A letter to the prime minister sent by St. Albert’s mayor shows an embarrassing lack of judgment on the mayor’s part.
Earlier this week, we learned that Mayor Nolan Crouse sent a letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper after the federal election in May. The letter starts by congratulating Harper for winning a majority government, then chastises him for using negative campaign tactics and concludes with an invitation to attend the city’s 150th anniversary celebrations.
(The entire letter can be viewed here.)
There are several reasons for St. Albert residents to be embarrassed by this letter, which reads like a text message sent from a bar rather than a thought-out opinion by a respectable public official. It’s a bizarre amalgamation of mixed messages that reflects badly on the mayor, and by extension, the city.
More troubling is the fact that, by signing under his title as mayor on official City of St. Albert letterhead, Crouse has presented his own personal opinion as if it was the city’s official stance. This happened without a peep about it in public council. While councillors received copies of the letter after it was sent, they had no input into its content.
When it was first received anonymously at the Gazette newsroom last week, the letter was thought to be the ramblings of some local crank who was looking to cause the mayor trouble by forging his signature. Surprise doesn’t come close to describing the feeling that prevailed when Crouse readily admitted to writing the letter himself.
Even Coun. Cathy Heron — usually a supporter of Crouse’s initiatives — was left wishing for do-over on the letter, saying it “sounded really stupid.”
Crouse’s explanation was that he was speaking out on an issue that concerned him and others in the community.
“What is the advantage of saying nothing? We have an obligation as leaders to give feedback to leaders and I look at it as an opportunity to give feedback,” he said.
As Crouse says, many people found the federal election campaign to be distasteful in the way it delved into American-style attack politics. He makes a valid point. But then again, who is he to unilaterally decide the city’s position on the federal election and communicate it to the prime minister’s office?
The mayor concludes the letter by inviting Harper to St. Albert to take part in the city’s 150th anniversary celebrations. Given the content of the letter to that point, it makes for one of the most impressive backhands since Jimmy Connors dominated men’s tennis. What slim chance the local anniversary committee had of landing Harper surely went out the window after the mayor’s unceremonious scolding.
There’s no question that Crouse is a hard-working and well-intentioned mayor, but this lapse of judgment calls into question his priorities and his ability to understand the limits of his role as he guides this city into the future.
With its hint of righteousness, the letter serves as another example of Crouse allowing his beliefs to propel him beyond the boundaries of his job description into personal crusades. We’ve seen this with his efforts to eliminate adult stores and bong shops, and with his desire to restrict overnight parking in store lots.
Unfortunately, these righteous indulgences tend to become the messages that escape St. Albert’s borders into the broader world, and can only undermine the city’s efforts to change its image as a place for snobs.
The words “poor judgment” have been used in recent months to describe some of city council’s actions. Inviting our prime minister to St. Albert for arguably one of the biggest celebrations in the community’s history — after a good thrashing, on city letterhead, without even consulting his colleagues — goes beyond poor judgment. It’s simply astonishing.
