Is Democracy still alive and well or Hard of Hearing (hearing aides sorely needed)?

Rob Bernshaw

Rob Bernshaw, Columnist

This writer is taking one example that has been in the news all across Alberta and Canada for the past few years and possibly closing the file on a hotly debated topic that affects all Albertans, the Edmonton Downtown Arena for a private corporate citizen. Is this file finally closed and another file opened on whether democracy is truly alive and well on the Alberta landscape or only hard of hearing?


Whether one realizes it or not, every day in Alberta as in all provinces and territories across Canada the democratic process is at work in all aspects of our daily lives.

Take for example the recent poll commissioned by a Canadian and Alberta citizen by the name of Nita Jalkanen.

Kudos goes out to this very concerned citizen that stepped up to the plate in a valiant effort to get the municipal government of the day to finally listen to what the taxpayer was truly saying. Except for 3 valiant councilors fighting the status quo the iron was in the fire and the deal was fated to be sealed in favor of providing corporate welfare to a private billionaire in the form of a massive debt to be accrued and paid off of the backs of us taxpayers for the next 30 to 40 years.

Nita was valiant in her efforts in  attempting to bring to light the way the democratic process was heading in the total loss of hearing of the one element that is proverbially ignored everyday in governments of the day and that is their employers us hard working taxpayers.~source www.slideshare.net/stuartstuart123/environics-edmonton-arena-survey-may-2013

The reason for the poll as stated in mainstream media is that she was upset enough with the proposed arena deal that she spent $5000 of her own hard earned dollars to commission the Environics Edmonton Arena Survey.

Let us take a closer look at another possible reason for this massive undertaking by a  very concerned citizen of Canada and Alberta.

Is there an extreme disconnect occurring between the elected representatives sitting in their plush Jaybirds seat at all levels of governments(municipal, provincial, federal) and the average citizen that works hard every day to provide food on the table along with clothes on the backs of their families and themselves?
There is an historic song sung by Johnny Cash titled ‘Sixteen Tons’ that represents how people may feel while under the increasing burdens of heavier tax loads going to provide corporate welfare for a billionaire perfectly capable of paying for his luxurious hockey palace himself but has been able to wrangle the money from a municipal government that from the onset of the whole flawed process became hard of hearing to the cries and anguish of the local taxpayer.

Music video by Johnny Cash performing Sixteen Tons. (C) Mercury Records

Now in order to provide this lavish hockey palace for this private corporate billionaire(that attended via teleconference) another deaf ear to the taxpayer was turned and the majority of Edmonton City Council with a 10-3 vote ended the long democratic process of providing the funding for this now to be downtown Edmonton Arena.

Is this decision representative of  all decisions made on a daily basis by people elected to represent their constituents needs? Has the disconnect between the employer(taxpayer) and elected representative become so great that arrogance has taken the place of taking the time to listen to the taxpayer and voter that put them in the Jaybird’s seat in the first place?

Is money or personal agendas the grease that affects how elected representatives vote or is it something else along the democratic trail?

Nita exercised her rights that any Canadian citizen has to become engaged and involved in the democratic process. This process is about allowing all citizens to be heard by people that are supposed to represent the majority of taxpayers not a select few.

The funny thing happened on the way to the forum(new arena) though and that is all the elected officials followed the same democratic process and that is to vote individually and hopefully for the majority of their constituents in sealing the deal on this long drawn out process of democracy on one very important issue facing us taxpayers in the  Alberta of today.
As elected representatives in the democratic constituency of Alberta these members of the Edmonton City Council voted in a democratic manner no matter whether one agreed with the final outcome or not.

Is the one and only issue that one needs to be concerned about is how deep seated the disconnect between the elected representatives of the day and us taxpayers has become?

With municipal elections looming on the horizon what will the taxpayer and voter of Alberta do?

When the municipal elections are over there will be either brand new faces, the status quo or a combination of both in the plush Jaybirds seat.

This will happen before one knows it and therefore in the next few months all Albertans no matter ones position or walk of life needs to get out and get informed in order to vote people in that will represent us with a full connection in listening and hearing what the majority of us taxpayers are saying. Will the ones that listen and stand up for us taxpayers be attacked and maligned for doing what a lot of elected representatives have become disconnected and deaf to? Of course they will because their status quo will be in jeopardy and their position in the Jaybirds seat may be gone in the blink of an eye or the stroke of the pen in the ballot box of the day.
We as taxpayers need to be fully heard in order for progress to be made.

The disconnection needs to be reconnected before it is too late where even hearing aides will not help and more people decide to opt out of  the democratic process by not voting.

As a side note:

Recently in B.C. the Liberal government under the leadership of Christy Clark (even though she lost her seat in her own riding) was reelected for another term of 4 years.

Will the recent result affect Alberta?
Of course it will as all provinces across Canada are connected at the hip in this  country we call home. Now whether it is a negative or a positive effect only time will tell that story.


More to come on the hard of hearing disconnection file.......