I want to take an opportunity to articulate a danger that I see looming on our political horizon. Municipalities throughout the civilized world have adopted a predominately non-partisan democracy. There are many good reasons for this, including:

• Ensuring our elected officials are not beholden to a party apparatus that got them elected, and are not subject to restrictions on how they vote.
• Ensuring the character of our candidates is being evaluated by the electorate as a whole, and not by a single interest group or party.
• Increase the potential of the emergence of traditionally-overlooked candidates.
• Mitigating polarization and divisiveness in our municipality, as the officials are empowered to consider the merits of the issue without consideration to the reaction of a single interest group or party.

The recent tenor of Parksville politics seems to me to be  moving away from this tried-and-true form of government to one more driven by single issue and interest groups. The PRA (Parksville Residents Association) recently released a position statement in regards to the OCP review that seems very partisan to me. They have clearly articulated their mandates and positions as curbing economic growth, and establishing a carbon-neutral municipality in the next 10 years. They further articulated as part of this position the exclusion of opinions and individuals that don't share these basic ideals. Given their growing political power in our community, and the tendency of some councillors to tailor their positions to in response to this growing power, we should all be concerned that the result is the worst possible government structure; a one-party partisan government.

There are other legitimate positions, and other considerations for a healthy community. Individuals, groups and organizations that hold other positions as pivotal, including economic growth, municipal infrastructure, healthcare facility, transportation and traffic, tourism expansion, etc. Each of these issues is indeed critical to the overall health and stability of our municipality, and each of these voices deserve to be heard and considered in each debate. But that is not happening. Instead, the voice of a single interest group drowns out the rest, and moves us towards a party-based municipal government. This is the single biggest threat to the stability of our community.

The Parksville & District Chamber of Commerce is committed to remaining non-partisan. Our role is to provide input into the policy process from the perspective of the business community, and we will continue to do this. We do not try to define the policy, to drive the debate, or to slander the good people who have agreed to serve as our representatives in the community. We are proud to be a single voice, dedicated to the prosperity of our business community.

Gary Child
President
Parksville & District Chamber of Commerce