FORMOSA – South Bruce mayoral candidates Robert Buckle, Rita Groen and Mark Goetz fielded questions from ratepayers and community organizations who submitted question cards in at an all-candidates-meeting last week.
This meeting was held in Formosa on Oct. 5, and two others are scheduled – one in Teeswater on Thursday, Oct. 13 and the other in Mildmay on Friday, Oct. 14.
Protect Our Waterways, the host of the meeting in Formosa, asked the first question of the mayoral candidates. The question was about the Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) and its proposed deep geological repository (DGR); more specifically, whose shoulders does the decision ultimately fall on in regards to defining a “willing host,” and an “informed community.”
Mayor incumbent Robert Buckle began, saying, “It’s my understanding, and what the NWMO keeps putting out, that they will only come here if we vote as a willing host to host this project.
“I will do everything within my power that if we vote against it that I will oppose it, very, very strongly. And another thing, if there is not enough people that show up to make this referendum binding and then it goes to council, I will definitely look at to see what the percentage of the people that voted, whether they voted yes or no, and base my decision on there.”
Mayor candidate Mark Goetz said, “As Mayor Buckle has said, it does go to the NWMO, we decide when we have our referendum and if there’s not enough to qualify for the referendum then it does go back to council. That’s a fact, and council has to decide.”
Rita Groen, a newcomer in the mayor’s race, said, “We should have had, with this election, the referendum. It’s pushed off because it is proven that if there’s not an election it’s really hard to get 50 plus one per cent out. So, that was strategy from this council, but it’s not happening, so I want a referendum in 2023.”
Groen said that if the referendum favours the DGR coming to South Bruce, then she will respect that decision.
“Legally, council decides…in the end; it’s the majority of residents who come out for voting day,” she said.
Community group Willing to Listen asked the second question: “Over the last two years we’ve all seen and heard of many instances of disrespectful, bullying like behaviours occurring due to differences of opinion regarding the DGR, some of those people are on stage right now. My question to you, as mayoral candidates is if elected how will you fairly represent ratepayers and work with the councillors whose opinions or decisions are not in agreement with your own personal views.”
Goetz answered first.
“So that happens all the time,” he said. “That’s the beauty of council. Everybody has a vote, it doesn’t always go your way. We’ve worked through it on a number of topics and sure, you’re going to see that and continue to see that going forward. So, a good council will work together at the end of the day accept the fact that the majority rules and that’s the end of the discussion. But the debate needs to take place in the council chambers, not on the street corners, not in the coffee shops, it needs to take place in the council chambers in front of all council members, so that every council member has an equal say.”
Groen said, “It is true that I ask hard questions and I want real answers. I’m a straight shooter, that’s probably not a surprise for anybody, anymore. If I’m elected as mayor, I will respect the majority. I think we didn’t listen to residents… in this term we lost the ability to engage with residents and a large part of the residents felt left out, and that’s given bad feelings. I will go with what the majority says and I will listen to the residents. We are voted in by the residents and that must be our goal, that we don’t forget that.”
Buckle answered, “In the last eight years, I find it very disturbing when a councillor is sitting at the table and speaks up and votes for their own personal, financial interest and not the betterment of the community. But when council votes and something is passed, I support that. And because the mayor is the spokesperson for council…it is council that runs the municipality, not the mayor.”
Questions from the audience were sorted by subject and reduced to one question per related subject.
Martin Johnston asked, “As a business owner, I would like to know your strategy to attract business to this municipality.”
Groen answered first.
“To get business to this municipality, we have to cut the red tape, have a welcoming package, even have a welcoming committee. We need affordable housing; if we don’t have affordable housing, how do we attract people? Keep our taxes low; all the inflation happening now, every penny we have to twist. We have to look at our expenses; we are tight on money for probably a couple of years,” she said.
Buckle said attracting business will require investment.
“To attract businesses…we have to bite the bullet, I know it costs money but build up our infrastructure and update it and so forth,” he said. “One thing, we are going to spend $10 million dollars on a sewage treatment plant to support Gay Lea, Kinetrics, the Formosa Brewery and to try to entice another business or businesses to come here…$8 million of that is coming from the government, and NWMO and so forth and the other $2 million, we have applied to the Green Fund and a loan over 20 years so the people of the future won’t have to pay for it, because this is a paid service, it doesn’t go on everybody’s tax bills. So, we have to get these things in order for companies to grow.”
Goetz said it will be a combination of having the right infrastructure and low taxes.
“We not only have to have the infrastructure in place to support the growth, we also have to keep our taxes low. There’s nothing that will turn a business away from a community more than higher taxes,” he said. “So, focus on economic development…cut red tape, we shouldn’t be cutting throats though. When a business wants to locate to this community, we should be working with them, giving them every opportunity to show us what they’re made of. Not cutting them short, because I’ll tell you, other businesses are watching and if we do this to this business, why would anybody else locate to our community?”
The housing shortage was the next subject that the candidates tackled. Buckle said that it’s not just a Bruce County problem, it’s an problem everywhere, and the federal and provincial governments should be providing more funds to help lower tiers to fix the problem.
“One thing that had me quite alarmed,” Buckle said, “is the real cheap interest rates. It has drove the price of houses and everything up so high, so it makes you wonder, if interest rates were where they should be, would we have this shortage now? If anybody has the perfect answer, I sure would like to hear it because we’re all dealing with it. That’s the best answer I can give.”
Goetz reiterated what Buckle said, adding that more pressure needs to be put on upper-tier government for funding. Goetz also said that second homes on existing properties are currently an approved opportunity for some landowners.
“It’s a move in the right direction, but we still have to entice those people to build a secondary home,” said Goetz. “All we can do is continue to work closely with the province and make sure that we have a strong voice to drive the message of what’s going on in South Bruce.”
Groen said, “I think we need more affordable housing that young people can afford, but then we have to make sure we have enough middle and high-end houses that we can get streaming through the cycle. We have to get creative with housing, maybe you can have an apartment above your garage or an addition on your house.”
She went on to say making sure that land is ready for new subdivisions and that all of the infrastructure is in place for when people are prepared to build a house there.
Mayoral candidates were also asked about plans to entice young people to come back to South Bruce instead of staying in the city after school.
Goetz said this was one of the top priorities discussed when the talks with the NWMO began.
“Not just the DGR but the spin-offs from the DGR, the trades, our local businesses, the revitalization of our main streets, opportunities for young people to start a business,” he said. “I go back to what I said earlier – a referendum, yes, but not too quick. These are all opportunities that aren’t going to stare us in the face again of this magnitude. So, let’s be careful about this; let’s make an informed decision.”
Groen pointed out that some people are being driven away because of the proposed DGR and the lack of a decision, which could be easily fixed with the referendum.
Buckle agreed with Goetz that the money from the NWMO is providing much-needed funds to the local schools, without which South Bruce would have no future.
Most of the questions asked were regarding the effects of the NWMO and the DGR on the community, how council will work with the NWMO to grow the community, and commitments from the NWMO to get the community what they want.
The entire meeting can be viewed online at https://vimeo.com/758044328.
