Let's be honest
When it comes to politics, this is no time to turn a blind eye.
Let's be honest
When it comes to politics, this is no time to turn a blind eye.
Grab a coffee, let's talk!
My favorite cup
My daughter in law gave me this cup. She knows me well. Not only do I love my coffee, I have no patience for stupidity or incompetence. Two attributes politics is filled with it. Every week there's a fresh scandal of some description, mostly at the federal level. The temptation to ignore it is strong, but we do so at our own peril. Politicians at every level decide and determine our future. This is not something to take lightly.
Politics is supposed to be taught in high school Social Studies. My recollection of Social class was watching black and white documentaries about wars that happened before I was born. They were boring, I slept through most of it, and my mark reflected that. On the other hand, learning about different types of governments was much more interesting and I did fairly well on those assignments. Unfortunately, my teachers didn't really teach the correlation between the two, or I missed it. Maybe a bit of both. Curiously, I also don't remember learning anything about the levels of government in Canada, and what each is responsible for. Since then I've learned a lot, including I'm not the only one who found themselves a bit in the dark.
Over the last several years I have uncovered two reoccurring themes:
1) Almost everyone hates 'the government', more to the point, politicians.
2) Many don't know which politician or level of government does what.
Hate the government? Which one...?
Municipal
Provincial
Provincial
Mayor and Council
Provincial
Provincial
Provincial
Premier and Member of the Legislature (MLA)
Federal
Provincial
Federal
Prime Minister and Member of Parliament (MP)
Kathy Flett for Ward 2
Why run for Municipal Council?
Because the only way to get things done is by doing them. I have sat on several boards over the decades, both non-profit and political. The reason I did so was to do what I could to help make things better. Running for County Council seems like a logical next step.
What bugs me the most
There isn't a lot of evidence of elected officials listening to the people. I've been to open houses and hearings where Council Chambers were filled to capacity with residents. Their concerns weren't listened to. It was heart-breaking and that needs to change.
Fiscal responsibility
How is it that one of the richest counties in the province continues to see property tax increases every year? And why is Council passing by-laws to take on huge multi-million dollar loans and then bragging about a surplus?
We also keep hearing about how low our taxes are. Yet, when we look at the tax burden per capita, this is not the case at all. We pay more than both major cities. (Scroll down to 'Let's keep building a community'. There's one on that specifically)
The role of government is not to play Santa Clause. Infrastructure, emergency services, public transportation, the library, snow removal, parks, and a handful of other programs to keep the county running properly are well within reason. If there's extra money to spend after that, we've been overcharged on our tax bill.
How do I define good governance
Somewhere along the line, decision making transitioned from elected officials to administration, and I'm not sure how or why. What I am sure of is that putting that level of responsibility on unelected officials isn't right. We need to get back to basics on how governments are run.
Where do I sit on the 'political spectrum'
Centre right. I want to see those who work hard succeed and those who need a hand up find it.
Volunteering at the Food Bank every week, I see how high the need for a hand up is in this community. It isn't good. Obviously government programs aren't the answer. If they were, we wouldn't have all the societal struggles we do. The way to help people is to geet out there help them, not expect government to do it. Once we return to that basic truth, will our community will be so much better for it.
If elected, will I be able to actually accomplish anything
Most don't know how big the systemic issues within our municipal government structures truly are, including me. But I'd sure like the chance to get in there and find out. And, once I do, the opportunity to try and fix some of it. After all, there's no downside to working toward making things better, is there?
Let's keep building a community!
Websites are a bit like driving down a one way street so I've created a place where we can all chime in on Locals. Grab a coffee and lets continue the conversation!