Peter Karwacki: Municipal Voting in Ottawa's Ward: 13 Rideau Rockcliffe

First, I would like to congratulate the incumbent, and all incumbents who won... It's nice to win anything. 

Why did no one show up for the All-Candidates meeting?  Most likely this was due to the fact that voters had already made up their minds. Only 40% of the electorate turned out which was a slight improvement over the by election in 2019. In total, 8400 voted for Rawlson King, the incumbent…a virtual thumping of his challengers.

But, examining the vote is worthwhile. Only two candidates showed up for the the Rogers debate for our ward, myself and Mr. King. The debate view statistics are telling, it was viewed only 840 times. Sure there were other sources of information for voters—candidate signs ( I did not use them), published questions and answers in community papers, CTV promotional videos, The Ottawa Citizen and CBC candidate material, Twitter and Facebook. 

It is important to note that despite his resignation from the Ottawa Police Services board, voters, if they knew, gave Rawlson King a pass. “He did well enough” one voter advised. The bottom line is that the incumbents running were all given a pass. One wonders, what if anything would convince voters to make a change. Would Watson have been re-elected had he run despite the LRT schmozzle?

I remain a failed municipal challenger but in good company with many (over a hundred) that ran against incumbents. For me, running and challenging was enough. I reasoned that if the voters are informed they will choose the best candidate. And, if the best candidates are chosen then Ottawa City Council will be the best it can be. With the Council doing its best, then Ottawa will be the best city it can be.