Most 18 year-old girls aspire to see their names on the ballot for Prom Queen, or better yet Student President. Morgan Baskin has her sights set a little higher; on October 27th 2014, this young lady will fight for a seat at City Hall as Toronto’s mayor. Like many other teens that have recently reached voting age, I have been guilty of being a little ignorant when it comes to staying informed about my local political scene. However, my ears certainly perked up this Tuesday after hearing about this high school senior’s official entry into the mayoral race. Can someone so young really have the necessary experience and insight to make critical decisions on issues from affordable housing to economic development? Baskin claims so. She is said to believe her fresh view, babysitting experience, and leadership roles within her Anglican Church Community and Cub Scouts, combined with firsthand knowledge of the city could be what council needs to be united.
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Every election, there are dozens of candidates who sign up to run and end up flying under the radar, never to be heard of by the majority of voters. Impressively, Baskin has already managed to pull quite a bit of media buzz for her campaign through interviews with CTV News, CBC news and The Morning show. With nearly 40 candidates registered in the race so far, Baskin will be competing against some big names in politics including John Tory, Karen Stintz, Olivia Chow and a certain patois-speaking gentleman who currently holds the title. These frontrunners for the vote all fit the bill in terms of having years of qualified experience involving law, policy making, business management, and social services that will no doubt serve as assets in overseeing a city so large and diverse. The young candidate’s retort to this shortcoming is that she is not ashamed to admit when she is wrong and ask for help when she needs it. While I commend her honesty because it is important to see our leaders take ownership over their actions, her statement begs the question – how often will she be asking for help?
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Whether Morgan Baskin is the best person for the job is for Torontonians to decide as campaigning continues. But whatever the result, Baskin’s decision to run has already caught the attention of voters – young and old, and placed added pressure on all other candidates to address issues affecting the city’s youth that may have been otherwise overlooked. As unconventional as Baskin’s decision to run may be, I see a driven, innovative girl who has noticed areas of improvement in the systems that affect her city and who is now exercising her legal agency to try and make a difference. I’m no expert but isn’t that is what a politician’s job is to do? On a final note to all HerCampus readers (political views aside), I hope seeing this young woman actively pursue her goal inspires courage in you to go after what you want, void of self-doubt. Remember, #GirlsCan do anything, even run for mayor, even if they are young!
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If you want to find out more about Miss. Baskin’s platform, you can check out these links.
http://morganbaskinto.tumblr.com
http://morganbaskin.ca/the-basics/
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