| The best and worst of local politics
Best politician: Al Duerr
You need a lot more than political savvy to end up Calgary’s most popular mayor for 12 years. Calgarians responded to something in Al Duerr and his political style. Deliver the essentials of municipal government, do not embarrass the city, keep your nose clean and we will re-elect you until the cows come home.
Duerr’s style is not for everyone. Those who pretend Calgary is more cosmopolitan than reality suggests must remember that the mini-van driving, suburb-dwelling middle and upper-middle class drive the economy and politics of this city. While Duerr’s refusal to support Calgary’s gay and lesbian community or PETA’s vegetarian initiatives gave lie to his "Courage to Lead" slogan, they put him well within the narrow bell curve of Calgary’s political consciousness.
Call him bland and businesslike, but Duerr represented Calgary on many levels – as a politician that should be enough to be the best.
Worst in politics: local leadership
One municipal government, two school boards and one sort-of health authority board. The rhetoric about Calgary being a leader in Alberta and the West comes to these four institutions to die. As Calgary has grown in the last 30 years, the power of local governments has been eroded – taken away by provincial governments that are now the most important level of government in Canada.
For various reasons, from patronage to pathetic infighting to a deep conservative nature, these institutions have watched the provincial government centralize Alberta’s social services to a degree never seen before. As the elected (or appointed) leadership of the local institutions of the largest city in the province, they should be leading the local level defence (or offence) against the financial- and power-poaching manoeuvres of the provincial government.
They have failed to do so, and are on the verge of becoming almost politically inert and marginalized service providers. One more nail in the coffin of civil society. |
