Is Local Government Being Sidelined in Ontario? | The Rundown

Ontario’s municipal governments are facing a period of significant change. First, Jeyan speaks with Bill Irwin, councillor for Ward 2 in the Municipality of North Middlesex and professor emeritus at Huron University, about whether stronger mayor and regional chair powers are making local councils less relevant. Then, Lloyd Rang, CEO of Curious Public and former councillor for Ward 2 in Clarington, and Clifton van der Linden, associate professor of political science at McMaster University, discuss whether recent changes to municipal governance are influencing how voters engage with local issues and elections. And in this week’s OnPoli Minute, we examine a different challenge for local democracy: what happens when there are too few candidates willing to run for office, after one Ontario township appeared at risk of having no one on the ballot at all. 00:00 Intro 01:09 Bill Irwin on Local Government's Future 03:55 Could Municipal Governments Become Obsolete? 06:39 How New Powers Could Change Elections 10:06 What Ontario's Election Results Reveal 12:26 Why Municipal Voter Turnout Stays Low 14:42 Did Strong Mayor Powers Affect Voters? 17:45 Campaigning in the Social Media Era 19:58 What Drives Voter Engagement? 22:25 Would Online Voting Increase Turnout? 23:35 Is Local Government Being Sidelined? 26:37 What Happens If Nobody Runs for Office? 📺 Watch The Rundown on TVO and stream on TVO Today. Full episodes -    • The Rundown (Full Episodes)   Clips -    • The Rundown   Follow on social media: Instagram –   / therundowntvo   Facebook-   / therundowntvo   X-   / therundowntvo   Bluesky- https://bsky.app/profile/therundowntv... LinkedIn -   / therundowntvo   Subscribe to TVO Today to watch more content like this:    / @tvotoday   Listen to the podcast: https://www.tvo.org/podcasts/the-rund... Check out the rest of the TVO ecosystem TVO Docs -    / @tvo   TVO Kids -    / @tvokids   TVO Learn -    / @tvolearn   Download the TVO Today App Apple - https://apps.apple.com/ca/app/tvo-tod... Available on: Roku, Apple TV, Android TV, Samsung, LG, Amazon Fire TV Enjoying this content and want to make a meaningful impact? Consider donating today! https://support.tvo.org/site/Donation... Photo credit: Katherine KY Cheng/Getty Images