Majority Of Nanaimo Voters Did NOT Vote For This City Council

Most On Nanaimo Council Were Elected
By Less Than 15% Of Eligible Voters

That Means 85% of Voters
said: "No Thanks" To Any of Them!

Is democracy really working?? The pathetic turnout at the polls clearly shows a growing sense of distrust and disgust for what politicians have to say.

Assigning blame for the current state of affairs is easy as we all must share the blame for a democracy which is clearly broken or at least badly bent.

Politicians and parties have learned over the years they can buy our votes with our money and we seem to have been happy to vote for them provided our pet project was going to be funded. Politicians are only interested in securing power long enough to grab that gold plated pension and most voters are only interested in what is in it for them.

The incidents of broken promises (no wage and price controls, Federal Liberals circa R. Stanfield vs Trudeau) which go completely ignored by the population who turn around and vote them in again, have taught politicians that the public will not hold them accountable regardless of what they do.

Of course every now and then the ruling hordes really upset the voters who turf them out (fast ferries, bingo gate) only to see them replaced by the bunch which says BC is in great shape, and then once elected tell us the sky is really falling and we must have the HST. This may or may not upset voters enough come next election to give the NDP another kick at the can so to speak.

Nanaimo Municipal Election 2008

This election proved that Mr. Korpan had been in office long enough to really tick off the majority of voters (who bothered to turn out) capturing only 15.9% of the ballots cast and only capturing 5.1% of all eligible voters. In this case nearly 95% of local voters said 'no thanks'.

The current mayor, while he fared better than Mr. Korpan was not elected by a landslide either capturing 46.2% of votes cast and only capturing 14.9% of all eligible voters. To Mr. Ruttan 85% of the voters also said 'no thanks'.

I know of one long time voter who during this election cast his ballot for the candidate least likely to succeed as a protest vote showing his disgust with all the candidates.

Mr. Korpans poor showing might be attributed to the fact he is seen as responsible for the $100 million convention centre however, the fact that Unger, Holdom and McNabb were re-elected brings that theory into doubt.

So, what has really happened to the whole process where we the people, hold our elected officials accountable and make sure they are really looking out for OUR interests and not special groups with their own narrow agendas?

The sad fact of the matter is, there is precious little you can do if you are dissatisfied with what your current council is doing if you don't take the time to participate. To do that you must turn off the idiot box long enough to try and learn what is really going on in your community. This of course is where the local press has to improve it's game and publish more than prepared press releases.

The sheer contempt that council has for the taxpayers of Nanaimo is clearly demonstrated by their $500,000.00 parting gift they gave Mr. Berry and the gold plated contracts they have signed on our behalf.

The online petition (www.nanaimopetition.com) to have senior government look into this matter has resulted in nearly 750 signatures of people who are at least involved enough to express their discontent with this expression of arrogance and pure greed.

Whether they will become involved enough to actually show up at the council meetings where the financial plan for the next five years is being discussed remains to be seen.

Sadly I fear that 66% of the taxpayers think there is little purpose in participating as politicians of all stripes seem bent on doing whatever pleases them and the masters they serve.