I am writing in response to the editorial Who’s got the power? published in December, which suggested that residents engaged in municipal politics are often unfamiliar with where power lies in our political system.
The editorial referenced a municipal council meeting where “folks rallied the council demanding action on the Israel-Hamas war” and cited a professor who said, “People get frustrated … and just want action on an issue that they are passionate about, so they target wherever they can be heard.” The editorial continued to suggest that residents lobbying for their councillors to call for a ceasefire were misdirected or uninformed.
While it is true that people often take action where they can, it is not true that their intentions are always misdirected.
If we look at what happened at that city council meeting, councillors voted on a motion to send a letter to the prime minister to call for a ceasefire. A number of councillors suggested they could not comment on this issue because it is outside of what they are mandated to do, while other councillors confirmed that it is well within their jurisdiction to write a letter to the Prime Minister.
It is also worth noting that this council meeting came after Burnaby passed a motion to call for a ceasefire, and a week before, the council of Port Alberni did the same. So it seems that Squamish residents are very familiar with what city councillors are able to do.
But for some reason, some of the Squamish councillors tried to convince residents that the council is unable to take a position on an international issue and write a letter to the prime minister. But it is not true that they are unable to do so; however, it is true that they took a political position not to.
Not wanting to and not being able to are two different things.
When city councillors tell their constituents that they are not able to do something (that they are able to do) and the local newspaper writes an article echoing this, the message that is being sent is that residents should just not bother to engage in certain issues because they just don’t seem to know how things work.
When it comes to lobbying the city to call for a ceasefire: Not only is this message untrue, it is also patronizing.
Maryam Adrangi
Squamish
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