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An
open letter to the residents of Orléans regarding comments made by Coun. Bob Monette From
Fred Sherwn
Re: Orleans Star article entitled "Councillor Monette
on Canada Day" After
reading the recent article in the July 16 edition of the Orleans Star in
which Mr. Monette tries to explain why he failed to attend this year’s Canada
Day festivities at Petrie Island, I feel compelled to respond. First
of all, I am extremely disappointed that the Star did not run a correction or
an apology to the Greater Orléans Canada Day organizing committee for falsely
assuming in the July 9th edition of the paper that Mr. Monette wasn’t invited
to the event because I am running against him in this year’s municipal election
when, in fact, he was invited multiple times. Unfortunately, the author never
bothered to ask either myself or another member of the organizing committe why
Mr. Monette was not present at the opening ceremony. In
last week’s article, Mr. Monette claimed that he did not contribute to this
year’s Canada Day event because it had become “ too political in the
past”. That’s interesting considering that he has been an enthusiastic
supporter of the event since first getting elected to council in 2005. He and
the other three east end councillors traditionally contribute $1,000 to the event
out of their office budgets which are generally used to support various community
initiatives. He was the only one who declined to do so this year. He
says the event has become too political, yet he tried to turn the Carivibe event
into the Bob Monette show. As for my own participation in the event, I saw it
as a perfect opportunity to promote the Dapo Agoro Foundation for Peace. I
have been a friend of the Agoro family ever since their son was tragically stabbed
to death while trying to break up a fight in 2002. Together we felt the Carivibe
parade offered a tremendous opportunity to promote Dapo Day which is being held
on Aug. 28. I
rode on the float with Mrs. Agoro, her daughter Moji and several young children.
The float had two signs and a banner promoting the Dapo Fun Day on it, as well
as two large signs promoting the Canada Day event on Petrie Island. Mrs.
Agoro and Moji both came to the parade wearing election t-shirts which they received
when they attended my campaign kick-off in June. There was one other person who
was wearing a campaign T-shirt, which was their prerogative. I wore a plain short
sleeve shirt with no markings on it. For
Mr. Monette to infer that my participation in the Carivibe parade was purely for
political reasons is an insult to the Agoro family and the wonderful work being
done by the Dapo Agoro Foundation for Peace which received a great deal of exposure
that day. Furthermore,
I tried to offer my services to the organizers of Carivibe, having organized the
Canada Day event on Petrie Island the past six years, but I was respectfully turned
down because they feared it might “upset” the local councillor. Mr.
Monette’s hypocritical statements are unbecoming of a person in his position.
The councillor’s office budget belongs to the residents of Orléans.
It is supposed to be used in a non-partisan fashion to support community initiatives
such as the Greater Orléans Canada Day Celebration. The councillor made
a conscious decision not to support the event even though it attracts thousands
of residents living in the ward. His decision was purely partisan. Interestingly
enough, within a week of the Canada Day event Mr. Monette distributed thousands
of full-colour glossy flyers explaining why he supported Lansdowne Live at a cost
well in excess of the $1,000 it would have cost to sponsor the Canada Day event. The
fact that he would celebrate Canada Day in Toronto rather than in his ward among
his constituents speaks volumes. Thankfully, there are people like Rainer Bloess,
Rob Jellett and Michel Bellemare who put their community ahead of petty politics. Sincerely,
Fred
Sherwin Return
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