Dear Editor,
Having read the letter by Rick Bradshaw in last week’s paper (https://theequity.ca/waste-committee-wasted/), I need to respond. He has made many untrue statements about the performances of myself as warden and our newly-hired waste management coordinator. To criticize the warden, an elected person, is one thing, but to malign one of our members of the MRC staff is completely unacceptable. His thoughtless comments are damaging and further illustrate that this committee has outlived its usefulness. If anyone has concerns about our staff, they are to be privately addressed with our DG Kim Lesage or myself, not written in a public rant. In my opinion, there will need to be consequences.
Our waste coordinator has had vast experience in many municipalities in Ontario and Quebec. She has the ability to mobilize our reduction to landfill, which is exactly what we need.
Another great concern is that confidential information about the committee’s future came from our in-camera plenary meeting. This is totally unacceptable and will be addressed.
The waste management committee was created in 2021 by myself to provide an opportunity for our MRC staff to engage with all 18 municipalities at the same time. It was a temporary working group with no official MRC status or responsibilities of reporting. The mandate was to determine where each of the municipalities was with respect to either door-to-door services or use of transfer stations. These meetings also allowed us to discuss streams of recycling, composting and reduction while revising our Residual Materials Management Plan (PGMR) and exchanging best practices in each of the municipalities.
Bradshaw’s criticism of the committee being chaired by a non-elected person is irrelevant as many of our working committees are chaired by capable staff.
The members were the municipal councillors assigned to the waste file. The necessary information has been obtained, and at the mentioned plenary meeting it was suggested that the committee had fulfilled its purpose. We need to follow our provincial guidelines and requirements though our PGMR, our staff is already working with the municipal DG’s and the Council of Mayors.
Compared to other rural MRC’s, we have a lot of catching up to do. Fortunately, through the EEQ and other programs, there are incentives which will help cover the costs of collection.
On another note, but related, we have learned that since 2021, 8,000 elected people in the province of Quebec have stepped down. The reason was mainly because they could no longer withstand the harassment and abuse from the public directed at themselves and their families. As a result, Municipal Affairs is equipping us with new procedures for council sittings as well as fines for abuse and harassment, including on social media.
Next year is an election year. It is my hope that many residents will come forward to run. Everyone who chooses to get involved deserves public respect because it takes courage to place your name on a ballot. It has been an honour to have served seven years as Pontiac’s first elected warden and it is my calling to serve the people of the Pontiac.
A letter to the editor should not need to publicly damage others. There needs to be more thought given before printing because of the consequences. A letter can constructively state opinions without targeting others and putting them down. It is not how we are going to revitalize the Pontiac and move forward. No one has the right to destroy another person’s good name.
Let’s treat other people the way we want to be treated.
Jane Toller, Warden MRC Pontiac
