Editor,
It was October 31 and the closing day my Climate Action Art Show/Caryncolman4mayor Campaign Headquarters. To my surprise, streams of visitors were coming through the space. Children, big open hopeful unfiltered faces, embodying ghosts, witches, grim reapers, and princesses. Why they chose to embody good or bad, scary or nice, misery or joy is a question worth examining. Does it tell us something about the kind of person a child might become? In my youth I always chose witch/scary, because I understood it gave me permission to act out of the ordinary, to evoke a reaction. In hindsight, I can speculate it was formative to my activism nature.
On the cusp of Halloween, we have a new Council. Will they be good or bad, sweet or sour, true or false, honourable or disrespectful? During the candidacy race, as revealed in the survey by Ontario Clean Air Alliance, six people officially declared opposition to TCEnergy’s open looped Ontario Pumped Storage Project. The election results tell an even stronger story. Out of 22,591 votes cast, 17,395 were for candidates opposing TCEnergy, vs 5,196 for candidates known to favour TCEnergy. The mayor elect (pro TCEnergy) won by a mere 285 votes. The math speaks. It’s a victory of the people. Meaford is not a willing host.
The new Mayor is a very capable person who has my respect. She must know her win was a narrow one. The question worth examining is will she represent the people in the democratic way we deserve? Or is it trick or treat for another four years with TCEnergy?
Caryn Colman, Meaford
