Once every three years Labour Day has a double meaning. This is one of those years. Beyond the regular day off to commemorate the effort of working people in Canada, this year’s Labour Day also marks the official beginning of the municipal election campaign period.

Before you sigh and go back to thinking about the fall and winter ahead, think for a minute about how you might be affected by the results of the election.

Depending on who becomes Mayor or Councillor, your power company or water company might be privatized. Depending on who becomes Trustee, your child’s high school might become a standing advertisement for Nike.

The point is that the issues in municipal campaigns may not be as sexy as issues in provincial and federal elections, but they have as much impact on your life as the other levels of government – possibly more.

This time in particular.

The provincial government has de-regulated electricity in Alberta, placing intense pressure on those cities (Edmonton, Calgary, Medicine Hat and ??) who own their own power grid or company to privatize. Since many public power utilities also control the water utility, water could be next up. Grande Prairie is already thinking about privatizing water.

The experience in Britain and New Zealand has shown us what privatization means. In New Zealand, a massive power outage last year was blamed on privatization. In England, rates went up 77% following privatization.

Five years of drastic cutbacks to municipalities – up to 40% in some cases – has left cities and towns scrambling for ways to make up the difference. The real impact of the cuts is only now beginning to be felt. Pro-business councilors want to raise residential taxes while cutting business taxes and make up the rest through cuts to transit, community services and basic services like lawn cutting and garbage pickup.

"Contracting Out" is all the rage these days. Despite repeated studies showing that it does not save money, some ideologically-driven candidates continue to call for more "de-unionizing" of municipal services. This trend is particularly acute in school boards across the province.

In schools, cash-strapped boards are desperately searching for new sources of revenue, thanks to provincial cuts. Many are examining something called "corporate partnerships". While this may sound benevolent, it is just a new way for corporations to flog their products and logos in the school. For a "donation" from the company, the school agrees to display the company logo prominently, or agrees to exclusively sell their product. I call it "Coca-Cola High".

On top of these issues, we cannot forget that many communities will be holding VLT plebiscites that will have a profound impact on government policy on gambling. (On the other hand, we DO want to forget the Senators-In-Waiting election).

In short, there are many reasons to get involved in the fall election. We need to elect progressive candidates who are open to working with labour to make sure the Klein-style agenda does not go unchallenged.

As you prepare your children for their return to school, try to keep a thought or two on the upcoming election. Think about what you can do to help keep our issues in the open and how you can help to elect some progressive people to your local Council and School Board.

The next issue of Labour News will include a municipal/school board primer, discussing some of the issues in the election and highlighting some of the candidates needing our support. Until, then seek out all the candidates, test them on the issues that matter to you and make sure they know you will vote only for people who are clear, principled, and willing to act.