An inaugural resident-led forum meant to express community concerns and find ways to engage the political system attracted about 50 residents Thursday night.
The citizens were joined by a councillor from Tiny Township at Creative Nomad Studios for the ‘Finding Our Voice’ townhall. Among the crowd was a resident wearing a 'Make Canada Great Again' hat, and another sporting an 'Action4Canada' hat.
Crime in Orillia, frustrations with city processes, concerns about ‘globalists’ — including "foreign meddling" by United Nations and other global organizations — were brought to the fore at the gathering, as well as questions from residents earnestly hoping to learn how to navigate the political system.
Organized by Gillian Purkiss and Cathy Kerr, the meeting began with a decidedly respectful nod to the city’s elected officials, and a hope to work with them to forward initiatives in the community.
“I love this town, and you know what? I'm going to fight for this town if I see something that's not quite right,” Purkiss said. “We have an amazing council. We have an amazing mayor. One thing you have to know that these people put their names forward — you didn't, and I didn't, but they did — and they got elected, and I’m very grateful.”
Sometimes, however, residents will disagree with the decisions made by council, and Purkiss said the purpose of the town hall is to give residents a voice.
“They were voted in and we need to respect that. Now sometimes we disagree, and that's where we need to have a voice,” she said. “We're here tonight to teach you how to have a voice.”
After Purkiss’ introductory remarks, Kerr raised concerns about sustainability goals, the carbon tax, UN influence on local politics here and in other municipalities.
“This is Agenda 2030’s 17 sustainable development goals,” Kerr said, holding literature up to the crowd. “It sounds good, but there's an ulterior motive to it.”
Kerr raised concerns about "land grabs" taking place in the name of sustainability, farms being bought out by multinational corporations, and the idea of the 15-minute city being used as a mechanism to surveil citizens.
Other concerns included how the UN has “infiltrated almost all municipalities in Canada,” and how the Federation of Canadian Municipalities has become an organization bent on “foreign influence.”
Kerr also spoke about how, despite her efforts, her group has been turned down to give deputations at the city council table regarding efforts to keep fluoride out of city water.
“It's a toxin — most people don't know that because it's in toothpaste and all sorts of things, but it is a toxin,” she said. “That's the good news story, and they succeeded and it's still out of Orillia.”
Kerr said the deputation related to sustainability goals, but her group was denied nonetheless.
Concerns with city crime were discussed at different points during the meeting, among a wide variety of concerns expressed, with one resident raising concerns that the city looks far different today than it did in the 1970s and 80s.
“I think the big problem is that people have become accustomed to a new normal, background petty crime, expecting to see drug addicts, panhandlers, and squatters everywhere,” the resident said.
“They don't have the incentives to fix the problem. They have an incentive to manage the problem in an open-ended way, and unless you have … tough love or something, it's just going to go on and on.”
A younger woman shared an experience she recently had with city hall, where she expressed frustration with council’s decision to provide free transit passes for Orillia’s youth, but not its seniors.
“Recently I went to city council. I wasn’t denied, they let me speak,” she said. “I just said that it's so backwards, and that we should be offering free passes to seniors.
“While they listened to me and I got my three minutes … the response I got was, and I quote, ‘Thank you. I hear it was someone's birthday this week.’ That's literally the response.”
The woman said she has since started a petition on the matter, and was applauded by town hall organizers.
“There is evidence of someone who received something and is now being a voice, and I can guarantee that we will see that seniors will be able to ride the transit for free because someone has stood up,” Purkiss said. “What she's doing is exactly what we need to be doing.”
Learning how to organize and connect with politicians was a recurring theme of the event, with some residents simply asking how to get a hold of their elected officials.
Dave Brunelle, a Tiny Township councillor, spoke to the crowd, encouraging them to follow council meetings, read agendas, reach out to council members, engage specific local committees, and even seek vacant committee positions.
Another concern brought up by residents was that city council meetings are held at 2 p.m. in Orillia, excluding those who work day jobs from attending in person — which Brunelle chalked up as an attempt to do exactly that.
“It should be how can we get as many people engaged at the meetings as possible?” he said. “That's why they have it at 2 o'clock.”
He also spoke about how there is a tension in local politics between serving residents and ‘the corporation’, with bureaucrats — city staff — geared to ensure a municipality’s corporate health, and politicians working to strike a balance between the two.
“We're kind of in that quadrant where, do we represent the people? Or do we represent a corporation? Because it's pretty hard to have two masters,” he said.
On top of the encouragement to engage in politics, one resident stressed the current state of affairs is the residents' own fault, and that it's incumbent on them to keep a watchful eye on elected officials.
"I'd love to blame Trudeau. I'd love to blame Ford, but I can't," he said. "We'd rather blame someone then take on the responsibility and say, I'm going to lead a community of people ... I'm going to be a centre of influence. That's what it's going to take, folks."
At the end of Thursday's meeting, a feedback questionnaire was circulated to attendees, as well as an email list.
