For the engaged political citizens of Edmonton, this was a frequent, nightmare inducing image (taken directly from the minutes of a city council meeting)

There are dozens of pixels! DOZENS!

That's the City Council camera, for many it is the sole method of being able to view public meetings, which occur during business hours. For the past several months, I have been campaigning (often to the point of belligerence) to update these horrid, outdated cameras. Often, I was making jokes (because the quality was a joke) - but I seriously believe that the quality of these cameras is a very important focus.

One of them is actually Waldo, but the colours are so washed out, you'd never know.

Who is your councillor? Could you identify them on the street if you saw them?

How do you talk about city issues? When photo radar comes up do you say "council is just performing a cash grab". Do you consider the perspectives of the councillors themselves? Do you listen to their reasoning? Do you engage with them as humans?

For some, the answer might be yes. But often, especially in internet comment sections the answer is no.

Elise Stolte at the Edmonton Journal, recently made a video, outlining how easy it is to get your five minutes in front of council at committee - a level of engagement that is absolutely important to effectively govern. What does this have in common with my above points? Well, humans have an exceptional ability to empathize the other people we see. When we feel close with others, we're more comfortable communicating. And that's just the point of an effective, high-quality camera. When we can see the councillors debate, their mannerisms, their level of comfort we're far more able to empathize with their difficulty in making many of the decisions they're forced to make.

When we see their faces more often, suddenly going before them seems less like sitting in front of an intimidating board, and more like sitting in front of a group of peers, who have your city's best interests at heart.

And, this morning, it happened!.

itshappening.gif

It was such a relieving welcome back to the session after council's break. And I think it's an important reminder that the small things that make our city politics better are achievable. Just takes some time, and some belligerence, a joke website and a little more belligerence.

A lot of belligerence.