EDITORIAL: Ignorance and entitlement pose challenge for municipalities

There is no level of government as important as the municipal level. Towns, cities and rural municipal politicians make important decisions that can have profound impacts on the people they serve. So do, of course, trustees on school division boards.

And while their decisions impact ratepayers in obvious ways, they are the level of government least insulated from the people they serve.

Most municipalities will include contact information on their websites for elected officials.

Besides that, it’s not hard to find out where your favourite or least favourite local politician works or what business they own.

You’ll run into them at public events, while shopping, at the mailbox or while grabbing a morning coffee.

And because they’re being paid with our tax dollars, we think it’s no big deal to talk about local issues whenever we may run into them.

That’s a reality that’s existed for as long as democracy.

What’s slightly newer is the Internet, and various community Facebook groups have proven to be another source of angst for many.

The RM of Alexander recently put out a statement asking people to be careful about the comments they post on their RM Facebook page.

“We understand that during times of crisis, people turn to social media for updates, support and connection,” the notice states. “However, we must also ensure that our online platforms remain safe, respectful spaces for everyone.”

They continued to condemn what should be considered the obvious.

That included bullying, personal attacks, swearing, abusive language, harassment, threats, slander, defamatory language, misinformation and unfounded accusations.

In a CBC story, RM staff say it’s become a growing problem.

The Association of Manitoba Municipalities agrees.

Executive director Denys Volkov told CBC it has become a safety issue.

“It’s extremely disturbing to see, but unfortunately we’ve been seeing an escalation of this type of behaviour towards elected officials over a number of years,” he said.

We see this behaviour to some extent in the Southeast as well.

Too often we see questions posed on local community Facebook groups that could be just as easily directed to municipal staff.

Responses are often inaccurate, and it becomes an opportunity to vent for those who don’t know better, and frankly, don’t care to know the truth.

The whole thing smacks of entitlement, with some even being proud of their ignorance on a subject, taking it as a personal affront that they had not been personally informed on an issue.

We saw that at a City of Steinbach meeting last year, where a person who showed up to object to a proposed bylaw, thought it important to inform city councillors that she had not found out about the hearing until the day prior.

She was politely informed about how notices of public hearings are shared, including in local media and on the city website as well.

But rather than take responsibility for her attitude of laziness or lack of knowledge, she simply discarded the explanation and repeated that nobody had told her.

The truth is, it’s easier than ever to find out about what’s going on in your community.

City council meeting agendas and minutes are available online. Local press will have notices of upcoming public hearings printed in their pages. Property owners who are adjacent to a subject property that requires a variance or rezoning are informed.

It is now possible to stay informed from the comfort of your home, something that 30 years ago was simply not possible.

Then one still had the opportunity to access local media, though only in traditional formats. For more information or to view agendas or minutes they had to go to their local city or town hall in person.

It’s important to realize there’s no shame in ignorance, since that simply means there’s something you have yet to learn.

It becomes a problem when people who are ignorant choose to make themselves victims or instead feign knowledge and share it publicly.

It shows up as entitlement when they push that victim angle and insist that their lack of education on a subject is because someone else failed.

Local municipal councillors and school trustees work hard to fulfill the responsibility endowed on them by voters.

They will make mistakes, they will make controversial decisions, and occasionally, like in every other occupation, there will those who simply do a bad job.

But keeping dialogue respectful, both in person and online is.

Serving one’s community as an elected official is an important role, and one we should be thankful for that there are those who are willing to take that on.