Barring earth shattering News, 2009 will fade into the night as a new decade begins. Our hope is that 2010 starts a decade of sensibility and a period where choices are made for the long-term betterment of mankind.
Time was not as friendly as it could have been this past fall. Like many businesses we worked with what the economy gave us and this did not allow for many extras that we wanted to accomplish.
A series on amalgamation was planned to analyze what has happened in the past 10 years in terms of making local government more efficient, more accountable and better for the citizens it is intended to serve. That series will appear in the next few weeks.
Municipal elections are scheduled for next fall and we believe this series will provide some fodder for candidates and voters. While then and now bear little resemblance, the generalities of today’s focus can certainly be debated.
We are sure the question will be raised – are we better off today than ten years ago?
To answer that question we need to look at other levels of government since many of the upper tier decisions and policies affect local programs.
The possibility of a federal election looms large. Incredible deficit budgets to meet the challenges of a faltering global economy have encouraged overspending in local budgets. One need only look at each of our townships to see projects that have required local borrowing to match federal and provincial money.
Polling indicates the Conservatives have a good shot at retaining power if an election is held soon. The Liberals have done little to differentiate themselves in terms of a strong plan for the future.
In a sleight of hand, actions of the Harper Conservatives that deserve repudiation at the ballot box will be forgotten – think about the questionable mailers targeting ridings or the fact that power has become even more concentrated in the Prime Minister’s office under PM Harper.
Further to these points is the fact that until the meltdown in the United States, neither Harper nor Finance Minister Flaherty would admit a recession loomed. Quite to the contrary, during the last election we were told Canada was in great shape. That being the case, there needs to be some explanation for the embrace of massive deficit spending.
For Ontario, next July will see the implementation of the new Harmonized Sales Tax. This will occur a year in advance of the provincial election scheduled for October 2011, allowing it to be somewhat forgotten as Ontario residents head to the polls.
Also forgotten, will be the many boondoggles of this decade – consider the problems at Ontario Lottery and Gaming, overspending at e-Health, changes to labour laws that have cost employers immensely and the egotistical abolition of Ontario’s trillium logo.
In terms of politics and direction we have made little headway in the field of providing real service to citizens. Tangible help for the less fortunate, true assistance for the newly unemployed and tragically disabled and real policies that will help real people seem to all fall victim to the system. The financial calamity that has affected many Canadians may provide the impetus for change, but as lamented previously, memories can be very short.
This leaves it up to individuals to make the best choices they can. We hope 2010 is the start of that.
