As with and any election, we get bombarded by signs, adverts, brochures, and door-to-door canvassing; it is all part of our cherished democratic process to elect individuals to office.
But who’s the person behind the name? I would expect that most voters really don’t know the municipal candidates from a hole in the ground. All we have to go on are sound bites in a newspaper advert or pamphlet. Are they clones? It may appear so, as they all fill us with the same rhetoric about open government, fiscal responsibility, community safety, etc. “No one has a platform” was my son’s response, who at 19 is ready to vote.
So, who are they? I have met a candidate’s wife repeatedly on the street, but not him; does he exist? One candidate is from the neighbourhood, while a few others I have been involved with from Oak Bay youth sports and school committees.
Here’s the quandary: considering that the adverts and/or pamphlets don’t quite match how a candidate performed on a committee, how close to reality are the adverts for those candidates I don’t know at all? As for the school trustees, I’m at a total loss.
Since candidates’ true colours are questionable; what’s in a name becomes very significant. Frightening, but it may just come down to whether a candidate’s name is closer to the top of the ballot, has the most boulevard signs, or simply a nice-sounding name.
Hally Hofmeyr
Oak Bay