By Plain Rhetoric

“I will say anything needed to get re-elected”

Aug 28, 2018 | 5:00 AM

ALMOST EVERY WEEK I read a comment or have someone tell me how disappointed he or she is with a particular councillor or two. And by way of explanation they say something along the lines of: “We elected that councillor to represent everyone in Kamloops. They should vote accordingly.”

What they’re really saying is that a particular councillor didn’t cast their vote the way they wanted them to. Ergo, politicians are selfish, don’t listen to the people, are motivated by [insert the appropriate-for-the-moment left or right] political philosophies and should remember they represent all the people of Kamloops.

The definition of representing all of the people is a dynamic descriptor though and seems to shift and change depending on how well a councillor matches one’s own personal opinion at any particular time.

Councillors do seem to represent all of Kamloops when one’s opinion is in perfect harmony with the politico in question. But accusations will fly when that harmony becomes, well, becomes disharmonious.

Take the Ajax mine as an example. If you were for the mine, then all politicians supportive of Ajax were, in your opinion, representing the best interests of everyone in Kamloops. To be opposed to Ajax was, in their estimation, contrary to what everyone in Kamloops wanted and those contrarian politicians need to be kicked out of office.

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It was crazy times but this belief in commonality of ideas was and remains equally crazy.

Does anyone honestly believe that those we elect can actually make every vote on every issue something that every citizen can support?

For me and I assume you, it is rare for one to agree with all councillors. Human nature, experience and values most certainly guarantee that at any one time, I’m going to believe that some of them have got it wrong.

Does that mean they are wrong or should be kicked off council? Absolutely not! In fact, I’d be living in a Pollyanna-like world to think my interests and political leanings are representative of the entire population of Kamloops.

Personally, the best example of how things should work would be the example set by retiring councillor, Tina Lange.

Being generous, I’d say I agreed with her opinions and vote 50 per cent of the time. But, and this is where character and integrity show their value, she is and has been consistent in her approach to being a Kamloops councillor. There seems to be an established and therefore predictable set of values that she applied to her decisions. I never felt she was a wind vane looking to see which way public opinion was blowing. Instead, she has worked for Kamloops based on her own set of principles, knowing full well there is no such thing as pleasing all the people all of the time.

I for one will be looking for people like her in the upcoming municipal election. I’d like to see people of character and depth who will not give in to the siren call and pressure of special interest groups.

Fence sitting people-pleasers need not apply for they so obviously lack both integrity and a belief in their own convictions.

I want to see people at the table who have a demonstrated belief in the future of Kamloops. We may continue to differ on how we get there but there remains a shared belief in the end result.

Intelligence, leadership, compassion and a long-term view should always win out over political opportunism.

What I don’t want to see is the attitude represented by one local politician who once bragged to me, “I will say anything needed to get re-elected.”