In 2009 you may not be asked to vote on who will represent you at any level.

Municipal elections will be in 2010, provincial in 2011 and federal...well, according to the fixed election legislation that didn't appear to apply this time, it is scheduled for October 15, 2012.

So in this breathing space when everyone is supposed to be doing his or her job rather than auditioning for it, let's think together about what we want our representatives to do for us.

It seems it is at the municipal level that citizens are most vocal about their demands, and expectations that these will be met are highest. The mayors and councillors get letters, phone calls, and deputations and everywhere they go - their places of business, the grocery store, even when they are just trying to enjoy “off duty” time with their families- people feel the need to ask about the issues. Municipalities deal with things that effect people every single day of their lives – the pothole or broken sidewalk in front of their houses, their garbage, the trees in the park, the bus they take to work, the school their children attend – and people want something done.

But municipalities of all sizes also include big capital enterprises like water plants that require the participation of senior levels of government. It's rare that even the smallest bridge is built any more with only local tax money. How do the provincial and federal government decide which projects are funded, and who contributes what share?

It is popular campaign rhetoric that we will receive more if we elect a representative who will be on the government benches, no matter how far back. Between 1997 and 2004, Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound had representatives sitting on the government side of both the Ontario legislature and the Canadian House of Commons. Although neither Ovid nor Bill were very big fish in their respective parties, they worked well together.
So one might forgive you for assuming the Chretien-Harris years must have been a golden age of government money flowing into Grey-Bruce with new projects developed all over the region. But far too often we heard that the feds were willing but the provincial government wouldn't pony up, or vice versa. It remains Mr. Miller's refrain, made all the easier by the fact that he and Mr. Murdoch can both tell us that the McGuinty Liberals that are unwilling to invest in the region.

It's time for citizens to do their own homework.

First, we need to ask ourselves what we need. Jobs, transportation, energy, food, education, infrastructure – where are the gaps? We cannot rely merely on the reports of consultants hired by the government. They are often working on a traditional model of business expansion that may not hold in the years ahead. Our priorities as residents of the region may be quite different.
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The Walkerton Clean Water Centre, for example, was created to be “a world-class institute dedicated to safe and secure drinking water for the people of Ontario” and it will be a job and money-generating facility for the area.

Second, we need to understand our resources. If you're a fan of the show “LOST”, you'll remember that one of the first things everyone did after their plane crashed on the island was salvage what they could and take an inventory of what they had. We're not in a disaster situation, but how wise would it be if we really took stock of what and who is in our region and could make full use of our talents and capital today?

Third, we need to understand clearly which level of government is responsible for what, and then tell them what we need them to do for us. “Lobbying” has become a dirty word, but citizens working together to ask for positive change is a legitimate and essential civic exercise .

One example.

With all respect to the workers at PPG, if the company has contracts to fill, it is most likely they will be filling them in the United States or China. If Mr. Miller were able to negotiate a rescue for that plant, it would be a temporary fix at best. Let's look upon that plant and its workers as a resource, and ask Mr. Miller to look for federal investment money for a facility of use both to current and future workers and residents of the area. Mr. Noble had suggestions about energy distribution from the plant into the grid. Mr. Hibma talked about local food processing on the site, and others have spoken of greenhouses for year-round food production. Are these reasonable alternatives?

Let's spend 2009 doing our homework and ask our elected representatives to work with us on priorities we set for our own communities.