Good evening. It goes without
saying that we have a great community.
Our lifestyle is affordable, our streets are clean and our crime rate is
comparatively low. We have a lot of good
things going for us. We have much to be
thankful for.
But at the same time we have to remember that we are under financial
attack by both the Federal and provincial governments. Both senior levels of government are trying
to balance their respective budgets by dumping significant cost onto the town
of
With the Fed’s, first it was the government dock, now it is our local
Coast Guard Auxiliary boat. At the
present time Steve Sayer and his dedicated group of volunteers is trying to
raise $150,000 to buy their boat before it is sold out from under them. I believe that we have an obligation to do
what ever it takes to keep this important rescue service operational.
The provincial list is continually growing. At the last council meeting, it was revealed
the Solicitor General sent a white paper to council informing them that R.C.M.P
funding by the province was to be discontinued and that the town of Gibson’s
and in deed all other towns with population under 5,000 will be responsible for
their own policing cost. The same thing
is going to happen to regional districts and unincorporated areas. The idea is not new. It was first proposed by the NDP in
1994. They debated the idea until 1996 in
committee then abandoned the idea because they could not achieve consensus on
the issue.
Using 2001 actual dollars, this means that we will have to be pay
$93,000 times 9 constables plus office expenses, plus auxiliary staff, plus,
plus ,plus! I estimate the total to be
in the order of 1.2 to 1.5 million dollars per year or equal to the capital
funding budget for this year. In
exchange the province is offering to share 75% of the ticket revenue with the
town of
It is possible that we may receive a 30% grant from the Federal government
although there is no agreement in place to do this.
This is an initative that we must vigorously oppose and elected or not I
will take on this challenge.
Last night some of us met and discussed economic development in the town
of
There is much more I would like to talk to you about but time does not
permit. Read the financial statements
that I have given you. Call if I can
help. But most importantly on November 16 vote for Bob Jones.
Thank You