If Only Canada’s Youth Were to Vote!

Canada’s youth would elect a Liberal minority government, with a substantial increase in representation for the New Democrats, Bloc Québécois, and Greens. This is according to projections based on recent polls of Canadians between the ages of 18 and 24. The Conservative Party would be severely reduced, virtually wiped out east of Manitoba.

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Breaking Down Canada’s Youth Vote

An analysis of EKOS polling conducted between July 7 and Sept. 28 suggests the Liberal Party would have the national support of 23.9 per cent of young Canadians and would win 104 seats if only those between the ages of 18 and 24 voted. While that be would be a dramatic increase over the 76 seats the party currently holds in the House of Commons, it would be well below the 155 needed to form a majority government.

The Liberals lead among young Canadians in British Columbia and Ontario, where the party would earn 27.7 and 31.8 per cent support, respectively. The party would even win a seat in the Edmonton area and elect 58 MPs in Ontario.

The Bloc Québécois would form the Official Opposition with 60 seats, won with 13.5 per cent support nationally and 39.2 per cent support in Quebec. They would face little opposition in the province, with the Liberals at 19.4 per cent, the Greens at 16.3 per cent and the Conservatives well behind with only 11 per cent support. It would be enough, however, for the Tories to hold on to Maxime Bernier’s seat in the Beauce.

The New Democrats have the support of 18.4 per cent of young Canadians, which would give them a total of 53 seats. The party would elect three MPs in Alberta, where they have the support of 23.1 per cent of the province’s youth. The NDP would also keep their Outremont riding in Montreal and win 12 seats in the Prairies, where the party leads with 31.6 per cent support.

The Conservative Party would be decimated, reduced to only 46 seats and 18.8 per cent support nationally. They would maintain only 20 per cent support in Ontario and elect just one MP in the province, while they would be wiped out in Atlantic Canada and place third in British Columbia with 23.1 per cent support.

With Canada’s youth seemingly uninspired by the country’s two main parties, many throw their support to the Greens. With 22 per cent, the Green Party is the second most popular choice among those aged 18 to 24, who would elect 43 Green MPs to the House of Commons. Most of these would be from Ontario, where the Greens would win 29 seats outside of Toronto and in the southwestern region of the province. The party would also perform well in Atlantic Canada, securing seven seats in New Brunswick and three in Nova Scotia.

But according to Elections Canada, only 37 per cent of eligible voters between the ages of 18 and 24 exercised their democratic duty during the 2008 federal election, compared to 59 per cent among all age groups. This lack of political engagement of Canada’s youth makes it far more difficult for a party like the Greens to make any headway, and contrasts sharply with the 68 per cent of Canadians over the age of 65 who voted in the last election.

Based solely on the support of Canada’s most elderly citizens, the Conservative Party would be swept to a huge majority with 192 seats and 44 per cent of the vote, with support levels topping 50 per cent in the western provinces and Atlantic Canada. The Liberals would win 106 seats and 34 per cent of the vote with strong performances in Quebec and Ontario.

However, the New Democrats and Greens would not elect any MPs and would both be below the 10 per cent mark in national support. The Bloc Québécois would be reduced to only nine seats scattered throughout Quebec, where the Liberals would win 55 seats and the Conservatives ten.

The political landscape would radically change if the Canada’s youth voted in similar proportions to the rest of the population. Getting them to vote now is the greatest challenge facing smaller parties, since it’s in no way guaranteed young Canadians will feel the same way they do today when they begin to vote in greater numbers over the next decade.

Apathetic Voters

According to Karen Howlett in her article on October 18^th, in the Toronto Globe and Mail, “interest in politics is declining at every level of government across the country, especially among young people.”

Apathy and Age

In the 2007 provincial election in Ontario, only 53 per cent of voters cast ballots, this was an all-time low. The turnout in the last federal election was 59 per cent, Canada’s lowest turnout ever.

According to an analysis of the 2008 federal election done by Elections Canada, turnout steadily increases with age, from 37.4 per cent for 18-to-24 year olds, up to 68.4 per cent for 65-to-74 year-olds.

“Young people don’t vote,” says David Taras, a professor of political science at Mount Royal University in Calgary. “If you have white hair or no hair, you vote.”

Why worry about voter apathy?

With increasingly smaller numbers Canadians exercising their right to vote, governments at all levels are elected based on the desires of a shrinking number of people. This small group is making decisions for everyone who is eligible to vote, and that is breeding apathy in an electorate that feels the government doesn’t really represents its views.  

What is being done?

