News and event information for Williams Lake, BC - as it happens.

By Jasmine Hjelden

Thinking about all the ridiculous and annoying issues that keep popping up around Williams Lake, I’ve been forced to wonder what it takes to make people care. We whine and complain constantly about problems within the community that affect us, like the, ahem, ‘less-than-perfect’ excuse for a patch-job on South Lakeside. I swear, if I wore dentures, I’d need extra Poli-Grip just to drive to Wal-Mart.

Or there’s the fact that the brand new seniors housing building is now open to everyone, because maybe your Grandpa doesn’t mind loud music or screaming kids at 9:00pm. See? There I go, complaining again.

The biggest problem with all of this is that our City Council hosts public meetings and there are community consultations going on in our area all the time. The Council and concerned parties post flyers and notices weeks, even months in advance of the meetings to be held. The notices mention the issues to be discussed, and if you think the details are lacking, there is a phone number you can call to find out more. So I suppose it’s not as if they don’t try.

We, on the other hand, don’t seem to care all that much about the effect we might have on the outcome of these crucial issues. The decisions made at or as a result of these meetings will most definitely come to affect us in one way or another. We’ll end up whining about what was decided and how, but we don’t get involved.

Here is the question: Why? Why do we not get involved in the decision-making process? Is it because we don’t feel like it? Maybe it’s because we don’t think we have the time. We’re so busy with our own lives that we can’t find the time to show some support (or lack of support) for specific issues. Someone said to me in a recent conversation that our advances in technology and convenience are meant to give us more time, while in fact, we end up overworked and overbooked. He said that there is no such thing as not having the time. We need to prioritize and make the time for the things that are important to us.

Is it important to you that Grandpa has a peaceful place to live? Is it important for your car to keep its muffler attached while driving to the grocery store? Is it important enough that you would be willing to voice your concerns to City Councillors? Perhaps it is, perhaps not. Either way, City Council isn’t hard to find: www.williamslake.ca . See that? Now all you have to do is click.

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