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BEYOND THE HEADLINES: Leadership missing

No one from Vernon and Coldstream councils or the regional district attended an informational session on Islam
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Muhammad William Saleh provides information on Islam to about 100 people Saturday although no local elected officials were present. (Richard Rolke/Morning Star)

The job description for local politicians is pretty clear.

If you sit on a municipal council or regional district board, your duties include developing budgets, infrastructure planning, taxation, establishing bylaws and considering proposed developments.

However, beyond all of these more mundane duties, you are also considered the leaders of your community. There is an expectation that you will be there to celebrate the good times, such as sports championships or major events, and mourn the tragedies. Elected officials speak out on the social issues of the day, whether it’s homelessness, the opioid crisis or climate change.

So given all of that, it was somewhat surprising that not one member of Vernon or Coldstream council, or the Regional District of North Okanagan board, showed up at an information session about Islam Saturday.

The thrust of the event was to provide the general public with information about Islam and to enter into a dialogue, particularly as a way of addressing misunderstanding and hatred.

“I’m not standing here to argue or to insult anyone. I’m here to educate myself and others,” said Muhammad William Saleh, a member of the Vernon Muslim Association who led the discussion.

And as the session unfolded for about two hours, Saleh provided details of his faith and touched on hot-button topics like terrorism, women’s rights and Sharia law. But it wasn’t simply a one-sided process. Questions were asked within the crowd of 113 or so, and some, including one who described herself as a born-again Christian, were quite pointed in their comments.

Now it would be easy to describe some of the participants as rabble-rousers or their questions as confrontational, but having a discussion sometimes means clearing the air. But more importantly, they were there and hopefully they and Saleh learned something about each other’s perspective.

Obviously politicians are busy individuals, juggling their elected duties, careers and families, but the same could be said for every person who packed into the Eagles hall Saturday. They, including two senior officers from the RCMP detachment, put their lives on hold for two hours to become more informed about their neighbours.

And this isn’t just to just take aim at Vernon, Coldstream and RDNO councils. Also missing were the local MP and MLA and school board trustees.

As previously mentioned, the role of politicians goes beyond simply spending money or voting on laws. They are the collective representation of our diverse communities. They set the tone for what is acceptable and what isn’t, and occasionally they are the trailblazers, such as approving rainbow crosswalks despite opposition.

In the case of Saturday’s session, they could have made themselves more informed about their constituents. From there, they would have had the background and awareness to counter any bigotry or intolerance they may encounter.

As a society, we are going through interesting times and we need our leaders to be proactive instead of on the sidelines.