Letters

Wards are parochial “by definition”

November 5, 2014   ·   0 Comments

I read with interest Mr. Greenhough’s letter. He points out that I state a ward system is parochial.
I reiterate that by the very definition of the word, it is.
In my opinion, what is wrong with that as it relates to wards is that it puts the wants or needs of a small area first and the best interest of the town as a whole second. Not conducive to a small-town atmosphere.
As far as the comment Aurora is not a small town anymore, I disagree; geographically we are a small town and even by population I don’t think we could be considered a big town. Anyway, there are many municipalities in Ontario that are much larger than Aurora in area and/or population that also successfully have an at-large system.
As to Mr. Greenhough’s comment “how can an individual Councillor possibly be interested in all Aurora’s neighbourhoods?” I, for one, care and I am interested in what happens in every part of Aurora and I would think an elected Councillor would also. In fact, I would be very surprised if any of the recent 28 candidates would state they are not interested in every neighborhood in Aurora.
Mr. Greenhough goes on to say my comment that a ward system is less democratic is not logical. Quite the contrary, in our present system each and every Councillor is directly answerable to me as an elector. In a ward system the majority of Councillors making decisions that affect me and my town would not be accountable to me.
That does not seem to fit the definition of democracy.
Mr. Stasila in his letter appears to put forth the argument that our present at large system is too onerous on us electors because we had to decide eight positions from a slate of 28 candidates.
My dad and millions of men and women like him gave six years (1939 to 1945) of their lives and many of them made the ultimate sacrifice in order for us to have the luxury of the Democratic privilege of voting for our representatives.
If we can’t take a few hours every four years to choose who we wish to represent us, even if it means reading through 28 pamphlets, then perhaps we don’t deserve that privilege.
In any event, I am heartened to see that the majority of my fellow voters in Aurora recognize the benefits of our at-large system and have indicated to our incoming Councillors that we do not wish a ward system.

Graham Wride
Aurora

         

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