By D. E. Degenstien, Editor
Last Mountain Times
Nokomis / Strasbourg
(Reprinted with permission)
With nomination day having passed, those seeking election to village, town, and RM councils now face a difficult challenge – one they perhaps did not fully consider prior to submitting their nomination papers. Let me try to explain.
You see, at the federal, provincial, and major urban municipal level, it’s acceptable and common, even expected practice, once nominated, to actually ‘campaign’ to get elected. In the rural areas of Saskatchewan (and perhaps other provinces) it’s not quite so clear cut. I think it has something to do with the size of the voting population in a particular area, but I don’t think the exact parameters have ever really been defined.
It seems to start with the nomination process. It’s not really considered ‘cool’ to actually go out and ‘get yourself’ nominated – you ‘kind-of-have-to-be-talked-into-it’ ...and then reluctantly agree. You can’t appear to be too anxious to become a candidate, because that could be the ‘kiss of death’ for your candidacy – people might think you are ‘ambitious’, have a ‘personal agenda,’ or have a ‘leadership’ or ‘power’ complex. So that’s the first hurdle: you have to cautiously, reluctantly agree to be ‘drafted’ as a candidate (“Well, I guess I could let my name stand ...if no one minds, and if no one else is going to let his or her name stand ...after all, someone has to be on council...”).
Once nominated, the process is still delicate: again, you don’t want to appear too anxious to get yourself elected. There is a ‘grey area’ at this point: if there has been some sort of controversy leading up to the election (perhaps a contentious tax issue, or property development issue, etc.) it might be acceptable to campaign on resolving that issue; to perhaps set yourself up as the person who can be trusted to resolve that issue. But, again, this is a slippery slope - get too aggressive or publicly outspoken, and you risk starting that ‘ambition’ accusation. Best to do your campaigning in one-on-one, and perhaps local coffee shop settings. Advertising, or putting up yard signs seems to be ‘crossing the line’ in most instances (“...look at all the money he (she) is spending to get elected ...I wonder what’s behind all that ...and where is the money coming from...?”).
The ‘unspoken rules’ seem to shift a bit if you are an incumbent. ‘Letting your name stand’ for a second, third, or fourth term seems to be acceptable behaviour, and if you’ve been keeping your nose clean and doing a reasonable job on council, you may have the upper hand over your opponent(s). It’s a delicate process, but it shouldn’t be too difficult to garner a bit of a ‘sympathy’ vote, and if you’re lucky, your opponents might get caught being ‘too ambitious’ ...more votes for you.
With these murky waters to navigate, it really is a wonder that anyone sticks his or her head up and runs for a village, town, or RM council position. It is, after all, thankless work. You set yourself up to be a target of your community’s ratepayers’ wrath ...damned if you do, and damned if you don’t. Get complaint calls at all hours of the day and night if the water or sewer system shuts down; and get the collective scorn of the entire coffee shop population if you vote to raise the water and sewer rates so repairs or upgrades can be made. Yes ...thankless work.
So, in the end, we do indeed have to admire and support those who ‘let their names stand’ to represent us on our local community councils.
Now ...those provincial and federal politicians – that’s a whole ‘nother editorial!
