Despite scandals, municipal leaders trusted most

It hasn't been a banner year for municipal politics in Canada.

The city of Montreal has had two mayors ousted over an ongoing corruption scandal; London Mayor Joe Fontana in the midst of a court battle over allegations that he used public money to pay for his son's wedding; Winnipeg Mayor Sam Katz was the subject of a conflict of interest allegation; and Toronto Mayor Rob Ford is ... well, Rob Ford.

Despite all those alleged acts of moral turpitude, a new Leger survey suggests that municipal government is still the most popular level of government in the county.

The survey — published exclusively for Yahoo Canada — shows that 21 per cent of Canadians are "very" or "extremely" confident with their municipal representative having the capacity to do his/her job.  The federal and provincial confidence numbers are much lower – both at 14 per cent.

When asked about their "satisfaction" levels, Canadians, again, put their city halls on a pedestal: 42 per cent of those surveyed said that they are “most satisfied” with their municipal government, while 28 per cent and 24 per cent respectively said the same of their federal and provincial governments.

The low numbers across the board shouldn’t come as a surprise.  These days, politicians are often less trusted than used-car salesmen.

But why — after all these scandals — are municipal politicians still so relatively revered?

Dave Scholz, Leger's chief marketing officer, says the apparent contradiction has to do with survey respondents distinguishing between the office and the current personality that occupies it.

"We didn’t ask 'are you satisfied with Rob Ford the individual', we asked about the municipal government," he said.

"Take his behavior out of the mix and many Torontonians would say the municipal work is going well."

David Seymour, a municipal affairs expert and senior fellow at the Manning Institute, suggests that there might be other reasons for the municipal admiration.

"Municipalities generally don't have to take on hard and polarizing issues,” he told Yahoo Canada.

“While municipalities are dealing with roads and sewers, the feds are deciding whether to go to war and the provinces are deciding how to fund healthcare.”

Dr. Cheryl Collier, a political science professor at the University of Windsor agrees, suggesting that we shouldn’t discount the ‘local’ appeal of ‘local’ officials.

In an email exchange with Yahoo, she said that local politicians are often more visible than their federal and provincial counterparts and, as a result, the electorate is better able to track their “efforts to action on the ground.”

She also says that there are at least two factors unique to municipal government that buoys their popularity – one of which is the absence of political parties in most city halls.

"It helps a bit ... as politicians are [seen] only working for their constituents and not for the party," she said.

Secondly, she says, city governments are helped by the fact that there is very little media and public scrutiny on the actual work that they do.

It’s true: Aside from the major scandals, most municipal government issues don't lead the 6 o'clock local news. Moreover, mayors and councillors aren't subject to the same daily barrage of questions in a formal 'question period' that we see in our parliament and legislatures.

Imagine Calgary’s Naheed Nenshi having to deal with a daily televised grilling by an opposing councillor about a zoning amendment.

So maybe our local politicians aren't necessarily a better class of politician or their level of government a more sophisticated one.

Maybe it's just that the work they actually do isn't under the same microscope.

(Photo courtesy Chase Kell, Yahoo Canada)