It’s not your circus, but they’re your monkeys

I love Canadian politics, slightly obsessively. The way some people follow baseball or hockey, I follow Parliament. Most days, the maddest I’ll be is because of politics, and the most excited I’ll be is because of politics. My life is very lame.

But despite my federal obsession, I can’t name any provincial or municipal politicians in Nova Scotia beyond the premier and mayor.

My local political cluelessness may be hypocritical, but it’s not exceptional. Most of my friends — especially those from out of province like me — can only name the premier and mayor here, if anyone.

Even one of my friends from Halifax, who’s worked for Elections Nova Scotia and whose brother plays on a soccer team with an MLA’s son, couldn’t name their own MLA.

Whether people care about federal politics, geopolitics or our home province’s politics, we all seem to reach across the aisle to not care about Nova Scotia politics. This is the single worst decision we can make. 

There’s no one with more power over you than Andy Fillmore and Tim Houston, the Halifax mayor and Nova Scotia premier, respectively. Your daily life is governed by them and their host of city councillors and MLAs you can’t name. 

The decisions trickling down from Ottawa are important, but they have nowhere near the effect on your daily life that the provincial budget tabled by Houston’s Progressive Conservatives will have — one that includes $300 million in cuts, including the gutting of arts funding, with a plan to cut $130 million in grants across government departments. 

The Halifax Regional Municipality is also negotiating its budget, one in which Fillmore is trying to increase his office’s budget by 16 per cent from last year, with the average tax bill also projected to increase. 

These changes affect you. The Dalhousie University student body isn’t in a bubble; we pay taxes here and are represented by Halifax and Nova Scotian politicians. 

But you can affect these changes. If you’re a Canadian citizen and an out-of-province student, you can vote in provincial and municipal elections here, while still being eligible to vote at home.

I’m from Ontario, and that may be my circus, but while I’m living and paying tuition and taxes in Nova Scotia, the politicians here are my monkeys, and their monkey-business is my business.

Only caring about federal politics shows that you don’t care about politics at all; you care about spectacle. 

Federal politics may be my sport, but it’s a spectator sport. It’s exciting, fun and popular — I know when I’m screaming at my TV about them, someone in British Columbia is too. 

But if I’m watching politics for entertainment, I should just watch hockey. The point of following politics isn’t to cheer or boo; it’s to be an informed citizen and hold the government accountable for making people’s lives better.

Sure, local politics isn’t sexy or exciting in the way state visits or fighter jet contracts are, and if you’re yelling at the TV about the city budget, there may only be one grandma in Bedford, N.S. who’s yelling back. But that’s because it’s not a spectator sport; it’s one that you’re playing right now.

Young people’s apathy and ignorance allow these governments to do whatever they want. The only way we can change that is by knowing who they are and what they’re up to.

Knowing Premier Houston and Mayor Fillmore is a good start, and I’ll give you two more for free: Lisa Lachance, the NDP provincial MLA for Dal campus and most of the South End, and Laura White, the city councillor for roughly the same area. 

Their emails are LisaLachance@nsmla.ca and Laura.White@halifax.ca. Next time you’re mad about something, send them an email. I promise they’ll respond before Mark Carney does. 

Following local politics is a responsibility, but it may also become your new favourite sport. They’re filled with as much, if not more, drama and scandal than federal or international politics — just look at former Mayor Rob Ford in Toronto. 

When you’re yelling at the TV about city or provincial monkey-business, you’re supporting your community, whether you’re here for a degree or for life. And using those emails, you can yell at, not just about, your elected representatives.

Just remember, it could always be worse; I could be asking you to follow what’s going on with the Dalhousie Student Union.