The National Telegraph - Wyatt Claypool - March 21, 2024


Canada's municipal governments suck!


Episode Stats

Length

6 minutes

Words per Minute

134.06496

Word Count

904

Sentence Count

52


Summary

In this episode, I talk about why we should legalize political parties in municipalities across Canada and why it would be a great idea. I also talk about the problems with our current municipal election system and why you should vote for an independent candidate.


Transcript

00:00:00.000 All across Canada, no matter which city or town you live in, it's practically taken for granted that your municipal government sucks, that the councillors and mayor in your town do not actually represent the views and values of the residents of that city or town.
00:00:15.320 And that's because in Canada, for some reason, outside of select few areas, we have nonpartisan municipal elections, which basically means that we have 10 people running and the progressives with their union front groups back one candidate, and they win pretty much every single city election, even though if you actually labeled who the progressives and conservatives were in these races, the conservatives would win the vast majority of these municipal elections in a lot of cities, especially across Western Canada.
00:00:45.320 And I'm not making this argument purely from the perspective that it's practical for conservatives to win more elections. It's simply right to allow voters more information on the people they're voting for.
00:00:56.400 So I'm making this video to stump for the legalization of political parties in municipalities all across Canada. Alberta Premier Daniel Smith is considering legalizing parties for municipalities, and I think it's a great idea.
00:01:10.000 Vancouver already has it.
00:01:39.980 I think it's a great idea.
00:02:09.960 I think it's a great idea.
00:02:39.940 There are progressive voters to the right candidates where the conservatives don't know who to vote for.
00:02:43.700 So in every municipal election, almost without fail across Canada, the progressive unions run one candidate, and the conservative moderate liberal people run like 10 candidates, because they actually believe it's an independent election, like the conservatives and liberals.
00:03:00.020 They believe it's a nonpartisan election, so it's a best man win, we'll all go talk to voters, whereas the public sector unions, like in Calgary through the front group Calgary's Future, they pour millions of dollars into getting volunteers out for one specific candidate in each area.
00:03:15.300 These are not nonpartisan elections.
00:03:45.280 They're not nonpartisan citizens.
00:03:46.280 They're not nonpartisan individuals.
00:03:47.280 Well, in Calgary, we have technically 100% independent councillors, and guess what?
00:03:51.280 what? They consistently vote against what voters want. They keep voting in favor tax sites that
00:03:57.240 they all ran against during the municipal race. And then they just, and then voters don't even
00:04:02.220 remember they did it because there's no party brand for them to remember is toxic. It's just
00:04:06.460 a bunch of counselors. And did you really pay attention to who vote for what? And then the
00:04:10.640 incumbents just get back in. And whenever there's not an incumbent, the progressives line up all
00:04:15.400 the resources behind one crazy progressive who's going to promise tax freezes and respect for
00:04:20.700 taxpayers. And then they get in and do the complete opposite. In reality, all of these
00:04:25.600 progressives who are saying, well, I want an independent counselor. Once municipal parties
00:04:30.420 are passed, these people guaranteed will start voting for a progressive party. They can choose
00:04:36.000 to keep voting for an independent in their ward. They're not going to because they know that the
00:04:41.920 only way of winning is then voting for a municipal party. And no, it did not ruin the municipal
00:04:47.380 government system. It simply added transparency. That is the nice thing with parties. It adds
00:04:52.920 transparency. Every once in a while, I see people say, well, federal politics would be better if we
00:04:56.980 just had independence. No, it would not be because that is lowering the amount of information a candidate
00:05:01.980 can give you. A party is a brand association that that person has committed that they will vote in
00:05:08.360 favor of the priorities of. And so you as a voter can say, well, the Calgary Taxpayers Party or Calgary
00:05:14.360 United, I think that's actually a real municipal party that's probably going to come to Calgary.
00:05:18.880 Well, Alberta United in Calgary, well, I'm going to vote for them because they're going to lower
00:05:22.480 taxes. And if they don't lower taxes or that particular council doesn't, that party's voters,
00:05:27.380 that party's members will throw that person out. And so then we can reshuffle and get someone who
00:05:31.800 will actually do the right thing. Right now, you can't hold any of these people accountable.
00:05:36.860 We have recall elections, but they're jokes because you need so many signatures,
00:05:39.820 you're just never going to do it. So parties will actually increase democratic accountability
00:05:45.360 and they will increase democratic transparency. The left hates this idea because they oppose
00:05:50.880 transparency because the left doesn't believe it's a fair election unless they win. And because
00:05:55.900 the system is so slanted in favor of public sector unions who get free, they get automatic dues from all
00:06:02.600 their members that they can then shuffle into third party advertisers. They can spend up to $30,000,
00:06:06.940 like eight of them maxed out $30,000 donations to Calgary's future, plus through a bunch of
00:06:12.180 different means. They also funneled other progressive group and union money into those
00:06:16.200 groups. They are playing on a very, they're playing on easy mode. And that's why they like
00:06:21.220 this nonpartisan system. They don't like the municipal system because then they had to fight
00:06:24.680 fair. So this in every city across Canada is why on your provincial level, you should be
00:06:30.060 stumping for your government to legalize provincial municipal political parties. Your province
00:06:35.580 should have municipal political parties. It's very important and it will actually make voting
00:06:40.100 fairer in your city. That's my rant. That's it for me today, guys.