Pages: E5 Column: Alan Kellogg
Section: Sunday Reader
Publication date: Jun 17, 2001
ProQuest document ID: 252910677
Copyright: Copyright Southam Publications Inc. Jun 17, 2001
Author: Kellogg, Alan
Weekly Stupid News Roundup: [...]
- In Edmonton, Alberta, city councillors are pondering a proposed executive committee bylaw that would force under-18 dancers to return home by midnight, unless they are attending a high school social or church dance.
Former U.S. House of Representatives Speaker/global ward healer Tip O'Neill is generally credited with the line: "all politics is local."
For years, the notion that government closest to home is by definition the purest and most efficient form has been a star performer in the conservative canon. And of course, there is some truth to this. Installing a new neighbourhood sewer system or ordering extra scrapers and sand trucks after an unanticipated last spring snowfall may lack the gravitas of constitutional wrangling or Canada's latest vote at the UN, but chances are municipal decisions will affect the daily lives of citizens with a resonance big picture policy wonks can only dream of.
It's often lonely, unsung work for city councillors, their beleaguered staff and municipal bureaucrats. Edmonton seems to be a reasonably well-managed city in important ways. Phone a city councillor or the mayor's office and you'll likely get a call back the same day. Try that with a contractor, or a cable company.
And while their supposed betters may pay lip service to the politicians in the trenches, you didn't see Jean Chretien running for mayor of Shawinigan or Joe Clark standing for town council in High River. (Stockwell Day would no doubt be a creditable councillor or perhaps, with work, even mayor of Peachland, B.C.)
Perhaps this very human frailty, seeking love and recognition from a stony electorate, explains why Edmonton council has wandered into the unpaved wading pool of social engineering lately. Hot on the heels of a ludicrous bylaw that prevents children and their parents from sitting together in the non-smoking sections of restaurants, executive committee has focused its solemn Platonic gaze on the vicious scourge that is ripping our Arcadian paradise asunder ... raves and nightclubs.
You've seen them, thousands of body-pierced banshees terrorizing the honest burghers of downtown Edmonton, ingesting god-knows-what, hopped-up and flailing away to a devil beat. Without stern statue, some (adult) deviants might stay up past the municipally-appointed 3:00 a.m., might dance and party ALL NIGHT LONG! Babylon!
Look. Violations of noise bylaws, not to mention laws governing underage drinking, drugs, vandalism, theft and dozens of other real or imagined infractions are on the books and are regularly, even assiduously enforced by police. Do-gooder legislation of this stripe is hopelessly provincial, antithetical to Alberta's proud tradition of individual liberty and free enterprise, unworthy of a jurisdiction noted for its tolerance and championing of the arts, which extends to dancing and enjoying music when and where people want it.
The provision allowing minors to attend school parties and church dances is particularly silly and offensive. As one who spent many youthful weekends playing in bands at such functions, I can safely report that things went on in said parking lots and washrooms that would never be allowed at an after-hours club or rave, where managers fully understand they are constantly being watched. Children, of course, are the responsibility of their parents.
Assaults on youth culture are nothing new. Several representations to council made note of the fact that teenagers are not mature enough to make smart decisions. The same might be said for overzealous leaders overreacting to a few complaints that can be dealt with by existing prescriptions.
Noting that Bill Smith and Robert Noce each signed on to this censorship, I will once again be forced to either spoil my ballot or vote for say, an unemployed naturopath running on a platform to electrify the streets for instant ice removal. A better plan, altogether, than this rubbish.
Publication date: Jun 17, 2001
ProQuest document ID: 252910677
Copyright: Copyright Southam Publications Inc. Jun 17, 2001
Author: Kellogg, Alan
Weekly Stupid News Roundup: [...]
- In Edmonton, Alberta, city councillors are pondering a proposed executive committee bylaw that would force under-18 dancers to return home by midnight, unless they are attending a high school social or church dance.
Former U.S. House of Representatives Speaker/global ward healer Tip O'Neill is generally credited with the line: "all politics is local."
For years, the notion that government closest to home is by definition the purest and most efficient form has been a star performer in the conservative canon. And of course, there is some truth to this. Installing a new neighbourhood sewer system or ordering extra scrapers and sand trucks after an unanticipated last spring snowfall may lack the gravitas of constitutional wrangling or Canada's latest vote at the UN, but chances are municipal decisions will affect the daily lives of citizens with a resonance big picture policy wonks can only dream of.
It's often lonely, unsung work for city councillors, their beleaguered staff and municipal bureaucrats. Edmonton seems to be a reasonably well-managed city in important ways. Phone a city councillor or the mayor's office and you'll likely get a call back the same day. Try that with a contractor, or a cable company.
And while their supposed betters may pay lip service to the politicians in the trenches, you didn't see Jean Chretien running for mayor of Shawinigan or Joe Clark standing for town council in High River. (Stockwell Day would no doubt be a creditable councillor or perhaps, with work, even mayor of Peachland, B.C.)
Perhaps this very human frailty, seeking love and recognition from a stony electorate, explains why Edmonton council has wandered into the unpaved wading pool of social engineering lately. Hot on the heels of a ludicrous bylaw that prevents children and their parents from sitting together in the non-smoking sections of restaurants, executive committee has focused its solemn Platonic gaze on the vicious scourge that is ripping our Arcadian paradise asunder ... raves and nightclubs.
You've seen them, thousands of body-pierced banshees terrorizing the honest burghers of downtown Edmonton, ingesting god-knows-what, hopped-up and flailing away to a devil beat. Without stern statue, some (adult) deviants might stay up past the municipally-appointed 3:00 a.m., might dance and party ALL NIGHT LONG! Babylon!
Look. Violations of noise bylaws, not to mention laws governing underage drinking, drugs, vandalism, theft and dozens of other real or imagined infractions are on the books and are regularly, even assiduously enforced by police. Do-gooder legislation of this stripe is hopelessly provincial, antithetical to Alberta's proud tradition of individual liberty and free enterprise, unworthy of a jurisdiction noted for its tolerance and championing of the arts, which extends to dancing and enjoying music when and where people want it.
The provision allowing minors to attend school parties and church dances is particularly silly and offensive. As one who spent many youthful weekends playing in bands at such functions, I can safely report that things went on in said parking lots and washrooms that would never be allowed at an after-hours club or rave, where managers fully understand they are constantly being watched. Children, of course, are the responsibility of their parents.
Assaults on youth culture are nothing new. Several representations to council made note of the fact that teenagers are not mature enough to make smart decisions. The same might be said for overzealous leaders overreacting to a few complaints that can be dealt with by existing prescriptions.
Noting that Bill Smith and Robert Noce each signed on to this censorship, I will once again be forced to either spoil my ballot or vote for say, an unemployed naturopath running on a platform to electrify the streets for instant ice removal. A better plan, altogether, than this rubbish.
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