I wrote a letter to the editor in Pique Newsmagazine this week that I hope will get people talking. If the young people of Whistler stepped up, we can determine the course that the local government is headed. Even if you cant vote you can still help out and offer input. Anyway heres the letter in case you didnt see it: ****** Thanks for getting the ball rolling on discussion around the Whistler election (Pique, Opening Remarks, Sept. 4). November will come before we know it and hopefully an engaged population will result in a solid mandate for this town going forward. Unfortunately, one of the issues that I see with Whistler politics is the lack of engagement. Its obvious simply by who is at the council table this time around. Whistler has one of the youngest populations in Canada yet there is only one councillor under 40, and he is 39. If the young people of Whistler wanted to be in the drivers seat, our generation could show up at the polls on November 15 and create a local government that could be a true representation of our generation. Currently, we are in the middle of the greatest technological escalation in recorded history. Never before has our world been so connected, never has the common person had so much access to information, nor has that same person ever had such potential to reach a worldwide audience. The older generations cant see it as easily — with no blame to them. Its akin to the parable of the frog in a pot of boiling water: drop the frog in while the water is boiling and it will jump right out. But if you set it in while the water is lukewarm and bring it to a boil, the frog will die while the water slowly heats up around it. I believe the same situation is happening now with viability for living in Whistler. Greed is what is causing the water to boil, and the younger generation is steering clear of Whistler as a place to set root, seeing the writing on the wall and looking for more inclusive communities elsewhere in B.C. and Canada... and for that matter other parts of the world. So the issue I see is that we are entrusting the same people who got us into this mess to find solutions going forward. I do not hold any blame toward the individuals on council or the municipal staff. But they are like the frogs in lukewarm water that do not notice that their surroundings have changed drastically. The reality is that the local government has become a microcosm of other government in Canada — inefficient, grossly over budgeted, and a great provider of cushy jobs. Much of it operates behind closed doors with little public oversight. The reality is that we dont need such a bureaucratic system anymore. Technology allows us to open up the lines of decision making to the public, and the Internet has provided a viable model for other hierarchies to function similarly. The Open-source programming movement has proven to be the most efficient method of productivity. If the 18 to 35 year olds in Whistler collectively got up and decided to initiate some real change and not play the politics of promises, there might be a reason to get excited. Im hoping that this year will be the year that the young generation realizes our power. I also hope that the older generations will take a step back and allow the changing of the guard for the young people of this town to step into leadership to allow us a promising future here. Itll be an interesting few months!
Posted on: Thu, 11 Sep 2014 23:12:49 +0000
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