We can do better. But only if we remember that self-governance doesn’t mean screaming louder. It means showing up sooner.

Blame is easy. But ownership? That’s where communities are born again.

10/10

The government isn’t perfect. But it’s still showing up. Still answering calls from people who won’t answer ballots. Still working late to fix problems they didn’t cause, for residents who don’t want to hear an explanation, only an apology.

9/10

accountability without contribution. They want perfection from systems they themselves have neglected.

And it’s not just wrong. It’s corrosive. It breaks down the social contract. It degrades public servants. It breeds mistrust where humility and partnership should live.

8/11

You can’t avoid the work and still expect the reward. You can’t abandon your civic duty and then claim moral high ground when something breaks.

We are being drowned in a culture of outrage fueled by ignorance and enabled by convenience. People want full services on half facts. They want

7/11

performance. That citizenship is responsibility, not just reaction. That the right to be heard comes not just from shouting loud enough, but from showing up when it matters.

Because the truth is, you can’t ghost the process and then rage at the result.

6/11

it explodes in the noise of the outraged.

The deeper tragedy isn’t what governments get wrong. It’s how rarely the public acknowledges what they gave up the right to critique by never choosing to engage.

Somewhere along the way, we stopped teaching that democracy is participation, not 5/10

because no one defended it. That the animals kept coming because people keep abandoning them. No one wanted to hear that, because hearing it would mean accepting a deeper truth.

This isn’t just a government problem. It’s a civic one. And it lives in the silence of the uninvolved until

4/10

to truth.

“How could this happen?”
“What are we paying for?”
“Why don’t you people ever listen?”

It didn’t matter that the issue was caused by the very apathy that preceded the anger. It didn’t matter that the budget was cut because the bond failed. That the staff position was eliminated

3/10

But when the problem finally reached them, when the trash wasn’t picked up on time, when the dog barked too long, when the shelter was full, when the streetlight flickered, they came in swinging. With rage. With accusations. With a certainty so unshakable, it no longer resembled anything close
2/10

Aww, you think I’m creative!

In Edmonton with our new zoning the government has stopped standing on the necks of people adding gentle density to their properties. You can take any residential lot and make it multi family now. This removes a lot of the self-inflicted artificial scarcity price pressure.

Therein lies the rub. Any navigators on the chat?