Deployment of Resources and Public Engagement – Letter To The City of Airdrie

Hello Mayor Brown,

   As community involvement and public engagement grow, citizens of Airdrie will no doubt be attending more public sessions. Our goal is to encourage greater numbers to engage, to better understand the workings of our city council and management, with the goal being to gain visibility and understanding of proposed policy or bylaw changes that affect our lives. 

  Surely, Airdrie city council and management would welcome public engagement and not see it as a threat warranting the presence of a fully equipped police detachment. Seeing the police at every event could be seen as a threat or warning to those attending and may discourage engagement. This is not an ideal way to encourage transparency and trust between us regular folk and those in government and management. While this may be the model being adopted by the current federal government it is our hope to engage our elected government locally to offset not being heard provincially or at the federal level.  

  If I personally have given anyone reason to believe that I propose a threat beyond encouraging people to consider other perspectives, I would appreciate hearing of it personally. If I have said or done anything that personally threatens anyone, surely someone would want clarity and want to talk about it. If anyone has taken offense at any proposed perspectives or questions, perhaps politics at any level is not a suitable career choice. 

  If public discourse is to be encouraged it should be welcomed and not seen as a threat to the ‘natural order’ of Airdrie City Council and governance. It should not require the deployment of valuable or scarce public resources such as the RCMP, Peace Officers or Sheriffs that could be better utilized in addressing crime in our community. There is also the matter of whether or not the government of Alberta ends it’s contract with the RCMP. If the RCMP are to be used to monitor and indirectly or directly threaten or violate our rights and protections under The Charter of Rights and Freedoms, as has happened,  then the choice becomes clear. 

  In the meantime, more concerned, good people of Airdrie and Alberta are becoming more aware of the decisions and workings of elected and unelected governments and taking action. Will this require expanding the ranks of police services, partners and stakeholders to monitor public discourse?  

This is not a pleasant prospect. 

Sincerely, 

Al Neitsch