As I read through the content for "The Voting Issue" I was struck by how many writers insisted it is ultimately the members of our community who are responsible for positive change in Hamilton.

We are tempted by lazy citizenship. The so-called "rule of the people" is sold and packaged as one vote every four years. "Make your voice count –Vote!" The scary subtext is our voices will not be valued outside this limited-time offer.

Our civic responsibilities do not begin and end with voting. "We need to directly take on the issues that affect us," writes Alex Diceanu in our feature. We cannot just hand politicians a blank cheque and hope they spend our trust wisely.

I wonder if sometimes we envision voting as a symbolic act whereby we pass the burden of responsibility on to the public figure we mark with our ballot. We wash our hands on our way out of the voting booth and condemn our leaders from the comfort of our living room.

The sad irony is that a process meant to encourage civic engagement has been twisted into an escape clause –an insidious way to shirk responsibility.

Do we only keep our leaders accountable once every four years? Is voting the only recourse we have to prevent them from straying from the public interests?

The issues discussed in these pages are not mere "voting issues". Once all the ballots are counted and the winners announced, the issues presented here will remain relevant. And the challenge to improve our city will still be our responsibility.

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