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Div. 5 kudos

With a week left to go before the Sept. 17 Westlock County Div. 5 byelection, we remain stunned by the interest shown.

With a week left to go before the Sept. 17 Westlock County Div. 5 byelection, we remain stunned by the interest shown.

Last Thursday night roughly 70 residents packed the Pine Valley Hall to put the four candidates through their paces on topics ranging from economic development, to the Tawatinaw Valley Ski Hill, amalgamation and, of course, roads.

We never would have guessed at the outset there’d be four solid candidates and we never would have guessed there’d be a well-attended forum to showcase them.

Goes to show you what we know.

In a day and age when political apathy runs rampant and most seem more interested in what’s happening on their phone than what’s going on in real life, it’s refreshing to see the community so engaged — especially the candidates, Mary Ashton-Groulx, Lori Latreille, Isaac Skuban and David Woynorowski .

See folks, it ain’t easy being a politician, especially a municipal one.

If the roads suck, who gets the first call?

The division councillor.

And if the roads aren’t plowed following a huge dump of snow?

Yup, you guess it, the division councillor.

And God forbid if taxes go up.

Municipal politicians are the most accountable since they’re the most accessible — that’s just the way it works. If you’ve got a beef with the town or county you’re sure to see one of the councillors at the gas pump, or in the aisles of the grocery store.

And although both our MLA and MP live in the area, getting one-on-one time to talk shop say during the intermission of hockey game, or on the 19th hole of the golf course can be a little more tricky.

There’s not a lot of anonymity in a small community like ours, but for municipal politicians, well, the spotlight shines 10 times as bright.

And while we congratulate the men and women who’ve shown the courage to let their names stand, we’ll offer a bit of advice to eventual winner.

Represent the whole of Westlock County, not just the people of Div. 5. Granted it’s easy to focus on the minutia of road maintenance, or even the ski hill, but please keep in mind we’re all in this together and what’s good for Tawatinaw, should be good for all of the county.

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