Over the centuries, humans have come up with a lot of different ways to govern themselves. Monarchies became outdated. Communism doesn’t work. Fascism is evil. Anarchy is impossible. For all its warts, democracy is still the best government system anybody’s come up with.
During the uproar over the deficits at Servus Credit Union Place a few years ago, I wrote about how the people who didn’t bother voting in the 2007 election had no right to complain about the problem. They had their chance to make a difference, and they threw it away. Now we’ve got another election coming up, and we’ve got a lot of issues on the table. Whether it’s property taxes, economic development, arts and heritage purchases, downtown redevelopment or affordable housing, the current election has something for almost everybody. That’s why it’s so important that you get out to cast your ballot next Monday.
Whether you feel our current council has done a good job and the incumbents deserve to be re-elected, or you don’t like the current council and want to see some of the new challengers elected, it’s important that you support them. With such a crowded field of candidates, and such a small pool of voters, every candidate needs all the help he or she can get. Even just a couple dozen votes can make or break their chances.
If you’re wondering who exactly to support, www.stalbertgazette.com has profiles on all the candidates and their ideas for voters to look at. You can check candidates’ websites, or phone or email them directly. Local bloggers like Andy Michaelson, David Climenhaga and Don Sinclair have additional information on their own websites. The simplest approach can be to just ask your friends and neighbours what they think about the candidates. Everybody’s going to have an opinion, and chances are they’ll be happy to share it.
It doesn’t matter who you choose to support on Monday. What’s really important is that you vote. The next council is going to have some very tough decisions to make, and now is your chance to help determine exactly who’ll be sitting at the table. People who don’t bother to vote, and then complain when they don’t like the direction the city takes, have no one but themselves to blame.
People in other parts of the world have had to deal with everything from intimidation to ballot-box stuffing to death threats when they try to vote. We don’t have to worry about that, and yet our voter turnout has sunk to the point where it’s just plain embarrassing. In 2007, only around 37 per cent of us bothered to vote. Surely we can do better than that?
Jared Milne, St. Albert
