| The best and worst of 2001 local elections
The best and worst of Calgary politics in the last year both stem from the same event, the 2001 municipal election.
· The best of Calgary politics
It had it all: four serious candidates in the race for mayor; big issues such as exponential growth, city funding and Enmax on the table; threatening cellphone calls; million-dollar war chests. With federal and provincial politics in the doldrums – Ezra Levant’s amusing machinations apart – Calgary’s 2001 local elections take the prize for the best political spectacle in the last 12 months. It was as good as local politics get in Cowtown without throwing in corruption charges or inexperienced outsiders taking the prize from staid insiders.
· The worst of Calgary politics
With the responsibility for almost two-thirds of government spending on the line, and the first real race for mayor in a decade, Calgarians refused to exercise their civic right. Only 35 per cent of Calgarians bothered to vote in the 2001 local elections, down from 46 per cent in 1998. Come on folks, we cannot have a referendum on fluoride and gambling in every election just to get your butt off the couch and down to the voting station.
People in this world are still dying for the right to fair elections. Russian elections are corrupt and, still, more Russians show up to vote than Calgarians. It cannot be because Calgarians believe their city government is working like a well-oiled machine, based on the fact they have perfected the art of whining – sorry, informed political discourse – about traffic, transit, health care, schools and property taxes. It cannot be because your vote would not make a difference – only 17,00 votes separated the top four candidates for mayor and 4,000 between the first and second.
Be warned: sloppy municipal governments that are not held to account are dangerous to your livelihood and your life – just ask the voters in Walkerton and North Battleford. |
