Citizens in Alberta are tired of mayors and councils ignoring their wishes and they are using plebiscites to overrule bylaws. It’s a fantastic trend in civic activism and we need to see more of it.The town of Banff is the latest municipality forced to put a bylaw to a vote among the citizens and the citizens sent the bylaw to the trash where it belongs. The town had begun a practice of closing Banff Avenue to automotive traffic during the COVID lockdowns, ostensibly to allow for more social distancing. The mayor and council liked this policy of giving a middle finger to cars so much, they decided to craft a bylaw which would close the road every summer in perpetuity. The move crossed the line with citizens and businesses and they clearly have had enough. A petition was presented to council which forced a plebiscite.For those unfamiliar with Banff, Banff Avenue is a main traffic artery that runs for the length of the town. It's the only divided road in town and it moves a great deal of traffic. A large portion of the town of Banff is on the South side of the Bow River including the Banff Springs hotel, the Sulphur Mountain gondola, the Luxton Museum, the park administration building and hundreds of homes. There is only one bridge to get to that entire area and it is on Banff Avenue. With the downtown zone of Banff Avenue being closed to traffic, drivers were forced to weave through narrow side streets in residential areas to get to the bridge. It caused traffic mayhem on side streets and put people at risk as emergency vehicles such as ambulances and firetrucks couldn’t travel the main road.The closure was absurd but the ideologues in the mayor’s office and on council were adamant with maintaining it. The plebiscite campaign was hard fought for months and in the end, citizens told their elected officials where they could stuff the road closure. It’s unfortunate that the mayor and council battled against the will of the citizens right to the bitter end, but it’s fantastic that citizens had a mechanism they could use to win the day.In Westlock Alberta, citizens used a plebiscite to ban the council from painting rainbow-coloured sidewalks and raising a Treaty 6 flag at the town hall. People have had enough of their municipal officials virtue signalling on divisive issues and they are pushing back. They want to see well-paved roads, reliable water supplies, regular garbage pickup and park maintenance. Not flags and paintings representing whatever woke cause may be dominating the day. I have no issue with rainbow flags or crosswalks, but can understand how people are getting tired and overwhelmed with the barrage of it from municipal governments. Perhaps if the civic council had been more restrained with things, some of the flags and crosswalks would have remained. They overplayed though and now it's all gone.In Calgary, Mayor Naheed Nenshi decided that hosting the Olympic Games in 2026 would make a great legacy for himself. City resources were poured into pushing for an Olympic bid. To her credit, Premier Rachel Notley said there would be no provincial funding for a bid unless citizens voted in favour of it in a plebiscite. Nenshi was petulant and upset but had no choice. More city resources were dumped into promoting the bid but in the end, Calgarians told Nenshi and his Olympic cheerleaders to get stuffed. It surely saved taxpayers billions.Calgary’s current Mayor Jyoti Gondek is wildly unpopular and has issued some terrible policies. The ban on paper bags was so bad, it didn’t even have to go to a plebiscite. Council tossed the bylaw into the trash despite Gondek. It is an example of just how poorly represented citizens are by their municipal officials.We need to see more plebiscites held. It engages citizens and reminds mayors and councils they can be held accountable between elections. Citizens should fire their mayors and councils in general elections more often as well of course, but being able to dump bad policies directly with a democratic vote is fantastic. Elected officials will start thinking twice about spending tax dollars on vanity projects if they may face the embarrassment of citizens rejecting the policy in a vote.Democracy is messy, but it’s still the best system we have. The more empowered the citizens are, the more responsible the elected officials will be.The vote in Banff was a victory for democracy and citizens in other municipalities should take note. They don’t have to accept bad policies from their mayors, councils and reeves.
Citizens in Alberta are tired of mayors and councils ignoring their wishes and they are using plebiscites to overrule bylaws. It’s a fantastic trend in civic activism and we need to see more of it.The town of Banff is the latest municipality forced to put a bylaw to a vote among the citizens and the citizens sent the bylaw to the trash where it belongs. The town had begun a practice of closing Banff Avenue to automotive traffic during the COVID lockdowns, ostensibly to allow for more social distancing. The mayor and council liked this policy of giving a middle finger to cars so much, they decided to craft a bylaw which would close the road every summer in perpetuity. The move crossed the line with citizens and businesses and they clearly have had enough. A petition was presented to council which forced a plebiscite.For those unfamiliar with Banff, Banff Avenue is a main traffic artery that runs for the length of the town. It's the only divided road in town and it moves a great deal of traffic. A large portion of the town of Banff is on the South side of the Bow River including the Banff Springs hotel, the Sulphur Mountain gondola, the Luxton Museum, the park administration building and hundreds of homes. There is only one bridge to get to that entire area and it is on Banff Avenue. With the downtown zone of Banff Avenue being closed to traffic, drivers were forced to weave through narrow side streets in residential areas to get to the bridge. It caused traffic mayhem on side streets and put people at risk as emergency vehicles such as ambulances and firetrucks couldn’t travel the main road.The closure was absurd but the ideologues in the mayor’s office and on council were adamant with maintaining it. The plebiscite campaign was hard fought for months and in the end, citizens told their elected officials where they could stuff the road closure. It’s unfortunate that the mayor and council battled against the will of the citizens right to the bitter end, but it’s fantastic that citizens had a mechanism they could use to win the day.In Westlock Alberta, citizens used a plebiscite to ban the council from painting rainbow-coloured sidewalks and raising a Treaty 6 flag at the town hall. People have had enough of their municipal officials virtue signalling on divisive issues and they are pushing back. They want to see well-paved roads, reliable water supplies, regular garbage pickup and park maintenance. Not flags and paintings representing whatever woke cause may be dominating the day. I have no issue with rainbow flags or crosswalks, but can understand how people are getting tired and overwhelmed with the barrage of it from municipal governments. Perhaps if the civic council had been more restrained with things, some of the flags and crosswalks would have remained. They overplayed though and now it's all gone.In Calgary, Mayor Naheed Nenshi decided that hosting the Olympic Games in 2026 would make a great legacy for himself. City resources were poured into pushing for an Olympic bid. To her credit, Premier Rachel Notley said there would be no provincial funding for a bid unless citizens voted in favour of it in a plebiscite. Nenshi was petulant and upset but had no choice. More city resources were dumped into promoting the bid but in the end, Calgarians told Nenshi and his Olympic cheerleaders to get stuffed. It surely saved taxpayers billions.Calgary’s current Mayor Jyoti Gondek is wildly unpopular and has issued some terrible policies. The ban on paper bags was so bad, it didn’t even have to go to a plebiscite. Council tossed the bylaw into the trash despite Gondek. It is an example of just how poorly represented citizens are by their municipal officials.We need to see more plebiscites held. It engages citizens and reminds mayors and councils they can be held accountable between elections. Citizens should fire their mayors and councils in general elections more often as well of course, but being able to dump bad policies directly with a democratic vote is fantastic. Elected officials will start thinking twice about spending tax dollars on vanity projects if they may face the embarrassment of citizens rejecting the policy in a vote.Democracy is messy, but it’s still the best system we have. The more empowered the citizens are, the more responsible the elected officials will be.The vote in Banff was a victory for democracy and citizens in other municipalities should take note. They don’t have to accept bad policies from their mayors, councils and reeves.
