1.Many thanks to Paul Demers for his timely article in The Chief on Oct. 25.
Representation and accountability are the basic pillars of a healthy democratic political system.
This is especially true at the municipal level because issues and problems are local and immediate. Breaches in a dike, ruptured sewer line and buildings on fire all need the rapid response only available from people on scene. Federal and provincial officials cannot provide this response in a timely manner.
Since municipal elected officials have an obligation to respond quickly, it really does matter that councillors are clearly and closely identified with their voters.
2.The tried and true method of keeping elected representatives accountable is the direct vote to represent a specific area. Directly accountable means that the voters have access to their representative as and when required. It truly means that the voters can vote them out when their performance lags.
Electing councillors at large, our present system, means that each councillor represents everybody and that no councillor is responsible for any specific area. By default, most problems end up being tackled by municipal staff and these non-elected people have other specific tasks demanding their time. This is a clear abrogation of the specific responsibility of elected councillors, an unfair burden on municipal staff and an insult to voters.
When Squamish began in 1890 and amalgamated with Mamquam and Brackendale in 1964, the population was small enough for councillors at large to be able to stay current on local issues. As we approach a population of 22,000 people, this is no longer possible and future development pressure will only make matters worst.
3. The BC Local Government Act of 2015 promulgates the rules for municipalities. Section 53 gives them the right to change from an at large to a neighbourhood voting system. A simple majority vote at council can give us proper representation. A few of the benefits of a neighbourhood, or ward, system are:
(a) Direct accountability of each councillor for a specific geographical area
(b) Reduce costs of running for office since candidates need not only campaign locally
(c) Increased focus on neighbourhood issues
(d) Reduced visual signage as candidates compete by neighbourhood
(e) Increased voter interaction as numbers of candidates are less in each neighbourhood
(f) Less generalities from all candidates
4. In conclusion, a neighbourhood system will be considerably more attuned to the fundamental role of democracy; an elected person represents the voters of a specific area. It is time to lobby your municipal councillors to draft and pass a bylaw for the change to our voting system.
Jim Gracie
Squamish
