When only 30 people show up to an event in town, it might be considered by some to be a failure. But when you consider a crowd this size gathering at the recent Southview Development public hearing, this perspective changes.
Having the room filled with residents willing to stand up for their community’s green spaces — largely speaking out against the proposed housing development — was a nice change of pace from the norm in Westlock.
For the issue of the Southview development, the turnout is arguably a result of the “not in my backyard” mentality where people spoke out because they were opposed to change in their area.
Regardless, the turnout shows that there is still hope in regards to engaging locals in politics at the municipal level.
About a month back, there was a downtown revitalization forum held at the town office which saw another rather large group of stakeholders engage in discussion to share their thoughts on the future of Westlock’s downtown.
It appears that people will only engage in the process when they are directly affected.
What people fail to recognize in the community is that they can get involved in the political process all the time, whether that means putting in their two cents on decisions happening in their backyard or those affecting the area as a whole.
The place to do this is at council meetings, which are poorly attended, if at all. Here, decisions are made regularly that affect all residents by deciding how their hard-earned money will be spent.
Council chooses what tops the list for priorities, how much money to allocate to certain projects and even which projects to spend money on. These decisions are made with your money and they are your business.
Democracy is a gift to Canadians that often goes unappreciated.
The democratic freedom is what allowed these community members to voice their opinions on the proposed Southview development and have it matter to local government, which ultimately rejected the proposal.
Becoming involved in local politics, regardless of how you choose to do it, is something more community members should feel compelled to do. At the end of the day, this is your community and you should have a say in what happens here.
