Dear editor,
I am a Courtenay resident and am trying very hard to make informed choices when I vote in the Nov. 15 election. I read each candidate’s info in the newspaper, but unfortunately they were more like mini-resumes – a lot about why the person lives in the Comox Valley, and what they do/have done for work and in the community, but the information was thin on what, specifically, each candidate was in favour of, or would want to get done, if elected.
So I then went in search of more information on the Internet. I checked each candidate to see if they have a website, but even better, a Facebook page, as it allows for two-way communication. I was looking not for a personal Facebook page, but one that has been developed specifically for their candidacy (and I believe that every candidate should have one, if they want to have a hope reaching voters under 40). Some candidates don’t have a candidacy social media presence at all, and of those who do, it was still hard to glean what – tangibly and specifically – makes up their campaign goals.
I’m not a person who wants something for nothing, and I know taxes pay for the services we want and need, so hearing a candidate pledge to “lower taxes” doesn’t really do it for me, because it’s meaningless without a context of what services might be curtailed, or how the reduced taxation might be directed. So that doesn’t give me a better idea of what the individual really wants to do if he/she gets into office. Four years of “hold the line on taxes” isn’t really a very fulsome plan. Other than the frequent refrain of “stop the Maple Pool lawsuit,” I found too much of the information presented was more platitude than platform. Municipalities have limited and specific authorities and responsibilities, and what I am looking for is what, within those parameters, are the priorities – the “must do” and the “hope to achieve”; “is it achievable” – of each candidate on the ballot. I will definitely be a voter in the election, because I think voting is tremendously important and that we’re very lucky to have the ability to cast free votes, and I want to make sure I’m as informed as I can be. For that I need more information coming from those who are running.
Brian Walter
Courtenay