Has the Rob Ford saga helped or hurt Canadian politics? Many people are quick to say that Toronto’s current mayor has negatively affected politics; but what if the drug use, the rude remarks, and the general chaos that has been the Rob Ford saga has had a positive effect on younger voters? What if the “Rob Ford Effect” has actually helped impact voter apathy in a positive way and re-engage young people into municipal politics?
I wanna be a big mayor
In my experiences in the past year, listening to young people talk about the state of politics….they are disappointed. They are disappointed not only in Rob Ford, but also in the behaviours in the House of Commons, the lack of connection to the provincial legislative assemblies and behaviours at City Halls. The way media reports only reports negative politics is also adding to the disappointment. Our expectations can only drop so low before we citizens must begin work on making new and different kinds of systems to run our cities. While alternative models of governing are in the works from a variety of places, it also seems more young people than ever are looking at the behaviour of politicians and elected officials and are saying “I can demonstrate a more positive example than that!” This is what I call the ROB FORD EFFECT: a trend in behaviours where elected officials demonstrate increasingly questionable decision making, while young people demonstrate a willingness to sacrifice themselves to elected politics.
Politics: an immature joke (that isn’t even funny)
Rob Ford’s recent appearance on Jimmy Kimmel was also a low point for politicians in Canadian Municipal politics. The punchline of every joke Rob Ford put many of his scandals and videos on display for all to see responding in an incoherent and embarrassing way. Looking locally, things are not any better; recent fire hall fiasco and petty rule enforcement around the upcoming election prove we are locally suffering from the ailment of having a mayor that is so disengaged from the young people in my neighbourhood that he believes we won’t notice. Meanwhile, it has inspired many of our young people to think seriously about running for the mayors chair. A 21 year old community volunteer from my hood has expressed his intentions to run, understanding there are many people vying for Sam Katz’s job. The end result of the R.F.E. is having more young people entering politics and helping raise the bar to help improve conditions in their community & set a positive example for their communities.
Federally, in a question period video clip, Winnipeg North MP Kevin Lamoureux asked the Justice Minister WHEN he would table these reports the govt had commissioned for Missing & Murdered Women – he responded by throwing the documents on the floor of the house of commons. This is only one recent example of where other politicians are bringing the standard of what youth can expect out of politics even lower (if possible). Also the optics around arresting 4 Mohawk blockaders (including Shawn Brent) on International Women’s Day for attempting to force action by the Canadian federal government on the life or death issue of Missing & Murdered Indigenous Women.
#PolitixBS (Brain Storm)
On Monday March 10th @ 4pm, we saw what the Rob Ford Effect looks like from the North End of Winnipeg’s perspective at Neechi Commons 865 Main Street. This Brain Storm Cafe (the first in the 2014 Municipal election season) saw several members of AYO Leadership and a handful of community members meet for casual discussion. The young people in attendance talked about the issues important to them: how can the next Mayor work with young people, supporting their current efforts in creating a safe place to go 24 hours a day and seven days a week? More than one individual in attendance expressed an interest in running for Mayor of Winnipeg. The main question we posed to those who said they were interested in running: what have you done in your past that we can tangibly see the results of today? What is your commitment going forward, that you are willing to stand by whether you are successful in winning or not? More importantly let’s move past the controversy and drama, let’s figure out what comes next in our local politics.
The Rob Ford Effect is sinking in in Winnipeg, and along with Morgan Baskin in Toronto, it appears that young people are more prepared than ever to engage in Municipal politics. If you are with us, and you believe we as young people can set positive examples for our neighbors and communities join the Brain Storm. On Facebook we are at http://www.Facebook.com/AYOpolitixBS, on twitter share links with the #PolitixBS hashtag & most importantly, come out to our Politics Cafes & GET REAL Youth Candidate Forums in coming months. We are willing send AYO! Reps to share the Get Real Youth Forum Process with other youth led groups across Winnipeg in advance of the upcoming Winnipeg municipal election. Join the Brain Storm.
MC
Politix Brain Storm 