In Ontario, new rules governing provincial elections allow “snowbirds” wintering in Florida and others living away from home on Election Day to mail in their ballots. Polls will also stay open an extra hour in the province.

The irony is that as the rules become more flexible, the turnout rate continues to fall. Perhaps it’s because the changes don’t reflect bigger issues. Many Canadians are deeply disaffected by electoral politics, they care about how their money is spent, but it is hard to monitor that spending when each new government blames the one before it when it comes to budgeting.

Can one man’s fight to make a difference?

Joe Finkle, 23 is Vice-President of McMaster University’s students union, and he is embroiled in a fight with the City of Hamilton over its decision to yank its polling station at the university because of poor turnout in the 2006 municipal election, when only 10 students voted on campus.

Municipal governments, Finkle explains to students, deal with such issues as sewage, water and emergency services and are a bit like your mother.  “They take care of the little things that nobody ever thinks of,” “But if they were to disappear, you would sorely miss them.”  

Some of those little things are costly and without a government that can monitor expenses and find ways to keep on track, everyone would lose.

While it may seem like a small piece of the electoral pie – printing is something to consider. What does it cost to print all those election posters, voting ballots, invoices, cheques, receipts, statements, etc?

According to folks like Joe Finkle, it just might be the youth; with their MBA’s will be taking the time to evaluate, not just the politics, but the performance monetarily speaking of those who might be elected.

To check out what might happen if only youth were to vote watch for my next blog!

Ten Ideas to Save Municipalities Money

The article by Charles Bens that was published on www.TaxPayer.com  points out the importance of recognizing that any government agency needs to be aware of cost saving efficiencies. As a company that can help save any municipality money, I’m happy to share the following article.  

Ron Ireland 

Ten Ideas to Save Municipalities Money by Charles Bens

Each year, municipal councils go through the ritual of preparing a budget for the coming year, and each year they struggle to find places where they can save beleaguered taxpayers some of their precious tax dollars. In the past few years, newly formed rate payer groups have been established to assist in this process.

However, the good intentions of council members do not always produce wise spending decisions. They are often unaware of where to look for the best cost savings and how to achieve them. The following suggestions are offered to provide some assistance to would-be municipal budget cutters.

#1 Refuse Collection

The town of Oakville, in southern Ontario, has succeeded in saving $240,000 a year in refuse collection costs through a combination of recycling measures and the adoption of more efficient trash collection practices. The town has switched to a one man truck system, which reduce costs 20-40% from the traditional two and three person crew system.

The town attempted to privatize refuse collection shortly after these efficiency measures were introduced but the town s public works employees submitted the lowest bid and retained the service with the introduction of even more efficient routes and effective utilization of personnel. This example makes two important points; the threat of privatization is a strong motivating force and the public sector can compete with the private sector if they want to.

#2  Fire Protection

As financial resources continue to dwindle, there is growing recognition that paying firefighters handsome salaries to sit at the station waiting for a fire to occur is inefficient and costly. Some municipalities have required their firefighters to take on other duties, such as rebuilding or even constructing fire trucks or repairing parking meters. Others have implemented comprehensive inspection and fire prevention programs which utilize the knowledge of these highly trained employees. Such programs are proving highly successful, and often lead to reductions in property loss and insurance premiums, savings which benefit the entire community. Some forward looking municipalities have gone so far as to contract out their fire protection services to private contractors, while others augment their force with more volunteers, allowing them to reduce the number of full-time staff.

#3  Policing

A community s police service is one of the most difficult municipal services to reform. The safety of our families is important, and changes to policing is an emotional issue. Further, police departments are usually governed by autonomous boards. Nevertheless, there are significant opportunities to cut costs without sacrificing public safety simply by evaluating the budget received by the Department before it is approved by the municipal government.

The best way to reduce costs is to identify ways to use police more efficiently and thus provide the same level of service with fewer people. Some municipalities have reduced paperwork performed by high salaried police officers, by providing them with tape recorders and computers, allowing them more time for active police work. Many departments involve their personnel in crime prevention, drug awareness, and school programs, while others involve their officers in all phases of police work rather than segregating responsibilities.

One reform that has been successfully implemented in Europe and throughout North America is to combine the fire department and the police department to form a public safety department. This combination of fire and police can dramatically reduce the number of employees since every employee is cross-trained and available as needed for emergencies. Whatever the reform, the key is to remember that the police force belongs to and serves the citizens of the community, and should reflect the community s goals, values, and ability to pay.

