Ingleside ON – Boy is it different covering a debate like the one in Ingleside Ontario for the Township of South Stormont’s Municipal elections. The room was packed; standing room only.
It was truly an all candidate’s night. The most frustrated candidate though wasn’t.
It was mayor Brian McGillis who had nobody to debate as he was acclaimed.
Ray Beauregard, Tammy Hart, and Wayne R. Summers tangled for the Deputy Mayor’s position while council incumbents and hopefuls Barry Brownlee, John I Cameron, J.R. Bob Copeland, Dan Lortie, Richard F Waldroff, and Cindy Woods answered questions from the crowd and made their pleas the the voters.
Running for School Board Trustee were James Borer, Karen McCallister, Bradley Whittley, and Art Buckland.
I caught up with Mayor McGillis who shared that it “takes a lot of courage to run for office” as he applauded all of the candidates. He was also proud of the low tax base in South Stormont and his and his team’s record and performance for the last four years and anticipated great things for his next term.
“Sixteen sub-divisions have attracted a lot of growth. South Stormont’s 4% growth is one of the biggest in Eastern Ontario.”
He also spoke of discussions with Mike Delaney about bringing better transportation in the future as the numbers increased demand for a service, and also mentioned that things were progressing with the Wood Pellet plant in Ingleside.
The best quote, and some of the loudest applause on the night went to current Councilor Tammy A Hart.
“Oh my my my. I don’t think you’ll ever be happy” she shot back to one aggressive question from the crowd which brought a loud roar of approval from the capacity room.
Ms. Hart also went on about ambulance service in response to Bill Fry’s question.
“I don’t like the system we have now. We need change.”
She and Ray Beauregard want a committee to tackle the crisis facing the region of an ambulance shortage.
There were questions about the water front; about jobs, about communicating better with the citizens as media support seems to be lacking in the area, and about roads. A lot of talk about roads, but then again as one person pointed out; the township is larger than the province of Prince Edward Island.
It should be an interesting turn out on October 25th in South Stormont Ontario. What do you think voters? You can post your comments below.
I want to thank everyone who came out tonight to exercise their democracy. I also want to thank the Cornwall Free news and Cogeco for covering the event. I see Jamie Gilcig out at pretty much every event I am at within the SD&G area.
As for the questions that were asked, there seems to be a few common themes. People feel frustrated and want better communication, more transparency and accountability. My platform as a hopeful School Trustee for the Catholic District School Board of Eastern Ontario is exactly what the people brought forward. As promised, if elected, I will be accessible and accountable to those whom elected me to serve them.
I believe that our community and Catholic Education within it are worth fighting for!
As always a waste of time
They stand and tell you what you want to hear and people leave feeling good it is a JOKE!
Roads unless you live in Long Sault or Ingleside your roads are SHI*. In the winter no plow or very seldom, leave for work come home after 13 hours and still same (but with the mayor on Myers rd now I bet that part will be clean all winter) and full of SHI* in the summer from the farmers but we do live in farm country.
They are all out for #1 and what they can get, they say what you want to hear and then do what they want there is no such thing as an honest politician they all lie and are only trying to better their position and their pocket. And if you think any different I feel sorry for you.
I have seen ploughs on township roads when there is nary a flake of snow around. They may not het all the roads but that is an unfortuante situation when living in the country. That has not changed for well for ever.
They could stop wasting money on ploughing whne there is no snow of just a threat of bad weather. Perhaps a contract where the amount paid is governed by the amount of time on covered roads would be in order rather then a blanket deal. Most of which are poorly managed by local government.
Transparency exists we pay and they do not manage my or our money
I Like It: do you think you are standing and telling us anything we want to hear you say?
While Tammy Hart did receive an initial round of applause at someone’s expense, let’s be clear that it was based on an incorrect statement as she indicated that transparency was provided to the person asking the question, but it became very evident to everyone in the room after his rebuttal that transparency did not occur as the council did not provide the engineering reports requested that validated the mess made of Valade Road, nor did it provide the project costs either. As someone who attended the meeting, it was very clear to me that by the end of the day the truth came out. I think that the person asking the question could have easily been made happy if his municipal government provided transparency and acted in a responsible manner. Perhaps Councilor Hart should offer the proof that she boasted of last night and publish the transparency that she bragged about, as she should be able to provide copies of the information that council sent to the audience member regarding the engineering reports and the budget costs of the project. If she is unable to provide that proof, then what does that say of her credibility, and how does it put last night into perspective. Let’s see if Mrs. Hart is able to add credibility to her own comment. Simply saying that they met with the individual as did their engineers is not the same as saying that his questions about the pre-engineering were answered, and the total cost of the project was shared with him, but Mrs. Hart told everyone last night that they had been transparent with this individual, so let het prove it. I’m of the view that the reporter who wrote this article must have missed the closing comment as Councillor Hart refused to even answer him.
