Dear Editor:
At its Dec. 18 meeting Centre Wellington council decided to opt out of allowing retail cannabis stores in the township. The issue here is one of democracy, not one of which side of the fence you sit on regarding cannabis retail stores.
Mayor Kelly Linton and councilors Steve VanLeeuwen, Bob Foster and Stephen Kitras, by voting in favour of opting out, showed a stunning complete disregard for the 64.1% majority of residents who, in an online survey that the township conducted, indicated that they were in favour of allowing cannabis retail stores.
Kirk McElwain, Ian MacRae and Neil Dunsmore are to be congratulated for representing their constituents by opposing the motion.
Linton and the councillors who voted to opt out by their actions have demonstrated a complete contempt for democracy and for the majority 64.1% of Centre Wellington voters who are in favor of cannabis retail stores. They have demonstrated that they cannot be trusted to do their duty as elected representatives of the voters.
I would like to point out that as elected representatives it is not up to them to police residents and tell them what is good for them, but to act according to the public will within the confines of social norms and the law.
Council does not have a mandate to do whatever it wants; an election is not a referendum or a plebiscite.
Democracy is not a matter of winning an election and then administering however you would like. In a democracy voters too have responsibilities, some of which are to hold elected representatives accountable for their actions, being aware, being diligent, voicing their opinions, participating and, most importantly, voting.
Let’s hope that when election time rolls around again the majority turns out to vote and that Linton, VanLeeuwen, Foster and Kitras are tossed out on their ears.
Dave Sharp,
Elora