Election day is Thursday and I am encouraging everyone to vote, if you haven’t already. History’s great thinkers say we get the government we deserve, so use your ‘x’ wisely. You want a fair tax solution. You want council to work collaboratively, respectfully and transparently. You want good roads and infrastructure to serve existing residents […]
Our current wards do not allow for ratepayers to be fairly represented and may even contravene the Municipal Act. Win or lose on Thursday, I challenge council to correct the imbalance between population and council seats. Provincial regulations specify that wards within a municipality should contain roughly the same number of voters. This gives equal […]
As we chatted in his garage, a young voter asked how I plan to succeed as a councillor representing rural interests in Oakland-Wawanesa, when other capable people before me have struggled. This was an important question from someone who has lived his entire life in our municipality, representing a family with a long, long history […]
A new national survey shows farmland values in the Westman area increased 4% in 2018, which means farmers in Oakland-Wawanesa should expect more property tax pain. Farm Credit Canada (FCC) issued its annual Farmland Values Report on Monday, showing the average price per acre in southwest Manitoba is $2,641, although some sold in 2018 for […]
Since 2015, Oakland-Wawanesa council has repeatedly dismissed calls to fix the budget imbalance in which Oakland pays disproportionately more than Wawanesa for shared services. With another municipal budget expected to be approved on May 2, I want to recap council’s unwillingness to find a fair tax solution: August 2015. Council muzzles rural councillor Dennis Rome […]
During the April 15 public meeting in Nesbitt, I formally asked council to delay passage of the 2019 budget until new councillors are elected to replace Dennis Rome and Barry Fowell, who resigned in March. The unexpected departures give Wawanesa council members a 3-2 voting edge over the remaining rural councillors and seriously undercut Oakland’s […]
I am campaigning for election in Ward Two – Rural North and ask for your vote on June 20. Although we just elected a new council last October, two rural councillors unexpectedly resigned in March. That’s forced by-elections in Ward Two and Ward Three – Rural South. I encourage you to read the resignation letters […]