Look in the mirror!
Our Alberta Premier sparked a little drama when he suggested all Albertans look in the mirror to discover we are all responsible for government spending in Alberta.
He struck a chord because each voter hasn’t had tools to manage our elected representatives. Why haven’t we had the tools? Because we never demanded them. Let’s do it now; before the next election. I believe there are two tools we could acquire and use immediately; the pry bar and the magnifying glass.
We could add an alternative to every ballot in every election from this day forward. That alternative would be, “None of the above”. My frustration with our democracy centers on the lack of individual influence on the decisions of our representatives. I’ve tried to find the least harmful candidate to vote for; but this is a feeble approach because they all represent a cancer, so far, untreatable. Take a look back over the last sixty years, notice how much bubble-wrap has been taped around us. Each layer was added by a few passionate advocates aided by elected representatives willing to abandon individual responsibility in favor of one more layer of safety net and one more erosion of trust. Let’s see if voters can say, “I voted against every one of those so-called representatives. If half my neighbors had done the same; we would regain a hope of representative government and we would be proud to look in the mirror.” Let’s pry the spendthrifts out of office and reclaim democracy.
Would you like to know the per capita cost of all government in your jurisdiction? I’ve snooped around and calculated rough approximations. The numbers have not been publicized by the governments. If you browse through the budgets of Canada, Alberta, and Calgary; you’ll find hundreds of pages but I doubt you’ll find a single page that discloses the per capita cost of the jurisdiction’s activities. Would a magnifying glass help? Would those numbers be useful for a voter wanting to be responsible in casting a vote? My approximation of the per capita government expenditures for a person, living in Calgary, is $21,000 (federal $8,000, provincial $10,000, and municipal $3,000). Look around you and guess how many of your fellow villagers fund a pro rata share of the load for the individuals in their households. Then look in the mirror and wonder, “Can I do better?