Sometimes a self-imposed sabbatical is good for the soul. You finally have time to read newspapers, watch the television documentaries you’ve recorded, and eavesdrop on conversations. It gives you the space and time to think. To question. To ponder the future.
It’s obvious, from the things I’ve heard people chatting about in the community, that the future of the Crownsest Pass is on many residents’ minds. Some talk about healing. A few are prepared for peace at any price.
It’s no wonder that we are feeling battle-weary. That’s to be expected when you are fighting the good fight. And when the sun starts to shine and you actually have hope that your tomato plants are going to produce a reasonable crop, it’s hard to maintain the same level of anger that initially fuelled the community’s reaction to an arrogant mayor and council. A mayor and council that outsourced leadership while taking excessive action against respected community leaders. A mayor and council who solved the problems they identified in secret, with a hiring and buying spree paid for by taxpayers kept in the dark.
The time has come for building bridges. Life is too short to carry grudges, and when anger turns into irrational emotionalism nothing good can be created. But recognizing that it is time to move forward, that it is time to look for ways to make our community shine, is not the same as forgetting.
A very wise man once said, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."
If we forget what made us angry, if we, for example, vote in the same people who caused this community such grief and turmoil, who led us to be laughed at by surrounding municipalities, if we do not continue to demand accountability and transparency, then a year from now we will be whining the same destructful tune.
When citizens become battle-weary, they often become fatalistic. And that is even more dangerous than forgetting. When we become fatalistic we believe that we don’t deserve anything better. That the Crowsnest Pass has always had bad mayors and bad councils. That we are forever destined to be pitted against one another. That no one “good” will ever run for elected office because they do not want to be part of the “laughingstock.”
A citizenry that becomes fatalistic usually returns to power the same individuals that created the mess in the first place. Believing we don’t deserve any better becomes a strange kind of domestic abuse on a community level.
There is nothing wrong with having high expectations. There is nothing wrong with communicating those expectations clearly and frequently to those who hold elected office. There is absolutely nothing wrong with each citizen exercising, completely, his or her democratic rights.
There is nothing wrong with being angry, if that anger is turned into action. Action that is positive, life-enhancing, and inclusive. The way ahead is not to return to the path already followed. It is to create something better. Expect more, and that’s what we’ll get. Give up the battle, surrender without winning, believe that we deserve nothing better – and that will be our destiny.
But not a future worth fighting for.
