Robert Kirwan

For example, when I was elected in 2014 to the position of Councillor of Ward 5, I ran against four other candidates. There were 9278 eligible voters out of a total population of 12,204 in Ward 5.

But only 4100 people out of the 9278 actually voted in the election. That is a percentage of 44.2%, which is lower than the 48.2% of eligible voters from the entire City of Greater Sudbury who actually voted. Out of 117,701 eligible voters, only 59,686 cast ballots in 2014.

I received the most votes of any other candidate, with a total of 1467 people voting for me personally. That is only 35.8% of all of the people who actually voted for one of the five candidates, but it is only 15.8% of the total number of eligible voters in the ward who could have voted but did not for whatever reason.

So, when you consider the data, I was selected to represent 12,204 residents of Ward 5 as their Councillor by only 12% of the actual number of residents living in the Ward.

My job for the past four years has been to provide equal representation and advocacy for each and every resident and to be their collective voice on matters that are placed in front of City Council.

This is something that every person who aspires to sit on City Council must understand and accept. You can say you are going to listen to the people and you can say you are going to fight for what they feel is important, but the reality is that it is very hard to "hear" what your constituents are saying when so few of them take the time to become actively engaged in municipal affairs. But you represent the people who are not engaged just as much as those who are.

You must do more than listen. You must listen as much as you can, including listening to the silent majority who rarely speak with actions or words, and then you must sort through all of the information and evidence you have available to come up with decisions that you feel are in the best interests of the majority of the constituents in your ward.

To do this you often have to view things like petitions and social media posts in the proper context in the face of overwhelming evidence against what they are proposing. You can't just look at a social media post where a dozen people are aggressively telling you what to do and then go out and allow that to influence your choice on an issue.

You have a responsibility to the little boy in the photo below to make some tough choices that may not sit well with the small political activist lobby groups or special interest organizations. But you have a responsibility to the ward as a collective - not to special interest groups. So be prepared to make the right decisions for your ward community and not for the special interest group that makes the most noise.

The largest special interest group in my ward consists of the 1467 people who cast a vote for me and ended up electing me to the position of Councillor of Ward 5. I don't even know who they are, but regardless, I have an obligation to meet the needs of all residents in my ward, not just the 12% who voted for me in 2014. If you don't understand and accept that simple fact, then you shouldn't even be running for Council.

I look forward to continuing to do what I have been doing for the past 3 and a half years and will represent each and every constituent who seeks my assistance on individual or group matters.

I will also continue to examine all information, including information from the Valley East facebook group, emails, messages, articles in the media, other social media groups, contacts I make in the community, and also from other sources and reports that I have available to me in order to make decisions that I feel are in the best interests of the 12,204 residents of Ward 5, including the little boy who is not quite ready to vote, and ultimately in the best interests of the entire City of Greater Sudbury.

If the majority of people who take the time to vote in the October 2018 election feel that I have met their expectations, then they will cast their vote for me and allow me to continue as their representative for the next four years. If the majority of those voters do not feel I have acted in their best interests, then they will choose someone else to represent them.

No matter what - whether that number is 12% or 50% of the total number of residents - if I am elected to a second term, I will continue to serve as Councillor of Ward 5 with exactly the same passion and commitment as I have during this first term.