Just 1 in 3 in Jane and Finch vote. That could go even lower with fewer polling stations
CBC
In Ward 7, Humber River–Black Creek, just over one in three eligible people voted in the last municipal election, and on Monday they'll have even fewer options when it comes time to cast their ballot.
The ward has lost more than a quarter of its polling stations, city data shows, something residents and experts are worried will be another blow to democracy in the area, where under 35 per cent of people voted in 2018.
The reduction in polling stations mirrors what's happening in the rest of the city. In 2018, Toronto had some 1,700 voting locations, but this year — despite the city growing — it is down to 1,460.
Toronto Elections said in a statement it reviewed the polling stations from the last election and opted not to use some for accessibility reasons, while it lost access to others due to closures or renovations.
One former candidate said that could depress the vote even further in neighbourhoods like Jane and Finch.
"Many of the voters here are reluctant to leave where they live to go and vote," said Winston LaRose, a community activist who ran for city council in the 2018 election.
In that election, Coun. Anthony Perruzza — who is seeking re-election — won with just 8,336 votes, one of the lowest totals in the city.
Myer Siemiatycki, a professor emeritus at Toronto Metropolitan University who specializes in local politics, said his research suggests lower-income, residents with disabilities and seniors living in apartment buildings will be among those most affected by having fewer voting locations.
All of those groups are prevalent in the Jane and Finch area and most of the voting stations lost were located inside apartment buildings.
WATCH | Here's what you need to cast your vote on Monday, Oct. 24:
"I think we could be looking at a record low voter turnout in that particular ward," he told CBC Toronto.
"And if this is what's happening across the city, it will only play into further disengagement."
Siemiatycki's research into who votes in Toronto and who doesn't, done in partnership with the Maytree Foundation (CBC Toronto will provide a link in the "external links" section of this page), suggests low voter turnout has been an issue in the city for some time.
If Toronto Elections is trying to change that, he said, reducing the number of voting stations is the wrong move.
The new owner of Ontario steelmaker Stelco says his company "will not disappoint the people of Hamilton and Nanticoke," where the business's major facilities are based.
A Winnipegger is warning others about an intricate scam she says she almost fell for.
Fort William First Nation is opposing a planned redevelopment of the Ontario Power Generation's (OPG) 117 year old Kakabeka Falls Generating Station, which is located in their traditional territory.
A building that sits at the corner of Sussex Street and Brunswick Avenue has had many lives over the last century — being a church, a school and offices. Now it's set to become housing, at a time when the city sorely needs it.
A Waterloo, Ont., elementary school principal will be sentenced in the new year after pleading guilty to child sexual exploitation charges following a joint investigation that involved the London, Toronto and Waterloo police services.
Students at UPEI have let their student union know what they want from the province this fiscal year, and those priorities are reflected in a 2024-2025 advocacy document brought to the legislature on Wednesday.
Larger communities in the N.W.T. will soon see a boost in their territorial funding to maintain infrastructure and deliver services — like water and waste management — but the increase still falls short of what communities need.
The toxic drug crisis has taken more than 47,000 lives in Canada since 2016 and the synthetic opioid fentanyl has become a household name. But now, what's believed to be an even more potent class of synthetic drugs is showing up in drug busts across the country: nitazenes.
The Liberal government and the NDP have agreed to introduce a two-month GST vacation on certain items before the holiday season, Radio-Canada has learned.
Veterinarians are warning Londoners to make sure their dogs are vaccinated and keeping clean after a deadly virus outbreak was declared in London this week.
Registered nurses rallied in St. John's Wednesday as part of a week-long convention, again calling on the Newfoundland and Labrador government to create permanent solutions to staff shortages and workplace violence.