You may have noticed a change in the air this spring. As the snow has
slowly melted and the draining waters have ebbed from our curbs and gutters,
the air feels different. It's stiff, with a rancid, unseemly nose. The air cuts
and burns as you wade through your day, and things this spring feel... fetid.
This is a rare air for Red Deer. The mountains to the west usually waft
in the freshness of new growth as the wind rolls across the foothills and into
our midst. The northern winds on the other hand, make things crisp and bright;
cleaning our senses.
So why this year? Why has the freshness of spring and the crispness of the
north foresaken us this year? Why has the air turned rank with the odious
renderings of the contents from a thousand stagnant sewers?
Why, it's an election year of course. This is the time when metaphorical bright
lights are shot out with BB gun-wielding thugs, bent on creating fear, sewing
disdain, and championing false revolution. This is the time when the fringes of
the population temporarily lose their minds - or perhaps they lost their minds
long ago and simply choose this occasion to reveal that fact. Regardless, we
have reached that tri-annual orgy of name-calling, hand-wringing, and the
general demonstration of a lack of understanding of how work gets done in a
municipality.
This year, I'm pleading with my fellow citizens to elevate the political
discourse from the muck and mire that a new set of voices have dragged it down to.
You see, the Gang of Eight is so bent on telling you what's wrong - as they
perceive it - that they've neglected to tell you what they'll do right. They're
so bent on wailing about bike lanes and their perception of what it means for a
government to be "accountable" that they have forgotten to show what
their vision of a future looks like.
I expect big things from my Council. I expect them to be articulate,
intelligent, and honest. I expect them to have ideas for our future. I expect
them to be big thinkers and to be the progenitors of concept-level ideas. I
expect them to get work done, without stooping to the level of micro-managing
the City bureaucracy. Mostly I expect them to be involved, and
to have come from a background of civic engagement and involvement.
So, to that end here is my plea to my fellow citizens. Please ignore the
fear-mongering, the blame casting, and any party who is dividing issues
into black/white, good vs bad sides. Ignore anybody who is incapable of having
a nuanced, balanced, and dare I say reasoned conversation. Ignore anybody who
cannot demonstrate an understanding of what the role of Council is, as defined
by the Municipal Government Act.
Instead please ask these two questions of every candidate for
council. Ask the questions at election forums, in letters to the editors, in posts
to their Facebook timelines, and on their Twitter feeds. The questions are as
follows (one of them I asked last week, on Facebook):
1. Tell me your vision for our community. I don't want
to hear negativity or blame-casting. I want to know how you picture Red Deer in
the future. What will we become? How will the Nation see us? How will we as a
community contribute to each others' well-being.
I want to see what happens when you let your imagination run wild. Be bold.
2. Show me what you have done for
our community. How have you contributed to Red Deer being a better place? What
are your volunteer commitments? What civic committees have you sat on or
contributed to? What service organizations do you belong to?
Any good candidate for Council will be able to give eloquent, complete,
and concise answers to these questions. They will be able to demonstrate a past
track record of direct-action work, aimed at making things better for the
community at large; especially for those most in need.
If we all ask these questions. If we all listen to
the answers. If we all steer away from rhetoric, blame, polarization, and easy
answers, then we can truly make progress.
