I would like to thank Cornwall city councillor Eric Bergeron for requesting a detailed review of the 2021 municipal budget this week. Bergeron summed up council’s primary responsibility when he said “…it is our job as councillors to represent the taxpayer during budget times.”
In 2020, council passed the budget without undertaking these deliberations. They failed to fulfill their mandate.
Bergeron tried to speak for the taxpayer again this week and was narrowly defeated in his request for transparency when the mayor cast the deciding vote against his motion.
If council and the mayor are simply going to allow administration to set the budget and are not prepared to do their due diligence in ensuring that our tax dollars are wisely spent, then what purpose do they serve?
Ian Bowering
Cornwall