Enhancing democracy
Democracy doesn’t just happen
It’s election season for farmers. Not only did rural municipalities recently have elections, but producers have received ballots in the mail for director elections to the Canadian Wheat Board, Saskatchewan Pulse Growers and SaskCanola. I have some pet peeves on elections. Election activity in rural municipalities was up across the province this fall and that’s a good thing. Too many sit on an RM Council for decades without ever being challenged. My pet peeve is that since I don’t live full time at the farm, I’ve never voted in an RM election. In fact, I often don’t know they’re happening. My RMs can find me when the property taxes need to be paid, but there’s no requirement to send election information directly to ratepayers. I’m sure they’re following whatever procedure is prescribed for advertising the election, but I never see it and I doubt that I’m alone. By contrast, Saskatchewan Pulse Growers and SaskCanola have mail-in elections underway so all eligible producers should get the info. My pet peeve on these elections is that they tend to generate a tepid voter response. Producers receive the candidate profiles, but unless they know someone personally there seems to be a reluctance to vote. When we aren’t sure who to vote for, we should contact the candidates and talk with them. Instead, too many of us take the easy way out and just neglect to return the ballot. We should take our democratic processes more seriously. I’m Kevin Hursh.