Frustrations Boiling Over

As a “citizen journalist”, I wish to report and comment on what I witnessed at City Hall on Tuesday March 19. I was attending a Committee of the Whole meeting in Council chambers when this happened.

While I don’t endorse the methods of Chief Bill Denby, Deputy Chief Brother Steve Lesperance, Deputy Chief Jeff Armitage and the other band members who disrupted City Council, I sympathize with their broader concerns about how our governments are eroding the rights and freedoms of Canadians.

Since last September, I have presented five deputations to City Council regarding legitimate concerns. In hindsight, they were all a waste of time and effort.

I am frustrated by the lack of respect and response I have received from Council and the whole deputation mechanism that is supported to allow citizen inputs to Council decisions. My only conclusion is that City Council exists solely to create the illusion of democracy in which citizens are allowed to “have a say”.

My “say” was soon forgotten and ignored, likely because my concerns and recommendations did not conveniently align with the City’s approved agenda and corporate strategic plan.

Growing cynicism and distrust.

My frustration from those deputations have left me more cynical about government than I was prior to the pandemic. I had hoped that I may have easier access to our City elected representatives at the municipal level than I had experienced at the provincial and federal levels.

The pandemic served to heighten my interest in holding governments accountable for their decisions, methods and mistakes. I joined various “freedom groups” where I found many citizens who shared my concerns.

Political Theatre

Today, I consider all elections and the claims that our representatives will serve their constituents to be bogus. It is all political theatre.

I now consider the Mayor and all eight Councillors to be paid actors which serve a long chain of command. Popularly known as the “deep state”, this hierarchy of ‘power elites’ create their plans and controls over society using a heap of rules (laws) and regulations (control mechanisms).

Any real powers to act on behalf of their constituents that elected representatives thought they might have when they entered politics is a mirage.

While Bill Denby and his tribe go about their business to change local government authorities by their methods, I sit on the sidelines as a witness. I wonder if they will enjoy any level of success whatsoever when my more-peaceful methods continue to get me nowhere.

The thin edge of the wedge?

The more interesting question to me is if this “kerfuffle” is a sign of more to come.

There are hundreds of freedom groups organizing and growing across Canada. How many will eventually lose patience and faith in the only allowable methods that governments allow - elections, deputations, letters, public protests, rallies, law suits, etc - before additional groups begin to take more aggressive actions?

I am currently watching a TV series called “Turning Point” with nine episodes. It runs like a documentary that takes you through the history of the wars of the Twentieth Century and the major political, scientific and corporate actors of that era. I can’t help but wonder…

Does the current and evolving “freedom movement” represents the thin edge of the wedge of mass protest that is advancing through society to produce the unthinkable down the road?

Is this how past wars began?

A Solution?

My regular readers know that I am writing a series of Substack episodes called Digital Direct Democracy (DDD). Also, I few weeks ago, I introduced a document called the Statement of Principles (SOP) found at www.civis4reform.org.

In DDD, I introduce a proposal called the Citizen’s Preferences Database (CPD). It is conceived as a national system designed to empower more citizen choice and engagement regarding many of the government taxes and mandates they are individually willing to accept.

DEMOCRACY 2.0 = SOP + CPD

This formula for the modernization and implementation of a genuine democracy in the Digital Age is a recipe that, if implemented, would greatly turn down the temperature of frustration felt by Bill Denby, his tribe, and literally millions of other concerned Canadians.

DEMOCRACY 2.0 is one piece of the puzzle that will restore some trust and respect for elected representatives and unelected public officials within our beleaguered nation.

It just requires the “will of the people”, you!