Thursday morning, I released my election platform. In it, I indicated that we need to do better at attracting and retaining young people. I said we need to ensure taxpayers are getting value for their dollar. I said we need to do better at engaging our citizens and building community. I said we need to work together as a city and as a region. I said I would keep these things in mind with every decision I make at the Council table.
On Thursday evening, I read this opinion column on the St. Catharines Standard's website: Niagara isn't the best place to live, by Grant LaFleche. It was based on this Money Sense article.
While I question some of the methodology used in the Money Sense article, the point is that people will read the article and take it seriously, likely without investigating potential methodological issues.
In his column, LaFleche said that we need to do better at attracting and retaining young people. He said that we need to work together as a city and as a region. I agree with him on both counts. In fact, there is little in his column with which I disagree.
Where I ran into difficulty with the column was the comments. A solid majority of those comments were negative. The general message was that Niagara is in trouble because of its politicians and because people hate it here (for a variety of reasons).
But here's the thing...the vast majority of the comments served to demonstrate one thing: If we don't think we can be better, we won't be.
Of the many things LaFleche touched on, this may have been the most important thing he said (assuming that we're trying to be positive): "There are people — smart, energetic, ambitious — in every one of our communities who try. Who want to build a better tomorrow for Niagara. They are often met with unreasonable resistance, though."
I know some of these people - the smart, energetic, ambitious people who are trying. They are among my friends. I like to think (at least I've been told) that I am one of these people.
And I know that, over the years, they/I have been met with unreasonable resistance. We've often been met not even with an intentional resistance, but with a lack of understanding. While St. Catharines and Niagara change dramatically - with some of those changes being out of our control - we appear to be afraid of change.
Yes, there are people who are trying to make a difference; people who are trying to improve St. Catharines and Niagara, but they need understanding and co-operation from others to make that happen. They need people who are willing to take or to let them take (calculated) risks.
What's that quote about insanity? "Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."
For years, many in St. Catharines and Niagara have been doing or trying to do the same things over and over again with the expectation that something different is going to happen.
Nothing different is going to happen. Or, rather, the different things that will happen are that we will continue to lose a good number of young people, Niagara municipalities will become more insulated in their thinking (in an effort to protect themselves), and we will move farther from having a chance at building community.
Here's the thing: I don't want to be on City Council because I want to be a politician. In fact, I'm not sure that I make a very good politician - at least not in the terms that we generally think of politicians.
I want to be on City Council because I want to help to make St. Catharines and, by extension, Niagara a better place to live. I want to help make St. Catharines and Niagara the best place to live. I believe that we can do this.
I believe that we can communicate better.
I believe that we can give young people a reason to come to and stay in Niagara.
I believe that we can build consensus and community and relationships.
There are people who are already doing it.
Niagara has a lot of potential. As I mentioned in my platform, I know and have become friends with several entrepreneurial and community-minded people who choose to stay or who set-up in Niagara because we believe in Niagara. We see its potential. We know that Niagara is already a good place to be, and we know that Niagara can be a great place to be.
Are we a bunch of idealistic late-30s and early-40-somethings?
Maybe we are.
Maybe there's nothing at all wrong with that.
Maybe that's exactly what St. Catharines and Niagara need.
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As always, please don't hesitate to contact me through the blog, via e-mail: lauraipforstgeorgesward@gmail.com, through my Facebook page: Laura Ip for St. George's Ward, or on Twitter: @L__Ip. I'd love to hear your feedback.
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