This week on MarketSquared, we talk about why human rights trump technophobia. At least for now.
In retrospect, I thought it would be more difficult to incorporate an internet option into the 2026 City Council elections, even though the demographics of City Council members have changed since the last election. Indeed, staff reports worked overtime to sell it as an option to ignore.
Since I was once proudly among the four members of Congress who voted against internet voting this week, I thought it might be interesting to talk a little about my own evolution on this issue. The only concern was security concerns. I was still at an age where I grew up with computers readily available at school, but I didn't have a computer at home or the Internet until I was in high school. It really became a habit until I entered university.
In other words, even though I have always appreciated the raw power and potential of computers and digital spaces, I have never completely trusted them. I'm also grateful that the generation below me is almost a purely digital creature. My nephew wasn't even a year old before he figured out the difference between a real TV remote and an old dummy remote he was given to play with.
We are also in the midst of a massive change in information. People are moving away from traditional TV and radio, and newspapers are gradually becoming obsolete, replaced by a confusing mix of newsletters, social media channels, and podcasts. One-man bands like me all compete for the same numbers and eyes, creating a more divided and unstable electorate.
Now imagine getting that group involved in elections and making voting as easy as pulling up a ballot on your mobile phone. Change is scary, but just because you're afraid of change doesn't mean you shouldn't try to reduce the disadvantages so others can accept it.
I think Tuesday's meeting inadvertently created an option to vote online or not, but that is an overly simplistic analysis of the situation from my point of view. From my observations, the Accessibility Advisory Committee has been trying to advocate for as many voting options as possible over the past year and a half, recognizing that such requests require near-bottomless resources. .
That said, whether you have environmental allergies or need an aid to read or mark your ballot, internet voting is the one option that appeals to the most people. Being able to say that we're making polling places less environmentally friendly or that the city will send someone to your house to mark your ballot is not the victory that we privileged people think it is. Because it's about independence.
Fundamentally, independence is a privilege that many of us take for granted, even if we don't realize it. Maybe we depend on a kind landlord or an understanding boss. Or maybe it's a time when you can run down the street and catch a bus whenever you feel like it, without having to book a last-minute ride on your phone. When you use the app to take a bus, you will be notified if there are no rides available.
After all, it's really the little things.
And if that's not trivial, then what is voting in city council elections? If we say every vote counts, then every vote counts, and if there are people in the community who want to vote but have to overcome 10 different barriers to vote, then the city This means that votes are left in the field just waiting to be voted on. I collected it.
So why does that alone make it so popular? I hate to say it, but Mr. Guelph is not a leader who thinks about democracy. You may remember a few years ago when consultants twice came back with reports recommending that Guelph have one full-time councilor for every eight wards, a system that had been in place for 30 years. It has been determined that this is essentially the same as what has been enough. The same goes for voting methods.
Why do we think we know something about implementing online voting that the other 217 municipalities in Ontario don't? Are we really that smart? I don't think we are, but this city is full of really loud people who are very technophobic and are always thinking back to the halcyon days before computers and newspapers and corded phones and the advent of computers and newspapers and corded phones. I think it's in a face-to-face place.
And if online voting, a service already offered by half of the municipalities in this state, is such a slippery slope in terms of cybersecurity breaches, then we should pull the plug on City Hall altogether. All MPs should be at the voting booth. If attending the floor in person, clerks should prepare a paper copy of the agenda, and staff should only accept policy feedback if they can see the policy feedback in person.
Of course, this does not mean there are no cybersecurity risks, as they exist. Ontario's two major public library systems fell victim to cyberattacks last fall, though it's hard to imagine anything more anarchic than destroying major non-profit information hubs serving disadvantaged populations offline. , people don't spend their lives endlessly avoiding risks, because that's impossible. Instead, we try to manage it.
Online voting requires city officials to manage risk. This is the same risk that a cybercriminal manages every day because he is not waiting for a sweet window that only opens for four years. We have been told that living in fear allows the bad guys to win. In this case, the cost of fear is not just our sense of self, but the hopes and beliefs of marginalized members of our community. At the end of the day, you're going to be treated like everyone else.
