Even though the provincial government told them in advance their latest stunt was a complete dead-end, a waste of time, they plowed ahead. Why pass up an opportunity to show their dwindling number of supporters how they were fighting against those they consider knuckle-dragging neanderthals at city hall and at the province?
Finally, Calgary city council’s journey through La-La Land came crashing down.
Few mourn.
After all, it was full-blown, full-scale political posturing from the very beginning.
As if we haven’t seen this movie before.
Another day at the circus. Much ado about nothing. At city hall’s Big Blue Playpen much ado about nothing is often standard operating procedure.
For a city council that’s the most unpopular in the city’s history, the majority of them, including Mayor Jyoti Gondek, decided earlier this year to go on another collective spacewalk.
Even though the provincial government told them in advance their latest stunt was a complete dead-end, a waste of time, they plowed ahead.
Why pass up an opportunity to show their dwindling number of supporters how they were fighting against those they consider knuckle-dragging neanderthals at city hall and at the province?
Why not play around with another distraction, why not go down yet another rabbit hole to avoid facing the tough issues this city faces?
This is how they roll.
It’s not like they didn’t have enough on their plate at the time. A week after debating voting rights, they would have to deep-six their bogus bag bylaw.
Up ahead, there would be citywide blanket rezoning, where much of city council pretended they were listening.
Then there was the water pipe waiting to burst, There was the city’s plan for a shrinking stub of a Green Line LRT about to be derailed.
Then there’s the big tax hike in the works, the one they don’t want to talk about.
You know all those stories.
I’m amazed they didn’t throw in lowering the voting age to 16 or even lower.
We can thank the sensible local politicians in this province who huddled this week in Red Deer and sent the Calgary city council majority packing.
Funny thing.
But the mayor and her allies wanted the premier and her people to make a move on voting rights for permanent residents even though there was no way it was going to happen.
Go figure. Or not. It will just hurt your head and raise your blood pressure.
What possessed this Calgary city council to go down this route to nowhere?
Well, Coun. Courtney Walcott wanted to “honour the diversity of our local communities” and said what we have in city elections is “taxation without representation” because permanent residents don’t have the vote.
He also said permanent residents might care more about the community than those born here because they chose to come here.
Evan Spencer, who managed to get elected as councillor in the most conservative part of the city without being a conservative himself, thought giving permanent residents the vote in city elections would be a good conversation and there was “a lot to be explored.”
Spencer said it was “an opportunity to advance people’s understanding.”
Councillor, are you saying our understanding isn’t as advanced as yours?
Maybe people just want citizens to vote. Period. Full stop.
Then there was Kourtney Penner, a councillor from southwest Calgary, who seems so out of touch on so many issues with many folks in this city.
“There was a time when women couldn’t vote,” said Penner.
Women citizens couldn’t vote. Male citizens could vote. One group of citizens was excluded from the voting booth. That was unjust. Women got the vote.
A different story.
Dan McLean, a councillor you know well, asked why anyone would go ahead with something when they already knew the answer and the answer was No.
Now, the answer is still No from the province and most of the local Alberta politicians gathered in Red Deer this past week also voted No.
A few months back, Walcott, the councillor who put voting for permanent residents on the council floor, said what he was up to didn’t actually do anything but it was “just cracking open the debate.”
Now, with the thumbs-down, Walcott vows to fight on.
It just never ends, dear readers, it just never ends.
Unless you make it end — and vote.