Annise Parker, the newly elected Mayor of Houston, said the local office was the highest office.  She is right.  The paradox is that people vote in federal and provincial elections but they ignore local offices. But if your shower doesn’t have water in the morning and you are stuck in a traffic jam because the traffic light isn’t working then who the heck cares about anything federal and provincial politicians do. 

Look around, most things you are impacted by is decided by your municipality (from the transit service to the roads you drive on to local of sidewalks, traffic lights and stop signs to police & fire service to … well, you got the idea).