The Sniff Test

Everyone is starting to “sniff” just a little more… GREAT! That may just be the evolution of a project.

On January 1, 2024 I embarked on this project to post a different discussion every day for one year. My hope in doing this had several directions.

I hoped that I could get people talking about issues that SHOULD be important to all taxpayers. That was easy to do, as the list of topics grows daily.

I hoped that others would have an opportunity to engage and let their voices be heard. That was a little harder to do because of how the Councils Online support crew attacks anyone questioning the current Council. But it has had an interesting twist. Many of those speaking up are doing so quietly. I get countless messages every week from people who read these daily and I have encounters with people at our store, or out shopping who continue to tell me that they appreciate every post.

But the most important goal or hope in doing this was to affect positive change at our Council Table. Now, more than ever, we are ALL seeing evidence of that in a variety of ways. For instance… The Mayor introduced a lot of people during the “town hall” at the RecPlex last week and not one of them was assigned titles such as “lovely”. Way to go Brian… baby steps. What is really evident and shows that these discussions matter is that the Council support gang are finally spontaneously attacking discussion topics that are old and stale. This is FANTASTIC! It revives or keeps the issue alive. Sad that they don’t allow comments to refute their positions. (Fear Driven)

They are also launching ongoing personal attacks against me, my wife, our friends and even our Family Business. These are attempts to silence me. Instead of saying don’t shoot the messenger, I welcome these disgusting, vile attacks. They show that the “issues” are too difficult to debate, so they instead attack the person discussing the issues. lol.

This is not a winning strategy outside of the 200-300 supporters that fill them with satisfaction at every tax payer funded party.

I am pretty careful in what I write. If I don’t have facts I ask for them. If I can’t get the facts, then I simply pose it as a question. In a recent post, they even try to say my words are written by my friend Alan Clegg. Nope… nothing could be further from the truth.

But what about answers when I pose questions? Well… the answers are being relayed through Council supporters. lol. I can just imagine the phone call, “Brian, you won’t believe it, they want the cheque register AGAIN!” Then you would have to also imaging the response and do so in seeing the online comments from Brian’s friends saying “they will be released Tuesday.” LMAO- Does the Mayor know he is allowed to answer the public directly, not just through his friends? It’s really that simple. We know he uses Facebook…. Daily!

I bring this up today because it is an important turning point in Political Accountability. In the last week, no less than 10-12 people have asked what can be done to expose what they think is really happening behind the scenes at Council. They have heard enough and question the truth being presented. They wonder if it’s really the WHOLE truth.

In regard to what can we do… My answer remains the same. Learn the processes of lodging complaints. It is not complicated and is something more people will have to start doing. There are MANY breaches of the Council Procedural Guidelines or the Code of Conduct. It’s one thing to expose them online, but it is another to have our Council judged by their peers or superior bodies. The integrity Commisioner, The Ombudsman’s office and several government agencies have offices that hear your concerns.

But to start with, write to your Council. Ask your questions and see if your answer smells right.

Ask how many positions (salaried, contract and new municipal departments) this Council has created? What is the change in total remuneration for those being paid by the Town of Wasaga Beach?

Why not ask for a complete financial and statistical usage report on our Municipally Funded Medical Clinic?

Just go back and see all of the various issues recorded in these discussions. These are part of a permanent record that the public can go to when they decide if they want to vote or not in the next election. I’m guessing turnout for the next election will break records. Why? Quite simply… our taxes will have gone up way too much! Our services will have been cut in important areas in order to pay for the ongoing party being funded by the Wasaga Beach Taxpayers.

Important issues like proper public transit will get boosts just prior to the election but it will be too little too late. People will not forget the three years of neglect.

Look around the other political sites… what are the Councils support groups busy with? Criticizing the discussions posted here… success! lol

It’s interesting how simply typing out about 30 minutes of my thoughts every night has reserved me a spot (rent free) in the heads of our Council and their supporters.

Later this week, I will be summarizing the High School situation in Wasaga Beach. If you have any specific aspects of the efforts to get our own high school that you want me to be sure and cover, send me a private message (many will confirm I handle these in the strictest of confidence) or mention it here. I have found the subdued almost secret details of the Towns part in this has actually triggered MANY questions. People are starting to recognize that some things just don’t pass the “sniff test”.