To The Editor,
Thank you for your thought-provoking editorials which I read each week with interest.
In mid May you raised the question of what motivates politicians from outside our immediate area to speak at information meetings regarding Alto in Eastern Ontario. This begs the question; Why is it that our own MP, MPP and Mayor of Champlain do not show up? Is the information presented in Navan, Casselman, Chute-à-Blondeau and Bourget (plus smaller events) not relevant to them? Maybe they already have decided that they know all they need to know, and their electors are ignorant or irrelevant.
Our elected local officials referred to above are conspicuous by their absence!! Some local mayors show up regularly.
This leads directly to the June 3 editorial regarding respect for elected officials and municipal representatives. Respect is a two-way street. Consistent actions such as voting patterns, and the nature of private meetings speak louder than words or policy statements.
As electors, I think we still have a right to expect those we elected to listen to the information we receive from other knowledgeable sources, and to listen to our concern with respect. They should then be responsible for explaining why they agree or disagree, and why we should move to their point of view. When they don’t bother to show up it’s difficult to accept the request for respect! In our democratic state one opportunity amongst others to show respect is at the ballot box.
Respectfully,
Allan Simpson
