Municipal Horizons Part 1: Towards a Balanced Order

This is the first post in a projected series of reflections on the local/regional election process currently underway. The train of thought that follows began when I heard the news that Tom Galloway has announced that after 34 years of service as an elected representative, first as a school trustee, then as a Kitchener City Councillor, and finally on regional council, he will not be seeking re-election in October.  

There had been a brief exchange earlier between Galloway and Rob Deutschmann, who has come forward as a candidate for one of the four seats representing Kitchener, including the one Galloway is vacating. The veteran councillor questioned whether Deutschmann, who once served as Mayor of North Dumfries and still lives there, should be running to represent Kitchener; the challenger retaliated by coming out in favour of setting term limits that would have disqualified Galloway from seeking re-election, had he chosen to do so. 

I thought they were both on the wrong track here (they may have changed their views since). Galloway’s long and exemplary record of service to the community is one of the reasons I’m opposed to setting term limits on any kind democratic representation, especially at the municipal level. This should be left for voters to decide, on a case by case basis. The same goes for strict rules on precisely where a candidate happens to live, work or own a business. Deutschmann’s experience beyond the standard KW-centric perspective is one of the reasons I think he will serve us well on Regional Council. 

It’s generally better to avoid high-handed efforts to fix the political order by making more rules, especially setting and enforcing limits on how we vote and who we can vote for. We could, however, improve the way we make these kinds of choices when election time rolls around. We can also look for better ways to relate to our elected representatives between elections, municipal, provincial and federal.  

The most interesting, challenging and, I think most promising question for us to consider is how to achieve harmony in the way our municipal councillors, our MPs and our MPPs, all of whom are chosen by, represent and are accountable to us, confer and interact with one another.  

In an interview on CBC Radio’s Morning Edition with Craig Norris, Tom Galloway described what will be his last term on regional council as “pretty lousy”:  "The provincial government is making life miserable for municipalities in a lot of different ways, particularly on planning and housing and I don't think that's going to get any better."

My sense is that no matter who is elected to represent us on our respective municipal councils in October, it won't get any better unless active citizens, meaning people who care enough to get involved with public affairs, make an effort to connect, converse, organise and start working in concert, especially towards establishing a better balance in the municipal-provincial-federal order. 

I’m tempted to add “and start making life miserable for our provincial masters.” But confrontation is not going to help matters. I’m interested in finding ways to transcend hide-bound, antagonistic polarisation, not by compromising or blending the positive with the retrograde and the obstructive, but by simply abandoning the logjam and rising above it all, and, at the same time, by descending to common ground, both metaphorically and literally. The goal isn’t achieving some kind of purity, but to connect with as broad a range and number of fellow citizens as possible. And the best place to begin may be the actual ground, the place on Earth where we live, work, learn and associate.

That ground, and the fact that when we stand on it we’re at the same level, relating to one another human to human, face to face, can serve as a connecting link, and as a point of departure for a movement dedicated to making improvements in how we practice our democracy day by day. And that’s what I’m looking for: some kind of movement, grounded in the actual places where we live, learn, work and associate, dedicated to achieving a better balance between the spheres of Canadian democracy.