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Municipal elections
This November, municipal elections will be happening all around BC. However, municipal politics is a bit of an unknown for people; even Political Studies majors are taught little to nothing about this form of government. The local municipality is the Township of Langley, and although many of us may not be residents who are able to vote in Langley’s civic election, the decisions made within the City Council’s jurisdiction affect us nevertheless. The ice rinks, swimming pools, parks, and libraries that many of us enjoy in Langley, for example, are all a result of municipal action.
On November 19, residents of the Township of Langley will choose fifteen people to represent them: one mayor, eight city councilors, and five school trustees, all for three-year terms.
There are two people running for Mayor. Tom Ouellette, a retired Township fire chief, is challenging Kurt Alberts, who is seeking his third term as mayor. Also of note in this civic election is that Rod Ross of TWU’s School of Business is running for re-election as School Trustee. Ross is one of eight people running for the five trustee positions.
Yep, I must admit that even I, as a fourth year politics student at Queen’s, pay little to no attention to municipal elections!
But I am beginning to see, more and more, how the really important decisions effecting everyday Canadians happen at the municipal level. 74% of Canadians live in cities, and 51% live in the seven largest urban centres. Cities are the engines for economic growth, and when companies look to invest abroad they don’t look at the country they will invest in, they investigate the GCR (Global City Region). Canada’s place in the new world economy won’t be determined by the Bank of Canada or our trade policies. Neither will it be defined by how our metros perform. Toronto is not an economic engine for the new century – the GTA is. Likewise, the GVA matter, not Vancouver proper.
Paul Martin’s New Deal for Cities–which includes a complete GST refund for municipalities and 2.5 cents of the federal gas tax for the next 5 years–means that the not only are municipalities better financed to pursue their goals, but by transferring this money directly from the federal government, the Liberals are squeezing the provinces out and further limiting their influence.
I was in Kingston City Hall the other day for an important meeting of the student government. What a building! This is unrelated to my earlier comments, just a neat anecdote.
Holy cow – did I just rejurgitate my POLS 495 lecture? Wow. That was unexpected. Sorry about that! Also, I may have fudged some of the numbers – check them against official sources! (-;
Take care Shelby,
Dennis the Crawford