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Democracy is not always comfortable

What could have been a calm and civilized discussion about the issue disintegrated early into what we have come to call attack politics.
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What is it, I have been wondering, about referendums (not “referenda”, I was pleased to learn when I took the time to look it up)? It has been a top of mind question over the last, seemingly interminable, several weeks.

It almost seems like the movie Groundhog Day. I have been thinking back to the ugliness that led to the defeat of a proposal to build a new and much-needed library (the happy ending took years of effort, culminating with the announcement by then-MLA Blair Suffradine that the province was making the former health unit available) and the successful, but still divisive, borrowing bylaw to finance a massive upgrade to our once pedestrian recreation centre and construct an indoor aquatic facility.

Both of those controversial issues were opposed by groups with many reasons not to approve the requested spending, but primarily a concern for tax increases.

What I have not enjoyed the period running up to Saturday’s referendum is that the venom started early and continued to grow (thank social media for that, I think). What could have been a calm and civilized discussion about the issue disintegrated early into what we have come to call attack politics. Accusations against me, the fire chief and the mayor, among others, were part and parcel of some (certainly not all) of the opposition, but they did serve to make this a not very helpful “You are either with us or against us” issue.

Early on in the run-up to the referendum, I was asked by one of its opponents if I think we already pay enough taxes. It was a thinly disguised ruse to make me look like a hypocrite if I later came out in favour of the referendum. My answer, as it has consistently been for more years than I can remember, was that I describe myself as a happy taxpayer. Happy because I am in the fortunate position of being able to pay taxes and happy because the accumulated services I get for my tax dollars are far greater than if I chose to go it alone. Do you enjoy driving? Try building your own road that costs about a million bucks a kilometer and see how far you get.

Is there tax waste? Probably, but less so at the municipal level than in provincial and federal levels. I have sat in more Town budget meetings than I care to remember, and I don’t ever remember anyone at the table advocating waste.

That said, all of us are entitled to their opinions and, if one is a preference that governments do not spend on more than the bare necessities, it is no less valid than mine. That’s why we have elections and referendums. My point is that I don’t think we make better decisions by having others yelling at us or making unfounded accusations.

If each and every one of us who walks into cast our ballot has taken the time to sit quietly and assess all the available information, pro, and con, we will end up with a good choice. And, either way, the sun will rise on Sunday and we can all get back to what nearly all of us have in common – making this a better community for all.

I’ll conclude with a paragraph from the column I write after the rec centre referendum.

“I think that our citizens are to be congratulated for the interest they took in the issue, on both sides of the argument. While I remain firm in my belief that many of the no side campaigners simply dislike paying taxes, I think most were generally fair and accurate in expressing their concerns. I hope that they don’t disappear from the scene but instead work with the process to see we get the best value for our tax dollars and end up with a facility that will serve us for the coming decades.”