* Some candidates, by pushing for multiplexes, cruise ship facilities (not to mention Cable Bay) seem blithely unaware of the global economic crisis. Tourism and other forms of expensive entertainment are the first things people cut back on during hard times. The housing market will also decline. We are in uncharted water and do not know how long the crisis will last or how deep it will be. It could last a long time and strangle investment for a decade. Prudence, that long forgotten conservative virtue, should lead us to reign in our expensive desires and concentrate on the survival of our community, targeting especially the most vulnerable members of it.
* All candidates talk of “sustainability”, yet few show much awareness of the effects of global warming and peak oil, and the need to do something NOW. Thanks to the recession/depression, the price of oil has declined, but when this crisis ends, it will shoot back up again. Other than the candidates who support local food growing, local value-added production, and a rapid increase in public transit, I think the talk of sustainability is mere “greenwashing.”