Dear editor,
Well, it seems the era of municipal party politics has arrived in the Comox Valley with the “Comox Greens” participating in the Town of Comox byelection this Fall; if not officially, then certainly pulling the strings in the background by endorsing their candidate.
With it, however, comes some risk to municipal political discourse. Entrenched factions unwilling to compromise at the council table due to their advertised ideology, expensive and divisive campaigns fought with big money, and dramatic shifts in policy from left to right in the battle over the future of our communities.
We need only take a look at larger municipalities who have gone down this path and the quagmire of provincial and federal politics to get a front-row seat to the future of community debate.
No longer will we be electing representatives on their individual merits alone and removing them for their individual follies, we will be electing a slate of electors bound by the chains of partisanship and party line.
A cohesive voting block does not need to worry about pesky little things like debate and compromise, it has the ability to circumvent those who disagree and push forward with a single agenda.
Do we want parties doing an end-run around open and public debate in council chambers, the outcome inevitable and unopposed, with decisions decided beforehand in a mirrored hall away from the prying eyes of the public?
Is this what we want for our community?
The era of hyper-partisan municipal party politics is scratching at our door and I urge you to consider the consequences of letting it in.
Brennan Day,
Comox