Canadian Government Executive - Volume 24 - Issue 07

28 / Canadian Government Executive // February/March 2019 Accessibility Accessibility To many, accessibility means convenience. It means living in close proximity to res- taurants, grocery stores, banks and many other basic needs. We rarely stop to con- sider the privilege we were born with. Many of us are able to complete daily tasks without hearing multiple scary voices in our heads. We are able to walk to the store for milk or bread or drive our cars to work every day because we went to college or university and are privileged to have an education that leads us to a career. These are all daily activities that are accessible to the majority of readers. To be able to live in Canadian society in a healthy manner is a privilege that some Canadians have; however, many do not. It would be horribly debilitating to wake up every single morning in a questionably heated room, with a thin blanket, with the possibility of rodents running over you, not knowing whether harm awaits when you step out of bed. This is a reality that many by Julia Ann Fremeau On October 22, 2018, elections were held in Ontario’s 400+ municipalities. Local elections tend to report lower voter turnout than provincial and federal ones, and Ontario’s were no exception with only 38 per cent turnout. However, given the direct relevance of municipal issues to our daily lives and the opportunities that these contests provide for local political engagement, it is important to be attentive to both the administration and the results of local political contests. The number of female candidates increased to 27 per cent overall in 2018, as compared to 23 per cent in 2014. Also, the use of electronic voting in- creased significantly. In this piece, Julia Fremeau discusses challenges regarding the accessibility of municipal politics. Vulnerabi l i ty and Voting