#4  Snow Removal

Most municipalities in Canada have sizable budget allocations for the removal of snow from streets and sidewalks. In many cases, the amounts allocated for snow removal are higher than they should be because creative cost saving ideas are not passed on from one municipality to another. For example, the city of Kitchener eliminated standby private snow removal crews and cross trained parks and recreation staff to provide backup capabilities, for a total savings of $150,000. Scarborough saved $120,000 by evaluating snow removal equipment and using the most efficient equipment.

Other cost-saving ideas include allowing snow to accumulate to higher levels before removal, sharing equipment and personnel between neighboring municipalities, and getting citizens and businesses to clear their own sidewalks.

#5  Road Maintenance

Road maintenance is another very high cost item in most municipal budgets. Many municipalities waste money by not rebuilding roads when they should because of short term budget constraints. This produces false cost savings in most cases because delayed road repairs usually end up costing more due to accelerated road deterioration.

Some departments (Region of Ottawa-Carleton for example) have introduced a full cost-accounting system which takes into consideration the impact of road conditions on costs incurred by drivers such as tires, shocks, oil and gas consumption. There are also delays and accidents which could be factored in when calculating the cost of fixing or not fixing a road system. Sharing equipment and employees between departments and between municipalities is becoming more popular. Several municipalities have outsourced or privatized various parts of their road maintenance programs with much success.

#6  Management

Virtually every municipality has too many supervisors and too many managers compared to the private sector. Business and public sector organizations are seeing a trend to fewer managers with those remaining being transformed from being the “boss” to being a coach or facilitator. Staff are placed in teams, and take more responsibility for planning their work. At the same time, the ratio of managers to staff is changing from one manager for every five or even ten staff, to one manager for every 50 to 100 staff.

Municipalities can reduce their costs substantially by moving to the team concept, which yields other benefits such as increased staff and management morale, enhanced productivity, and improved service levels. The City of Owen Sound, Ontario (population 20,000) recently eliminated one of three senior management positions in the Public Works department. Now, each crew selects a lead hand who directs the work at each site, and the town is saving more than $60,000 per year.

#7  Consulting Studies

In far too many cases, municipalities fall back on consulting studies to help them deal with difficult or sensitive issues. If managers and staff receive appropriate training in program evaluation and problem-solving techniques and in the use of performance measures, they are able to avoid many of the problems which require the use of outside consultants.

The principal factors which cause an over-reliance on consulting studies are a lack of confidence in staff expertise, the established habit of using consultants and an overall resistance to change.

#8  Inspection Services

Most municipalities still separate their various inspection services according to rigid departmental activities such as building, plumbing, electrical, bylaw enforcement, and fire. Some municipalities have merged responsibilities for some of these activities, but there is room for much more consolidation.

Technology has given municipal inspectors the ability to carry computers which provide the information they require on their inspection. Many municipalities are realizing the cost benefits of cross-training inspectors in a number of areas, reducing the number of specialists required.

#9  Get Input

Municipal employees are often the source of the best ideas of cost savings. Unfortunately, their opinion is rarely solicited. Many progressive municipalities are endeavoring to include both employee and community resources in their decision making process. The catch phrase used to describe this change is Total Quality Management, but what it really boils down to is good old common sense.

After all, it is only good sense to ask employees how they can improve the services they deliver and actually put them into teams responsible for identifying and solving operational problems. Every municipality should be implementing Total Quality Management so that they might harness the energy and ideas of their citizens and their employees.

#10 Economic Development

Community economic development has been one of the least cost-effective enterprises of municipalities. Millions of dollars have been spent in an attempt to bring new businesses into communities across Canada, with very little success. The reason is simple: new businesses are more likely to be attracted to a community with reasonable tax levels and a healthy progressive business environment than to one that is in a steady state of decline.

What these offices should have been doing was to concentrate on keeping their existing businesses happy and healthy. Business retention and expansion activities have helped to avoid the continual deterioration of jobs, particularly if these retention efforts were aimed at helping businesses to strengthen the quality of their operations. Several municipalities have initiated business incubator programs to promote new businesses, started training programs for new and existing businesses, and changed legislation to encourage businesses operated in homes. Joint committees of business, labour and government have had much success, as have apprenticeship programs designed by businesses and schools. The best economic development programs seem to emerge from strong community-based strategic plans because the best ideas are captured and strong support is more likely.

Municipal decision making can be affected by concerned and informed citizens. However, it will take perseverance on the part of a community’s citizens, combined with sound political leadership and enlightened management. The main difference between municipalities with excellent services and low tax rates compared to those with average or poor services and high tax rates is the degree to which they strive to find a better way to deliver services.