Dale Boyd

Osoyoos Times

It occurred to me as I listened back to the discussion by Osoyoos town council regarding universal water metering (read more on Page 2) that the discussion playing out was truly a microcosm of almost every political issue we face.

To put it simply, the town is aiming to put water meters on over 90 per cent of water users so usage can be fairly and accurately accounted for.

Almost all council members and staff agreed it was a no-brainer. Mayor McKortoff  pointed out that Osoyoos is one of the few municipalities that doesn’t have universal metering in the area.

It is crucial for conservation and keeping tabs on, and improving, water usage. Though, as Coun. Brian Harvey pointed out, in Osoyoos this is a “tough sell,” to taxpayers who are calling it a “cash grab” among other things.

I do not blame those who see something like universal water metering as a personal attack on their finances, but we all have to make sacrifices towards the idea of the greater good.

The greater good in general is a “tough sell.” It is analogous to climate change, or any other existential threat that requires large numbers of people working together.

We, and I’m including myself here, need to start looking past political dichotomies as the challenges we face together become seemingly more daunting. How we do that? I’m not sure.

As the town enters budget talks, people are quick to rush to Facebook  to complain about a particular pothole or issue. While we appreciate reader input, next time you go to write a comment, if you want to have an actual impact,  instead email town staff to work to create an effective solution or find the answers you seek. Otherwise, you are simply yelling into the wind.

However, we need to understand not every decision is going to go  our way, this doesn’t make politics or local governance a pointless endeavour.

Sometimes we need to bite the bullet, or hold our noses and pay. I don’t like paying taxes any more than the next person, but I do like health care, roads, clean water, a fire department and many other services we all use when needed.

I would like to have water in the future, like I assume most readers would, and we are getting to the point where hard decisions are going to be made for the future of our planet, and they may come with some user fees.