The election is over and the people have spoken.
It’s time to move on.
But will we?
The aftermath of any election still hangs in the air long after the last ballot has been cast and the final count made.
And despite the fact that the bottom line remains a firm, indelible stroke drawn across all the protests, complaints, questions and discontented rumblings that have gone on for the season some refer to as ‘silly season’, it’s done.
So let’s welcome our new councils and school boards, shake their hands and give them a chance to make good their election promises and, in the process, make us, the voters, proud.
Anyone who makes the decision to run for any level of politics certainly should be given credit for doing so.
It’s so much easier not to. It’s so much easier to talk the talk than walk the walk just as it is so much easier to criticize than to help, to condemn than to praise, to knock down than to build up.
The election trail of 2013 was littered with lots of garbage from the past that some individuals didn’t really want to pick up and put in the trashcan where it belonged. And even as they talked about building a better future, looking ahead, setting goals and visions, they kept stumbling over these pieces of the past. Consequently, their walk simply did not match their talk and left one to wonder if they were, indeed, really just standing still.
The newly elected people, whether they are on town council or county council or on one of our school boards, have a four-year journey ahead of them. It is a journey that will, no doubt, be filled with all kinds of potholes and detours.
New challenges will be added to the old ones that the previous councils and school boards faced. Empty storefronts will continue to be a fly in the honey jar of prosperity that big box stores ultimately bring to any town, village or city in Alberta.
But is the old adage “you can’t have your cake and eat it, too” wrong?
Can small towns support chains like WalMart and Canadian Tire and Tim Horton’s and still keep their downtowns alive and vibrant?
Entrepreneurs who are willing to stick their neck out and take a huge leap of faith say they can. But some, who saw the front doors of their grocery store or hardware store nailed shut by these big guys, are not so sure.
Good luck, councils, in solving this dilemma.
As our elected officials face dilemmas such as this, they will need the help, support and encouragement of those who elected them. There will be times, however, when we disagree with the choices made by the people we voted in.
And that’s when we need to take an active role in finding out, to the best of our ability, the facts and the truth and not listen to gossip, rumours and half-truths which seem to run rampant when the pot of dissention about any issue gets all stirred up.
And we need to remember as much as it our right to exercise our freedom to vote, it is also our responsibility as a taxpayer, to listen, to learn and to be informed before we judge and criticize our elected officials.
Four years is a long time.
But the decisions have been made and the die cast.
Once again, it’s time to look ahead with optimism, an open mind and a willingness to listen, learn and, hopefully, in the process, gain a little understanding not only about politics, but about the men and women whom, in the democratic process, we voted in.
It will be a challenge for us all!
— On The Other Side