Calgary Civic Election 2013

[jamesq]

It's awfully nice of Cal Wenzel to talk about how he wants his own candidates on City Council. It's equally nice of Rick Bell and Greg Lefebre to tell us who the slate is. Forewarned is forearmed.

It's perfectly fine to endorse a candidate. It's perfectly fine to donate to that candidate's campaign. It's even fine to advocate for that candidate company wide (unions do it all the time) - provided there will be no reprisals for voting the "wrong way". Donations in kind (getting around donation limits by donating in a non-monetary fashion) and the totally secret cabal-like nature of this does suggest a level of shadiness that could be criminal. That has left a bad taste for a lot of people. That the latest revelations are coming out in the week immediately before the election is bad news for the slate candidates.

Are they organized together, or are they just a bunch of like-minded individuals that the the Wenzels and Lefebres of the world want to endorse? Who knows. I do know I'm not voting for any of them. I've got plenty of others to choose from.

I'm not particularly anti-business, unless you consider won't bend over backwards for business interests to be anti-business. I personally have no problem with any business owner making a case to City Council that supports their business. Make your case and let others make their case too. A good city councillor will weigh all sides and do what's best for their constituents and the city at large. Maybe they think a pro-business stance really is good for their constituents and the city at large. If so, hey, less work for you!

I'm sure every one of those slate candidates will describe themselves that way. Possibly every one of them thinks of themselves that way too. But what they think of themselves right now is immaterial. Their true test of character comes later, when some major donor comes to them privately and doesn't make a positive business case. Instead, that donor comes with a veiled threat: Do things my way, or all those resources that we used for you last election will be marshalled towards another candidate next time. Do things my way not because I make the superior case, but because I paid for you and I want value for my money. That's another piece of democracy quietly dying in secret.

And I don't like that one bit - it's behaviour that in-and-of-itself should never be rewarded. The people behind the slate shouldn't be trying to buy candidates in secret. If Cal Wenzel wants a unique voice on City Council, let him run for office himself.

Vote for a pro-business candidate if that's your ideology, but I suggest researching your candidates and picking one that's not already destined to be put in the moral dilemma I describe above. I have a pretty good idea which candidates have already told these guys to pound sand, and that's who I'm voting for. That they more-or-less align with my more centrist views is simply icing on the cake.

Anyway, go vote. The city has a comprehensive website describing the nuts and bolts of the election, including a list of all candidates and a handy tool to tell you where to vote.

(Crossposted to calgarians - we'll see if it actually shows up since that group hasn't exactly been active for awhile)

Comments

[calzephyr77.livejournal.com]

I sent a note to atomicnewt to see if I could become a co-mod for Calgarians.

I'm beginning to think that anything with a link automatically goes into the mod queue - my last post went through no problem, while the other went into the void.