Reporting on Courtenay politics, I have begun to cringe when I hear, “That passes unanimously.”
It’s words said the moment every councillor votes yay for a policy, bylaw, tax hike. It should happen rarely in my opinion, but in Courtenay it’s the norm.
I heard the disappointing words when council voted unanimously for the garbage police bylaw as I coined it, renewed the lease on the Connect Centre downtown, supported a plan to hike the price of water, sewer and garbage fees, and invested in a bylaw system that removes the burden of proof to ticket citizens.
I think it’s a problem citizens ought to be concerned with.
When everyone on a council consistently votes the same as each other and it becomes the norm, that is a dysfunctional council. Why not just have one person instead of six, if there’s no diversity to be gained?
Democratic leaders should be vigorously disagreeing about what governs their society. Fighting for their vision. It creates debate, and that means ideas that survive are more likely to be strong and lead society to health, rather than flimsy and lead to degeneration.
What I’ve seen covering Courtenay council is a room that for the most part indiscriminately accepts proposals and rarely puts up a fuss. A parade of tax hikes are sent through to the public, disagreements are feckless and few and far between, and boldness is lacking with no one risking to throw an energetic swing at the city’s growing problems.
There have been times when councillors stood out — David Frisch when he voted alone that Aaron House Ministries should not be booted off the tax list, and Evan Jolicouer when he voted alone against a bylaw that would ban sheltering in many places in Courtenay.
I remember these votes because they stood out. It was… different. Brave. Councillor-like behaviour. But for the rest, council has enjoyed from my experience what is almost exclusively unanimous votes.
When the city is defined by increasing homelessness, housing shortages, taxes and public tension, I think it’s a bad time for the movers and shakers to be in constant agreement. Instead, councillors ought to be engaging more energetically with each other, holding each other accountable, being brave and in a healthy way calling each other out relentlessly as they all compete to bring their vision of solutions to reality.
I understand it’s important to get along. And I understand not every council motion should be hashed out down to the minutiae. But more should.
When 57 per cent of citizens say their quality of life is backsliding, as during the “Your Courtenay, Your Voice” survey last year, it’s a good time to start hammering down the ideas that cross your desk.
“That passes unanimously,” is just a little disappointing. Picture it like Indiana Jones in that scene, except instead of sighing out about a pit of snakes, I’m always saying, “Unanimous. Why’d it have to be unanimous?”
On April 10, Coun. Wendy Morin at council said she was worried about growing vigilantism and public tension in the years before the new 925 Braidwood Rd. supportive housing facility will go up.
“I’m just very concerned about the escalation of conflict over the next year plus over this,” she said. “I’m hearing more and more vigilante sentiment, and not just on social media. Through other channels as well… I think things are ramping up rather than ramping down.”
To me, all it says is the public is growing impatient with how their leaders are representing them and the decisions that are being made on their behalf. Clearly, less than a complete diversity of the community feels they are being heard and represented by their council.
The problems of Courtenay are growing bigger than the quality of the solutions that are being generated by its leaders. I think that is a direct result of the fact that only meagre solutions can be produced when council is too monotone, unquestioning, and unchallenged in its beliefs.
The proper time to agree on everything is when things are working pretty much as intended. Today, leaders should exercise more bravery, more scrutiny, and more competition in bringing their ideas forward. Show us what you think will help Courtenay, and fight for it. The public will thank you.
Follow Connor on Twitter: ConnorsCupful
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Connor McDowell is a reporter at the Comox Valley Record.