Dear Editor,
Democracy, at the core, includes the tenet that everyone is entitled to their opinion. At no time is this more sacred than in the moment when someone is approaching the voting booth.
We all have something we can learn from someone else.
But the incivility being shown during our current municipal election is extremely disheartening. The amount of animosity being thrust about on social media is at a level I have never encountered locally.
Candidates’ signs apparently have been vandalized or stolen, vicious claims against candidates and their supporters, often signed ‘Anonymous’, are rampant on social media. The aggressive attitudes being put forward are not going to lead us to the better future people indicate we need, only calm civilized conversations can take us there.
Yes, both the Canadian and Quebec charters recognize freedom of speech, both also recognize the responsibility that comes with that freedom. The accountability of the speaker or writer is as sacred as the words they put forth. The “freedom” and “responsibility” are two sides of the same coin. A one-sided coin has no value.
Some local social media pages are flooded with bitter, almost libelous, calls for transparency while hiding behind the pen name Anonymous. Their actions are “opaque”, their convictions cannot be as strong as their words or they would practice what they preach. Using the pen name Anonymous to avoid challenges to unsubstantiated allegations is not the behavior of someone intending to be civil or transparent.
There have been angry whispers about the need for better candidates. Any “better” candidates are likely going to be smart enough to avoid the public spectacle that our small town political life has become, especially for the low financial compensation our councilors, mayors and warden get. Recently it was reported that the current warden’s base salary is $52,000/year. If you want better candidates, pay the potential winner a suitable salary. The warden’s salary should be at least 50 per cent more than what it currently is.
Our mayors and municipal councilors should be paid more also. I am not suggesting such a drastic raise but the people sitting at our council tables are underpaid. This change is affordable and doable but will require many civilized conversations.
People are discussing how we can get to “better” without really being interested in making an actual change. Ideas are being recycled. People are smoking bigger pipe dreams, often without anything new of substance being offered. What we need to do, if we are seriously interested in “better”, is go from 102 councillors and 18 mayors to 30 and five. We can do this in a civilized fashion. This should be the last local municipal elections that do not include a serious step towards less government.
I think change is important. I think change is necessary. I think change is inevitable. I think for change to be sustainable it must be brought into place with the civility that we are in the process of losing.
Tom McCann, Clarendon
