PSAA Event Assesses Ontario Election

October 20, 2011

For the second year in a row, the Politi­cal Science Alumni Association (PSAA) put a spotlight on a recent election, pro­viding a treat for political junkies. This fall’s Ontario election was under the microscope at an event held soon after­wards, on October 20th. Four panellists were recuited on short notice to assess what voters had done, and in particular the role of the media in the campaign, drawing in a keenly interested audi­ence of students, alumni, and faculty.

John Wright, a pollster with Ipsos- Reid, sparked extended debate when he challenged the media’s excessive reliance on polling, some of it by firms they know to be unreliable. Robin Sears, an experienced political strate­gist and consul­tant (with Navi­gator) focussed instead on the record low turnout, and especially low turnout among young people. Veteran Toronto Star journalist Bob Hepburn argued that the media, and particularly the print media, went beyond just treat­ing the election as “horse race,” working hard to focus discussion on real issues. He agreed, though, that declining turn­out was a disturbing and to some extent puzzling development. Prof. Nelson Wiseman dissented from other panellists in arguing that comparatively low turn­out was not a sign of an unhealthy de­mocracy. He also claimed that the use of media consultants and strategists to con­stantly massage the messages of parties and their leaders turned off voters, and contributed to many not casting ballots.

The rhetorical fireworks were artfully moderated by PSAA executive mem­bers Katherine Valiquette and Kerry Wicks. They were also key players in putting together the panel, alongside PSAA chair Anthony Fernando, Ka­mara Jeffrey, Marianne Salih, Anthony Careless, and Victor Platt, a political science student assisting the Alumni Association this year. In the coming months, the PSAA looks forward to hosting another event, and to launch­ing a new alumni mentorship program.

This article is featured in the Fall 2011 Edition of News.Politics@UofT, which can be found here.