Re open letter to Mayor Bev Buckway and city council:
It is truly amazing to discover you and all but one councillor can now find $1.6 million to, yet again, bail out another recreational facility when you could not find even a penny to keep taxes stable following several years of progressive increases. (Hmm, let’s see É free fed money to play with two months ago, right around tax-debate time?)
Also your reasoning for raising our utilities by seven per cent this year and, from what I understand, the same proposed amount next year was your preference to transfer the Pioneer Utility Grant away from general taxation. You rationalized not all taxpayers could access this grant and, thus, the old policy was discriminatory. But by “smoke and mirrors,” you simply wanted to secure another $500,000 per year in your general revenue kitty to appease your administrative doctors.
Will you please provide us with the information you gathered to support that all Whitehorse taxpayers and citizens are financially or physically able to access the recreational facility you are subsidizing, yet again, with a social agency grant from general revenues.
Congratulations to Betty Irwin for being the only councillor sincere enough to see through the hypocrisy and nepotism that is going on.
Roger Rondeau
Utilities Consumers’ Group