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Let Voters Hear Viewpoints from all Twenty Candidates
Ottawa Citizen: October 13, 2010

I was disturbed but not surprised by the photo of poverty activist Jane Scharf being hauled off the Bronson Centre mayoral debating stage by Ottawa Police. While Ms. Scharf was excluded from the debate, she nevertheless waded in to address social housing issues. It is instructive to note that the Coalition to Move Ottawa Forward actively decided to exclude registered candidates like Scharf from public debate; and while perfectly legal, it looks mean and ugly. Ms. Scharf has the inconvenient habit of advocating for the working poor and homeless. Unfortunately, her practical solutions represent a political minefield for the “serious” candidates who seem content with minor tweaks to the status quo. As Emma Goldmann wrote, “The history of progress is written in the blood of men and women who have dared to espouse an unpopular cause.” Progress, naturally, moves at glacier speed where the poor are concerned.
Increasing, voters are swayed by pollsters who have been empowered by unidentified agents to calculate the odds in our electoral casino. Who hires these pollsters and why do we defer to their pronouncements? Ottawa has twenty candidates of varying vintages and philosophies and each deserves an equal hearing right up to election day. Who decided that 75 % of them aren’t worth hearing? As cumbersome as it may be, all candidates and their ideas deserve equal exposure on public radio, TV, social and print media. Otherwise, winners are pre-selected by undemocratic means. Needless to say, private sector media may and will do as they please. I encourage voters to tune the pollsters out and listen instead to the candidates’ ideas.
I’m surprised Larry O’Brien didn’t applaud Scharf’s bold “swagger.” He just sat there with the rest of the mute contenders. Does Mr. Zero Percent forget that he swaggered his way into the mayor’s seat?