An excellent job!

I would like to take the time to thank Mr. Mario Lafrenière for all his fine work in the Chapleau Express.  I, for one, appreciate all the articles about the local political situation.  The fact that some people are against the reporting of these facts astonishes me.  I am saddened by the growing voter apathy at every level in Canadian politics.  The simple fact that the Conservative government's recent contempt of Parliament does not seem to bother many Canadians is astonishing.  This is similar to our own local scandal involving councillor Bertrand.  If the person in question (Bev Oda or Rose Bertrand) does not have the guts to step down after such blatant disrespect for their public oaths, what are we to do?  The Conservative government may or may not be held accountable for their actions.  That is up to the Canadian people to decide on May 2nd.  Unfortunately, at the local level, we have to wait until October 2014.  That's 3 1/2 more years of potential for misbehaviour.  Hopefully, this misconduct will be dealt with soon at the local level, as it should be.

Keep up the great work, Mario!  Many of us do appreciate your tireless efforts to make sure that the Chapleau taxpayers are educated and informed.  I also like your new editor's column.  Great idea!

A positive step

I was quite pleased to hear about the recreation and cultural committee's upcoming event on March 30th.    For once, the township is asking our opinion on what we liked, what we did not like as well as what we would like to see in future winter carnivals.  Instead of residents simply complaining to each other or under their breath, now we have a real public forum to vent our collective frustrations and make our special town events even better.  Perhaps we will see better attendance at community events as a result.  One thing is for certain: if you don't show up to voice your concerns (just like voting), then you shouldn't complain about future events.

My sincere congratulations to the committee for such an innovative idea.  I applaud you all for taking the time to sit on this important body that will hopefully make Chapleau more vibrant for all of us.

Correction

My apologies.

Three comments were made on March 11th and somehow, they made it into my spam filter (for the first time ever).  My apologies to Dennis, as two of the posts were from him.  I will now check this filter daily.

As to the other poster who would like people to sign up first, I'll see what I can do.  Unlike Kimmo.ca (which I found with google), my site was not designed for me.  It is a template that I have a certain level of control over.  Otherwise, my hands are tied.  But I will certainly see what I can do.

I'll keep everyone posted.

Here are the posts that everyone missed:

http://chapleauvote2010.blogspot.com/2011/03/just-thought.html?showComment=1300072855298#c5231639271566683915

http://chapleauvote2010.blogspot.com/2011/03/just-thought.html?showComment=1300112285133#c4687600163563606036

http://chapleauvote2010.blogspot.com/2011/03/real-transparency.html?showComment=1300064693063#c8540618435618287821

Clarification, please

Does anyone know if there is a bylaw regarding large lumber trucks on our town streets?  I often see trucks (usually empty) on Birch, Pine and Lorne streets.  Has anyone else seen anything of this nature?  There was even a similar truck driving in the middle of town the other day while using his engine brakes (Jake Brakes?).  I know for a fact that this is illegal.  Are there any laws in this town that are enforced?

Timing is everything

To my relief, and that of many fellow residents and taxpayers, our Mayor, André Byham, has finally spoken out about the recent scandal.  Much of the text is familiar to us.  We have learned, through consultation of the appropriate legislation, that other councillors, and even the Mayor, are not obligated to intervene when a fellow council member is in conflict of interest.  What's even worse is that the Mayor and council can do nothing in terms of discipline for any infractions.  While I would have liked a statement a little earlier, when this whole story was a little more fresh, I am pleased that our Mayor has spoken up.  I was not expecting any loud booming pronouncements, I just wanted to hear something.  Which brings me to my point.  While it's great that the Mayor has spoken and is aware of the ongoing situation, there is still one person I want to hear from: Rose Bertrand herself.  I know she's probably getting nice and toasty in Florida and she probably hoped that this whole thing will blow over by the time she gets back.  That is not enough.  We deserve better.  Are we missing some key piece of information?  Is there a part of the municipal act we don't understand?  Is there something else we got wrong?  Set us straight, Rose.  Either explain yourself, or tell us where we've got it wrong.  We are still waiting patiently for answers.  Hopefully, you can some in person, before too much time has passed.

