ward3brighton.ca

I’ve been on vacation so I haven’t paid much attention to news of any kind. I only became aware of the brouhaha over the non-release of the report from the ad-hoc committee studying the issue of cosmetic pesticides when my inbox began filling up quickly with angry emails. Apparently, some of the news reports were using none-too-suptle words like “secret” and “bury” to describe what council intended to do with the report. This is not true. What occurred when the report was presented last week to the Committee of the Whole Council (i.e. everyone on council and the Mayor) was a disagreement on process. It was felt by many on council that the correct process would have been for the ad-hoc committee to present their findings to the standing committee responsible for the issue — the Water, Sewer and Environment Committee chaired by Councillor David MacDonald.

Personally, I decided it was appropriate to allow the report to be reviewed and discussed by the Environment Committee before releasing the document publicly. But I was very clear with the rest of council that I believed the report should be released immediately upon review by the Environment Committee. I did not sense any consensus amongst councillors that the report should be kept confidential, as was apparently reported.
I have heard that media reports later in the day yesterday did a better job of explaining the process that council intends to follow. This would also explain why the river of emails I was receiving from concerned residents of the city trickled off this morning. In any case, someone has already released the report and the main recommendations are now publicly known. Council will now start the process of making a decision on those recommendations.