In the 2011 municipal election, just 15,027 ballots were cast by the 52,709 eligible voters in Prince George, for a turnout percentage of just 28.5 per cent. The Citizen's Your Vote Matters campaign has set a target of 50 per cent voter turnout for this year's municipal election on Saturday, Nov. 15.
When looking at the voter turnout across the province in 2011, 50 per cent seems like an impossible number. That year, just 29.6 per cent of eligible voters in B.C. took part in municipal elections. Bowen Island topped the province at 83.8 per cent turnout and that's an indication of who votes and where. Whistler and Qualicum Beach, with just over 7,000 eligible voters each, were the largest communities in B.C. where more than half of the electorate bothered to vote.
In cities with more than 50,000 voters, Abbotsford topped the list at 39.2 per cent.
While voter engagement is generally stronger in rural communities, central and northern B.C. are not immune to voter apathy. Two-thirds of voters cast a ballot in Smithers in 2011 while just one in four voted on the very same election day in Terrace. Whle 75.6 per cent of voters excercised their democratic right in McBride, just 30.2 per cent voted in Tumbler Ridge. Sixty-one per cent of voters took part in Valemount but just 24.6 per cent did the same in Chetwynd.
To the north, just 23.5 per cent voted in Dawson Creek and 21.1 per cent participated in Fort St. John, one of the lowest in the province. Yet 55 per cent voted in Hudson's Hope and 51.3 per cent voted in Pouce Coupe.
To the south, Williams Lake came in at 47.6 per cent and Quesnel was at 40.2 per cent.
Clearly, there are other factors besides population size that influence voter turnout. That nearly 40 per cent turnout in Abbotsford three years ago can be tied to a referendum on whether local taxpayers should enter into a $300-million public-private partnership to upgrade the growing city's water system.
Prince George residents will have a referendum on the use of fluoride in the city's water supply but this minor controversy likely won't translate into a stampede at the polls.
As the Canadian Press noted in a story previewing the 2011 municipal elections across B.C., voter turnout at the civic level is substantially lower than for provincial elections, which is always lower than the participation in federal elections. This makes no sense.
The federal government will decide the ultimate fate of the Northern Gateway pipeline, sets benefits for the unemployed, seniors and veterans, issues passports and forges international trade deals The provincial government makes the call on education, health care and the environment.
That's all important stuff but the water in the tap and the toilet, the garbage trucks, the fire trucks, the police cars, the snow plows and the city streets they drive on, the library, the museum, the swimming pools, the arenas, the soccer fields and the parks are paid for, in whole or in part, by municipal tax dollars.
The mayor may be small potatoes next to the prime minister and the premier in the political pecking order but the decisions made by the mayor and the city council have significant effects on the daily lives of local residents, both immediately and in the long-term.
That's why your vote really matters.
