It's election season, and campaign signs are everywhere. At least one candidate is trying to make an issue out of improper signage attributed to the Blair Wilson campaign.
Don't be confused - this is not a real issue, just a move to gain a little traction to fill the space between empty rhetoric about why the said candidate deserves your vote.
I sort of like campaign signs. I recognize them for what they are - a juvenile contest that plays out on lawns and at intersections across the Coast, designed to grab your attention like flashy bling - but if they're shallow fodder for political debate, at least they get the conversation started.
Personally, I'd like to see a little more creativity applied to the signs. Anyone who's been through a neighbourhood in Latin America has seen campaign slogans slathered on fences and walls of people's homes. Years after an election, the barrio is still a patchwork of partisan paint and colours. Somehow it adds to the culture.
I recall seeing a giant pink roadside billboard in Nicaragua, featuring a larger-than-life president Daniel Ortega exhorting social revolution with a fist raised in triumph: Arriba los pobres del mundo! ("Rise up, poor people of the world!") It's both hideous and awesome at the same time.
Speaking of developing nations, there's a basic litmus test I sometimes find myself running when issues of dubious importance are discussed at length at local council meetings. I ponder how a local government in Nicaragua might treat the issue. My mind roams to an imaginary dialogue from the crowded council chambers in the town of Malpaisillo, where the questionable issue is crushed by the sheer weight of common sense in 10 seconds flat:Chairman Santos: "OK, next item on the agenda - we've had complaints that the exterior lights at our new aquatic centre are a little too bright. Our staff have looked into the issue and determined we could fix the problem if we spent $12,000."
Councillor Gonzalez: "What problem?"
Chief planner Ordoñez: "Uh, the lights. They violate our philosophy - the brightness has an adverse effect on the quality of life in our neighbourhood."Councillor Machado: "So the proposed solution is to throw out the new lights and replace the fixtures at a cost of $12,000!? Hurricane Felix just wiped out my neighbour's crops. The government still won't fix the road to the highway. We've got rabid dogs running loose, and we can't afford to hire a dog catcher. And you're saying we should fix the lights - are you insane?"
Chairman Santos: "I move we take the money and instead spend it on a giant pink billboard to help me get into congress in our upcoming federal election. If my party wins, the government will fix all our problems! Can we have a vote?"
[All vote in favour with fervent shouts of approval.]So it might go. I'm not saying this fictional council has made a wise spending choice. But our brave Latin American politicians have made short work of the kind of issue that can mire our local councils in endless discussion. Sometimes it's all a little too democratic for my liking.
But, back to our election. Please vote, in both the federal and local elections (Oct. 14 and Nov. 15). And if you're looking for some issue important enough to vote on, consider climate change. I won't tell you who to vote for, but I will observe that under the Harper government, Canada has become the least progressive nation in the world in terms of global warming. Hmmm. It could be a good time to put down the recycling box and head to the ballot box.
