COMMENT: Hired dictators and a passive populace in the Mountain Kingdom?
By Ken Holmes
It’s curious that the majority of comments in the Telegraph lately are a discussion between three A’s (Adrian, Andre and Aaron) and I give you all an A+++ for trying to get this discussion going. However, like a triple A battery, the light it generates is great while it lasts but soon expires and fades away.
Unfortunately this is typical of serious issues in Rossland like the ‘Jason Ward’ affair and many others. Newspapers, like the Telegraph, play a great role in generating energy and discourse about an issue but it is short lived and quickly disappears only to be swept back under the carpet. What changes? Nothing!
Why does that happen? I think Elizabeth May got it right yesterday when she said that we have an elected dictatorship here in Canada. In Rossland we have a hired dictatorship! Although we elect Council members it all counts for nothing when they give away their powers to a hired CAO who can do whatever he/she wants without any recourse by Council never mind the citizenry. So why even bother to vote and have a Council who represent nobody but themselves.
The Telegraph tries to raise awareness about local issues in the Telegraph and does a good job. However, if you follow comments in the Telegraph, it is almost always the same few, who contribute (probably less than 5% of households) and unfortunately many of them choose to remain anonymous. It is the same with the online polls. I haven’t seen one that reached over a 100.
Where does the rest of the population stand on some of the issues raised? Looking back at the concerns I’ve written about in the past such as Development Cost Charges, Sewer cost charges, Ophir Creek reservoir cost overruns and more, What impact have those letters and the associated news media stories had? I think the answer is “none”. In one of his comments Adrian says, “After five years of work on this project,(The Telegraph) I honestly can’t say things are any better. In fact, they may be worse”.
I know that after I write a ‘letter to the Editor”, I invariably get approached by people on the street who say they agree or disagree, but then they go away and do nothing. Why is that? Is it apathy on the part of the majority of Rosslanders or is it wisdom in the knowledge that “you can’t beat City Hall” so why even bother to try.
Maybe the Serenity Prayer says it all! “God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; the courage to change the things I can.; and the wisdom to know the difference”
Ken Holmes lives in Rossland, BC.
