If anyone knows the answer to the question posed in the headline of this column, please let myself (and municipal leaders across the region) know.
Every year, I find myself sitting at my desk in the days following a budget meeting or special council meeting, asking myself this question.
I’ll get the obvious out of the way – yes, I know that municipal politics can be cumbersome with red tape and topics that don’t impact a large part of the population (I’m looking at you, drainage reports…) and yes, I understand that we are all busy people who “don’t have time” to watch a council meeting online or attend one in person.
But aside from your car and home payment, what is the next biggest bill you pay every year?
Property taxes.
And who looks after property taxes?
Municipal government.
In the last two weeks, I have witnessed or heard from our reporters about several key meetings that had little to no engagement from the public.
In North Perth, a ward boundary review open house was attended by, not including town staff, two people – our reporter and a current councillor.
“What is a ward boundary review?” you ask? North Perth is looking at changing how council is elected, and the boundaries of the wards throughout the municipality. Based on the current engagement levels, there are going to be some confused people when they get their ballot for the 2026 municipal election.
And I say some, because less than 30 per cent of the eligible voters in North Perth cast a ballot in 2022.
Over in North Huron, council held a special meeting to discuss the results of a 2024 budget survey last Friday. That survey had 47 responses; not a bad number, until you consider that 4,932 residents were eligible to complete the survey and provide input on the 2024 municipal budget.
That’s less than one per cent of the population who took mere minutes out of their day to complete an online survey. Less than one per cent of the population, one which will mention at any opportunity that their taxes are too high, took the time to give feedback and provide suggestions on how to lower said taxes.
In South Bruce, the monthly Community Liaison Committee meetings are drawing crowds of 40 attendees on a regular basis. Again, not a bad number, but when you consider that these meetings were drawing 200 or more people when they were held in person, it makes you wonder what went wrong.
And keep in mind that this committee is discussing the proposed deep geological repository project near Teeswater – an issue that everyone claims is highly contentious. So why aren’t more people tuning in?
There are other councils – Morris-Turnberry, Howick and Brockton come to mind – where members of the media are the only regular attendees.
So are people not tuning in to or attending these meetings because the staff here at Midwestern Newspapers is doing a fantastic job reporting on these events? I’d like to think that is a part of it, however in talking with some residents, I know that not to be the case.
Several times I have had conversations with people while I am out and about, and they will mention something along the lines of, “What the heck is the town thinking?” My response is usually something along the lines of, “Read page three of this week’s paper, or watch the meeting on YouTube, and you’ll find out.”
Another thing that shows me that people are not interested in what happens at the local level is their knowledge, or lack thereof, of how their municipality functions.
“I’m going to complain to my MP!” when asking about the state of a local park – a municipal issue.
“The town needs to do something about the hospital!” – a provincial issue that the municipality advocates for.
“Our education system is screwed! It’s all Trudeau’s fault!” – again, a provincial issue.
I’ve even seen cases of folks placing campaigns signs on their property for a candidate that isn’t even in their riding.
These incidents of not knowing happen far more frequently than you would think, and could easily be avoided by paying just the slightest bit of attention.
But alas, we are all too busy binge watching the latest “reality” show on Netflix or trick-shot videos on YouTube.
Our local councils are already knee deep in the 2024 budget season – heck, Bruce County could approve their budget in November – and the vast majority of our residents won’t pay attention until they receive their first tax bill.
That is unfortunate, and something that can be avoided.
Maybe if our local councils filmed an entire season of council, added a touch of “reality” and ended each “episode” (meeting) on a cliffhanger, perhaps people will tune in.
It seems unlikely, but you could fast forward through the drainage reports! That, in itself, would be worth it.
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Mike Wilson is the editor of Midwestern Newspapers. Comments, feedback and suggestions on how to make municipal politics interesting are welcome at mwilson@midwesternnewspapers.com.
