Know what you know; Know what you don't

 Know what you know; Know what you don't


My Regional District colleague and I were preparing to propose ‘clean air bylaws’ in the early 1990’s, which is a political way saying we were going to ban smoking in quite a few private and public places.  We had excellent advisors but wanted a second opinion so sought out a coffee meeting with a public health official in Metro Vancouver.

My colleague had a background in health care so the two of them took off in conversation about many things I knew very little about but when the official said, ‘and what about that Mogilny trade?’ – my colleague froze.  He knew a great deal about health care but no matter how long he searched his memory, he could not seem to find anything about a Mogilny procedure, level of care or disease.  Fortunately I’m quite a sports fan and jumped in to say ‘wow, I hope he plays on a line with Bure.’

You see I knew I didn’t know health care issues to the level that they did so my role was to sit quiet, listen and learn; but I did know a lot about the Vancouver Canucks and was quite excited that they had just traded for Alexander Mogilny.  I knew what I knew about hockey and knew what I didn’t about health care.

As someone that had an opportunity to shape public policy, it was important for me to know what I knew about second hand smoke (the science on the harmful effects) – and to know what I needed to learn (experience in changing public behavior.) 

In our democracy, we elect our peers to public office – rarely for their expertise, most often for our trust in their judgement.  It is important therefore for elected officials to know their limits – know what they know and not fake what they don’t.  There is nothing wrong with admitting that you are not an expert in health care even though you are voting on public health issues.  Take the time to learn what you need to know from trusted advisors and then make a decision.  If you are old enough to ultimately be disappointed by the Mogilny trade, I share your pain.


Check out my website at http://frankleonard.ca/ for information on Local Government and Consulting

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