While succession planning is not the first thing that comes to mind when it comes to municipal councils, Puslinch councillor Matthew Bulmer said it is important to encourage the next generation of residents to become municipal councillors.
The recent OGRA/ROMA (Ontario Good Roads Association/Rural Ontario Municipal Association) Combined Conference shed light on this.
Bulmer noted Guelph city councillor Leanne Piper, who obtained her masters in leadership at the University of Guelph, presented the results of her survey.
Bulmer found it interesting the survey had a 25 per cent response rate “which is pretty high considering the typical results are 10 to 12%.”
He said there were no surprises “as to the maleness and whiteness of the councillors.”
“It made me think, one of the greatest things a municipal council has in terms of feeding into that structure – are its committees,” said Bulmer.
He added there are training sessions for new municipal councillors, as well as ongoing training sessions and additional workshops. Bulmer said that would help a committee person to decide whether or not he or she wanted to take the next step up.
Bulmer said council may want to consider this when offering its training programs.
‘Vote Savvy’
Lever also believes groups such as Vote Savvy may make a significant impact in increasing young voter turnout in future elections.
The item came up as the mayor spoke of various sessions offered at last month’s ROMA conference. Lever said one that really caught his attention included two young presenters on Vote Savvy.
Lever said the presenters had a video at the end of their presentation “which was really an eye opener … it could have a significant impact.”
He said the presenters spoke of initiatives at the University of Guelph to get more voters out from that age group.
“But the video showed a young man on a couch using his phone, his dad comes along and takes the phone away from him … starts poking away at the phone setting up a date via social media. The end message was – you wouldn’t let your parents set up a date for you, why would you let them vote for you?”
Lever was certain the campaign will catch a lot of attention in the future.
For more information on the group visit www.votesavvy.ca.
