Ending ward system a big step backwards

For once I must agree with Deveryn Ross in his March 20 column and encourage the citizens of Brandon: “Don’t rush changes to city council.” In fact, I would argue that the citizens of Brandon should not make such important changes to city council.

I am mystified why any changes are being proposed, except that certain members of council want to be paid more money for doing their job. Perhaps someone should be willing to remind those councillors that if they don’t think they are paid enough money they should resign and find employment elsewhere.

I am also mystified as to why certain members of the administration are supporting these changes, except that fewer councillors mean less work for administration staff. It appears that they are unaware of how Brandon came to have wards and have not done their homework.

In 1971, the Manitoba government appointed a special commission led by Dr. A.L. Dulmage, president of Brandon University, called the Brandon Boundaries Commission. The commission called for public submissions on whether the then boundaries of the City of Brandon should be extended and what other changes should be made to the electoral process in Brandon.

I grew up in Brandon and was at that time teaching political science at Brandon University. I teamed up with a friend of mine who was teaching at Assiniboine Community College to make a submission to the commission. We supported boundary expansion and made some other recommendations, including the establishment of municipal wards in Brandon. Our comments on the then-existing at-large election process in 1971 included:

“We are convinced that the present method of electing civic officials is badly in need of reform, that the present method of electing civic officials results in their being less than responsible to the electorate for their actions, and that the present method almost seems to have been designed to produce confusion in the minds of the voters and to encourage the apathy and lack of participation so evident in civic politics in Brandon.”

We also pointed out that the then-existing members of city council tended to come from certain neighbourhoods while other areas had no representation at all. This confusing, at-large system in place in 1971 is what is being proposed in 2026 by the city administration and some councillors.

Our brief to the commission recommended 10 wards and we even provided a mock-up of a map of those 10 wards with names for each. The Brandon Sun was helpful in publishing our map on the next day’s Page 1.

The final report of the commission recommended boundary expansion and the implementation of 10 wards in Brandon and its recommendations were approved by the Manitoba legislature.

I am not saying that the current electoral system in Brandon cannot be improved at all. The change from the British and Canadian system of naming wards to the American system of numbering them was a mistake. I am sure it has led to all sorts of confusion among voters. We also recommended that the Brandon school board also be elected by wards. And if Brandon also wanted to be adventurous, you could also elect councillors by preferential ballot so that each member of council represents a majority of voters in their wards.

Brandon is a city and most cities in Canada elect local officials from wards (e.g., Winnipeg). Brandon is not a town or village where local officials are elected at large. So please keep the 10 ward system you have already and don’t take a giant step backwards.

Dr. James A. McAllister

Ajax, Ont.