Dear Editor,
I agree with certain elements of Warden Toller’s recent letter to the editor (published Oct. 1) such as the need for regional visioning, unity building, transparency, and collaboration but have seen no concrete evidence that she has given these priorities serious consideration during her tenure as warden. As for her self-proclaimed openness to constructive feedback, I have attempted to engage with her over the last several years in support of advancing several transformative change concepts only to be thwarted or ignored. I would place my related ideas into five categories as outlined below.
A think tank to support shifting economic development towards sustainable and community-oriented initiatives. For example, Conservation Economy and community forestry blueprints have been marketed in the region for over a decade and have the potential to generate at least five times more wealth from the land, leave most of this wealth at the community level, protect and possibly rebuild regional ecological integrity, and maximize local employment.
A procedural mechanism for regional mayors to follow, as required by law, along the lines of the Morin Code or Roberts Rules of Order. This would help manage leadership conduct, guide a collective visioning process, and help clarify the relationship between the warden and mayors as well as the role of mayors at the local versus regional levels.
Administrative procedures so that MRC employees feel safe and have defined roles. This will also serve to build a needed firewall between administrative duties and undue political influence.
A regional process to build a clear, two-way relationship between political leaders and citizens. It would include a public education program that follows Quebec’s legal and ethical standards. This process would give people a formal way to take part in local decisions and encourage open, respectful discussions, without penalizing anyone for being frustrated because they feel unheard.
A collective vision development process that would guide the above four initiatives so that the region may neutralize elevating economic, environmental, social and cultural tensions that are undermining regional unity and collaboration as well as the Canadian constitutional tenets of egalitarianism, participatory democracy and multiculturalism and the underlying Quebec Civil Code tenets of humanitarianism, civil duty and moral conduct.
I am now convinced that the above initiatives need to be advanced for the people, by the people, as a precursor to leadership buy-in. I will be giving further thought in the coming months on how best to proceed with this transformative agenda and my only preoccupation at this point is finding ways to ensure if possible that the process would be supported by the incoming warden.
