The limits of listening
As new municipal councillors and school board trustees take office, many will vow to listen to everyone and give their constituents a voice. That’s a nice idea, and it made a lot of sense back when there was a shared respect — which is different from deference — for expertise and demonstrable fact.
Most people in Kawartha Lakes and Canada as a whole continue to be guided by those who are rational, who know more than they do, who have done research and have extensive experience. In many facets of public life, though, there is a very small but very loud minority who stand firm in their beliefs and demands regardless of what empirical evidence, smart people and history show to be true.
What’s critically important, then, is not listening. It’s discerning what deserves attention.
Whether in the council chambers or around the school board meeting table, many people will offer ideas and opinions. The vast majority are worth taking into account, but we’ve reached the point in political life where it’s okay to say that some simply are not.
Delegations with proposals based in unproven conspiratorial grievances should be dismissed. Personal attacks must be shut down. In Canada, free speech is cherished but it is not absolute; there is nothing in the Charter that requires a meeting chair to tolerate pure nonsense.
Strong opposition voices arguing coherently from demonstrable facts? Bring ’em on. Divergent opinions arising from different moral interpretations of true things? Definitely the stuff of public debate. Accurate criticism aimed at ensuring accountability? Yes, please!
Recent years have shown that when some people aggressively push agendas that they insist are true in the face of reality, the best response is, “We disagree. That’s the end of this conversation. Next agenda item.”
Previous councils had to deal with a parade of deputations that wasted time and prevented councillors from dealing with matters of actual local import. The problem became so serious that it resulted in September’s conviction of serial deputant Bill Denby on three charges, including criminal harassment and uttering death threats.
Separatist leaders in Alberta’s recent referendum floated bogus economic figures and xenophobic policies; deeper interviews revealed the extent of their crackpot beliefs, from the idea that King Charles was likely to murder one and that the province’s equalization payments were going directly to communist Liberal leaders. And yet, under the guise of hearing everyone out, the separatists took their divisive place in the political mainstream, wasting the whole province’s time, money and energy.
Everyone deserves to be heard — once. If they continue to spout misinformation, conspiracy or violence, our representatives are better off limiting their input in order to focus on the actual issues that matter in our community.
