"No taxation without representation" was the rallying cry that led to the creation of the United States of America. Up here in Canada, there was no such sentiment - but perhaps now there will be, at least in 老澳门六合彩开奖记录资料.
District of 老澳门六合彩开奖记录资料 council, in a head-scratching move, voted this week to recommend that the provincial government remove the rights of non-resident property owners to vote as part of its submission to the provincial government's Local Government Elections Task Force.
The Task Force is looking at every aspect of how local governments are elected, from the length of their terms to how campaigns are run and financed to who can vote. We're glad to see council taking this issue on and providing feedback to the province and we hope citizens take the time to do the same - the more input, the better.
And there's plenty to look at changing, especially when it comes to campaign financing, which is practically lawless compared to the rules at the provincial and federal levels, not to mention the strange rule that lets non-residents run for municipal office anywhere in B.C. - which is how a Surrey resident with no ties to Whistler ended up running for mayor of the town last election.
But taking away the vote from individuals who own property but don't live in the area is simply not one of the things that needs changing.
Let's be clear: this is a different issue than the right of corporate citizens to vote, which is also on the table. Here we agree with district council: the spectre of corporate bodies holding a vote the same way an individual does is simply a frightening concept for democracy.
But we think that if an individual owns private property in a municipality, they are citizens, with responsibilities - the payment of property tax first and foremost, as well as the duty to keep their properties maintained. In our society, with responsibilities come rights - most importantly, the right to vote.
Clearly, you wouldn't want a town full of absentee landowners setting the agenda for those who choose to make their home here. But is that really happening? We don't think so.
In Whistler, where non-resident property owners are much more prevalent than anywhere else in B.C. and where they even set up a separate poll for non-residents on the North Shore during municipal elections, non-residents cast 166 ballots for mayor in the last municipal election, compared to 2,695 cast by locals - in other words, about six per cent of all votes cast, and less than half the margin between the top two candidates for.
If the non-residents can't rule the roost in Whistler, they won't be able to do it here.
We're glad council took the time to look at this important subject, but we hope that this particular piece of advice doesn't make it off the drawing board.
-Tim Shoults
