A note from Niagara At Large publisher Doug Draper
The campaigns have been going on for weeks now and the candidates have had their say.
A familiar sight this fall along some of Niagara's busier roads.
Now it is time for the rest of us who are eligible to vote across the Ontario side of the Niagara region to go to the polling stations and have ours.
This Monday, October 25 is municipal election day in Ontario and it is the one chance we get every four years to hire or rehire those we want sitting on our local and regional councils, and to fire those we feel have not been doing the job on our collective behalf.
This is the one day – possibly more than any other over the next four years – that serves as a reminder that our members of council are there to serve the best interests of the whole community and not just a few, and that we have the power to defeat those who do not serve us well.
As we have stated a number of times on this site, this Niagara region is one of great potential and it is also one that faces many serious challenges, not least of which are jobless figures on the site of the border now ranging between 9.5 and 10 per cent – among the highest of any region in Ontario. We need councillors with the intelligence and vision and the willingness to work with the rest of us to make this as healthy and prosperous as it can be for this and future generations.
Study the list of candidates in your community carefully. Take the time to examine their record, along with the priorities and platforms they have listed for the future, and vote accordingly.
On a recent CBC radio program on the coming municipal elections, one of the guests, was Joe Kushner, a veteran St. Catharines city councillor who has served on the council for 34 years, was asked if there should be term limits for municipal politicians. Kushner rightfully replied that “there are term limits. They are called elections.”
Those elections are here now. Take advantage of them!
We welcome you sharing your views on the importance of voting in these municipal elections in the comment boxes below. Our policy requires full names to be attached to all comments posted on this site. Thank you.
(Visit Niagara At Large at www.niagaraatlarge.com for more news and commentary on matters of interest and concern to residents in our greater Niagara region.)
Niagara At Large 
I’ve voted in every election, often holding my nose. But if one doesn’t vote, one shouldn’t complain ever about municipalities not doing the right thing.
I know I am beating a dead horse, but but Thorold and St. Catharines have sign bylaws that do not permit election signs on anything but private property. Take a look at the picture accompanying this article and know that not all those candidates asked permission of the commercial propery owner, you can be sure of that.
Signs on private property actually tell one who the homeowner is supporting. The plethora of signs littering commercial and public properties are meaningless.
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I have found that signs don’t say much , often the guy with the most signs is elected, even though he or she has never done anything for the community, people are a lot like lemmings at election time, often going over the cliff and suffering the cosequences for following the leader,blindly.
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I agree with Gail about election signs on municipal property. As a school board trustee candidate, I’ve always asked owners or tenants of commercial property for permission. It annoys me to see so many illegally on municipal property and boulevards.
This year, due to numerous sign thefts from private property (homes) , I got a Bill Posters License and Permit for 11″ x 17″ on utility poles from the City….guess what, they got stolen too. I don’t know whether people think the pole in front of their home is “their property” or it was vandals.
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It is the job of voters to canvass all candidates seeking election to the various positions and to find out where they stand on the issues that are most important to you. Some people found this task to be overwhelming and then asked me who to vote for. I had no trouble telling people who I supported or would support and why; each voter needs to do this research and not just mark off names at random or whose names are most familiar.
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