Economic woes

According to the latest edition of the Chapleau Express, two key events were lost in the recent past by decisions made by our town council.  The Editor-in-Chief then goes on to tabulate the amount of money lost by local merchants.  The effect of losing the bantam hockey tournament and the snowmobile races appears to be substantial.  Some people are indeed narrow minded and believe that if an economic loss does not directly affect them, then it is someone else's problem.  There is so much wrong with this point of view, I don't know where to start.  Everyone and everything is connected in our modern economy.  In a small town such as Chapleau, these connections are even stronger.  It is not unlike a pool of water that you throw a stone into.  The stone makes ripples on the water's surface.  The smaller the pond, the more quickly the effect of the ripples will be felt.  That is why they call them economic spin offs.  They (new businesses, new initiatives) gradually affect every one of us in some tangible way.  Whether it means more or better jobs, or better public infrastructure, it does not take a rocket scientist to figure out that a major local investment is good for us all.  By the same token, economic losses have a similar negative effect.  It's just common sense, actually.  Maybe our elected officials should take a step back and look at the bigger picture when they make key decisions.  They are not just deciding for themselves, they are making a choice for each and every one of us.  Please make the right choices and make Chapleau better and stronger.  Before there is nothing left for anyone.

Just a thought...

Isn't it easier to find out exactly what went on at a council meeting by reading the minutes published on the Internet or in the newspaper?  I'm curious as to how many people were quick enough to catch the original conflict of interest from the January 10th council meeting.  Or, was it not discovered until afterwards when folks had the time to sift through the print version.  I'm not saying anything against going to the meetings.  They are public so that people can see the municipal government in action.  So that we get to see Doug Greig asleep in all his glory.  Or we can see what kind of clothes the councillors are wearing.  But to truly analyze the facts, you have almost no choice than to examine the written version of the council minutes.  That is why they exist and why they are made available.

To those of you who can and choose to attend council meetings in person, I salute you.  Continue to do so as long as you feel it is necessary and effective.  For those of us who do not do so, perhaps we will someday.  In the meantime, we will continue to stay informed by all the means at our disposal.  We live among you, work among you and pay municipal taxes just as you all do.  In my opinion, that gives us just as much right to pronounce, speculate, criticize and voice our opinions as any one else in town.  With a clear conscience, I can say that I did indeed cast my ballot on October 25th, 2010.  This site is my continued way of exercising my guaranteed democratic right in the best way I know how.

Repeat offender...

According to the latest edition of the Chapleau Express, Rose Bertrand may have been in conflict of interest more than once in the past.  All of the alleged infractions relate to giving perks to family members, hence the conflicts of interest.  It is also interesting to note that more and more of the space in the local newspaper is being devoted to this ongoing story.  Clearly, the public is quite taken by this level of apparent corruption in our quiet little town.  It's big news.  While Larry Lacroix's letter reveals what many of us suspected, it does nothing to satisfy our collective demand for justice.  Nor was that Mr. Lacroix's intention.  I don't even think the Mayor can make this all go away, at this point in time.  We need something (an explanation, an apology, something!) from Rose Bertrand herself.  She has had several weeks to dwell on this.  I could use some colourful metaphors to illustrate the urgency by which we need a response.  I'll leave them to your imagination.  This issue will not go away.  At the very least, for the people that voted and put their faith in her, Rose Bertrand owes some answers and they are very long overdue.    

A good start...

At long last, someone has had the intestinal fortitude to break the long silence.  Local councilor Larry Lacroix has given us some insight as to what really goes on at council meetings.  His revelations are both insightful and disturbing.  The big question on my mind is the following: If this is how municipal council is behaving now, when not much is really going on, how are they going to be when certain economic events are about to transform our town?  Can we really count on our elected representatives to help Chapleau rise out of the muck when the time comes?  So far, their behaviour leaves much to be desired.  I congratulate Mr. Lacroix for taking the time to fill us in on these recent happenings.  I truly hope he is able to stand up for all his constituents and help make our town run the way it should: smoothly.  At the end of the day, that's the only way we can move forward and live in a Chapleau we are all proud of.

Real transparency

Governments, at all levels in Canada, often speak of transparency.  We all know how poorly the Harper Conservatives have kept their promises to be transparent.  Unfortunately, as recent events have shown, our municipal government has not done any better.  I seem to remember that accountability and transparency were frequently used terms during the election campaign.  And where are we today?  Are council minutes on a website or in the newspaper considered real transparency?  It's a start, but I think more, much more needs to be done to restore faith in our local municipal council.  First of all, this ongoing conflict of interest business has to be addressed and dealt with in a timely fashion.  Very difficult, for as far as I'm concerned, too much time has gone by already.  I also believe there should be a list of all the committees, boards and such (in the municipal sphere of influence) and who exactly sits on these boards.  Are they all elected to these positions?  What are they paid (if anything) for their work?  Municipal council is only one piece of the puzzle of who is running our town and what their possible motivations for doing so may be.  Such knowledge is essential in understanding how our town works and who is doing what.  We as living, breathing taxpayers deserve nothing less.