The Role of Citizens
High level teamwork on municipal councils is a necessary skill. Those teamwork skills are developed in the community first. I’ve been reflecting on my time on council, but the citizens of Medicine Hat need to reflect on their role as well. Democracy isn’t a spectator sport. The better teamwork skills we practice in our community—the better candidates we’ll see. It’ll take time and practice for all of us to get better at participating effectively.
Setting expectations
In 2021, the citizens of Medicine Hat were sufficiently fed up with my council to throw us out—only two incumbent councillors were re-elected. The make up of the current council is quite different from the council team I was a part of. Yet, the public is once again dissatisfied. It seems like citizens are considering throwing them out too. Before you do anything, we should set expectations for what successful political representation looks like.
How much agreement can you reasonably expect with a council member?
I had 21 campaign pledges. I took over 100 significant votes during my four year term. It’s unlikely anyone agreed with me on every campaign pledge or council vote. Complete agreement is not realistic. What is realistic?
What about 90% agreement with an elected representative’s votes? That would be amazing, likely too high. What about 75%? Still probably too high. What about 66%—that’s agreement two out of three times? That would be pretty good. Okay, that leaves 34 votes you don’t agree with. Are you keeping track?
Right now it seems the public is upset about the transportation plan, the proposed municipally controlled corporation, the MH Stampede funding request, the Saamis Solar project…you can complete your own list. Add those issues up. I doubt you would hit ten. What about the other 90? You and your representative might be aligned on those. If you’re not literally keeping score, how can you keep perspective on the times when we disagree?
Does disagreement on a handful of issues warrant cursing council—is that a reasonable response? Sometimes a single issue is important enough to break with your representative. Do you know what that one issue is for you? The election issues were different in 2017, 2021 and now 2025. I don’t know what they’ll be different in 2029.
Rules of Engagement
Everyone wants better political representation. But we can only pick from those who put their names forward. How the public interacts with council members encourages or discourages people from running in local elections.
A code of conduct for the public won’t work for the same reason a code of conduct didn’t work for municipal councils. People are going to disagree about what the rules mean. The only recourse is to have a judge mediate, but the legal system can’t bring understanding and reconciliation to fighting parties. The practical reality is citizens can pretty much act however they want when interacting with council members.
Deciding to run a second time
I am thinking of running again. I’ll probably think of running in elections for the rest of my life. It's a great experience.
I haven’t decided. Running for council isn’t the only way to serve your community. And running for a second time is different than the first time.
If the relationship between citizens and council members is a marriage, then running again is like getting remarried. The honeymoon is over. For both of us. There is such hope with new candidates. That flush of new love. Perhaps this will be the person to magically fix things. The second time around we both see each other more clearly.
You’re looking at me wondering if you should give me another shot. I’m looking at you too. Wondering if I even want another chance.
Often I was able to see my experience through my wife’s eyes. It provided helpful distance and made things visible I wouldn’t otherwise have seen. Being on council is like being a frog slowly boiled alive. You gradually get numb to encounters with the public—you forget this isn’t a normal day for people.
My first time I didn’t have many boundaries. Council work is a marathon, not a sprint. Council members do need balance. Balanced council members make better decisions than if you’re burnt out and frazzled.
If we’re thinking of getting back together we have things to talk about.
When we disagree, what are the ground rules for how we argue?
Are you allowed to talk to me wherever and whenever you want?
Do you and I have any expectation of confidentiality? Or are you allowed to share publicly any letter I write to you?
Safira began counting my grey hairs in 2012. There was a sharp increase in my grey hairs from 2017 to 2021, before leveling off to the previous steady climb. Coincidence?
Are you allowed to swear at me? When are you allowed to swear at me?
Swearing at staff is off limits, no matter the situation, but I take a more permissive view than most people on swearing at council. I think there are times when it’s okay to swear at council members.
Land use zoning changes
One of those times are land use zoning changes. A sudden, unexpected, proposed development next to you is on the high end of stressful interactions with the city. I don’t excuse poor behaviour, but in some situations I understand the fear and anxiety of interactions with City Hall. There’s at least one controversial land use zoning decision each term. Does this mean every council has a few hundred F$#@ Yous to look forward to?
Cursing at other times
Residents have sworn at me for other reasons too. In those situations I’m less forgiving.
In the spring of 2021 my wife was driving when I answered a call from a resident. The citizen immediately started cursing at me. I politely listened, then hung up. I still remember her face. She was horrified. She could clearly hear everything and hadn’t witnessed that type of interaction before. That call was about the City Centre Development Agency. There’s no way that’s an acceptable situation to lose your cool.
