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This week, a local school board trustee hopes to remove the welcome mat from the doors of Toronto schools and ban federal candidates from school grounds if they don't support a multimedia campaign to give schools a GST break.

Ward 3 (Etobicoke-Lakeshore) Toronto District School Board Trustee Bruce Davis wants to turn candidates away from school property for a year if they refuse to support a full GST rebate. Trustees are expected to vote on the matter Wednesday.

It's unclear at this point whether Davis' efforts will secure him and the board their rebate or if his colleagues at the board will even support his idea, but kudos to him for shining a critical light on politicians' ever-expanding appetite for photo opportunities in places they expect to get positive exposure.

By shutting them out, he's sending them a frank message: if you don't back us, you can't use us.

In the weeks leading up to an election, newsrooms are inundated with press releases from candidates' offices, dangling one photo-op, platform event or another, hoping editors will bite and the campaign will reel in greatly sought-after press coverage. Candidates themselves are out canvassing, visiting homes, businesses, speaking to as many people as they can about what they plan to do for their community, shaking hands, kissing babies and promising great things for neighbourhood organizations.

As they should be. They want our vote, right?

But ask yourselves this: Who among them will keep in touch after they're elected? Who will stop in at the schools, nursing homes, attend community meetings and continue to lend an ear to his or her constituents? And who will say thank you very much for the photo opportunity, pack their bags for Ottawa and disappear into the sunset on Oct. 14, never (or rarely) to be heard from again?

Keep a critical eye out for the ones who will stick around; the ones who have a genuine interest in the issues affecting our communities. Those ones, the people who understand the importance of having an accessible and reliable representative in Ottawa, are the ones to keep top of mind when marking your ballot.

Election time may be the time that us news people hear from politicians most often, but it shouldn't be the only time voters and constituents hear from them. Davis has decided he's had enough of the feel-good photo-ops and is asking candidates to step up to the plate. It may be time the rest of us do that too.