Candidate calls for city-wide blackout

NEWS RELEASES

DEREK CROWELL, WARD 1 CANDIDATE

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Derek Crowell, Ward 1 Council candidate, is proposing a “blackout period” for incumbents in the weeks leading up to future municipal elections.

Crowell says that the obvious advantage incumbents enjoy during an election campaign can be abused.

“It has been interesting to witness the amount of activity that has come out of City Hall in the last few weeks. I would suggest that more than a few of these announcements have been politically motivated.”

Crowell says a “blackout period” would level the playing field and help ensure that city resources arenʼt being abused.

Crowell would like to see a by-law enacted, similar to that of the City of Ottawa, which would restrict the activity of the mayor and council during the final weeks of an election campaign.

“A by-law like this would mean incumbents wouldnʼt be able to use City Hall as their podium in the prime campaigning period. Incumbents would be forced to campaign as their challengers do - by meeting face-to-face with their constituents.”

The City of Ottawa has expanded on the Ontario Municipal Elections Act with an “Elections-Related Resources Policy” which came into effect at midnight on August 28 and is effective up to and including voting day on October 27.

Crowell says staff that work on election campaigns should take vacation time to do so.

“The Ottawa by-law goes beyond making use of city resources and staff for campaigning prohibited, and details what types of events incumbents may attend and the types of promotion they may use. Generally, I dislike more regulation, but sometimes this is the only way to curb abuse of the system.”

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Derek Crowell, Ward 1 Council candidate, is challenging some of incumbent Steve Butlandʼs recent public statements.

“I commend Mr. Butland on his four decades of service to Sault Ste. Marie,” said Crowell “however, some planks in Mr. Butlandʼs campaign platform require examination.”

Crowell points to the Ward 1 incumbentʼs touting of Sault Ste. Marieʼs Standard & Poorʼs credit ranking.

“Mr. Butland is proud that we are rated A+, but he must know that Standard & Poorʼs has four rankings higher than A+.”

The top ranking according to S & P is AAA. Crowell elaborated further on his point.

“I have examined S & P ratings, and each Ontario municipality I found on the list had higher rankings than Sault Ste. Marie, including: Thunder Bay; Peterborough; Kingston; Windsor; Ottawa; and Toronto. We can aspire to be better.”

Crowell also questions the net financial benefit of solar and wind farms to the Sault.

“Mr. Butland is promoting that we can power a city of 500,000, but what about the 80,000 residents of Sault Ste. Marie? Ward 1 residents want to know how that correlates to our increasing utility bills.”

Crowell believes the primary beneficiaries of these projects have been the companies selling the energy.

“The majority of jobs created by these projects have been temporary. Sault Ste. Marie will happily take the construction work and tax revenue, but we shouldnʼt overemphasize the impact it has on our long-term outlook. In the televised candidates forum of October 7, Mr. Butland listed the co-generation plant as an achievement. Unfortunately, Brookfield Renewable Power had already announced that they were shutting the co-gen plant down.”

A spokesperson for the company made that decision public in a statement released on October 1.

Crowell cited several other issues on which he questions Butlandʼs decisions, including a proposed move of the Churchill branch of the public library to the John Rhodes Centre (during an “in caucus” meeting), opposition to reviews of the EDC and Innovation Centre, and the handling of drinking water and PUC Inc.

“Ward 1 residents arenʼt willing to accept an open letter and harsh words in Council Chambers as acceptable actions by their elected representatives while brown water is running from their faucets.”