Recently, there have been some politicians in Canada getting yelled at, having gravel thrown at them and being insulted. People in the media and other politicians are concerned as this may negatively influence "good" people from running for political office. I certainly don't think that all politicians are bad people. However, the media gives the electorate a lot of "newsworthy" incidents of politicians making bad choices.
Prince George has an upcoming election. I see three politicians from the previous SD57 Board of Trustees running again for political office. They were on the same school board that was deemed to be a dysfunctional school board by the Ministry of Education. Those three were part of a board that needed to pay $75,000 to the Ministry of Education for special advisors to help them become a functional school board. Those are dollars that could have been used for student's education.
There is a politician running for city councillor, Cameron Stoltz, who was on the council from 2008- 2014. In fact, during one of his terms, he was the head of the finance and audit committee and at the same time he wasn't paying his property taxes. He stepped down from that position, only when his delinquent tax account was published.(Editor's note: Stolz stepped down as the chair of the finance and audit committee but did not step down from the committee or as a city councillor. He paid his taxes and the late fees in full after that news came out. He lost his bids for re-election in 2014 and in 2018).
Politicians should be held accountable. That is why we have elections. I certainly want elected officials making good choices in my municipal, provincial and federal government.
Jim Elson
Prince George
