The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
By Jonathon Naylor In a world where politicians are often reluctant to speak their minds for fear of offending voters, Colleen McKee's bluntness is admirable. The second-term Flin Flon city councillor is unimpressed with the costly orders coming down from the Manitoba government. The province has the power to force the city to spend virtually any amount of money for virtually any reason it can dream up, and has zero qualms about exercising this authority. As Coun. McKee put it at last week's council meeting, the city is 'mandated to do these things, we end up doing them, we end up paying for them and we just take it on the chin.' She spoke for many Flin Flon taxpayers when she added: 'I'm tired of taking it on the chin.' Coun. McKee wants council to fight with more vigour against government mandates that are fast depleting the city's fiscal capacity and adding to its mountain of debt. 'I think that we have to get mad, I think that we have to start screaming a little louder,' she said. Amen to that. Unless council is prepared to push back against some of these mandates, the financial outlook at City Hall will only get worse. We simply cannot afford another $1-million bridge, such as we received on Wallace Ave. due to some seemingly obscure federal regulations. Nor can we afford a giant $200,000 scale at the landfill, something the provincial NDP is still pushing for, so we can weigh our garbage and dutifully report back to our masters in Winnipeg. Many residents have made the case that we couldn't really afford the new provincially mandated water treatment plant, either. Coun. McKee obviously thinks our drinking water is fine the way it is, as she was the lone councillor to vote against building the treatment plant. That vote showed she is willing to put our money where her mouth is. She is ready to stand up to a government that at times seems like it wants to bleed the city dry. It is not clear what would have happened had all of council followed Coun. McKee's lead and refused to build the treatment plant. Would the province fine City Hall? Or be more motivated to contribute additional dollars to a project it forced on the municipality? Whether Flin Flon really needed a new water treatment plant is a source of some debate within the community. Some saw no issue with our water, while others prefer to heed the advice of experts who say it required a more advanced system of treatment. I side with the latter group, but commend Coun. McKee for taking a stand nevertheless. Let's hope she and her colleagues will keep up the fight against dubious mandates such as garbage scales and seven-figure bridges. Every time we are forced to pay for something we don't really need, we lose some ability to meet the true needs of our community. * * * Be sure to get out this weekend and enjoy the Trout Festival! Organizers have logged untold hours to once again assemble this beloved summer tradition. They deserve our support. Local Angle runs Fridays.
