McQUARRIE – ‘I’ll say anything needed to get re-elected’
(Image: CFJC Today)
ALMOST EVERY WEEK I read a comment or have someone tell me how disappointed he or she is with a particular councillor or two. And by way of explanation they say something along the lines of: “We elected that councillor to represent everyone in Kamloops. They should vote accordingly.”
What they’re really saying is that a particular councillor didn’t cast their vote the way they wanted them to. Ergo, politicians are selfish, don’t listen to the people, are motivated by [insert the appropriate-for-the-moment left or right] political philosophies and should remember they represent all the people of Kamloops.
The definition of representing all of the people is a dynamic descriptor though and seems to shift and change depending on how well a councillor matches one’s own personal opinion at any particular time.
Councillors do seem to represent all of Kamloops when one’s opinion is in perfect harmony with the politico in question. But accusations will fly when that harmony becomes, well, becomes disharmonious.
Bill McQuarrie is a Kamloops entrepreneur. He can be contacted at billmcquarrie@gmail.com. He tweets @bafflegabbed.
ArmchairMayor.ca 
Excellent article! We can see many examples of these descriptors in the behavior of our present councillors, and will in all other future councillors. John McCain was an excellent example of enlightened consistency of his personal values. They often differed from the political values of the Republican party but were always consistent with his human values. Too bad he didn’t become president.
The nearest we will come to most people feeling that their representatives are voting for them is through Proportional Representation. The large majority of nations and sub-groups who use some form of this consensual philosophy in their elections instinctively realize that you can’t win every disagreement, but your ideas can certainly influence the final outcome. That is why none of those nations have ever gone back to First-past-the-post (FPTP).