The toughest part of a local newspaper editor’s job is not dealing with reporters, correspondents, laying out the paper, writing stories or making sure we can actually fill the paper.
It is, without a doubt, whether we write a critical piece or make a mistake, running into those people in the grocery store or while having lunch. This, of course, drives us to do our absolute best, so that any critical piece is as fair and balanced as possible and that what we write is accurate. We’re not a faceless organization, nor are the subjects of our stories.
Now when it comes to government, we often pay a lot of attention to the provincial and federal government, the Trans Mountain pipeline being a prime example, and much less so to the local elections. Case in point, the voter turnout during the 2015 federal election was 68.3 per cent and 57.7 per cent during the 2017 provincial election, while only 44.5 per cent in the 2014 B.C. municipal elections.
On the flip side of that, you’re not going to run into John Horgan or Justin Trudeau in the local grocery store. You might run into your local MLA or MP, but only if you’re lucky (after all, their areas are huge and they have to spend time in Ottawa or Victoria).
The ones you’re most likely to run into are your mayor, councillors or regional district directors. If they’re anything like me, that should also make them a lot more accountable; it’s much harder to break a promise when you have to see the recipients of that broken promise every day. According to the website TrudeauMeter (which keeps track of Trudeau’s promises), he’s broken 41 and not started another 43. If a mayor or councillor had broken that may promises over the course of four years, they’d probably be looking to move.
Furthermore, when it comes to the provincial and federal elections, your vote is one of millions, while for many in municipal elections, your vote will be one of hundreds determining the outcome.
Especially after 2017, the “power” and importance of municipal governments couldn’t be clearer either: it wasn’t Trudeau or Horgan agonizing over whether to call or lift evacuation orders.
We vastly undervalue the importance of municipal elections. They say every vote matters, but municipal elections may well be where your vote matters most: whether firefighters show up when your house catches fire this winter, whether the road is plowed, whether your garbage is picked up and whether your water is safe to drink. It happens or doesn’t happen because of municipal politicians.
-Black Press