The Regina Municipal Election and Voter Alienation

By Greg Hluska

University of Regina Political Science Professor and regular Regina Streets (Print) Magazine contributor, Joyce Green was recently interviewed for a Leader-Post article on the municipal election campaign. Green was speaking about how quiet the campaign has been:

Joyce Green says that could be a sign of citizen satisfaction with the status quo, but it is more likely a symptom of voter alienation in an unhealthy system.

“People are detached — maybe from municipal politics, but I would say more generally all of our formal political processes,” she said. “In a democracy, this is a terrible thing. We ought to be having important public discussions about public policy … (and) we’re not.”

So far, this campaign has been incredibly quiet and nobody seems all that willing to ’stir the pot’.  Several races have been uncontested, including the City Council race for Ward 4, in which Michael Fougere has been acclaimed.

I have been shocked at how little interest the citizens of Regina are showing in this election campaign.  And, frankly, I am even more amazed that candidates have not shown a willingness to discuss important issues and create controversy.

Take the City of Regina’s draconian Tag Day Permit law.  This law makes it illegal to panhandle in the City of Regina.  Despite the facts that this law is completely discriminatory and that it seeks to criminalize visible poverty, not one single candidate has gone on the record as being against it.

As for the youth, based on my experience, the 18 – 25 year old crowd could not care less about this municipal election.  In all my years interested in the political system, I have never seen that age group so detached from civic politics – few youth  even know there is an election going on, and even fewer plan on voting.  This is a bad sign, not only for City Council, but for the future of Canadian democracy.

Think about it – one day, this current 18 – 25 year old demographic will take control over Canada’s political system.  What will happen if they are not informed voters?  What will happen if this apathy (or withdrawal in disgust) continues?  Will our elections have turnouts of less than 40%?  Will taking 20% of eligible voters be enough to form a majority government in Canada?  Will our democratic system break down completely?

I would like to open three questions up to all of you.  Why are so many voters alienated?  What can be done to combat voter alienation?  And, if this trend towards alienation continues, what does the future of Canadian democracy look like?