It has always been an understood thing that the editing standards in the sports section of a large newspaper are often more relaxed than those of the general news. The editors tended to give the jocks in sports a looser rein. And it now seems that the Toronto Star—touted as Canada’s largest newspaper—has decided that simple decency is not needed on the city hall beat.
To describe a faction of councillors at Toronto City Hall as a den of snakes is an affront to the democratic process. It is the right of councillors to make up or change their minds about issues that is being challenged.
And when does an editor allow the city hall bureau chief to refer to an individual councillor as leader of “a flip-flopping band of turncoat councillors”? It seems that this councillor changed his mind on a pet project of the Toronto Star’s editorial board.
This kerfuffle is about rethinking the two-year old motion by council to ask for legalization of ranked balloting for Ontario municipal elections. The Star thinks that councillors have no right to change their minds. And thank God they do. Just because some people at the Star are for something does not necessarily mean that they know anything about it.
As we have written before, ranked balloting is a system where the losers are choosers. This is where voters are asked to rank their first, second and third choice on a ballot for a position with three or more persons running. If no candidate has more than 50 per cent of the vote, the candidate who came last has his or her second votes added to the other candidates. If this still does not put a candidate over the 50 per cent mark, another loser is eliminated and their third choices are added to those still standing. What happens if there is still no 50 per cent plus winner after all the preferences have been counted is never properly explained.
But what we do know is that a preferential ballot is not the answer. What people need to realize is that as more and more municipalities are moving to Internet voting, the cost of having run-off elections becomes very reasonable. And where there are more than 10 candidates in a race, any candidate with less than 10 per cent of the vote needs to be dropped off the ballot to speed the process.
But there seems to be nothing we can do about the rudeness of the Toronto Star editors when things do not go their way. Maybe they are just failed bloggers who think they can say anything they wish.
-30-
Copyright 2015 © Peter Lowry
Complaints, comments, criticisms and compliments can be sent to [email protected]