Citizenship isn鈥檛 a privilege, it鈥檚 a responsibility. At least, that鈥檚 what my father taught me, and after all these years, I haven鈥檛 found anything to suggest he was wrong about that.
As a citizen, you are the single most important part of a democracy. So it鈥檚 important to sometimes come to meetings of your local government. Your presence tells your representatives that they are looking at issues that matter to people, and you鈥檒l find they take more care about researching and voting on them if they think it鈥檚 important to you.
You don鈥檛 have to come to every meeting; I certainly don鈥檛. But I come often enough that council knows I am engaged and interested. Sometimes I ask them a question, sometimes I send a letter, sometimes I bring neighbours, a lot of the time I just listen.
It鈥檚 a matter of real concern that so few people attend these meetings when so much is riding on local decisions in this era of climate change. Issues of active transportation, densification, the urban forest and much else are being decided.
You have a stake in those decisions. You can get the agenda a few days before via email. I guarantee you鈥檒l be surprised how often there is something of interest you didn鈥檛 know was happening.
Sue Stroud
Brentwood Bay
