Reflections on the Municipal Election in Prince George
By Peter Ewart
There were some interesting outcomes in Prince George’s municipal election. Facing all but certain defeat, the previous mayor, Shari Green, bowed out of the race. In addition, two of her closest supporters on council lost their seats.
This is more than just a few individuals or a faction being defeated. Indeed, it represents a rejection by the voters of Prince George of a whole style and direction of politics. But this style and direction was not unique to Prince George. The past three years of municipal government in the city were an eerie echo of the Harper government at the federal level.
Stephen Harper has been notorious for concentrating power in the PMO and its unelected staff, and for sidelining the opposition parties in parliament and even members of his own Conservative party. Something similar happened in Prince George where the mayor and city manager’s office gathered power, while councillors, especially the oppositional ones, were marginalized or ignored.
The Harper government is well known for its lack of transparency. It has taken unprecedented steps to control information, including the muzzling of officials and scientists, going so far as to vet even the most routine or trivial of messages. For its part, the national press has been severely restricted in its access to information.
Similarly, in Prince George, elected councillors were instructed that all requests for information from staff must first go through the city manager and top management. Only then would access be granted, and only if “deemed appropriate.” Then there was the phenomenon of 250 News being cut off from all contact with the mayor.
Like the Harper government, Mayor Green and her faction appeared to be fixated on privatizing and selling off of public assets such as the Pine Valley Golf course, and even possibly the Four Seasons pool and Civic Centre. The only difference is that, unlike the Harper federal government, which has sold off many public assets, she was largely unsuccessful in that pursuit.
And there are other similarities between the Green administration and the Harper government, including a marked hostility to workers and labour organizations, an obsession with jacking up user fees, special consideration for big business, and a tendency to alienate even traditional and longstanding supporters.
Thus, it is not surprising to hear that former mayor Green is now seeking the nomination for the federal Conservative seat of Cariboo-Prince George. Judging from her term in municipal office, she will fit right in. That is, of course, if she is able to overcome strong opposition from the many local Conservatives in the riding who are upset with her, secure the nomination and eventually win the seat.
But winning this “safe” party seat may be more difficult than in previous years. A strong oppositional wind blew in Prince George’s municipal election on November 15th. Might it be a prelude for things to come in the riding of Cariboo-Prince George? Or even across the country in the next federal election?
In any case, the new mayor and council need to seriously consider the implications of the Prince George election. It will be a mistake to reduce it to just some individuals being voted out. No, the election was much more than that. A whole style and type of politics was rejected.
Taking that rejection into account, it is clear that we need to move in a new direction for municipal politics in the city, one that not only aims to reconnect with the community, bring about more transparency, and rebalance the relationship between mayor, council, city manager, and staff, but also to empower the electorate by adopting new mechanisms and methods for citizen involvement in decision-making. This is especially so for the major spending and policy issues that are looming.
Peter Ewart is a columnist and writer based in Prince George, British Columbia. He can be reached at: peter.ewart@shaw.ca
Comments
Spot on political analysis on the convergence of crony capitalism between the local and federal scene. I agree this election was a repudiation of the whole political machine behind Green… and in all likelihood her lack of real political support will show in her bid for the conservative nomination race. I think the best hope for the conservatives to stop this trend of top down totalitarianism from the PMO in the nomination race would be the nomination of Nick Fedorkiw.
As for my reflections on the new council… I find of interest the results of the PG Free Press Election 2014 report where they published a table of all the candidates ranking of issues of importance a day prior to the election.
Candidates all ranked from 1-to-13 a total of 13 issues that the new council will face. Unfortunately this ranking was flawed as it didn’t ask for rankings on issues of governance, which this election was largely about… but it is instructive of policy direction for the council elect.
If one is to take the ranking selected by each council elect and total for the council as a whole each issue can rank from a low of 13 (meaning the number one priority of all in council) to a high of 104 (meaning it was the lowest priority of every councilor). Of course Susan Scott went rouge and selected three #1 priorities and no #4 and #8 priority, bringing into question her math skills… so I rounded up all her selections by one to factor for the discrepancy.
The results are interesting in that top priority went to infrastructure followed by snow removal and road maintenance… then on the other end downtown issues was dead last as a priority followed closely by population growth. Meaning I presume that the council elect has a mandate to improve the quality of life and value for existing services, rather than trying to drive growth for a hypothetical future nirvana.
Here are the results as tabulated from the council elect for their consensus rankings:
22 Infrastructure
29 Snow Removal
32 Road Maintenance
38 Safety
62 Transit
62 Economic Development
64 Crime
65 City Image
65 Recreation
66 Social Housing
68 Parks
71 Population Increase
79 Downtown
I also found it interesting that the only two councilors to get elected by the majority of voters Skakun and Krause each had nearly polar opposite rankings… meaning potentially that the voters in PG actually voted strategically, rather than through a partisan lens… and that is a good thing for politics in PG IMO.
Nicely done eagleone and interesting. We shall see what happens.
It seams to me that no one cares about the taxpayer anymore. It doesn’t matter who is in “power”, not once have I ever heard someone say lets lower taxes or a least hold the line.
willygrock. I agree with you when it comes to Municipal or Provincial elections, however the Federal Conservatives reduced the GST from 7% to 5% and there will be a further decrease in taxes this year. Further more they have brought in various programs that help middle to lower income groups, have balanced the budget, and reduced debt. All good things considering.
The Liberals and NDP, who have spent the last 10 or so years on the outside looking in, will never under any circumstances give any credit to the Government in power. In fact it is the duty of the opposition to oppose the Government.
Opposing the Government does not mean that the opposition is right. All it means is that they have the right to oppose. The same thing applies to anyone else in Canada who opposes the Government in power. Thats the way of politics.
To suggest that the Municipal Election was some sort of indication of what might happen on the Federal Level is a bit of a stretch. There were not any other elections in BC that I am aware of that had the same type of Municipal Government in power that had to be thrown out.
This election was devoid of any consideration for people who are not represented by Associations, Unions, or Business interests. In fact its those people without representation, that will have to pick up the cost, of the others. The total lack of concern for people on middle to low incomes, and seniors, etc; leaves one shaking his head.
Those who have representation get yearly increases and benefits, those who don’t get the opportunity to pay for those that do. Hmmmmm. Not a very good system.
Harper has no problem sleeping at night. He has no concern about the caterwauling of the opposition and others who see him as a demon, when all he is, is just another Canadian.
Palopu, you certainly said a mouthful there! I wholeheartedly agree with you!!
“Opposing the Government does not mean that the opposition is right.”
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Nor does it mean they are wrong.
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