Sunny, warm days that stay bright late into the evening – summer is the perfect season for relaxing, barbecuing, playing outside, catching up on reading, and any number of other fun activities. It’s a chance to unwind and de-stress and take vacations.
But don’t get too comfortable: Politicians know your attention is elsewhere. Summer is the perfect time for politicians to make unpopular decisions and minimize public backlash.
Maybe keep one eye on the news while you flip those burgers on the barbecue.
Politicians know their best bet for avoiding scrutiny is to announce bad news on a Friday during the summer, especially right before a long weekend.
Since the beginning of summer, Maple Ridge Council politicians have been busy passing a 20-per-cent pay raise for their future selves, deciding to withdraw from any decision around locating housing for local homeless, and voting to send a controversial Agricultural Land Reserve exclusion application on to the Agriculture Land Commission. Maple Ridge is also part of TransLink’s Mayors Council which collectively decided to raise Metro Vancouver gas taxes by one-and-a-half cents per litre.
After the gas tax increase we will be paying 34.78 cents per litre for TransLink, provincial and carbon taxes. This is part of the reason we have the highest gas prices in North America and it’s tiresome to hear politicians claim this latest increase is negligible.
As my dad would say when admonishing me to turn out lights as I left a room, “Nickels and dimes soon add up to real money.”
There are always exceptions, and occasionally a politician does something impressive when few are watching. At the end of June, our federal MP Dan Ruimy donated his coffee shop bookstore to a local non-profit that helps young people. Kudos to him.
We are engaged in the early skirmishes of a Canada-U.S.A. trade war and it will significantly dent all of our pocketbooks if cooler heads don’t prevail, though that isn’t likely to happen until at least after the U.S. mid-term elections in November.
It’s difficult for us to hold American politicians accountable, but we can pay attention and react to what Canadian politicians do in response.
Speaking of books and trade wars, why not support local authors when choosing reading material for the summer months. I have recommendations and our libraries can help you find more.
For preschoolers, author Annette LeBox has two picture books that gently explore environmental and social issues.
Salmon Creek (illustrated by Karen Reczuch), is being republished in the prestigious Open Court Reading anthology (McGraw Hill 2018) for educators. The 2014 edition of Salmon Creek is still available in both paperback and hardcover.
Peace is an Offering (Dial Books 2015, illustrated by Stephanie Graegin) was chosen this year, for the second time, by Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. Parton’s book-gifting program sends high quality books to children until they are school-aged. There is no cost to recipients.
While you are online, make sure to apply for education grants for your child. If they are nine or under, there are $1,200 B.C. Training and Education Savings Grant’s available for the asking.
According to a provincial government news release only 40 per cent of parents of eligible children have applied, and for some children the deadline is Aug. 14.
For young adult readers, consider the debut YA fantasy novel by Coquitlam author Jennifer Sommersby. Sleight (Harper Collins Canada, 2018) is a fast-paced adventure set against the backdrop of a circus.
For adults, Whonnock author Cathy Ace has two mystery and crime series to choose from. Her latest is in the Case of the Unsuitable Suitor (Severn House Publishers, 2018), the fourth in the WISE Enquiries Agency series. There are also eight titles in the Cait Morgan Mysteries series (Touchwood Editions). Ace draws on her travel experiences and love of both Canada and Wales to spin cozy tales.
On July 1, the official campaign began for the NDP/Green proposal to change our provincial voting system to one of three (two untried in any jurisdiction) proportional representation models.
You will be provided with a mail-in referendum ballot this fall. In the meantime, expect a lot of rhetoric and sweeping generalizations.
Enjoy summer. The first week of September catapults us into the official municipal election campaign period.
On Oct. 20, the vote includes a non-binding plebiscite on switching to property-tax-funded municipal garbage pickup.
Hot summer weather should underscore the fact that given our local wildlife and vermin issues, any proposal to go to a system that only picks up garbage every two weeks will make the problems worse.
In the meantime, you can find me poolside with my summer reading pick, A Matter of Confidence: The Inside Story of the Political Battle for B.C., by Rob Shaw and Richard Zussman.
Katherine Wagner is a member of the citizens’ task force on transparency, a former school trustee, and member of Golden Ears Writers.