For a village of about 800 people, Denare Beach has long enjoyed a high level of democratic participation.
While many other tiny communities struggle to fill their elected councils, Denare Beach elections have regularly offered voters solid candidates and difficult choices.
In 2012, nine candidates ran for six council spots (excluding the mayor). In 2009, 14 people ran for council; in 2006, the number was 11. Even a rather mundane by-election in 2004 brought out five candidates for one seat.
In Denare Beach, people aren’t afraid to stand up to improve their community, even if it means little money and a whole lot of flack.
But as the village braces for an upcoming byelection – councillors Davis McKay and Joanne Burkholder resigned last month – some are wondering whether enthusiasm for serving on council is diminishing.
I have heard two conflicting (and unwelcome) rumours out of Denare Beach. One indicates that at least two candidates are likely to run in the byelection; another says no one at all seems interested.
If only two people put their names forth, no election is necessary, so hopefully the village can again muster a healthy surplus of candidates.
If no one runs in the byelection, Denare Beach will quite likely finish this term with four councillors and a mayor. Fortunately, that’s still a quorum.
The village might then consider scaling down the size of council for the 2016 election, but that’s purely hypothetical at this point.
Interest waning
Looking around our region, it is clear that on the whole, interest in civic politics is waning.
In 2014, despite multiple controversies, only seven people ran for six council seats in Flin Flon.
In 2012, amid a heated debate over nuclear waste storage, a mere eight people ran for six spots on Creighton town council. And Mayor Bruce Fidler was again acclaimed.
Voter turnout is abysmal. Barely one in five voters cast ballots in the 2012 Creighton election, and fewer than four in 10 participated in the 2014 Flin Flon campaign.
The 2012 Denare Beach election saw about 52 per cent of voters exercise their right, but even that is hardly a number to be proud of.
In a perverse way, such figures are heartening. If so few people see the need to vote or run for council, we must have it pretty good here in Flin Flon and area.
Of course this trend is unsustainable. Nearly all
of our civic leaders in
Flin Flon, Creighton and Denare Beach are 50-plus; several are 60-plus.
I’m not going to chastise younger people for failing to be as involved as the generation before them, because I know how busy life can get. I also know how much grief municipal politicians endure, often for no good reason or because of erroneous grapevine drivel.
But it is fair to wonder what will happen in 10 and 20 years’ time.
What if they held an election and nobody was on the ballot? If no one runs in the Denare Beach byelection, we will begin to find out.
Local Angle runs Fridays.
