Will Voter Fatigue Hurt Osgoode Election? CRERAR

Published 04/20/2025 · Updated 04/19/2025

Do we have too much democracy?

On Feb. 27 a provincial election was held. A federal election will take place on April 28, less than 10 days from now. If that’s not enough democracy for you, a third election, a municipal by-election, is scheduled for June 16, in Osgoode ward, to fill an empty seat at Ottawa City Hall.

How many elections does it take for voters to become too weary to head to the nearest polling station? Maybe we’ll find out in June.

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Turnout for the (was it really necessary?) provincial election in February was 45 per cent, up 1.3 per cent from the previous election. Turnout for the federal election is as yet unknown although eligible voter turnout in 2021 was 62.2 per cent. Based on the impact of Trump turmoil, turnout will likely increase this time around.

That brings us to the upcoming municipal by-election. In 2022 voter turnout for Osgoode ward was was 46.2 per cent, sixth highest among the city’s 23 wards. In addition to learning who wins the by-election, it will be interesting to see if voter fatigue impacts turnout in what is an important election for local residents.

Every candidate will likely enlist a number of people to canvass door-to-door to help increase their vote count. How will residents respond when someone comes knocking? I suspect some of the questions canvassers will hear are: “Didn’t we just have an election?” or the ever-popular “What party is your candidate with?”

With two elections in one year and a by-election thrown in as a special bonus, voters in Osgoode ward have an opportunity to show the city, the province, the country, how much democracy the average Canadian can handle within a four-month period.

Howard Crerar is a project manager who has worked in the software industry for three decades.