Rossi's announcement today that he would ask the province to permit recalls of Toronto Councillors and the Mayor seems to me a sort of gimmicky ploy to get some desperately needed media attention. He's in last place in the polls so he needs a little kick. He's trying to tap in that anger like the other Mayoral candidates, Councillor candidates and yours truly. The problem is that anger fatigue may eventually set in.
But I digress. Given that the details are spotty and that this change depends on the province it's hard to comment the possibility of having recalls in Toronto. I'm all for democratic renewal and strengthening our institutions through new measures. I'm just not convinced recalls are the solution. Given that we have few examples of this kind of direct democracy in Canada we must look south for precedents. The most famous case has been the recall of Democratic Governor Davis in California. This was a highly partisan-driven campaign that took the elected governor out of office 10 months after being reelected. Although recalls have by no means been abused in the US the ability for special interests to hijack the democratic process to serve their narrow goals is a cause for concern.
Direct democracy is indeed a good idea in theory but can it really be trusted in practice? Also, who gets to decide the process by which these initiatives take place? Do those in power make them highly restricted to protect their own interests or do they provide very liberal rules for recalls/referendums?
Let's begin by reforming our current elections by limiting the ability for Councillors to spend Expense account money on election years. We could also change the winner takes all voting system and replace it with run-off elections for candidates who don't get over 50% of the vote. No one should get elected with only say 30% of ballots cast. And set term limits!
Rossi has put recalls on the agenda with his 3Rs voter reform. It's an attention-grabbing proposition but it's one I hope gets forgotten.
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