I love elections.
Federal, provincial, municipal, Canadian, American…it doesn’t matter…they all float my boat.
But there’s something that makes Cochrane’s municipal election both special and taxing (pardon the pun) – I’ve got to know most of the candidates.
It goes without saying that when you work for a newspaper you have to be impartial, and despite what I have heard from a minute contingent in the community, the Eagle does a great job treating each candidate equally and fairly. Every single resident who has declared has been allotted their space, and has been treated with the same respect as the other.
Those I have been lucky enough to interview (and some I have gotten to know over the years) would all offer something positive to the community.
At the risk of making a rather hollow statement, the candidates are very much the same, yet entirely different at the same time.
You have your newcomers, who, like every new politician, tout their inexperience in politics as a definitive attribute in their corner.
You also have the establishment, who hype their experience as something voters can rest their laurels upon, as they have ‘been there before,’ so to say.
Some candidates seem more – or at least are publicizing it more – ‘fiscally responsible,’ which for the most part is simply a political talking point every person trying to get elected flaunts.
I for one, have always been drawn to political figures who couldn’t care less about a talking point, and tell people what they don’t want to hear rather than the scripted politico-banter most try to push onto voters who actually believe that with the right politician in office, every day will be sunshine and rainbows, and mistake-free.
For the most part, however, Cochrane’s council and mayoral candidates all ‘want’ generally the same things: to manage and build for the future, to provide services (like the pool and/or transit) to the community at the lowest cost possible, to encourage more business in the community to help balance the tax base and bring more jobs and, of course, to maintain that ‘small-town feel’ amidst Cochrane’s rapid and imminent growth.
How to accomplish these goals may differ, but I’d challenge you to ask one of the candidates if the above wants fall in line with their own and have any of them say they do not.
Have you ever heard of a candidate getting elected who said they wanted to raise taxes, dissuade business, lessen job prospects, put a halt on infrastructure (unless it’s really, really expensive) and encourage sprawl in the hopes of eradicating their community’s allure?
So who on earth should Cochranites vote for Oct. 21?
Well, no one can tell you that…anyone who does try to tell you who you should vote for should have a muzzle put on them – that decision is up to every individual, hopefully, an informed individual.
Newspapers that ‘endorse’ candidates have always perplexed me…I don’t understand why a media outlet that is supposed to be unbiased would come out and say who it wants to get elected.
All anyone can and should do is make their predictions – not who they ‘want’ to win, but who they ‘think’ will win – so here are mine, but they may be horribly wrong:
Council: Ross Watson, Jeff Toews, Tara McFadden, Gaynor Levisky, Shana Bruder and Morgan Nagel.
Mayor: Ivan Brooker.
