Go vote.
Before you do anything else, before you read one more word of this editorial, pick up your phone or turn on your computer and vote. If you haven’t received your Voter Information Letter, or can’t vote online or by phone, then please make the first thing you do a trip to the Fort Frances Civic Centre to rectify either, or both. You have from now until Monday, Oct. 26, at 8:00 p.m. local time to have your voice heard, and I implore you take advantage of this opportunity.
So why are you reading this section?
We’ve spent these past few months consumed by the electoral process. We waited for those called to civic duty to put their names forward, and we’ve then waited for them to make their case for why we should entrust them with the reins, so to speak, of the Town of Fort Frances. Or of Emo. Or of Rainy River, or any of the other municipalities that make up our district. It is laudable that any candidate has put themselves in that position in the first place, as the job they are signing themselves up for is not an easy, nor forgiving one.
Our elected officials have the tendency to always be wrong; one half of any audience will likely disagree with council’s decision on any one topic, and the disparaged side is almost always louder than the satisfied one. Yet these decisions must be made, and sometimes those decisions won’t be popular.
So we took it upon ourselves to be as involved in this year’s election as we could. At the Fort Frances Times office, we’ve been talking about the election since the dawn of the new year, brainstorming and planning out our coverage and how we could best engage both the candidates who are up for election, as well as an electorate that has been less than enthused over the past few election cycles.
The decision was made fairly early on that each candidate would be interviewed for a profile in order to present to the public their platforms, allowing each of them one more avenue to make the case for why they should be elected to lead the town over the next four years. We also, fairly early on, wanted to give the public a chance to more directly interact with the candidates. The result of that idea was the Town Hall night the Times, with help of the local Labour Council and others, put on at the Townshend Theatre.
Though I was unable to attend that event (mostly to prevent that bug from spreading, but at least in part to spare the public an evening of listening to my coughing, hacking and sniffling) I have heard no shortage of discussion since then that has come about precisely because people attended it and were able to both ask, and hear other, questions asked to the candidates.
This election edition you hold in your hand is a final initiative on our part to continue to engage the public in the lead-up to the final tally. It’s one last opportunity to present the candidates of Fort Frances to the reading public, to inform as many people as we can on how they can have their voices heard, and to provide a glimpse back at mayors and councils of the past, to remind voters of today that, regardless of who has been elected to serve before, the town has had its ups and downs, and will continue to have its ups and downs, and that it is the people of Fort Frances who have the ultimate power. Where the people have felt that a council has not done enough, they have used their votes to make change; where they feel a council has been largely successful, they have empowered them with another term to continue to make their cases (as you will very well see in some of the archival images that surround this piece).
This election is no different. There are members of the public who feel that change is past due and will vote accordingly. There are others who have looked at the current term of council and decided that their needs have been satisfied, and so will also vote accordingly. As our outgoing mayor mentions in this same section, no candidate is perfect, or has all the answers, or will even vote the way you want them to on every issue.
It is our job–and make no mistake, preparing for an election as a voter should be taken as serious as any job–to research or speak to our candidates and determine not only if they will represent our own interests, but also if they will represent the greater interest of the town as a whole. What issues will they focus on? Who will they listen to? What do they believe they can do to remedy any of the town’s pressing issues? Can they admit when they don’t have an answer? Can they work together with other councillors as a team instead of believing they know best? Will they listen to the public? Will they make the decision they believe is in the best interest of the town, even when it is unpopular with that same public? Is that even their job?
I hope that our coverage of the Fort Frances municipal election has helped to answer at least some of those questions for the voting public. I hope you have engaged with this election in a new way, considered each candidate’s position carefully, and come to a conclusion that is satisfactory to you. I hope that you have already cast your vote, or are going to do so before the end of voting on Monday evening. And then I hope that you will engage with this new term of council thoughtfully and respectfully by attending council meetings, asking questions of our representatives, engaging in civil conversation with other voters, and keeping our elected officials accountable.
Now go vote.
