You will
find some details in the Springwater Council Corner article in Springwater News www.springwaternews.ca outlining some
activities at an OGRA/ROMA conference that I, the Deputy Mayor and some senior
management attended recently. The conference did make me think about some
things beyond my immediate Springwater boundary after listening to some of the Provincial
Ministers at the various sessions. With that in mind here are some thoughts and questions.
Ontario is
faced with challenging financial times and its debt servicing absorbs a lot of
funds that could be better spent on actual services. Quite often I hear at
Springwater Council and also at Simcoe County Council that we should have more
funding to do this or that from higher levels of government. We at the
municipal level have had numerous things downloaded from the province over the
last 20 years. Unfortunately for all of us there is only one tax payer and I
believe the Province has run out of money, so we can’t depend on them in the
future. We as local politicians must focus on controlling costs and finding our
own sources of revenue. The best thing the Province could do is put the actual
governance of our local municipalities back in our hands instead of having Ministries
like Municipal Affairs and Housing and Infrastructure and agencies such as the
OMB decide what is good for us.
I know no
one wants to ever question the subject of health care, as we all need it, but it
is a Provincial responsibility. Since that is the case why has the County
provided Capital Funding for local hospitals to the tune of $60,000,000 over
the last 20 years. To me that is an extra tax being applied to the hard working
people of our area. I also question why we as a township pay money into
physician recruitment for local hospitals but see no direct doctors setting up
shop in our local communities.
What about
our education system? Does it make sense that by using some Ministry of
Education formulas and area review committees, that schools like
Penetanguishene High School or Barrie Central are closed and the protests of
the area residents fall on deaf ears. Here is another question. Does Barrie
really need another university when it has a well established College of 50
years that has created a very effective University Partnership Centre offering
a variety of degree courses and by their own admission could handle another
5,000 student intake? I ask that question as we are already funding a new
university in Orillia. Is that not enough?
It would be
nice to have hospitals and universities on every corner like fast food outlets,
but we can’t afford it. As governments, we need to focus on what people
actually need rather than what would be nice to have. Until then, we will
continue on a downward spiral.
Over the
next four years I plan to ask these questions of the higher levels of
government. You need to ask the same questions of your local MP and MPP.
Now back to
our township. As a Springwater council we are only as good as you make us. Keep
informed and email or phone us regularly. I appreciate the calls and visits I
have had on a variety of issues that range from flooding in back yards, fallen
trees, extension of Barrie Transit into Midhurst, to the lack of high speed internet
in some of our communities. In each case I follow through and engage others
when necessary. In some cases, the answer I or someone on the Springwater
management team provides is not what the person would like to hear, but we will
be straight with you; that I promise.
I encourage
you as individuals and local advocacy groups to engage our elected officials at
all levels of government and start pushing back. We live in a wonderful
community, township, county, province and country, but if we don’t start
focusing on reality, we will leave a legacy that is not very promising for our
future generations. We all need to speak up!
On a
positive note we will be hosting our first Town Hall meeting in Elmvale to
listen to your opinions on what is important to you and your community. The
date will be set shortly.
Contact me
at 705-728-4784 ext. 2040 or my cell at 705-718-7031 or email at bill.french@springwater.ca and follow me on twitter @MayorFrench
