While it will be months before most candidates can put up election signs with their names, things are different for Toronto's current city councillors and the mayor. A pile of compost at David Crombie Park features a sign with the words 'free compost' and 'Ausma Malik,' the councillor for Ward 10 Spadina-Fort York. This gives incumbents a head start in name recognition, even though election rules restrict most candidates from posting signs until Oct. 1.
Compost signs and name recognition
Paul Nash, a registered candidate for Ward 10 hoping to replace Malik, said city hall does a good job explaining the rules about campaign signs. He knows that unlike Malik, he cannot put up a sign with his name until Oct. 1, and even then never in a public park. Given Malik still has responsibilities to her constituents, Nash thinks the compost sign is 'probably acceptable, but it does put other candidates at a disadvantage.' Malik, who has yet to register as a candidate, ignored a request for comment.
Ian Stedman, an associate professor at York University's school of public policy and administration, said there is a 'line that's being toed' with these sorts of signs. 'It does the same thing as raising awareness of the individual's name, but technically speaking, it's not saying: I want you to know my name because I'm running for election,' he told the Sun.
City resources and personal goals
The City of Toronto confirmed there was no issue with Malik's name being next to the compost pile, as restrictions on communication materials featuring a councillor's name do not kick in until Aug. 1. The election date is Oct. 26, but the nomination period began at the start of May. Some candidates are already trying to get noticed through social media. In a quirk of the election calendar, political hopefuls can sign up to run as late as Aug. 21, well after the restriction on communications by councillors kicks in. In the meantime, programs like the compost giveaway give councillors such as Malik the home turf advantage.
Other unusual cases can keep a councillor in the public consciousness. Chris Moise, who represents another downtown ward, has been criticized for rolling out cycling safety decals that include his name on local sidewalks. Moise has defended that program, saying he cleared it with city bureaucrats.
Shadow campaigning
Bradford, a mayoral favourite, has accused Olivia Chow of running a so-called shadow campaign, rolling out the distinctive purple she used in her 2023 run for mayor at what should be City of Toronto announcements. Progress Toronto, a group aligned with Chow, has made similar accusations of Bradford using his role as councillor to amplify his own mayoral campaign. While Bradford has registered to run for mayor, Chow has not, nor has she said she will.
Stedman said shadow campaigning is nothing new. 'That's the kind of thing that politics does to people: It makes them want to raise their profile so that people know who they are, because there is such a thing – and the research has demonstrated this time and time again – as an incumbency advantage.' He added that the incumbency advantage is supposed to be the fact that people know your name, but the rules also allow incumbents to make sure people know their name by promoting it in the right way.
An accusation of shadow campaigning is 'much stronger' when it is against a declared candidate, Stedman said, so an incumbent can play coy about whether they are running again. Some might even hold off to take advantage of the extra attention city hall will get because of the World Cup this summer. 'It's unpalatable for those of us on the outside looking in and thinking, 'Oh my God, we know for sure they're going to run for re-election.' It's obvious what they're doing, but the rules aren't written in such a way that they're on the wrong side of the line,' he said. 'So, they're toeing the line hard, and everyone knows they're toeing a line. You and I do, everyone who's making these complaints knows they are. And the response always is, 'Yeah, I'm not over the line.''
There is nothing to say that the rules could not be changed to level the playing field, for example, by restricting any sign featuring an incumbent's name once the nomination period begins, Stedman said. 'If we find this shadow campaigning stuff distasteful, the solution is to have rules around what incumbents can and cannot do during a campaign period or once they've announced they're running for re-election, and that's not something we've done historically. This toeing-of-the-line thing is something we've accepted.'
