Why some Hamilton-area residents are choosing not to vote this municipal election

Municipal elections inOntario are less than two weeks away, butnot everyone plans on submitting a ballot on Oct. 24.

While the turnout for the provincial election in June hit a record low with 43 per cent of eligible voters casting a ballot, municipal elections oftenseeeven lessengagement.

According tofigures from the Association of Municipalities Ontario (AMO),the overallvoter turnout for the2018 municipal elections in Ontariowas 38 per cent.In Hamilton,turnoutin 2018was also38per cent.

CBC Hamilton spoke with severalpeoplewho have decided not to vote in this year's municipal election to understand why some choosenot to participate in local elections as well as organizations that are working to see moreeligible voters engaged at a municipal level.

Hassaan Naeem,27,residesin Ancasterwith his parents and currently works from home, in software development.

Naeem said he haslived in the Hamilton area for more thana decade, with stints inWaterloo and Toronto while attending university.

CBC Hamilton spoke with himin Ancaster on Oct. 5. Whenasked abouthis thoughts on the upcoming election,he said he didn't know there was one.

Naeem said he voted in the past two federal elections, but not the provincial and was unlikely to vote in the municipal election. He said he thinksthe federal government has more power to impact the issues that are important to him, like student debt forgiveness.

"All the hot topics of focus, like student debt, are usually related to federal issues, and very little to municipal issues, which is why I would say I don't follow too much," he said.

Samantha Reusch, executive director of Montreal-based non-profit organizationApathy is Boring, says eligible voters like Naeem, between the ages of 18 and 34, are more likely to live between multiple municipalitiesbecause they are attending college or university. That can impact whether they end upvoting.

"Sometimes there can be administrative barriers where they don't know where they're registered," she said, addingthat these votersmight not feel connected to their new communities enough to vote municipally.

Apathy is Boring worksto engage that age groupin all levels of politics across the country.Reusch saysyounger voters canlack the motivation to vote sometimes because they might feelcandidates arenot addressing issues young people care about, and that young people might not feel "elected representatives or candidates make an effort to do outreach" with them.

Naeem said he hasn't put much thought into why he doesn't votemunicipally.

"It's kind of stunned me why I've never been involved," he said, reflecting on his engagement. As acyclist, the municipal government's role in buildingbike lanes does piquehis interest, he added.

TheMcMasterStudent Union has been working to engage young student votersin the municipal election, through social media posts, promotingtheon-campus "on-demand poll" on Oct. 18, and hosting events such as an upcoming mayoral debate onOct. 17.

'You ask a question, you don't get a definite yes'

Jo Anne Stoddart, 63,lives in Burlingtonwith her 85-year-old mother. Stoddart said she has votedin most electionsbut is not sure if she will this month.

"I have always been a big believer in voting," she said, addingthat she has become disillusioned with voting at the municipal level and thinks other levels of government have more sway in policy decisions, especially when it comes to urban planning and developments.

"[Municipal elected officials]plan something and then the government, the provincial government says'No, we want it this much bigger.'"

Stoddart said she's concerned over how the city is growing. She isn't opposed to building more condominiums in Burlington, she says,butthinks the city is building too many at once and not thinking about how it will impact the downtown's infrastructure.

Stoddart said she is also disinclined to vote because she thinks politicians don't give straight answers.

"It seems like you ask a question, you don't get a definite 'yes,'" she said, adding she feels they sometimesblame others for decisions.

Some feel left out of the conversation

For others, the decision not to vote can be even morecomplex.

Katrina Chaisson is a resident in the east end of Hamilton, and a Mi'kmawwoman. She said doesn't follow politics, and the last time she voted was at a federal level, afterthen-Prime MinisterStephen Harper tried to end Canada Post home deliveryservice.

"My mother told me to vote, God rest her soul, and I voted that one time," she said.

Other than that, Chaisson said she feels like the issues that impact her, like homelessnessand Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, have not been discussed enough by this year's municipal candidates.

"They need to do more for the Indigenous people," Chaisson said.

Tera Cardinalhas advised Apathy is Boringon how political candidates canbetter connectwithIndigenous people across the country.

"Indigenous people aren't being engaged by politicians," saidCardinal, who is Cree and works as an advocate for Indigenous students at Mount Royal University in Alberta."They kind of expect us not to participate."

"Indigenous people didn't get the right to vote until 1960 and residential school didn't stop until '96, and I can guarantee you they did not teach the voting process in residential school," she said.

The Hamilton Regional Indian Centrehosted an event in late August, where all of the municipalcandidates were invited to speak with Hamilton's urban Indigenous population.

HRICwill alsohave itsown advancedpolling station on Oct. 21, from 10 a.m. to 8p.m.

Violetta Nikolskaya, senior program analyst for the YWCA Hamilton, helps put on Reaching for Power, a yearly conference that began in 2020, which she said is"an opportunity to engage queer, trans and other Black, Indigenous, women of colour and gender diverse folks in civic engagement."

"A lack of representation [in elected positions] causes folks to not see themselves represented in politics and therefore [they are] not inspired to participate," she said.

Nikolskaya said the YWCA is also trying to engage people experiencing homelessness, another demographic that often doesn't participate in voting.

"One thing that we're doing is ensuring that all of our congregate living spaces, including our transitional living program and our overnight drop in shelter, have access to vote," she said.

"For the rest of Hamilton, this is absolutely an election they should vote in because their voice really matters," she said.

• Allof CBC Hamilton'selection coverage can be found here.