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Municipal politics in Canada - like most places - is a backwater of lightweights and bureaucrats, or simply, leftists.

Having been run-off at the provincial and federal levels, these people simply dropped their colours, and went to ground in municipal politics.

One of our (ex) aldermen actually spent more than $9k on 'training' towards a Master's degree in board governance - or some such fluff. The rationale? ENTAX, our municipally owned utility, has a board of directors. Alderman are directors. Therefore, an alderman needs to know how to work on a board. Simple?

No. Just a statement that being a politician is just like any other job. You get your vacation, paycheck, benefits, an annual learning allowance, and opportunities to contribute to 'personal growth'.

Just like a real honest to goodness employee in a real company.

The problem is whether crafting governmental policy, drafting laws, or aligning internal reporting structures for greater accountability - the one doing this should know what they are doing BEFORE they begin doing it.

Hence the (sadly outdated) notion that one achieves in life BEFORE going to serve and bring their skills to the public sector. Instead, the current norm treats the position like any other gig.

That's why this idiocy will continue to repeat itself. While some hide their lack of skills better than others, ineptitude is dangerous in driving, climbing ladders, running a country, or painting.

Unfortunately, the results of bad policy and bad law impact citizens in far more insidious ways, using their own money and the weight of the law against them.

The hard part for me is that the citizenry demands as much of themselves as they do from their leaders. And look at what we have.