Greater Sudbury mayoral candidate Bill Crumplin says he's heard from a lot of residents in outlying areas of the city who are still resentful of amalgamation, almost 20 years after it was implemented by the province.
He's also hearing from residents that they feel city hall isn't as transparent as it could be.
Crumplin proposes bringing every third regular council meeting out to the outlying areas of the city.
He also suggests real-time translation services so that everyone will be able to understand what's going on at meetings, whether the presenter is speaking in French or English.
“These actions, once council approves and implements them, will illustrate that we are committed to making the governance of our city more open, transparent and inclusive,” he said.
Full text of Crumplin's news release can be found below:
Media Release: Open, Transparent and Inclusive Governance
As the election campaign is winding down, mayoral candidate Bill Crumplin wishes to emphasize some common issues that have come up for discussion when he has chatted with voters from across the city.
One such set of related issues concerns the perceptions of many voters that previous Councils do not operate in open, transparent or inclusive ways.
According to Crumplin, “Many of the people I have chatted with, while canvassing in several parts of the City, feel that previous Councils have been lacking in areas of openness, transparency and inclusiveness.”
He goes on to say that, “This is particularly the case when I am speaking to people who live in the communities that were amalgamated by the Province in 2001.”
As we know, there is still much dissatisfaction about amalgamation nearly 20 years after the fact. This was a Provincial decision that was imposed upon many communities across the province and not just those that presently make up the City of Greater Sudbury.
Crumplin referring to his platform points out that he has several ideas that he would work with Council to implement that would address this gap.
First, Crumplin would work with Council and senior management to schedule Council meetings to occur on a rotating basis throughout the City of Greater Sudbury.
“Perhaps, every third regular Council meeting or so, would be held in each of the outlying areas. Council and senior management would travel to these meetings. This would allow for all Councillors and senior management to see and learn first-hand what is happening in the parts of the City that they may not otherwise visit or know.
Says Crumplin, “I think it’s important Council connects with all parts of our city, after all when Counillors vote they are impacting the whole city.
Secondly and especially in areas where French is the common language, Crumplin says he will, “investigate implementing real-time translation services so that councillors, staff, management, citizens and interest groups may be able to speak in either French or English.”
He goes on to say that, “I see no reason why we could not offer this real-time translation for any Council meeting. Councillors, staff and management whose first language is French could choose to communicate in a language of their choice. Council would have technology available that would allow them to listen in either French or English.”
Concluding, Crumplin feels, “these actions, once Council approves and implements them, will illustrate that we are committed to making the governance of our City more open, transparent and inclusive.”
He goes on to say that, “I think these actions are tangible steps toward building a more inclusive and respectful communication policy that will serve to help everyone feel that their voice is not only heard, but that it matters.”
For more information on Crumplin's candidacy, visit his Sudbury.com election page.
