Tough Questions

If you ask the really tough question of our municipality it seems three things might happen.

I have had all three happen. The sad part is that most “silent treatment” comes from our elected representatives. A couple have responded initially, but when pushed for real answers…. Silence. I will share some specific examples when I issue individual Council Report Cards in a few weeks. A few people have suggested that it’s time to critique each member of Council and I think it’s a great idea.

I encourage others to continue asking questions. However, I suggest not getting your hopes up if you ask the tough questions. Just be prepared to be met with silence or a deflective answer.

I was recently challenged by some of our Council’s biggest Social Media supporters to email Council instead of just posting here. So, I emailed ALL Council members and in some cases staff. I asked some very specific questions. The results were as I suspected. Most staff have been very responsive. I’m thankful for that. I know for instance from our Clerk that Councillor Belanger’s missing “Notice of Motion” is still not on an agenda.

However, our CAO instead of just answering questions, has accused me of operating an aggressive misinformation campaign. I was told to correct all of my alleged misinformation or staff would no longer respond to my emails.

Here is what happened next. I asked for a list of all misinformation the CAO claimed I had spread. His response was to mention a few items and claim there were more. So, in the interest of seeking truth, transparency and open dialogue, I addressed all of the issues he claimed were disinformation and asked for the complete list. Still… no full list.

Then in one of my most recent emails I pressed for some specific information (while still addressing the issues he felt were controversial). These most recent requests resulted in being told if I didn’t correct all of my alleged misinformation, Town Staff would no longer communicate with me. But… still no list! How is one supposed to correct misinformation if a list of these discussions is not provided.

So, for now… I will not be able to get answers from staff regarding important issues.

Two issues I addressed in one of my final emails were asking specifics of why I had been blocked from the Towns Facebook page and I asked for some specific details about what Council, Staff or others attended a $1,000 per person fundraiser hosted by Education Minister Lecce. Still no answer… silence.

So if it’s silence I can expect, I will just request my information from our elected representatives right here on my Social Media Discussion posts. After all, there are another 248 days of discussions remaining.