Priorities

The premise of recentcallsvote.org makes some people uncomfortable. I get it— money and votes shouldn’t mix. And yet, the status quo stacks the deck against candidates who aren’t prepared to spend. There are no limits, no reporting requirements, and marketing costs a LOT.

Lawyers who work on the frontline providing access to justice are disadvantaged vis-à-vis Bay Street partners whose firms cover the exorbitant cost of direct mail and email marketing, ads in the Ontario Reports, wining & dining bigwigs, etc. etc.

This has always been a problem. And in Bencher Election 2019, there’s a shadowy group supporting candidates running as single-issue bloc. Nobody knows who is funding these candidates, the amount of contributions, or what promises have been made. No rules prevent this.

If nothing else, let recentcallsvote.org be a catalyst for meaningful action on governance reform. My aim isn’t to lower the bar, but rather to expose weaknesses that are already being exploited, in arguably more nefarious ways.

If it takes a bit of controversy to draw attention to what seems like an obvious problem in the system, bring the heat. Respectfully, is an initiative to encourage participation in an underrepresented demographic (via charitable donations to #A2J orgs) the biggest concern?