{"id":8876,"date":"2014-11-05T12:47:36","date_gmt":"2014-11-05T17:47:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=8876"},"modified":"2014-11-12T17:46:43","modified_gmt":"2014-11-12T22:46:43","slug":"politics-as-usual-third-parties","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/politics-as-usual-third-parties\/","title":{"rendered":"POLITICS AS USUAL: Third Parties"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Alison Collins-Mrakas<\/strong><\/p>\n

Apparently Aurora was not the only municipality to have an episode of \u201cflyer-gate\u201d in the recent election.
\nNewmarket also had some flyers circulating about candidates just prior to the election. The flyers in question also had the same kind of message that the \u201cnasty\u201d flyer in Aurora had \u2013 who not to vote for.
\nThat was pretty much the sum total of what the flyers had to say. No reason why. Just don\u2019t do it. At least the Aurora flyers had cartoonish \u201creasons\u201d why folks shouldn\u2019t vote for the incumbents and, therefore, vote for the list of preferred candidates on the back.
\nThe Newmarket flyer didn\u2019t mention any other candidates.
\nThis brings me to my own concern about the flyers.
\nIt\u2019s not the messaging that troubles me most \u2013 though I do have to say that I find it curious that folks behind the flyers would be that blunt as to say \u201cdo NOT vote for candidate X\u201d. Usually there is a bit more subtlety in the messaging, and there\u2019s good reason for that.
\nPeople do not like to be told who to vote for and even less who not to vote for.
\nYou must at least give the illusion of informed choice. Ordering someone to not vote for someone takes away the face-saving artifice of campaign messaging. It gives the impression that you think that folks are either too dumb to make their own decisions or, worse, can be bullied\/scared\/fear-mongered into voting for the candidate in question.
\nNot a good strategy in my books.
\nIt\u2019s not the messaging itself but rather the fact that it is third party messaging that causes me to wrinkle my nose and say, \u201chmmmm\u2026 this smells bad.\u201d Regardless of the office sought, as a candidate you have to declare your campaign expenses.
\nIt\u2019s usually pretty straightforward at the municipal level. Advertisements in local papers, door knockers, signs etc. Nothing too elaborate.
\nThird party advertising gets around those rules \u2013 campaign finance limits, responsibility for messages on behalf of candidates. All of it.
\nThird parties are folks ostensibly not aligned with, or part, of a particular campaign that are nonetheless allowed to advertise on behalf of a candidate and influence the voter.
\nThey are allowed to use their own money (unlimited amounts) for their personal support of a particular candidate.
\nThey can create nasty flyers or adverts on behalf of a candidate, while the candidate keeps his or her hands clean. And if it goes south, then the candidate can say it was \u201cthe other side\u201d that created them to make him\/her look bad.
\nAt the provincial and federal levels, there are rules for how and how much third-party advertising can occur. Third-party advertisers have to register with the Chief Electoral Officer once they spend $500.
\nAll third-party adverts require a statement of authorization and those who pay for them must file financial statements following the election.
\nBut, at the municipal level, things get pretty murky.
\nNo declarations are required. We have a situation where pretty much anything goes. You can buy enormous billboards saying \u201cDon\u2019t vote for Candidate X\u201d and there\u2019s nothing Candidate \u201cX\u201d can do about it.
\nThe only solace we have is that the stakes at the municipal level are too low to warrant the interference of nefarious folks bent on spending millions of dollars to influence the outcome of a local election.
\nBut it is possible, and that\u2019s my point.
\nWhy allow for even further avenues for mudslinging? Local politics is already pretty nasty stuff these days. Why not close this gap and bring in the same rules that exist for provincial and federal elections?
\nIf there are folks out there that want to use their money to sway the electorate in one way or another, that\u2019s perfectly fine. But there should be a set of rules by which they must abide. It\u2019s not a perfect solution, but it is better than the Wild, Wild West we have right now!
\nUntil next week, stay informed, stay involved because this is \u2013 after all \u2013 Our Town.<\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Alison Collins-Mrakas Apparently Aurora was not the only municipality to have an episode of \u201cflyer-gate\u201d in the recent election. Newmarket also had some flyers circulating about candidates just prior to the election. The flyers in question also had the same kind of message that the \u201cnasty\u201d flyer in Aurora had \u2013 who not to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8876","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archive"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-2ja","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-01 04:37:07","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8876","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8876"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8876\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8876"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8876"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8876"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}