Blonde Gardener:
I take it from your comment that you must be directly related or somehow connected to our fine council. That is the thing about free speech in Canada , we can say what we want when we want. For the amount of tax dollars I pay and the service that I get it is a joke, I bet Myers Rd will be nice and clean this winter.
Setting the record straight – I agree with you! Tammy Hart seems about as transparent as the harper government she so blindly and vehemently supports! She reminds me of someone else I know that does the same thing, so long as its the conservative government getting to the top.. Well, she has the proof in the pudding that harper is an idiot that ruined our reputation worldwide and now for the first time in history, we aren’t on the security council anymore, and sweatervest stevie is still making excuses saying he stands for Canada.. come on… we don’t need any of that same crap.. time for all new faces in politics.. time for an impeachment process as well so we the citizens can finally hold dishonest politicians at task for their lies!
In any case I’m not surprised she didn’t answer his questions with transparency and clarity.. she seldom can back up any of her claims, and mostly only posts her own opinions without supporting statements.. after all, it seems to be the conservative way to say your transparent, but act the complete opposite.. not someone I’d vote for in politics..
Grimalot:
Well Said.
Grimalot: That’s exactly the point I’m making. It’s a question of credibility, and I’m challenging Tammy Hart’s. If council was transparent as per her public claim, then she needs to publish the proof that the pre-engineering reports and the total project costs for Valade Road were made public as per her suggestion. If she cannot do that, or won’t, then it certainly puts her comment into prespective. I want a candidiate with credibility, and the only way Tammy Hart can now demonstrate (to me) that she has some is by backing up her comment of last night. Meeting with people (and even bringing in an engineer) is far different than actually providing the information requested.
Setting the record straight – I agree with your challenge.. but she probably won’t be able to meet it.. you most likely already know the reason why..
This was the first candidates meeting in South Stormont that I have attended since moving here and I have to say that I was impressed. The number of constituents that attended and the engagement of those constituents was impressive. From what I saw all of the candidates seem to be a little uncomfortable by the scrutiny of their employers.
This is a good thing. Politicians should be concerned about of the attitude of their taxpayers. There should be more meetings like this and not just during elections.
Reg – awesome points! It would be great if Mayor McGillis made himself available for such a question and answer period as well, so he too can be held accountable for his actions.
Grimalot – Yes, I know what you are saying. I’m hoping that others out there will recognize the fact that what she said last night about transparency was not even close to being the entire truth. I can’t imagine that the reporter who wrote this article walked away with her comment/quote versus how the issue actually ended after there was a chance to rebuttal her. Her comment was only entertaining to those who temporairly believed her.
Would have liked to have been there – this should have been better publicized….
Hi Jamie,
Excellent coverage
I thought the candidates night went well. There are some people, no matter what you do or how hard you work you will never please.
Obviously Reg was impressed. Was anyone else impressed?
Way to go Tammy, you just proved my comment’s to be totally correct. You still skate around the issue, and still cannot back anything up you said, especially that statement you made yesterday! Interesting, you use this moment as basically a “photo op” in the limelight, when really, you have ignored everyone’s points.. What excellent coverage? People are here asking questions because they obviously are confused about something you have said, and would like their questions answered in a concise and factual way. Now, go dig up those engineering reports and documentation to support your statement’s please..
Do you think people will be more apt to vote for you because a reporter “possibly” made a mistake about what was reported? Or, do you think you may garner more votes by coming clean with this “supposed” information that you should be providing to the public? Oh wait, that’s a question that requires some actual thinking..
Grimalot: You’re right on the money…..again! What a cope out for an answer huh?
Tammy Hart: It’s no wonder that guy wasn’t/isn’t happy – just the way you’re conducting yourself here is fustrating! You’re not even polished enough to skirt around the issue – you simply ignore the question and offer rhetoric – as if that accomplishes anything! Once again, I continue to see no proof of the transparency that supposedly exists in the world as you perceive it.
To everyone reading this: I, for one, believe we need change, so I plan on voting for candidates not on the current council. Hopefully they can demonstrate transparency versus just giving us lip service!
You know, I just re-read the title of this thread,
“I don’t like the system we have now. We need change.” Tammy Hart gets loud applause at South Stormont Municipal Debate – October 18, 2010
Aren’t you part of that current system, Tammy? Because I agree with you, it needs change..
Grimalot that quote was in reference to the Ambulance system which Ms Hart made some very strong and positive statements.
This is a great opportunity for me to applaud all of our committed dedicated volunteers, and to congratulate everyone that contributes in some way to make South Stormont the perfect place in which to live, and be proud of.
Sincerely
Bryan McGillis