would encourage a province-wide standard for the provision of the voter’s list to candidates during the municipal election period.
Soever noted that some municipalities provide candidates with a list of the names of voters, but no addresses. He did stress that this is not an issue in The Blue Mountains, as candidates get the full voter’s list information.
The mayor said it is difficult for candidates to engage with voters in municipalities where the full list is not provided. He said this results in the “stifling” of local democracy.
“The more voters (candidates) reach, the more will get involved in democracy,” he said.
He said if council chooses to pass his motion he would like to see it sent to the Premier of Ontario, the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing and the Ontario Civil Liberties Association for consideration.
As this was a notice of motion, other members of council did not comment on the mayor’s intended resolution.
