So while people are flapping about trying to get canadians interested in going to the polls in a few weeks, many in alberta, saskatchewan and manitoba have other things on their minds. Much more pressing immediate matters - several states of emergency have been announced in various towns and cities including mine. A berm around a local lake started to crumble so water was being released this evening, prompting the immediate evacuation of a couple dozen homes, and voluntary evacuations of about 650 more so far.. But it was just announced a few mins ago that a resovior feeding into the same waterway has had to open it's gates to free flow the water... not sure what that will mean for all the people along that valley and here in the city. So while others were watching the debate and joining discussions afterward, people in places like Medicine Hat, Brooks, Swift Current and all around the Red River in Manitoba were busy sandbagging, packing up their possessions, watching the news for updates, and readying themselves for possibly having an extra wet start to spring.
It has made me focus on our local govt and the length of time it takes to let people know what is going on. I have seen multiple updates on the radio station FB pages, but very spaced out and sporadic on the City FB page. It says to look there for updates but there have been very few when compared to the tv and radio sites. What's up with that? Can't find a city worker willing to pull an all-nighter to update people in a fast manner? Type a sentence or two? They tell us to watch their page for the most up to date info, but leave it up to the radio stations instead. Um... okay. So really, things progress as normal - people look after each other much faster than the govt can/does. Is it a surprise? No.
They set up a hotline to call for information and to volunteer, but I kept seeing people posting that they couldnt get through, no operators were available, so they had to keep hanging up and dialing again. How many people did we have manning the phones? Did they have to get permission from a bunch of other govt peeps before starting up the line? Could they not afford a system where you get to be on hold until an operator is available? If this kind of control is put in the public's hands, they would have people lining up willing to man the phones all night just to help out and wouldnt have to ask everyone's permission to do so. They might need the phone number and line set up, but after that it would be no hold's barred. If a member of the public was in charge of updating the FB page, it would most likely be on there licketysplit... just like the radio and tv station sites. But no. It's boring and slow and I found much more info via other means.
So let's call for the govt to help us cos they are so fast and efficient.