Editorial

So many possibilities

Conventional wisdom says that ‘If you’re not part of the cure, chances are that you’re part of the problem.’ And at no time does the old adage ring more true than at election, time. It’s especially true when there are ‘issues’ facing elected representatives in both municipal and education circles. At least in Slave Lake.
Resident Angel Meinecke says as much in her Letter to the Editor this week.
In essence she says people who were surprised when Living Waters School board pulled the plug on most French Immersion classes at St. Mary of the Lake Roman Catholic School needn’t have been shocked. That is, if they’d been part of the elected board, or more importantly, volunteered to be on the parent council (that has an unlimited roster) the writing would have been on their collective wall.
And people who complain about the state of the intersection of Main Street (south) and Hwy. 2 who got involved would know that the Town had little say in the matter after the provincial government stepped in.
Being an armchair quarterback is the simplest job going. There’s nothing in writing, nothing recorded, and no one to answer to when the team loses. Heck, one can even change his or her mind and alliances half way through the game, and no one will notice.
Maybe it’s that ‘on the record’ idea that spooks many would-be candidates for school board, Town or municipal district council. Or not.
But most councillors who’ve ‘been there, done that’ will attest to the fact that municipal politics is a lot harder than it appears from the arm chair, involves some hard decisions, generous amounts of sweat. But the job is also a fair amount of fun, if not somewhat rewarding.
It’s also great for anyone with an inquisitive nature (okay, some of us are just plain nosy) and who wants the straight goods – not just the info that reporters are privy to – or the coffee shop version. Or so we hear.
As many incumbents who are running again said, we’re currently on the cusp of so many new developments, important decisions and exciting possibilities. And who knows what other challenges and fun times might be just around the corner?
So maybe French Immersion is on a hiatus – for now. But what’s to say that a new board – public or separate – won’t decide to resurrect the program that so many worked so hard to establish and support for so many years?
On the municipal side of things, a new Town council will assuredly have some tough decisions to make on the how, when and wherefore of keeping the arena alive, well and up to code. On the rural side, M.D. of Lesser Slave River councillors will have to continue the search for grant dollars to ensure, among other things, that Southshore’s wastewater project will finally be completed.
Perhaps this is a good time for all the pessimists out there to do some soul searching. What would they do, given the opportunity? Well the opportunity here and now. And to ignore the chance to get involved, to make those tough decisions is to chicken out.
If the ideas are so ‘easy’, why not show us, show them, how it’s done?