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6 Friday, September 23, 2016 brooklintowncrier.com As simple as 1-2-3? Last week at Operations, we reviewed Bill 181, which regards municipal election reform and was introduced by the Provincial Liberals. It's just been passed. It has the option for municipalities to use a ranked balloting system. We had much discussion at the Operations Meeting regarding this since one can imagine politicians are quite invested on how we will be chosen in the next election. The basic premise behind ranked balloting is that you choose your candidates in order of preference. Then, should no single candidate obtain 50% or more of the vote, the candidate with the least first place votes would then be removed and the second place votes on their ballot are re-allocated to the remaining candidates. This continues until a candidate has more than 50% of the vote. The winning candidate may in fact be the candidate with the most first place votes, or could be the candidate with the majority of second place votes. The winning candidate could be the second or third place candidate after the first round of tallying. The Operations Committee more or less concluded that the public should state if it wants to vote in this manner. After all, is it entirely fair that the people who play the game of politics also be able to make the rules? It was moved to suggest a Referendum Question be included on the 2018 ballot as to whether to use ranked ballots in the 2022 election. As a result of our debate, I invited representatives of 123Whitby to a couple of coffee shop drop-in meetings I hosted last week. It's a group of people who support ranked balloting. Again, more lively debate - especially among some keen and perceptive seniors. I sense some people glazed over while listening. When it comes to ranked balloting, I understand the how and why, but I think we have more to consider. There are many articles online about voter engagement and they play both in favour and against the ranked ballot. This week at Council we voted down the Referendum Question on the ballot for 2018. So it's been tabled or now. But I'm curious to watch the outcome in other municipalities. In the meantime, I welcome you to join me at Copper Branch on October 6 at 7:00 p.m. for my next community drop-in. Our Councillor's Report by Rhonda Mulcahy North Ward Councillor, Town of Whitby • mulcahyr@whitby.ca The Ethno-cultural and Diversity Ad- visory Committee is hosting a free bus tour for newcomers to Whitby on Saturday, September 24 from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The tour will start and end at the Whitby Central Library, 405 Dundas Street West. Space is limited and interested par- ticipants must pre-register. Reg- istration may be done http://www. eventkeeper.com/mars/xpages/w/ whitby/ek.cfm or by calling or visit- ing any Whitby library location. A newcomer can be a new immi- grant to Canada who is settling in Whitby, or any new Whitby resident. This tour is a fun, family-friendly event and an educational experi- ence designed to introduce new- comers to their local government and their new community. The tour will begin at the Whitby Central Library and will include points of interest such as recreation centres, library branches, municipal and regional headquarters, histori- cal sites, the Station Gallery, Port Whitby Marina, Kiwanis Heyden- shore Park and much more. Other highlights of the tour include: ● A guided tour of a recreation cen- tre to highlight programs and servic- es available at the Town's recreation facilities, including instructions on how to use the Recreation Guide; ● A guided tour of Whitby Cen- tral Library highlighting the no-cost family resources, including multilin- gual collections and multimedia re- sources and an opportunity to get a library card on the spot; ● Refreshments at the beginning and end of the tour. More information on the newcom- ers' bus tour can be found on the Town's whitby.ca. Are you a Whitby Newbie? Take the Free Bus Tour Hockey League Fundraiser Supports Charities The BMHL conducted its annual draft and golf day on June 18th, 2016. This year, the league decided to donate all proceeds to two local charities that were important to two of our fallen players. The league lost Mike Thom in 2014 and Johnny Emm in 2015 and both men thought highly of the children's charities, Jumpstart and The Children's Wish Foundation. With the commitment of players and golf sponsors, the league recently presented cheques of $2118.36 to each charity. Jumpstart announced that every $100 raised on average is what is required to provide a child the opportunity to get into sports. Every dollar stays in the immediate community, which means 21 kids are now able to play some type of local organized sport. The cheque to the Children's Wish Foundation meant that Riley, a five year old cancer patient, will now have the opportunity to visit Walt Disney World and see his heroes. For him and his family, it will be the trip of a lifetime. In the photo, from left to right: Mark Ogden, Tyler Mercer from The Children's Wish Foundation, Eric Cartlidge from Jumpstart and BMHL President Jamie Neault. "Proud to be a Brooklinite" Founded in 2000 and published 24 times per year. Editor, Richard Bercuson 613-769-8629 • editorofbtc@gmail.com The Brooklin Town Crier is locally owned and operated and is a publication of Appletree Graphic Design Inc. We accept advertising in good faith but do not endorse advertisers nor advertisements. All editorial submissions are subject to editing. For advertising information, contact: 416-839-0248 cmountain@calclosets.com Next Issue: Friday, October 7 , 2016 Deadline: Friday, September 30, 2016