Not going away

Signage went up giving public notice of a residential application on Bridge Street in Elora. It proposes a townhouse block with four residential units. The applicant is Elora Greens Inc. and the planner representing the firm is MHBC Planning. Public meetings will be held at a later date.

A good question was sent our way: how can Centre Wellington mayoral candidate Bronwynne Wilton represent resident interests when she must declare a conflict due to her partner’s planning firm handling the application?

As has been her custom on numerous occasions, Wilton will absent herself from conversations surrounding the project. To be crystal clear, because this is extremely important, Wilton has always acted with integrity and demonstrated the highest of ethics by declaring a conflict. This has happened dozens of times in the past term, when MHBC planning brought forward developer applications for approval.

Historically, the head of council and remaining councillors without conflict have discussed developments and come to their conclusions. This is how the system is meant to work and it allowed councillor Wilton to navigate any awkward moments with these files with relative ease. As mayor though, the awkwardness will compound.

We have noticed in recent weeks, attempts to disarm this point of concern, ranging from don’t worry about it, to some suggestion MHBC or Pierre Chauvin (Wilton’s partner) would withdraw services from clients doing business here to spare unnecessary drama. We have seen no such official commitment from the firm, and highly doubt that campaign rhetoric is legitimate. The firm, we must observe as a matter of fairness, has operated professionally and ethically beyond reproach. It is also a fact that as a partner in the firm, Chauvin, and conversely Wilton, benefit financially from work done by the firm.

This conversation isn’t about personalities or ethics – it is about reality and what this conflict means in practice.

The application at Bridge Street necessitates a severance, handled by the land division committee of the County of Wellington. The actions of that committee are eventually endorsed by county council, which includes the mayor as the primary conduit for expressing township interests. Yes, county councillors representing Centre Wellington attend council too, but they would not automatically be privy to township concerns – particularly of a political nature. Once a conflict is declared, Wilton, would be disallowed from talking to anyone about the subject.

That regulated silence seems a stiff price for residents, but it is the law. Within that context, county and township staff involved with planning matters will have to organize agendas to make the best use of time and be wary of conversations that may stray into areas of conflict. While not the end of the world, it is an inconvenience best avoided.

An inability to address all issues and all subjects seems a hard pill to swallow, but voters in the end will decide. This issue is not going away.