Markham Hislop, SECN publisher
A few days ago, a Calgary group calling itself the Coalition for Tax Fairness released its “report card” on City Council members. The Coalition is comprised of business lobby groups and the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. Not surprisingly, half of Council received failing grades.
The competition over at the Herald and the Sun trumpeted the “report card” as an indictment of those aldermen who “failed” and, in the case of the Sun, which touted its own survey on the same topic, claimed “it’s clear certain elected officials are headed for a rude awakening in October 2010.”
Well, that may be.
But I’d like to make two points here.
First, these silly “report cards” are so subjective as to be meaningless. To prove my point, let’s take the case of Ward 14 Alderman Linda Fox-Mellway, whose ward is mostly in the southeast.
SECN recently ran a story about how Ald. Fox-Mellway negotiated with BFI Canada and Genstar development to have the companies build tournament-style soccer pitches, complete with amenities, at no cost to the Calgary taxpayer.
In the case of BFI, which is building four fields, the cost to the City would have been in the vicinity of $20 million. Assuming Genstar’s two fields are worth $10 million, Ald. Fox-Mellway saved the City of Calgary $30 million.
Did the Coalition take that saving into account when it gave her an F? Not bloodly likely. But it should have.
I’m always struck when I talk to Ald. Fox-Mellway or review her web site, how many projects she is involved in. Bus rapid transit, a wastewater treatment plant, the twinning of Highway 22X, and on and on. She is an effective elected official who delivers tangible benefits for the residents of SE Calgary.
How does an alderman who delivers for her constituents, and saves money for the City when she has the opportunity, fail any kind of report card?
Now let’s take Ward 12 Ald. Ric McIver. Ald. McIver is one of my favourite Calgary politicians, always available for an interview, plain-spoken and effective on Council.
The Coalition gave him an A+.
Fair enough in some respects. Fiscal responsibility is Ald. McIver’s favourite hobby horse. SECN has published stories about his attempts to convince his Council colleagues to impose a more rigorous budgeting process at City Hall. And he frequently criticizes waste and lobbies for more efficiency in City operations.
All good stuff and SECN has supported his efforts in editorials and columns.
But in my many conversations with Ald. McIver, I think it’s fair to say he also recognizes that a growing metropolis, especially one like Calgary that deferred investing in infrastructure for so many years, has to spend money to support its economy and provide its residents with the lifestyle they want.
Ald. McIver, in my opinion, is not just a low-tax, no spend politician. He may demand value for money, but he is certainly willing to spend money.
What I’m getting at is that the gap between Ald. Fox-Mellway with an F and Ald. McIver with an A+ is laughable.
And consider that Ald. Andre Chabot, whose ward includes small parts of SE Calgary, received an A. Is he that much better than Ald. Fox-Mellway’s F? Or, for that matter, better than Ald. Joe Ceci’s D?
The answer is no.
And that leads me to my second point. Six months ago I wrote about the coming battle between those forces in Calgary that favoured a small, minimalist city government and those who are prepared to expand municipal responsibilities in order to provide the highest level of services to residents.
I called them “big governmentians” and “little governmentians.” A bit awkward, I know, but fans of Gulliver’s Travels will forgive me.
The Coalition for Tax Fairness is nothing more than the stalking horse for the little governmentarians. In the run-up to the October 2010 elections the little governmentarians are beginning to engage their adversaries in skirmishes, trying to set the agenda for the upcoming political battle.
The Coalition’s fatuous “report card” should be considered for what it is – not a serious analysis of performance, but a political broadside against those its members consider the enemy on City Council.
The fact that the Herald and the Sun have jumped on the Coalition’s band wagon only demonstrates that both rags are squarely in the corner of the “little governmentarians” and have abandoned all pretense of journalistic objectivity when it comes to covering City news.
I like all the southeast alderman. Based on my reporting and the research, I would argue that Fox-Mellway, McIver and Ceci should be re-elected (I don’t know Chabot well enough to have a strong opinion one way or the other). In fact, those three deserve to be returned to Council.
We’ll see if they are come 2010. But SE voters should not cast their ballot when the time comes on the basis of spurious “report cards” put out by business organizations with hidden agendas.
Take the time to really investigate your southeast aldermen. I think you’ll be impressed.
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Markham: thanks for your weighing into this.