Vacations are a chance to see things from afar and as such it is easier to see how our little sphere of concerns can often take on a magnitude of importance beyond the paradise we know and love.
If it were not for the Islands Trust running roughshod over our lives, constantly provoking us to check to see if we are being abused, losing our property rights or being asked to love the Trust or leave our homes, we would all co-exist rather nicely I suspect.
The Salt Spring Community is a vital wellspring of intelligence and opinion on all matters of local and worldly affairs and although we feel polarized, it is that contrast that brings clarity to so many issues.
Unfortunately we do not have an adaquate democratic representation to coelesce around and move forward with any kind of unity expected in a community of this size.
We remain powerless to control the endless squandering of our tax dollars on completely defragmented groups of special interests from our water systems, to our recreation facilities to our notions of a bigger library (post Google and eBook revolution) and all the socio-economic needs so fundamental to our best interests.
True the Islands Trust Act needs reviewing and many are optimistic that such a review will improve it, however, you have to remember that no other Candians are asked to live under such an extra level of governance which presumes we are guilty of environmental crimes before we are proven innocent!
Despite our unincorporated status and our lack of foresight in voting down incorporation in 2005, the Municipal model still has inherent advantages and fundamental democratic prinicples that encourage a council to govern with a fiduciary responsibility to taxpayers or be voted out.
We have no such freedom under an unincorporated structure of the Islands Trust Act, those tax dollars are in no way controllable or spent with any sense of a fiduciary responsibility to voters, rather they are squandered meaninglessly on delusions of ideological political correctness.
But there is an awakening in our sphere as we touch on the matters that matter and I for one am optimistic that if we all continue to voice our concerns, our concerns will be heard and if change is possible we will see it in this next election cycle.
If we are not yet of one mind, then let us at least act as a unity of minds towards a greater and greater clarity.
Cheers
I still don't know enough about all this but after the Bowen people were here I felt better informed and think that we could have a more democratic system and that, depending on who would be elected, we could end up with even greater preservation, protection through a very sustainable approach that includes humans
ReplyDeletebut not huge pet population
like, how many dogs and cats does one person need?
blame Oprah?
Welcme back Paul. You have reinforced my feeling that this new bylaw 449 (RAR) is actually a distraction from the underlying problems. It is a symptom of the problems. It is hard for people to understand the fundamental uniqueness of governance that this legislation has created and if there is to be change it needs to be at the legislative level as your have so correctly identified. Thanks for the reminder.
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