Many C-K residents are somewhat leery of Friday’s announcement that a $45 million, 500-job facility planned for Blenheim is the real deal.
The timing, a month before the municipal election, is particularly suspicious given the mayor’s history. While Mayor Hope is capable of such shenanigans, we don’t believe that to be the case this time.
There is a real NDP connection with the mayor, council candidate Dan Gelinas (who ran provincially for the party) and former MP Lorne Nystrom.
If there were political hay to be made, it would have been done in the provincial election.
As far as credit, we’ve never seen an announcement where the mayor of the day wasn’t praised but in this case economic development officials and Coun. Art Stirling deserve plenty as well.
Chatham Mazda from Chatham Voice on Vimeo.
We’ll be watching to see the real shovels go in the ground, but in the meantime, score this as a potential big win for the community.
Twelve tough questions
Our election coverage begins in this edition.
We began asking residents from across C-K their opinions several months ago. We believe we’ve asked candidates the kind of questions you might ask them if you had a chance.
Please check out this website for more information about why the candidates answered the way they did. The thought process behind the answers is as important as the outcome.
Some candidates chose not to respond. We suggest that if you’re still interested in voting for them, call and ask them the questions, or some of your own.
They missed a chance to speak to 40,000 or so Voice readers. Perhaps they will speak to you one on one.
Making a choice is important. Making an informed choice is more important.
