You Can't Change The World Overnight

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One thing I hear a lot at election time is comments related to change. We've got to change this...it's time for a change...nothing's happening so let's make some changes.

On paper, that may sound like a logical, maybe even a brilliant idea. However, in local government things move slowly.

At one Town Council meeting earlier this year I referred to the speed of decision-making at different government levels as being glacial. I'm talking, really, really slow.

The thing is, it isn't usually a problem at the local level. The roadblocks, hurdles, and mountains of obstacles, come from either provincial or federal levels.

Did you know that this current Town Council has been working on getting the grant money to help build an aquatic centre in Princeton since 2018? Councils before us have also been working on the very same goal.

What happens is when grant money becomes available for such projects, the flood of applications buries things like the aquatic centre project in Princeton, British Columbia. Arguing how important such a project is to the health, wellness, retention, and recruitment of people here means nothing to whoever decides on what projects get green lights and which ones don't.

Saying you want to see big changes at the town council level is a fair request. But, as I've stated, the best possible representatives of the community could be your new town council and still the roadblocks, hurdles, and mountains of obstacles will be there.

So, that brings me to platforms.

Candidates who state they will make sweeping changes, and turn things around will still encounter different levels of government travelling at a much slower speed. And...most projects, plans, changes require their participation.

What is my platform?

Pretty simple, really. 

I pledge to try to do the right thing for the community at all times. Remember, I'm also just one voice out of 5 around the council table.

Personally, I'd like to see affordable housing (the wheels are finally turning on that one), solutions to the unhomed situation (more on that in a future post), further infrastructure improvements, and less empty storefronts.

As great as that may sound, those are the same issues I have supported in the past several years. They are in progress, but bogged down by the hurdles, roadblocks, and mountains of obstacles that are out of our control.

​But that's how government works.

I'm George Elliott
Advance Polling Day is October 7, 2026
Election Day is October 17, 2026 8AM to 8PM at Princeton & District Community Skills Centre, 206 Vermilion Avenue.
If you are eligible to vote in this local election, pleaase consider casting a vote for me.