Add StudioX as a preferred source on GoogleToronto recorded its highest municipal voter turnout in more than a decade this week, according to a report from Global News Toronto. Unofficial results gathered by the Association of Municipalities of Ontario show 46 per cent of eligible voters in the city cast a ballot. The provincial average was around 36 per cent.
The city said 989,990 ballots were cast. Olivia Chow won the mayor’s race with 532,201 certified votes, ahead of Brad Bradford with 404,013. The association’s data show more than four million Ontarians voted across the province, including in Toronto.
A close race drew voters
Cristine de Clercy, a political scientist at Trent University, said the biggest factor was the apparent closeness of the contest between Chow and Bradford. Several council races were also tight, she said.
Polls showed the two candidates close, including one that put Bradford ahead just days before the vote. De Clercy said that motivated both voters and campaign volunteers, who felt their efforts could make a difference. She said it likely brought out people who might have stayed home if they expected a landslide for either candidate. She also credited community organizations with helping to get people to the polls.
Myer Siemiatycki, professor emeritus of politics and public administration at Toronto Metropolitan University, agreed the race was the main draw. He said it could not fully explain why Toronto’s turnout was higher than in other cities with hard-fought elections.
Political culture, media and volunteers
In Mississauga, Alvin Tedjo won a close three-way race against incumbent Carolyn Parrish and her predecessor, Bonnie Crombie. Turnout there was 34 per cent, a 12-point increase from 2022 but well below Toronto’s.
Siemiatycki said Toronto has a much stronger political culture of participation than Mississauga, which many still consider a suburb. Central cities generally have a stronger history of political participation than suburban areas, he said.
He also pointed to Toronto’s extensive media coverage and to issues that people cared about, including bike lanes, school nutrition programs and traffic gridlock. He said Chow’s dedicated volunteers, who canvass and knock on doors on election day, helped drive up the vote.
Siemiatycki said the shrinking media landscape in smaller communities has created an information gap. Toronto’s diverse media ecosystem, by contrast, offers more information and more reminders about the election.
Even so, he said Toronto’s turnout is “still too low and is a problem”, and the city needs to think about how to raise it.
Other Ontario cities lagged
In London, Ont., incumbent Josh Morgan was re-elected with just over 45 per cent of the vote, while his closest competitor received a little more than 26 per cent. Turnout there was 31 per cent, up about six percentage points from 2022.
Cameron D. Anderson, a political science professor at the University of Western Ontario, said London’s turnout has historically trailed Toronto’s. He said the lack of strong opposition to Morgan dampened participation further, since it was assumed he would win again. In Toronto, he said, there was a sense that the challenger was getting close and could beat Chow, which raises motivation to vote.
The Association of Municipalities of Ontario said turnout varied considerably among municipalities with more than 100,000 people. Chatham-Kent and Greater Sudbury were each at 41 per cent, while Kitchener had the lowest turnout at 22 per cent.
Source: Global News Toronto
Harnaik Singh Rathor is the Founder, Publisher, and Editor-in-Chief of StudioX News Canada, Canada's multilingual digital news network serving multilingual diaspora communities across Canada. With a background in media production, public relations, and multicultural communications, he founded StudioX Film and TV Corporation to bridge the gap between mainstream Canadian media and the country's diverse immigrant communities. He is a member of the Canadian Association of Journalists (CAJ), RTDNA Canada, CPRS Vancouver, NEPMCC, and the Canadian Freelance Union (Unifor). Based in Surrey, British Columbia. | LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/harnaiksinghrathor/ | Muck Rack: https://muckrack.com/harnaiksinghrathor | Email: editor@studioxnews.ca
