A recent candidate for Swift Current city council wants to see more ways for residents to communicate with local government.
Maria Rose Lewans feels voter apathy partly comes from unease in communicating with local government.
"I feel there's this layer of fear," Lewans said. "So we need to break that down and maybe there needs to be more anonymous ways for people to contribute. Whether that fear is justified or not, there is that level of fear out there, and some people have a really hard time speaking up. A lot of people feel like it just doesn't matter. Their voice doesn't matter.
"I kind of mentioned mental health is a huge issue in our city during the forum. I really believe that and that's behind a lot of our lack of communication. So we have to see ways to build people up and include them and not have people fearing City Hall. A lot of people aren't happy with how things are going. There has to be some kind of channel where people can submit their complaints, and I feel it has to be anonymous just to alleviate fears that there's going to be some repercussions for speaking up."
A voter turnout of less than 20% for the recent municipal election drew the ire of Mayor Al Bridal recently. He was still confident council had a strong mandate based on the percentage of votes cast and lack of opposition.
"To suggest that there's 100% support and the council has a strong mandate to kind of do as it pleases it seems a little contrary to uphold the principles of democracy," Lewans said. "I think there's lots of reasons people don't turn out. Apathy, including you hear a lot of comments that people feel it doesn't matter who you elect, you just get the same garbage. There's a sense of hopelessness out there. And I think as elected leaders in the community instead of just claiming absolute power, they need to be delving into a lot of the social issues that are in the city and preventing people from being engaged and learning to understand their community.
"I think we've really lost sight of what democracy actually means. I really hope that they don't assume this lack of engagement is support, and I think they need to really learn to understand their city a little bit better."
Lewans received 11% of the vote while running for council in the recent Swift Current municipal election.