The Hazards of Party Politics

In a perfect world, an election would put into power the people that most of the residents think will do a good job. But this isn’t a perfect world – there are a lot of trade-offs to consider when you head for the ballot box. A common example of that is that you may think that a particular candidate would would best present your views to the legislature, but the odds are high that you’d just be throwing your vote away because for various reasons, he/she has no chance of winning (yes, that is a self-fulfilling prophecy).

In the Southern Lakes, the nature of party politics is what’s causing my angst. My current MLA, Patrick Rouble, got off to a slow start when he was first elected, and it was a standing joke for years that when we invited him to a meeting we should include a map of how to get to Carcross from his home in Marsh Lake. The last 2 years, though, he’s been great – always around when he should be, and genuinely interested in what goes on here. My personal problem arises from the fact that by voting for Patrick, I’m giving tacit approval to Dennis Fentie. His government has consistently shown its collective self to be virtually amoral, plunging from conflict to debacle to embarassment over and over again. I will never even be civil to Fentie, as he knows from meetings he’s been to in Carcross. The court system may have forgiven his heroin trafficking conviction, but I haven’t – and even more so, I haven’t forgotten his deceit regarding the conviction during the last election. He let the voters believe that he had been convicted for selling pot, which most Yukoners can easily forgive – making a few bucks by helping people have fun is just not a big deal here. Selling junk that kills people is a whole different ball game – that shows a psychological defect that goes to the bone regardless of how well you try to hide it. At a meeting in Fentie’s home riding (Watson Lake) 3 years ago, it was reported that 80% of the youth have a drug problem, with cocaine, heroin, alcohol and Tylenol 3 all in use. Fentie just got pissy with the CBC reporter who questioned him about that and related issues, saying that none of it is true.

What are the other choices in the Southern Lakes? Well, the NDP has Kevin Barr running for them. Now Kevin is a nice guy and does a lot of volunteer work (most of it with substance-abuse organizations and committees), but virtually none of that work is in his home area, and he has seldom been to any community meetings. The Liberals have Ethel Tizya running, and she has consistently shown her dedication to Tagish over the years through her work on the Local Advisory Council in particular, and her help getting the Carcross LAC vote passed by speaking at an important meeting is very much appreciated. Could the NDP form the next government? Highly unlikely. Could the Liberals? Quite likely, as much as a backlash to the Yukon Party’s record as a pro-Liberal vote. That adds to making Ethel a good option. But, from a neighbours perspective, Ethel seems to have been the glue that holds the Tagish LAC together for a while now – looking at it from a riding-wide perspective, where can she be of the most help? Adding to that is, unfortunately, her age. While still very energetic, she’s already at retirement age, and 4 years can be a very long time to spend hard at work in the Legislature. Patrick has relative youth on his side as well as the energy.

Decisions, decisions – we all have a very important decision to make on Tuesday, October 10th. It’s often said that Yukoners aren’t very good at electing people, but we can sure kick them out well. Good luck to us all!