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Rise of ‘alternative politics’ present new challenges for Sooke council

Traditional politics challenged worldwide
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District of Sooke isn’t the only municipality or level of government facing a new age of divergence between known institutions and the philosophical and cultural foundations of those institutions. (Octavian Lacatusu/Sooke News Mirror)

A growing divide between the District of Sooke and a handful of residents has led some to question the municipality’s integrity and modus operandi.

Between scandals in council and on social media in recent years, the district and its citizens have undoubtedly seen some troubled days.

But Sooke, as it turns out, is caught in a much larger phenomenon, said David Black, an associate professor at Royal Roads University in the School of Communication and Culture, noting part of the district’s dilemma is a divergence between known institutions and the philosophical and cultural foundations of those institutions.

“Government has never been perfect, and historically, not every citizen was happy with an outcome, that’s just impossible. What’s changed though is that the legitimacy of these institutions is now challenged,” he said.

“People in the past might of said, ‘what a stupid decision, this is going to affect me and I’m really angry’ but they didn’t go the next step and say, ‘government itself is illegitimate, and you have no right to represent me or to have any power over my life.’”

Black, who is not related to Sooke News Mirror owner David Black, said it accounts for things happening on the political landscape today, such as the Trump presidency and the rise of ethos-nationalist movements that are challenging established political norms in Europe.

In Trump’s case, an illiberal kind of philosophy at the centre of liberal democracy, which leads to what Black calls “the problem of post-truth” – a way of talking that is indifferent to empirical fact and indifferent to logical consistency.

Former Sooke councillor Herb Haldane has been a critic of council and district staff.

“There’s been some delegated authority to some senior staff to play God, and they can decide whatever they want. It should be the same service for everybody, whether it’s the district or not,” Haldane said.

Haldane noted staff continue to “manipulate, misplace, misread and misjudge” on all kinds of issues.

Sooke Mayor Maja Tait defended her staff and council, saying there are always two sides to the story and that the district is doing its best to keep up with demands from its citizens. She added there’s always room to improve the process and recognized it’s not a perfect system.

“It’s just understanding where is the delay, what is causing it … if I understood that, then I can address it, but I need it clearly articulated to me in a reasonable way,” Tait said.

Questioning the powers that be could even be good news – in a sense.

“No philosophical or ideological foundation should be unchallenged, it should be pressured and pushed, and hard questions asked of it, but there are good ways of asking those questions, and ways that are destructive and harmful,” Black said.

But it goes even beyond politics, Black said, that the world is creeping away from 18th century ideas of liberal democracy and heading towards an unknown realm of illiberal and post-liberal politics.

“We see raw power show up, we see populism, invoking the wisdom of the people relative to these institutions; ‘the elites in Ottawa, they’re not your friend, I am’ … that’s not new in any sense, but it enjoys a new energy when people are already asking hard questions about the legitimacy of their institutions.”