In the wake of the Fecal-gate revelations at Petrie Island what measures are going to be taken to punish those individuals responsible for this cover-up and ensure this debacle doesn’t happen again?

In my opinion, someone needs to be held accountable for this cover up since people’s health and quality of life were put at severe risk.

Nearly one million cubic metres of raw sewage pumps into the Ottawa River and for two years this information is kept from the public and from our elected officials. This is unacceptable in an open and transparent democracy.

Moreover, this is not the first time city staff blatantly kept city council in the dark, and it likely won’t be the last. In fact, some city staff believe that city councillors are either asleep-at-the-switch or worse; impotent to stop them.

Despite some reports, this is not good news and is in fact a dark day for accountability from our local government. This is not a time for big smiles and spin, it’s a time for leadership and action. People want to know who actually runs city hall. One need only speak with their neighbours, their barber, their seat-mate on the bus or read the comments in the local papers to see that the residents of Orléans are growing more and more cynical about city hall and the quality of our representation every day.

The residents of our community want leadership they can trust, not obedience that is politically convenient. Something needs to be done to send a message, both to staff and the residents of Orléans, that our elected officials still run city hall. That message needs to be clear and decisive. Someone needs to be fired over this incident and if it is not someone from city staff now, it will be someone from city council later.

Stephen Blais
Orléans