I voted today!! I haven't voted since the federal election that happened in highschool! This is not because I had a lapse in my appreciation of my "civic duty" but rather because I have not been around to vote. So today I voted in the municiple and city elections.
A big issue on the election platforms, or at least on the minds of many voters, was the proposed development of sensitive land on the outskirts of Waterloo. Our area depends on ground water for our drinking water and ground water depends on wetlands and different morains and recharge areas in order to keep the levels up and to keep the water "clean." The proposed development is on the edge of one of these morains and would be built on a so called recharge area. There has been research done and apparently it suggests that the development won't hurt the morain or jeopordize the drinking water. Whatever, I do not have the knowledge or understanding to say whether that is true or not. What concerned me about the whole thing was the attitude of city council when the thing came to a vote. The majority of the council stated that they did not think it was their place to get in the way of progress or development. I strongly disagree with that statement and my voting today was my way of voicing that. Apparently other people agreed with me. If development is potentially detrimental to the community or in any way endangers the future of the community it is not only the council's place to get in the way of it, it is the council's duty to! Do they think that corporations and developers are going to be acting in the community's and the environment's best interests?! Hopefully now that we have a new mayor and several new councillors future issues of this nature will be handled differently.
And so ends my rant on local politics.
No comments:
Post a Comment