By Emily Stonehouse

The time has come. One week from now, we will be waking up to a new council.

Maybe.

What a wild ride it’s been.

I’ve had the privilege to now say that I’ve covered each form of election in Canada: Federal, provincial, and municipal.

They all have different highs and lows. For federal and provincial, while you’re working with folks who are familiar with our neck of the woods, their eyes are often on other prizes.

They are aligned with a party; following the protocols and practices of that organization. A binder of what to say and when to say it. They’re also media trained, and stick to a status quo of comfortable middle grounds.

In comparison, municipal elections are the Wild Wild West. No party association, limited political experience, and half the candidates have shown up to candidate meetings in hoodies.

That’s not to say that their hearts aren’t in the right places. As I shared last week, these are the people who blur the lines of politics and connect the dots through people. Whereas the other elections are politics first, municipal debates are firmly grounded in people first, politics second.

We’ve covered the candidates, we’ve featured the faces, we’ve shared the stories.

Now, it’s your turn. I’ve shared the embarrassingly low numbers from voter turnout in these pages before. Now is the time to change that. It’s time to shake off the shackles of ambivalence and use your voice for good.

I’m not saying a new council will solve all our problems. We all know that’s not how it works. There are municipal practices put in place that are the root of red tape. Many are quick to point fingers to those in positions of power, but at the end of the day, their hands are tied on certain topics.

But we can make sure we elect people who opt to share our voices. To listen to our problems. To prioritize marginalized communities. To see the world for what we can do, rather than what’s been done already.

But you have to use your platform. You have to take the stage. You have to vote.

Many of you would have read the election questions I ran in past weeks. Each and every candidate was sent the same seven questions, and I offered an opportunity for their exact answers, word for word, to run during the week their municipality was featured.

Most answered. Some did not. The vast majority missed the deadline, which prompted me to offer an extension. Some spoke to me in a way that was professional and kind. Others were cold and snappy. Those types of interactions spoke volumes.

And while some of my questions perhaps seemed ‘fluffier’ than others, every single one had a point.

Asking what their favourite part of the county was, wasn’t some sort of filler. It was an attempt to get to the root of why they choose here. Again and again and again. Asking about marginalized communities was aimed to see where their priorities lay. Asking about multi-tiered government wasn’t set out to pick sides, it was to see if they understood the magnitude of what they are getting themselves into.

We’ve given them time to speak. To share. To show their true colours.

And now, it’s time, to vote.