Social media is playing a larger role for candidates to get their message out. Twitter in particular has allowed candidates to engage in conversation with the community about why they are running and what policies they support.
As keeping a dialog going on Twitter can be time consuming some candidates during an election will have their staff tweet for them. For things such as press releases, event notifications etc, this is fine. However to keep transparency, candidates should put on their twitter profile is they alone and/or staff will post to twitter using the candidates account. It is also recommend that if it is staff tweeting that should be clear in the tweet by posting their initials at the end of the of the message.
I will be requesting this information from the candidates running in London and area ridings who I know have a twitter account. As I get the information back I’ll update the results on this spreadsheet.
Thanks all.
One of the major goals for the UnLab was to build a podcasting studio. Now that it is done I’ve caught the podcasting bug. I’ve been a fan and regular listener of Leo Laporte’s TWIT podcasting network for a few years and I’ve always wondered what it would be like to do.
Well now I have that opportunity. Fellow UnLab member Sean Quigley and myself have just finished the first episode of a new podcast called This Week In London Tweets or TWILT for short. In this podcast we touch on the topics that London twitter users are talking about. This first show was more on the political side and I expect a good portion of shows will be along that those lines, but if a tech or arts story comes around that gets the London twitter sphere buzzing then we will cover it.
You can check out the show blog at http://twiltpodcast.wordpress.com/ which will have links to episodes. Both Sean and I hope you enjoy it.
"I wont raise your taxes and will not cut services." This sound bite said by a politician will at least warrant a mention on the evening news as well as several paragraphs in the papers and news websites. However as people say, talk is cheap. While making for an attractive promise, it’s more insulting to the voters that the politician is hoping to sway.
I also notice that those politicians running on a 0% platform seems to ignore that when something in their own ward or riding is threatened with closure due to the very platform they were elected on.
Mondays council meeting showed an excellent example of that. The Mayor and other councilors who ran or support a 0% platform told city administration as well as all boards and commissions to bring budgets in with little or no increases. When the library board came back with their budget, one of the ways they could achieve that goal was to look at closing the Glanworth library branch as they were looking at least $250,000 cost to bring this small branch up to required standards.
At this point the community in Glanworth rallied around to fight the branch being closed. At Mondays council meeting several councilors spoke to tell the library board to reconsider. The only thing is that several of the councilors were the very same people who mandated a 0% increase. In short you can’t have it both ways. Many people who run on a 0% platform seem to think that there is a big pot of a gold that is hidden away at city hall and with that ‘extra money’ they can cut all other expenses. When they get into office they find things very different. The problem is at that point they have dug themselves into a hole and will not admit they have been wrong.
If you are going to tell your boards and commissions to bring back a 0% budget them support them when they bring back what you wanted. If you can’t then you should not have run on a 0% increase.
One thing that has come out with the death of Jack Layton that is there are many Canadian’s of all political stripes that do want a better society and a better Canada.
It’s good to see all the outpouring of support in particular at Toronto City Hall where Jack got his political start. Seeing the message written in chalk at Nathan Phillips square is particularly inspiring. While watching this video, one message in particular stuck a chord with me. “Jack Layton was the reason I started voting” This also shows that people are not alone in their grief or their beliefs for a better country.
If you haven’t already it’s worth reading Stephen Lewis’s eulogy of Jack Layton. Beside the fact the Stephen Lewis is one of the finest orators I know this eulogy really shows what Jack Layton was like.
Many speakers spoke of trying to have a better Canada. To have a manifesto for a more social democracy. Many people both in and out of politics forget the purpose of government is to serve and help the people. Not the people who donate to the parties; not the people who come out and work for the campaigns; but all the people. The young; the old; single; married; sick, First Nations and others; all the people.
Like others have said, I can’t agree with everything he stood for but I find his passion and approach to be something we should all aspire towards.
Politics | scadmin | 
September 8, 2011 2:11 pm | 
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