MAYBE, JUST MAYBE WE HAVE A MUCH BETTER REGIONAL COUNCIL???

 Egad but I'm hardly able to say this. Is it possible that democracy sometimes works? There were many incumbents who did not run (Thank God) in the last municipal election. That opened the doors for newcomers. Newcomers who haven't yet been tainted or disillusioned by the realities of either the Old Boys Network or the simple fact of perks being available to those who follow orders. Orders having little or nothing to do with democracy or the public interest.

Municipal Councils changed in Cambridge, Woolwich and Wellesley to name but a few. Some of those changes have also affected Waterloo Regional Council as (new) Mayors at the Municipal level are also Regional Council members. Lots of dead wood has been replaced although many of the stalwarts are still present regionally. Interesting how many of them all voted together as a group in support of the greatly expanded police budget. This included S. Shantz, K. Redman, M. Harris, B. Vrbanovic, J. Nowak, J. Erb . New regional councillor but former Cambridge Mayor Doug Craig voted with this group. 

Yesterday's Waterloo Region Record had an excellent story about these issues written by Luisa D"Amato. She highlighted many of the new regional councillors and their backgrounds. Most of them voted against the proposed increased police budget. This is at a time when most of the rest of the world have learned and understood the failures of policing in North America and perhaps further afield as well. These councillors included Chantal Huinink, Colleen James, Dorothy McCabe, Kari Williams, Natasha Solenon . They were joined by Sue Foxton and the mover of the Motion (not to accept the budget), Rob Deutschmann .

Whether it was the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement or the never ending assaults and murders of coloured Americans by the Police or just plain discrimination against female police officers and misogyny by our local Waterloo Regional Police; the public have listened and learned. Apparently our old fashioned and or biased politicians have not. It's business as usual and full steam ahead with the status quo. To hell with the growing chorus of legitimate complaints.