Better Ballots Mayoral Forum

Tuesday June 1st, 2010
Hart House, U of T. Debates Room (map)
Reception at 6:30
Forum at 7pm

Facebook event

Better Ballots believes that we should expect more from our elections. Turnout is low, turnover is rare and Council does not represent Toronto's rich diversity.

Are there ways to make the system work better? We looked at 14 specific options currently being used in cities like Montreal, Vancouver, New York & San Francisco. We hosted four Town Hall meetings across the city, connecting with hundreds of people asking for ideas and feedback. (Download: Town Hall Survey Results). Now we want to ask our mayoral candidates which options they like and whether they are prepared to make any commitments to reforming our electoral system to make it more fair and inclusive.

Eight candidates will be highlighted at this event. They were chosen using media polling as well as our own online poll. In the spirit of democracy and fairness, we've invited the remaining 18 candidates to participate by giving them each a short opportunity to introduce themselves and briefly present their views on the topic of election reform.

The highlighted candidates are: Joe Pantalone, George Smitherman, Giorgio Mammoliti, Keith Cole, Rob Ford, Rocco Achampong, Rocco Rossi and Sarah Thomson.

Other participating candidates include George Babula, Kevin Clarke, Selwyn Firth, Howard Gomberg, John Letonja, Colin Magee, Joseph Pampena, Mark State, HiMY SYeD & Ratan Wadhwa.

We're proud to be the first debate in the 2010 election that has broadened the list of candidates to allow voters to hear from more voices and to better reflect the broad diversity that Toronto cherishes.

A reception will begin at 6:30. Seating is limited, so people are encouraged to come early to ensure a seat.

This event is proudly presented by Better Ballots, the Emerging Leaders Network and the Mowat Centre for Policy Innovation.