It’s a truth universally acknowledged that no one likes a complainer.
It might be human to gripe and grumble, but that doesn’t make it any less annoying. It’s even more exasperating when said complainers sit on the fence and refuse to do anything about it. I can handle complaining. All I ask is you get off the fence and into the action.
I write all this to show I sympathize with Councillor Blake Edwards’ comments about how “negative Nellies” and “social media warriors” are likely to use Health Canada wastewater data to make Prince Albert look bad.
Edwards made the comments during a debate at Tuesday’s executive committee meeting where council took the first step to joining a Health Canada National Wastewater Drug Surveillance program.
As Daily Herald reporter Arjun Pillai wrote in his story, the program tracks and measures ‘specific substances of concern’ that are connected to drug use and production.
It’s obvious why such data would be of benefit to the City of Prince Albert and Health Canada. Heavy drug users (and dealers) are unlikely to accurately report how many drugs they’re using (or dealing), and police crime statistics only tell part of the story. If drug arrests go up, it could be because drug use is up. It could also be that Prince Albert police officers are having more success.
Year-by-year comparisons could give the City (and local service providers) valuable data about the state of drug consumption in our community.
It’s also obvious why such data would provide an entire warehouse of fodder for certain individuals to put the city on blast. Edwards is entirely right that negative results would be used to ridicule Prince Albert in certain circles.
On Tuesday, Prince Albert’s Community Safety and Well-Being Coordinator Jim Woodcock told council Health Canada would only publish data for the province. Prince Albert’s own results would remain private, unless the City chose to release them.
That response was enough to ease Edwards’ concerns. The Ward 6 councillor said he would not support the program if the data was made public. Instead, the motion passed 8-1, with only Coun. Daniel Brown opposing.
It’s here that Edwards and I part ways. I doubt anyone will be shocked to find out that I think the data should be public. This isn’t because I want to give the naysayers more fodder. It’s because the, shall we say, “non-naysayers” who show up to the voter’s booth every election year should have access to this information.
I view wastewater data the same way I view drunk driving numbers or Prince Albert’s homeless count. All three figures are benchmarks local residents can use to determine whether plans, programs, and policies designed to reduce and eliminate drug use, impaired driving, and homelessness are working. This data not only helps voters make choices at the municipal level. It may also come into play when casting a ballot in provincial or federal elections.
Of course, critics can also use drunk driving numbers and Prince Albert’s homeless count to paint a negative picture. If we keep data that can be used to make Prince Albert look bad out of the public spotlight, then you can justify keeping more than just wastewater data off the public record.
I prefer Councillor Dawn Kilmer’s approach: “We are a city that is not afraid of our warts and bruisers.” Although I would slightly modify it because I don’t think Edwards or anyone else is afraid of the naysayers. Instead, I would say, “We are going to discuss our warts and bruises so we can heal them.”
Jason Kerr is the editor of the Prince Albert Daily Herald.
