Life in Calgary the past few weeks has produced an eerie feeling of déjà vu. The daily updates and calls to restrict water usage to save our water supply remind us of COVID-era restrictions.
The same playbook is in use. Heightened rhetoric, worst-case scenarios, group sacrifice, threats of enforcement action, along with half-truths or outright lies are all fair game to achieve the desired result—coercing the people of Calgary to use less water.
More similarities include extending restrictions from a few days to a few weeks with talk about permanent restrictions on water use. We’re called to make sacrifices for the good of our neighbor while we’re encouraged to call the city to snitch on our neighbor. Our mayor makes the repeated claim that this is not a conspiracy—not realizing that she is the one fueling conspiracy by these tactics.
The mayor and other city officials keep on claiming that the city will run out of water unless we make sacrifices to conserve it. We’re told that this is a crisis—a catastrophe—but two minutes of research will reveal that the problem is not Calgarians using their water, but neglect and disrepair of important city infrastructure.
The northern part of Calgary relies on the Bearspaw water treatment facility. The main line connecting this facility to the city is old and the pipe has burst, stopping this important source of clean water. However, the water system in the city is interconnected and so the Glenmore water treatment facility in the south is providing water for north and south until repairs to the water line are complete.
Contrary to the repeated claim of officials, it is not the case that we are running out of water; we have plenty of water. The issue is bandwidth. The bottleneck is the amount of treated water that can travel from the south to the north. If water demand is higher than the flowrate from our one operational treatment facility, then we have a problem. However, even that potential problem is mitigated by several underground water reservoirs around the city that store water. There would have to be an extreme and sustained demand that exceeds the flow rate of water coming from the treatment facility in the south. At this point, average water demand across the city is less than the capacity of the water supplied by the southern treatment facility. Is this a legitimate concern? Yes. Is this an existential crisis? Hardly.
A Better Way
It would not take long to explain to the people of Calgary the truth rather than resort to misleading statements, fear-inducing scenarios, or threats and fines to coerce water conservation. There is a better way.
Here’s my advice to our city officials.
First, take responsibility. Don’t scold Calgarians for using water that they pay for in fees and taxes. Calgarians, who live in a modern city of 1.5 million people, are not unreasonable to expect to take a shower, wash their laundry, and water their flowers. This water problem is a government problem. We live in a city where infrastructure has been neglected for too long because of political ideologues spending money on non-essentials—like painting rainbows on roads, buildings, and uniforms. Take responsibility, invest in infrastructure, pave our roads, and care for public places. You don’t need more money. You don’t need to blame the province or the feds. The money that you have needs to be used responsibly to care for our roads, bridges, communications, electricity, water supply, and other critical infrastructure—this is your job.
Second, don’t fuel conspiracies by talking about water restrictions being the new normal. A broken water main is not the time to be pushing leftist ideologies that promote fear and portray human beings as the problem of the planet. Municipal leaders should stay in their lane rather than dragging the city down with the tired tropes of LGBTQ rights and climate change.
Third, don’t create a climate of fear. Is one broken pipe really a cause for great alarm? What happens when this pipe or similar one needs maintenance? Are more than a million people expected to have 1-minute showers and let their flowers die while the city performs maintenance? Remind people that homes only account for 30% of water use in the city. Tell people you’re bringing in experts to get it fixed ASAP. I understand that creating fear and using words like “crisis” and “catastrophe” get many people to change behavior, but fearmongering is not an effective long-term approach to governing. Soon, you’ll be ignored, despised, and you’ll lose any credibility you may have had. I present Jason Kenney and Deena Hinshaw as exhibit A.
Fourth, give real and reasoned solutions based on truth. Tell us what communities are most affected. Tell us the time of day when water demand is highest. Since it’s a matter of flowrate, when we use water is just as important as how much we use. It is a small ask to delay a washing machine or dishwasher to non-peak times. Give people all the information so they can make responsible choices. Don’t manipulate the data to realize your desired outcome. Tell people the truth.
A Difference in Worldview
Why do modern governments handle crises this way? Why is there so much fear, threatening, lies and patronizing? It is all a matter of worldview.
It is unquestionable that our society has grown more socialistic and communistic. Part and parcel with these societal orders is the need for overlords—I mean government officials—to tell the masses what they must do. Socialism requires a ruling class to manage every aspect of life from the economy to education to healthcare, and even to the home. Responsibility is removed from the people and entrusted to all-wise leaders. These leaders think they can manage our lives better than we can. They increase our taxes because they think they can spend our money better than we can.
With socialism, citizens of a city or country are viewed as the “masses” rather than the “people.” The masses serve the system, rather than the system serving the people. It is a hive-mind mentality where the queen bee calls the shots, and the workers carry out her will. “Everything will be fine if everyone gets in line and does what they’re told.”
This view of ruling is antithetical to the Christian world and life view. According to the Bible, people in a society are entrusted with responsibility. Self-government is a prerequisite in a Christian society. In turn, leaders are called servants or ministers rather than overlords and commanders (Mark 10:42–44). That is why, according to our Christian heritage, our government magistrates are called civil servants, and our head of state is called the Prime Minister! According to Christ, the prime minister is the one who is the slave of all (Mark 10:44)! As servants of the people, our leaders should be committed to truth, rather than cunning or underhanded tactics to get their way (2 Corinthians 4:2).
We can expect more COVID déjà vu in the future unless and until the gospel of Jesus Christ has its redeeming effects on the hearts of our leaders. May God be pleased to do this for his glory and our good.
— Tim Stephens