- by Shea Angus

"What makes a good politician?"

At its surface, this question seems simple. Things like honesty and integrity probably come to the top of your mind, but let's go a bit beyond the surface and dig more into the bones of the question.

Perhaps it would help if we reframe the question: Does a good politician go along with whatever most of the electorate wants, or does a politician make the hard choices that aren't politically popular but are in the best interest of the people they were elected to serve?

You can apply to many different examples throughout history, but for my purposes I want to turn to a recent one more close to home. The case of the Sauble Beach land claim.

In 2014 the Township of South Bruce Peninsula (TSBP) Council had negotiated a deal with the Saugeen First Nation. The deal would see the ownership of Sauble Beach transfer to the Saugeen First Nation, however the deal would also establish a joint management board to oversee the maintenance and operation of the beach, which would be comprised evenly of representatives from Saugeen First Nation and the Township.

Additionally, federal and provincial governments would make a one-time payment of $5 million to South Bruce Peninsula to offset their portion of the beach costs.

The deal was negotiated by the council in place at the time, but later that year the municipal election was effectively a referendum on whether or not to accept.

On the one hand you had a slate of incumbent candidates that worked to negotiate the deal and felt, given the information they had, that this was the best option in the long-term for the town.

On the other hand, mayoral candidate Janice Jackson and other challengers ran on a platform to reject the negotiated settlement with Saugeen and to continue the process of fighting in the courts over the ownership of Sauble Beach.

All but one incumbent lost their seat on council in 2014. Janice Jackson became and remained Mayor for nearly a decade until the most recent municipal election in 2022.

Now regardless of personal feelings on the matter, the facts of the case were hard to overcome. In 2014, both the federal and provincial governments endorsed the mediated settlement.

That's right. Even under Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper, the federal government did not support the Township's efforts to continue fighting the case.

It was clear to everyone else but the TSBP that this case was going to be a long, costly, and losing battle in the end.

But Mayor Jackson had the support of her electorate. Although Jackson won by a narrow margin in 2014, in the 2018 election Jackson cruised to victory with over 3,000 more votes than her opponent. Clearly the voters in the Township of South Bruce Peninsula supported her efforts.

Fast forward to April 3, 2023, and the courts have agreed with the Saugeen First Nation that they do indeed own the beach up to 6th Street North. 

I don't have a final tally at this time about what exactly the Town of South Bruce Peninsula spent over the years fighting this battle, but estimates presented by TSBP staff back in 2014 claimed it would cost $7 million dollars to continue to fight the land claim in the courts.

My friend John Tamming submitted a freedom of information request recently to find out this number and wrote an op-ed in the Hub with some interesting insights about the case and the legal team representing the TSBP.

So that brings us back to the question we started with; What makes a good politician?

The Township now finds itself in the desperate position of trying to return to the table with no leverage after rejecting the mediated agreement and costing both themselves and the Saugeen First Nation millions of dollars in a case they ultimately lost.

Mayor Jackson gave a voice and was a fiercely strong advocate for her constituents that would overwhelmingly support her after her first term as Mayor.

But Mayor Jackson also will be remembered for wasting millions of dollars to fight a losing battle and jeopardise the long-term future of the Township of South Bruce Peninsula.

No matter how you look at it though, this was not just the fault of the former Mayor or council.

It also was the fault of the voters in the Township of South Bruce Peninsula.

The electorate rejected the mediated settlement agreement and those who advocated for it. They overwhelmingly continued to support the slate of candidates that prioritised fighting for the Beach in court.

And now they're left with no beach, millions wasted in legal fees, nothing from the Federal or Provincial governments to help offset that cost, and many, many questions about what the future holds.

In our system, catering to the ever-changing whims of the electorate is the easiest thing a politician can do.

They don't need to take responsibility for a position, they're merely relaying and representing the will of their constituents. It's an easy way to remain popular with voters.

But our politicians are more aware of details and information that we just can't possibly keep up with. We have our own lives, jobs, families, and concerns that we can't possibly be informed completely on each and every issue out there, and that's okay.

But we have a collective responsibility to be aware of our shortcomings as voters. 

We got what we voted for and previous councils served the will of the majority of the electorate faithfully.

But in the end, what we wanted was not what was in our best interests.

You can try and say that it's easy to look back and say we should've taken the deal back in 2014, and we shouldn't have scolded the council that negotiated that deal at the time, but the signs were there that we would lose. The previous Council was acting in the best interest of the community, and we rewarded them with a swift defeat at the polls.

So to answer the question we started with – what makes a good politician?

I'd say the lesson here is clear. We should want people that will do the best for the community, even if it's unpopular.

We should elect people that will ensure they are well informed and will make educated decisions that are in the best interests of the community and its constituents.

But first we must look inwards as voters and set a higher bar for ourselves.

We voters are a fickle bunch. We want better roads, more efficient services, but also don't want to pay more than we already do for them. We're driven by our own immediate needs and desires and we vote accordingly. But we also need to recognize that sometimes what we want is not what we need.

We soured the relationship with our neighbours, wasted millions of dollars that could've been spent to enhance our community, and we lost the opportunity to share in the governance of Sauble Beach.

It would be a shame to pay such a cost and not learn anything from it.