Comox Valley voters Nov. 19 might have a clearer choice than they’ve had for years.
A fault line between "business-friendly" candidates and ones with a “social conscience” seems to be widening three weeks from the ballot box.
The Comox Valley Citizen Voice Project Society has been active for more than three years.
Noting on its website (www.citizenvoiceproject.ca) that only 31 per cent voted in the Courtenay municipal elections three years ago, the CVPS says it’s “concerned about the state of democracy and the disconnect citizens feel towards the political process.”
Fair enough. Almost anything that would get people informed and out to vote would be a good thing.
As it says, the CVPS is not a political party, nor an advocate of any particular issue.
However, it is clear from the people involved in it and the leading nature of the questions in its Comox Valley Citizens’ Survey that this group will support left-leaning candidates when the time comes.
There’s nothing wrong with that; we just need to factor that when assessing its information.
We reported last week about Comox Valley Common Sense, which has been quiet — almost covert — until a full-page ad Friday.
On its website (www.votecommonsense.ca), Common Sense urges local governments “to provide services efficiently and cost-effectively while pulling in the reins on spending and taxes.”
The Common Sense perspective on taxes? Its website includes an Atlas-like stickman straining under the weight of the giant word Taxes he's holding over his head.
While most candidates, and voters, are too complex to pigeonhole into right or left of centre, we can assume Common Sense and whoever is behind it (why the secrecy?) is right-leaning and factor that when considering its information.
The next three weeks will be filled with rhetoric and candidate appeals.
Be informed and vote wisely. Your choices will be around for three years.
editor@comoxvalleyrecord.com