One of the best things about municipal election campaigns was on full display yesterday in Quinte West.
I went out to Dahlia May for Zack Card’s official launch of his Mayoral campaign yesterday morning.
It is very early in the process, with municipal elections in October still months away, but I did see some very familiar signs from campaigns and events over the past 30 years that reminded me of why local elections are so magical.
It’s only May, the nomination period less than three weeks old, and yet dozens of people came out in the first few hours after the Victoria Day Weekend to support a local candidate they believed in.
There were local business-owners, a few councillors, friends and family and a more than a few interested community members.
Discussions during the event and after in the crowd included talks about physician recruitment, affordability, efficiency, who people have heard are running and many other issues.
This is what makes municipal election campaigns so amazing. It’s exactly what I experienced when I ran (unsuccessfully) myself in 2018.
Most of the time, it is very hard to get people excited about municipal politics, despite the fact that it affects more of our day-to-day lives than the other levels of government.
Now, and especially when the active campaign period begins in the fall, people will take notice, learn, get involved and even get excited about who will represent them at city hall. Municipal election campaigns are infectious and I am happy to say that people are already starting to catch the fever!
I’m Paul Martin and that’s what I see looking Beyond the Headlines.
