The price of growing a community

After a few heated public meetings lately and with municipal elections on the horizon this October, it’s time we all took a serious look in the mirror.

As retired Senator Laurier LaPierre once stated, “the energy we spend in criticizing the people we have elected, it is as if they had come down from some spaceship and nobody had never heard of them before. We elected these people, we have to live with them. They are a reflection of ourselves. We have to assume the responsibility of who we are and act accordingly.”

Most voters, if they troop out at all on election day, think their job is done once they’ve ticked off a few names. They shrink back, turn on Survivor and let councils, MLAs and MPs get on with it.

The work of an elected representative is often quite tedious and hugely time-consuming. Town councillors spend a lot of hours discussing garbage disposal and water improvements. I sometimes have to pinch myself while covering council meetings to stay awake.

The public, which rarely, if ever, attend a council session, are quite content to let the politicians run things, unless an upcoming decision affects them personally.

Then the troops turn out en masse and sometimes that makes the difference; after all, politicians have a four-year attention span. However, if the electorate hasn't been paying attention, they seldom understand right away how government works.

Most people can’t distinguish between what responsibilities are municipal versus provincial or federal. They expect leadership when they care about something, but can’t comprehend the different silos of power.

For example, social welfare is no longer a municipal concern, so when the Fundy Food Bank needs a new home or a food bank starts up in Wolfville, councillors can only nod

sympathetically and then turn to the next agenda item.

‘It starts with us’

At 75, wise elder Pat Moore doesn’t care to curb her tongue anymore when she sees a need. This retired teacher cast her eye around the packed poverty forum held recently and said, “there’s not one councillor here tonight.”

She knows full well that when federal funding disappeared over a decade ago, social housing here shrunk significantly. So evoking the memory of someone like Don Archibald, Pat stated, “it starts with us. We’ve got to find those leaders, the ones that will trudge up the Gaspereau Mountain. I think people are willing to do that again.”

Gloria Steinem made a similar comment once, “I think that we cannot demand that our leaders be better than we are. We have to stop talking about them and talk about us. We are responsible for what it is within our power to change.”

I don’t think anonymous bloggers empower people to make positive change. While they may have some pertinent points, why do Wolfvillewatch and some of the Wolfville Ratepayers hide behind their anonymity? As Michael Adams, who has written extensively on civic behaviour, says, “being a citizen means constructive engagement. It’s confronting the other, but not trying to establish a moral superiority that allows you later to blow them away.”

It’s sensible to ask why the town of Wolfville budget has gone up $4 million in a decade, but how to confront those you’ve elected is critical. First, you have to understand downloading before you complain about costs.

I remember the late Chuck Richardson taking on various councils on various financial issues. He was a flea in the side of power, but was often ignored because of his confrontational attitude.

When citizens are unhappy with a regime, they often trash the good with the bad. I think more balance and civility is necessary for public meetings to be constructive. As citizens, we must try to remember that participation, as well as paying taxes, is the price of growing a community.

Another wise woman told me years ago when I was chafing over a politician, “we build up a world that is different from each other’s, individual to individual, culture

to culture, species to species. What is important to realize is that your arguments are both right and both wrong.”