It has been interesting watching the events over the last few years and the response of the people to them. I have taken this as a learning opportunity – much was being taught.

The events I refer to are the continual turn over of personal responsibilities (liberties) to the government and the government in turn taking those and leveraging their powers to considerable new horizons.

We saw how protests and inquiries and celebrity personalities (new and old) have stopped the growth of the Spectre like tentacles (could not resist the Bond Reference) of the government from trying to control every detail of our lives.  None of these will ever produce any long lasting or equitable form of recovery from the problems that are plaguing today’s society and culture.

Yes, I believe in the rights of the individual – very strongly – but with one significant caveat.  That caveat is “DO NO HARM”; be an individual but do not harm another individual; intentionally or not.

And Yes, I recognize that this is not 100% achievable but it should be what we strive towards as individuals. It also needs to be said that we also have a duty NOT TO BE OFFENDED by the actions of others at every twist and turn of daily life; being offended is not the same as being harmed.  There is a balance in life that creates harmony.

The solution lies in the individual re-engaging in all aspects of their life, being responsible for their actions/inactions and the accompanying consequences or rewards.

If we want to heal the divisions that have been created by our “leaders” (political, religious, cultural, societal) we need to change the rules by which we allow them to engage with us.  We need to have “leaders” in all aspects of our lives that do not teach us how to hate.

The primary premise of this statement is that a very small number of people in our world make legislation/rules that affect us all and they tend to do it behind various veils of secrecy. Division of society is only to the benefit of the politician.

Here in the western world (aka democratic government structures) we have some good legislation, some not so good legislation and everything in between.  A wholesale rewriting and restructuring of the government is unlikely without significant armed conflict – not what I would call a good solution.

The solution then is to through peaceful means change how the government is allowed to engage with us, the people, the individuals, the community groups etc.

This is not hard; you can do it in your local community/municipality without the support of other communities – you do need the support of other individuals and groups in your community.  With enough support and following the process enshrined in current legislation it can also be done directly at the provincial and federal levels of government.

There are many small changes that carry huge impact that can be made to better establish an equitable relationship between the people and the government it elects.  With each one that is accomplished it will be easier the next time as we move to a more equitable relationship.

The key is keeping the changes to removing the veils of secrecy to create transparency, responsibility, and accountability.

As an example the following changes could easily be undertaken as a start to the transition at the municipal level and create a better relationship between the municipality and the people of that municipality.

1. Individuals getting involved for 1 to 2 hours a week is all it takes.
2. Review the Municipality’s Procedural and Administrative Bylaws to determine the rules of how they advertise agendas and publish minutes of meetings.  If you cannot find the right bylaws online, contact your municipality to get a copy.
3. If there is nothing in either of those bylaws the default is the Provincial Legislation – the Cities Act, the Municipalities Act, the Rural Municipalities Act (or some variation on these titles).  If you cannot find the information online, contact your MLA and ask him/her to get you the information.
4. Find the appropriate clauses that require changes; if they don’t exist draft them.  You will want to have these clauses modified or added through a bylaw amendment (at the municipal level). The changes you want are:

4.1              All Meeting agendas and supporting documentation must be published 10 business days prior to the meeting.

4.2              No late additions or deletions from the agenda unless it is to deal directly with an infrastructure emergency that directly affects the health and welfare of the community.  There is nothing that a land developer does that must be added to an agenda last minute.  If there is to be a deletion, there needs to be a written explanation of the circumstances causing the deletion that is entered into the permanent record.

4.3              All Meeting Minutes must be published in DRAFT form within 48 hours of the meeting.

4.4              All Agendas and Minutes shall be available on the Municipal website, At City Hall, At Public Works, at the Firehall, At the Police Station, At the Library and other publicly funded venues including recreation facilities that are staffed.

1. Rally the people to influence the Council to adopt the changes you are proposing.

What these simple changes will do is create transparency of operations at the Council and Administrative level in the municipality.  People will have time to review and understand what will be and was discussed at a meeting – allowing people to understand and respond; organize a response of support or protest.

To create accountability and responsibility get the bylaw amended to require every vote to be a recorded voted.  This means that how each councillor voted on an issue is recorded and becomes part of the permanent record.

Remember depending what municipality, province or state you are in will determine the bylaws and legislation names that you need to research and amend.

Contributed by a S Abram, a close friend and a critical thinker.