Calgarians immune to the real issues

Monday will go down in history as a dark day for Calgary municipal politics. Heading into the election, the talk was about change.

There was a plethora of issues complained about by the citizens: taxes, wasteful spending, the Green Line, the unnecessary arena, a potential Olympic bid, the personality of the incumbent mayor, bike lanes and public art, just to mention a few.

Political pundits claim that a large turnout by the electorate signifies a desire for change and incumbents should be nervous. There were lineups at polling stations all over the city.

What a shock to hear every incumbent running was re-elected. That proves to me that Calgarians were not involved in the campaign and the issues. That proves to me that Calgarians voted on name recognition only — the issues didn’t matter.

That scares the hell out of me when I think of the provincial election in 2019. Calgary is supposed to be the battleground; rural Alberta will vote UCP, Edmonton and the government workers will vote NDP.

That leaves Calgary as the deciding vote to determine who will form the next provincial government. If we continue to vote on name recognition only, I feel sorry for the province. Rachel Notley will remain in power and we are all doomed.

Peter Whitehead, Calgary