Thunder Bay City Council has a packed agenda this week but
among all the items there is not one mention of the crucial issue now affecting close to
3000 residents in the city – the issue of the continued plague of leaky pipes
and resulting damage to homes and businesses.
Compounding all that has been happening on this front, is that there are increasing
reports of heavier chlorine smells in city tap water. There is no point in asking your City
Councillor why that is as they have probably been advised by the City’s lawyers
not to talk about anything related to water.
So, as usual we are left having to surmise what is going on and my
educated guess is that there have been so many line breaks and repairs in the
city water system that they have upped the disinfecting of the water to prevent
potential contaminants from getting in to the water. We are fortunate that Thunder Bay's Mayor and council is not responsible for information updates on the local COVID-19 situation given their stoic reticence on issues affecting public health and welfare.
However, the City does not want to talk about water so we
will have to focus on other issues in their hefty agenda this week. Among the pressing issues on the Monday
evening agenda are: waterfront trail development, an update on protective
shields for transit drivers, and advocacy for a federal basic income program.
Of these, having the City advocate for a federal basic income program is the
one where Thunder Bay City Councillors have the most expertise. After all, Thunder Bay has been running a
basic income program for the members of Thunder Bay City Council since 1970 and
we are still evaluating the value for money of the program given the annual
spending on a mayor and twelve councilors. So I suspect that several hours will be devoted to discussing basic income and there will be many eloquent words on the need to alleviate suffering and hardship that is not related to the provision of basic municipal water and sewer infrastructure.
The more interesting item later this week will be the discussion of responses to the Grant Thorton Program Review that will be provided to council by City Administration. Unfortunately, given that Superior North EMS and the TB Fire Rescue are undergoing their own separate strategic planning processes, they are not included in the report which seems paradoxical given that it is a systematic review of the entire city’s operations. One could ask either the Mayor or the councilors about this but they have probably been advised by their lawyers not to respond.
The responses from administration have been divided into implement, further review and no further action. The most interesting items in this report are the further review because they contain some of the most contentious and larger ticket cost items and include: discontinuing private child care, moving city run Pioneer Ridge to an alternative model of care, the sale or closure of the Jumbo Gardens Community Centre, Vale Community Centre and Boulevard Lake Beach, “service adjustments” (which one suspects is adminspeak for reductions) for Chippewa Park and the Canada Games Complex, the closure of both remaining city owned golf courses and finally, water and sewer operations.
The last item in particular is understandable as still under review as there has probably been advice from lawyers to the city of Thunder Bay not to deal with any water and sewer issues publicly. Indeed, one suspects the Mayor and Council would probably be most happy if their lawyers would advise them not to discuss or answer any questions at all about anything in the program review.
The meetings tonight and later this week will feature a lot of talk and posturing but in the end little of substance will transpire in the public sessions.
