Collingwood council sidetracked by petty bickering

Collingwood Connection

The election signs may have been put away three months ago, but the actions of Collingwood’s councillors haven’t shown they’re willing to work as a team – as they’ve been elected to do.

For a group of people who spoke about vision, plans, roadmaps and strategies leading up to the Oct. 27 municipal election, Jan. 19 council meeting’s showcase of grandstanding and soapboxing was anything but.

Instead, it continued a troubling trend in Collingwood of councils rehashing and changing decisions of their predecessors, of the winners attempting to re-write history, or to score cheap political points.

That night, council voted to receive a report from the integrity commissioner, a report that was defeated by the previous council. The person at the centre of the report (former Dep. Mayor Rick Lloyd) is no longer on council, and commissioner Robert Swayze didn’t recommend any sanctions.

Coun. Mike Edwards, who voted in favour of receiving Swayze’s report, stated he was disappointed the report was coming back to the table after the previous council put the matter to bed.

During the same discussion, Coun. Kevin Lloyd lobbed a loaded question at his colleagues.

Lloyd, who took issue with Swayze’s process when it was presented to the previous council last October, said councillors needed to “search their souls,” and suggested someone around the table may have had a connection to the integrity commissioner.

He presented no proof and didn’t mention anyone by name. We contacted each member of council and asked if they had a relationship with Swayze. Each answered no. (See story on page 5.)

Without any proof, to level a statement rife with innuendo for the sake of troublemaking in a public forum is inappropriate.

During a later discussion on a motion by Dep. Mayor Brian Saunderson asking staff to look at the feasibility of implementing a lobbyist registry for the municipality, Lloyd waved a seven-year-old report done by staff at the deputy mayor and asked if he’d read it.

The professional response would have been for Lloyd to have shown the deputy mayor the report in advance of the council meeting and outside of a public forum, having been given two months’ notice of Saunderson’s motions coming forward. Instead, he tried catching Saunderson off guard while the camera was rolling. Instead of belabouring the past, council needs to focus on the future by starting work on the strategic plan, the budget, and a strategic financial plan.

It’s time for certain council members to grow up, work together, and start dealing with these important issues.

The taxpayers deserve better.