City Election Rebate Cheques Have Arrived
Receiving a cheque in the mail in this day and age is very exciting. In this case, I knew it was coming in the back of my mind but forgot about it so it was like receiving free money.
When you think about it, it is one of the remarkable things about Canada. Other countries protest in order to gain access to the political system, but, in Canada, there are many things in place to encourage our participation in the political process. We really need to pause and appreciate this and reflect. In the last provincial election, I noted that the most advertising money seemed to be spent by Elections Manitoba encouraging us all to vote. In Canada, at all levels, we are given the message that our political processes only work when we all participate.
I can not express enough gratitude to my friend for running for City Council. I am so proud of him for putting his name forward and running an ambitious campaign. Of course, I wasn't surprised by that. I already knew he had a strong work ethic and has vision. I was amazed at his ability to see implications of policies three - four years down the road. He didn't win but I was grateful to be part of his team.
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For one thing, I never really paid attention to City politics. Now, I follow it keenly.
One of my jobs on his campaign was to be the "sign police". There are rules in our democracy and the City laid out a manual of rules to follow for their candidates. Signage was a big rule. There were limits to where signs could be placed, how high, what they could be placed upon, etc. I would phone 311 to report a sign that didn't follow the rules. I would give specific information about where the sign was and how it violated the signage rules. The first few times my call was answered by very nice operators who told me this would be referred to the PPD and an inspector would be out to access within 24 hours. Now, I realize how funny that response was. The offending signs were never removed.
At the time, I felt this was indicative of what I was hearing about the culture at City Hall. It was mentioned by many candidates that morale was very low among employees and the current governance structure was creating a culture that was not inspiring their employees. In fact, it was doing the opposite.
It still boggles my mind that a group of citizens got together and hired a private investigator to follow PPD inspectors as they supposedly were on the job. I think that is something that needs more attention. One presumes that they tried to go through official channels to get their concerns addressed before forking over their own money. Their level of frustration was clearly shown when they put their money where their mouth was. In this case, PPD Inspectors were holding up new builds, infill, and renovations. This seriously impacted not only the City economy but our Manitoban economy.
Months later, the City's internal investigation announced what we all saw with our own eyes was true. 6 people were given pink slips yesterday and 8 suspended. I may be mistaken but from my watch only one Councillor, Councillor Klein has stated that the City has not gone far enough. He is correct and it is sad that he is the lone voice on this issue. Maybe there is more happening behind the scenes. Regardless, no disciplinary action has been taken to the department's manager. He has been either complicit or incompetent.
Regardless, I think the City should have an external review by a management firm with a view to find out what is going on and what recommendations should follow. We will see if the current leadership have the guts to put their own leadership under the microscope.
So, with two elections down in the last twelve months, I am a little exhausted but there is one more to go. Getting the rebate cheque is a great reminder that our country encourages us to participate in democracy. Let's do this thing!
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