What do a taco and a politician have in common?
No, it’s not the setup for a bad joke. We’re posing the question because of two separate events over the past week that got us thinking about the importance of living up to billing.
First: Taco Fest. Yes, the much-hyped (and now much-maligned) festival that hit Swangard Stadium on Saturday has certainly been stirring up controversy. On the one hand, there are the taco lovers who were left wondering where all the tacos were. On the other are a bunch of metal fans who think the taco lovers should have done their homework and learned that really, despite its name, Taco Fest is more about punk and metal music than about Mexican food.
Second: Occupation. Specifically, the occupation of a vacant, set-to-be-demolished apartment building on Imperial Street that was occupied by protesters from the Alliance Against Displacement for 11 days before police moved in and made arrests on Wednesday.
That occupation forced the issue of demovictions and displacement into the headlines – and raised a whole lot of questions about where Burnaby city councillors stand on the issue of housing affordability. The catch here, of course, is that every member of city council belongs to the NDP-aligned Burnaby Citizens Association – a fact that has people asking where the BCA’s socialist principles have gone in the race to embrace new development.
In both cases, the issue isn’t so much that one side is clearly right or clearly wrong – merely that they should have been clear what they were all about in the first place.
It’s not wrong to hold a music festival promoting emerging punk and metal bands.
Likewise, it’s not wrong to be a politician or a political party that embraces development and runs a tight government ship focused more on maintaining city surpluses than on providing social welfare for its citizens.
It’s just that when you bill yourself otherwise, you’re bound to raise more than a few hackles. And you’re bound to have people asking why you’re pretending to be something you’re not – whether that “something” is a Mexican food festival or, say, a New Democrat with a social conscience.
We have faith that Taco Fest can work out the kinks and market itself effectively for next year.
We’re less certain what the BCA is going to do – and where left-aligned voters with a social conscience are going to place their X’s when we head to the polls again in 2018.
