Those who found success in Saturday's vote count should take a well earned bow for their efforts and those who came up short our thanks for their entry to the process.
However, with a voter participation rate at less than 30 percent, no one elected Saturday should head to the council chamber in the belief that they have the endorsement of the population at large.
The last figures provided by the City of Prince Rupert to CivicInfoBC show that of the 9,000 eligible voters, only 2,913 residents took the time to weigh the options and select the six candidates they best believe will take up the challenge of running a municipality.
Seventy percent took a pass and that's a troublesome thing, for it means that there is a serious lack of interest in how we are governed and who is doing that governing.
Perhaps it was the lack of a Mayor's race that is responsible, but even in the years with a high profile Mayor's contest the returns are low and that's puzzling, as it's on the local level where the most impact is found from decisions made by elected leaders.
The days of the Pete Lester era, where year after year it was just an automatic belief that he would be returned to office are far behind us now.
The more recent campaigns, those of close battles and new candidates coming to the ballot made for exchanges of ideas and concepts for the future, yet the voters for the most part seem to have yawned through the decades.
Of the three levels of government, the municipal level is the most accessible. Our MP's and MLA's at times become somewhat distant figures, occasionally returning to town for an announcement or a photo opportunity, but less and less often to gauge the feeling of the community on the bills and measures that effect our lives.
At all of our levels of politics these days, consultation it seems is focused in the domain of a social media post and how the likes and dislikes stack up on a computer screen.
The Municipal political scene should be and for the most part is, much more available, even with a City Council such as the most recent one that in the past has made for quick work of their public sessions, the opportunity for the public to participate and ask questions is there once a month.
Yet as we have charted through the years, few residents attend City Council sessions and speak at the Committee of the Whole opportunities, and public engagement forums such as the Budget preparations and other attempts to engage the public have delivered some dismal returns as well.
Of late, other than the echo chamber of social media where those who for the most part are supporters of individual council members and more often than not give their thumbs up and high praise, the dialogue on civic issues is becoming more and more distant.
The process of government that has evolved from that, is one of policies crafted in workshops and closed door meetings, the results delivered more by announcement, not consultation.
And that is wholly on us!By taking a pass on one of the basic elements of democracy of the ballot box, we are turning the decision making over to representatives that for the most part now are representing their base of support and not much more.
In the case of Prince Rupert, Seventy percent of the population seemed to say on Saturday that they have no interest in how the city is run, or what the plans for the future may be.
Some may suggest that perhaps the dis-engaged voters are of the belief that all is well and they are happy with the path the city is currently on.
However, the history of our voter participation levels over the years would seem to suggest, that silence at the ballot box does not necessarily make for an endorsement of civic policy.
By not taking the five minutes or less that it takes to cast a vote, the seventy percent have made a statement that is not only the continuation of a worrisome trend, but also one that could lead to even less transparency or accountability in the future.
Something that could leave us with more closed meetings and the belief that there's no real need to take issues to a public forum or public discussion, since no one seems to care anyways.
The challenge for the now elected council members for the four years to come, will not only revolve around running a city and all the pressures that delivers; but to also make the decisions that will reflect the desires of the residents of the community.
They already know how thirty percent of the voting public think, the real challenge now is to try and divine what it is that seventy percent of the population really want and how to find some way to get them engaged in a political process that they seem to be abandoning.
A look back at the 2018 Election campaign can be found from our archive pages below:
Prince Rupert, Port Edward, Haida Gwaii
Northwest Inland areas
For a wider overview of past issues and notes from Prince Rupert City Council see our archive page here.
Cross posted from the North Coast Review
No comments:
Post a Comment