Term Limits Speech to Council

Winnipeg's election system is not fair. Over the last 36 years, no Mayor has been defeated when seeking re-election and incumbent Councillors have been re-elected 81% of the time. Clearly, incumbents have a significant advantage that makes them nearly impossible to defeat.

As elected officials, Councillors routinely receive free media exposure through interviews on City issues, are often introduced at public gatherings and have access to funding to support initiatives in the community. Those are just a few examples of the benefits of office that contribute to the powers of incumbency.

As the powers of incumbency discourage other bright and talented Winnipeggers from running for office and as those powers are currently not acknowledged in our electoral laws, I seconded a term limits motion at the November 21, 2007 Council meeting. The motion would have limited the number of terms that a Councillor can serve at three consecutive terms.

Unfortunately, the term limits motion was defeated 9-7. However, I remain committed to my election promise -- to not serve more than two consecutive terms.

Term limits are not an ideological policy. Former Progressive Conservative Premier Gary Filmon spoke in favour of term limits, yet so did former Union President Paul Moist. In fact, term limits trace back to ancient Rome and Greece -- the origin of democracy.

Term limits are about giving everyone a fair chance to run for office and help improve our community. Term limits are about bringing fairness to our election process.

I encourage you to contact your Councillor and urge him/her to support term limits. A balanced electoral system will mean even more talented people will run for office. In the end we will all win.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• term
• limits
• scott
• fielding
• councillor
• winnipeg
• council
• limit
• democracy
• city
• government
• mayor
• governance
• wpg