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It seems I just keep getting Tiny Township council wrong.
Earlier I had expressed the hope that council would heed our call for a referendum on its new town hall project. (A major premise of the proposed referendum is that there are far less costly and more affordable ways than the new build to improve working conditions for government officials, such as renovating the existing town hall and introducing a home/hybrid-work policy.)
Sadly, that hope proved misguided. At council’s August 7 Committee of the Whole meeting, Councillor Brunelle presented a motion for a referendum. But none of the other councillors seconded the motion, so it was stillborn – never even made it to the discussion stage.
Then I ended my August 17 letter to the editor of Midland Today on yet another hopeful note. Maybe council will eventually come to its senses and reconsider Coun. Brunelle’s motion, on the grounds that holding a referendum on an issue of such magnitude as the new build was the “reasonable and highly democratic” thing to do.
Now I learn that, unless one of the other councillors advances a similar motion – which won’t happen, since they are all dead-set against a referendum – this latter hope too is misguided.
Where does that leave us concerned Tiny residents?
It means we now have no choice but to submit a petition to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. The petition calls on the Government of Ontario to “intervene and require” Tiny Township to hold that referendum.
This petition is now being vigorously circulated, and the number of signatures is growing rapidly. Although Tiny residents are the primary target of our petition-signing drive, people residing anywhere in Ontario can sign. After all, every Ontarian has a deep and abiding interest in seeing to it that municipalities across the province practise responsible government and fiscal restraint.
If, as per the petition, Queen’s Park decides that Council must hold the proposed referendum, the force of Tiny’s example will impress upon every Ontario municipality the necessity of hewing to the same high standard of rational and democratic governance.
Circulation of the petition will end Thanksgiving Weekend on October 12. If you support holding the referendum and would like to sign the petition, you can click here for further information and direction.
Borys Kowalsky
Tiny Township
