Implement The Ward System
Lethbridge Voted For
A ward system, as used in Calgary and Edmonton, would divide the city into smaller geographical electoral areas, with a Council member elected to represent the residents of each specific area.
In contrast to an at-large system, in which all the Councillors are elected by all the population, a ward system is designed to create more accountability, with Councillors advocating for specific neighbourhoods and communities.
There are drawbacks too, of course - all electoral systems have pros and cons.
But, the point of holding a referendum was meant to be to allow Lethbridgians to debate those pros and cons, and decide - for themselves - which option they preferred.
And that’s precisely what they did.
When all the votes were counted, 55.69% of Lethbridgians voted in favour of switching to a ward system.
After the vote, it seemed like Council was going ahead with implementing the change.
They had City Administration review the possibility of creating a ward system and then created a Ward Boundary Commission.
To the surprise of many, though, instead of actually implementing the plan, the Ward Boundary Commission simply announced that the change would take too long, and cost too much - roughly $300,000.
Council responded by deciding to go back to the exploratory phase - this time to look at implementing a “precinct model” that would supposedly be cheaper, but is really just a gimmick, where Councillors would still be elected at-large, but be assigned to an area of the City by Council.
The question Council needs to ask itself, is how can $300,000 be too high of a price to implement the explicit wishes of voters, when Council seems to have millions for everything else.
Seriously - we have $43.8 million for bike lanes that almost no one asked for, but we can’t find $300,000 to implement the electoral system that voters did want?
Apparently, this rethink happened, at least in part, because City Administration managed to convince a majority of Councillors to oppose the public’s wishes.
Yes, it’s true that the referendum result was non-binding.
Councillors, and Council as a whole, are under no legal obligation to do what the voters want.
But they should.
It’s not the job of City Administration to be lobbying against what the public wants.
And it’s certainly not the job of Councillors to tell their bosses that they’re wrong!
(Their bosses being the voters, not City Administration, in case there was any confusion!)
We understand why some on Council are hesitant to implement a ward system.
Under a ward system, Councillors couldn’t get away with ignoring the concerns of residents anymore.
Under a ward system, Councillors would have no choice but to actually pay attention to what matters to their constituents, or face losing their job come election time if they failed to do so.
But the whole point of holding a referendum is to take the decision out of the hands of the politicians (who have an interest in the result), and give it back to the people.
That’s why we’re calling on Council to Implement The Ward System Lethbridge Voted For, beginning at the next election in 2025.
If you agree, please sign the petition now, and then share this email with your friends, family, and every Lethbridgian so they can make their voices heard too!
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