Toronto City Councillor Maria Augimeri has been serving since 1985. Provincially, Jim Bradley from St. Catherine’s has been serving  in the legislature since 1977.  Is the notion of politics as public service dead? Are politics solely the domain of the professional politician and is this good for a healthy democracy?

Scholars have argued that long term incumbency is killing our democracy, and reinforcing the status quo and voter apathy.

Incumbents have a high chance of success seeking re-election, benefiting from name recognition, political connections, and campaign financing rules.

Are term limits the answer to keeping big money out of politics? Will this reinvigorate the electorate, and help us build better communities, and infrastructure?

Toronto city councillor Mary-Margaret McMahon (Ward 32, Beaches-East York,) announced she will not run in the 2018 municipal election and is calling on other incumbent councillors to step aside too. Join us as we welcome her and policy expert Vasiliki (Vass) Bednar to discuss how incumbency impacts our democratic process.

We’ll be meeting Monday May 28^th at the Madison Pub. As usual, the event is free, you just have to pay for anything you order.

Doors open 7:00pm. Discussion starts promptly at 7:30pm.

RSVP to let us know you can join us.