This happened a few times during my term—interactions I found crossed the line. Here’s how I approach these situations.
I’ll hear you out, even if you’re cursing at me. I can see past to the concern you have. Usually these are neighbourhood issues. You don’t want to prejudice a neighbourhood issue because one person in that neighbourhood is acting badly.
Cursing at your mayor/councillor is short-sided. We might be on opposite sides on this issue, but might be aligned on the next issue.
When decisions that affected these residents came before council I voted without bias. If they have inquiries I’ll answer them. I’ll act professionally when I see them in public. There’s no ill will, but I don’t forget and don’t expect me to take your call next time.
The silent treatment—shunning of council.
One of my supporters was upset over one of my votes. To this day, when I see them around town they walk by, they don’t look at me, and they don’t acknowledge my greeting. I’ve been shunned. Having experienced both—being cursed at is preferable to being shunned.
Shunning is worse because of what it represents. Shunning implies that some political decisions are so black and white, so morally clear, it’s okay to excommunicate people from a community.
Portraying political decisions in moral terms is generally lazy. Political decisions balance equal and opposite values. There’s a range of valid, reasonable choices for most issues. Shunning implies moral clarity for these decisions, when in reality reasonable people can disagree.
The issue this citizen was upset about was the Veiner Seniors Centre. I guess that was the issue to break up our relationship. Politics is about conversation. The silent treatment stops conversation. Shunning also assumes people can’t change their mind. They’ll never know if I’ve reflected and changed my mind. Shunning is so final.
I suspect this type of behaviour has only gotten worse since 2021. To be potentially exiled from parts of Medicine Hat for council decisions—that is a high price to pay for putting your hand up.
Is the public allowed to talk to you wherever they see you?
I was at a funeral. Someone came up to me and started asking me about some council issue.
Some citizens think even funerals are an okay place to talk city business. It’s fair to say to a resident who approaches you in public, I’m eating dinner with my wife or I’m at a funeral for my friend—here’s my card, call me during work hours.
I understand the public’s desire for a responsive City Hall and I share in that goal. The way to achieve that isn’t through 24/7 access to council members. You can’t expect rapid responses to phone calls and emails. That’s not a practical reality with 63,000 residents.
Is sharing council correspondence fair game?
I think the public can publish any correspondence they receive from council members. I can’t stop them anyway. But these actions do come with consequences.
A friend of mine had written to me upset about a council decision. I wrote back a long, thoughtful letter, explaining my vote, the options and some background information. A few days later I found a social media post where this friend had posted one sentence from my response and was now using that to criticize me in public. One sentence, out of context. There wasn’t a further email or phone call from them, asking for clarification or further explanation. They went straight to social media. This was someone who had been to my dinner table.
That particular instance hurt. It made me realize my circle of confidantes had to shrink. I couldn’t be unguarded anymore. Not even with people who I’d known for years. Perhaps that’s fair game, but the consequence is that I will be less and less inclined to provide thoughtful replies to residents. It also explains why most politicians speak so blandly.
Am I allowed to share emails and texts from the public? The public seems to want radical transparency. I keep receipts from these interactions, but I suppose it’s too petty to share emails, texts and names tied to these interactions. The funny thing about these interactions—I doubt most of them even remember doing it.
Are family members of council fair game?
There’s no situation where any interaction with family members is necessary. The fastest way to burn a bridge with a council member is to disrespect their family.
Well, just don’t make bad decisions
There are always ways to improve the decision making process. There aren’t perfect solutions that make everyone happy. Sometimes council members on both sides of an issue are getting cursed at. So it’s not like you can just avoid it by changing your vote.
Communities must constantly balance the tension between stability and progress. Too much change, too quickly is bad, but it’s not like you can stop all change.
Citizens' poor behaviour stems from feelings of powerlessness when individuals interact with large bureaucracies. But that uncomfortable boundary between individual and institution is where council members live for four years.
Mayors and councillors are not victims
Mayors and councillors are not victims. It’s dangerous when those in positions of power and privilege begin to see themselves as victims. But it is a difficult time to be in government. The systems and institutions in place were built for a time that doesn’t exist anymore. The ways we determine political power, the ways we engage with the public need to change. The angst in the public is an indication of this.
There are lots of experiments being conducted both here in Medicine Hat and in other communities to reform our institutions. It’ll take time and there will be growing pains as we transition. In the meantime leaders must lead and defend institutions they themselves may not always agree with—while working towards reform.
Citizens need to keep perspective and understand their role in creating a constructive political environment.
