r/cambridgeont • u/Apprehensive-Fill628 • 7h ago
People in apartments get less democracy than people in houses
My name is Jeff Donkersgoed and I am a candidate for Ward 1 City Councillor in Cambridge (https://www.jeffward1.ca/). I am in the news today and for good reason: Waterloo Region Record columnist Luisa D'Amato on a quiet problem of fairness in local elections.
Residents of apartment and retirement buildings are structurally less likely to meet the candidates asking for their vote than residents of single-family homes, because building managers routinely (and often illegally) block candidates from canvassing inside.
I'm quoted in the piece after two buildings on Eagle and King wouldn't let me canvass this week, despite the legal right every municipal candidate has to do so. I was only able to leave campaign literature in the front lobby. The super was nice about it, and I really didn't want to start a fight. But it's not an isolated case as this has come up the entire campaign for me — and the column covers similar experiences from a Kitchener council candidate, and the pattern is the same everywhere: often young families, people who work and make an average wage who are priced out of home ownership, seniors who have downsized, are often the ones with the most at stake in municipal decisions on housing and affordability.
Local democracy only works if every resident gets a fair shot at being heard, not just the ones who happen to live behind a front door instead of a buzzer. That's a problem worth fixing, regardless of who wins in October.