I do
believe that municipal is my favorite kind of politics.
Unlike federal and provincial,
it’s easier to view the politicians as human leaders, rather than superstar
media creations. In municipal politics, you truly can see your own effect on
community involvement. But the best—the best—part
about municipal politics is its lack of party affiliation. There are those who
seek to change this, but they appear to be the type who vote for the same party
in every election at every level, with some vague dedication to textbook
ideologies.
This fall we vote in the big
town I live in. We have two choices for mayor—a sign that this past term was
met with greater approval after six names for the top job in 2010—and some
thirteen going for councilor, four of whom are incumbents.
Of these councilors I know of
only two who won’t get one of my six votes, and it has almost nothing to do
with party politics. I just don’t support what they want us to pay attention to,
nor do I feel their fiscal and environmental priorities line up with my own. I
will admit that, sadly, a third’s affiliation with the Wildrose Party makes me
suspicious of his motivations. I won’t say that I’m not voting for him, but he
would have to do a lot to convince me to do so.
Pierre Trudeau said you judge
the policies, not the person. I try to follow that as a rule in politics, and
as much as I disparage Stephen Harper’s despicable methods and “leadership,” I
try to avoid commenting on him as a human. It’s simply his political behavior
that’s, y’know, evil.
This is harder at the municipal
level.
Depending on the size of your
town, and your own drive, you can have a lot of interaction with your municipal
politicians. At the municipal level, you might talk to your mayor and
councilors often; at least you’ll see them at town events, eat burgers they’ve
flipped, or read them interviewed in the newspaper. It can be easy to form
opinions on their characters, rather than on their qualities as leaders. There
are people who, perhaps, are less proactive about judging person rather than
policy. It’s common in our partisan-mad world.
What we see creeping into our
newsfeeds lately are descriptors of municipal politicians who stand for Party
X. Every so often you see a letter demanding party politics in city hall
because then—if I may summarize cynically—people will know who to hate.
That’s the joy of this forum,
though. Truly, you can represent your constituents because you aren’t toeing a
line, although I will admit there are those with aspirations on the next level
and perhaps they have a little trouble hiding that big ugly C tattoo.
What I find most enchanting
about municipal government is that it’s a small group made up of
individuals—this is the key—working together because they have to, even though
they would likely sit across from each other in Edmonton or Ottawa. Issues get
addressed, work gets done.
I have found the partisanship in
our Legislature and Parliament to be poisonous, possibly in parallel to the
near-religious team mentality you see in the States. I am excited for the fall
elections because it allows me to act on issues I see directly, by voting for
the people whose policies I approve of, who must work with those whose policies
I don’t.
You know, like democracy?
No comments:
Post a Comment