Popular discontent rises following Toronto Council decision after plans for ranked voting blocked | Democracy, elections and voting at Democracy Chronicles

Torontonians were shut out of city councillors’ surprise rejection of electoral reforms that aimed to increase diversity and reduce incumbents’ advantage in being re-elected, say proponents of ranked ballots. Thursday night’s council vote, urging the province not to allow municipalities to use ranked ballots, was very different than one in 2013, where the previous council embraced…

The last and only time we’ve seen Councillor Justin Di Ciano do anything remotely useful was Wednesday at city hall. He introduced the Blue Jays mascot to lead city council in serenading the pennant-winning baseball team with the popular theme song, “Okay, Blue Jays.” The councillor from Etobicoke may want to stick to that role; Jays…