To the editor,
I was sitting in a meeting last week when the District of Clearwater’s cheerful and friendly CAO, Mr. John Thomas, stopped by to greet us. Without so much as a “hello,” out of the mouth of one of the others in the room came: “What are you going to do about” a piece of road work.
The tone was loud, aggressive and demanding. Mr. Thomas made a polite response and immediately left.
I was shocked and embarrassed by the incident. Is this what those working for our community are facing? Where have civil manners gone?
Recently, I was fortunate to participate in a workshop put on by Citizens Climate Lobby. This group is dedicated to lobbying the federal government around building political will for a livable country with a focus on carbon pricing. They emphasize showing respect, admiration and gratitude to politicians for their service. Citizens Climate Lobby is driven by optimism and in 2016 provided feedback to the federal government on the Pan-Canadian Framework on Clean Growth for Climate Change.
There are numerous groups who lobby the various levels of the governments of Canada for a myriad of concerns. The folks who are able to effect change are the ones like Citizens Climate Lobby (CCL) who maintain their integrity by building relationships. They follow the rules of civil society and make appointments, state their case and listen to hear various points of view.
I apologize to Mr. Thomas for another’s rude outburst and assure him this is a civil community where people know how to approach each other with respect. Every level of government from the federal government in Ottawa to our District of Clearwater is approachable and working hard for those who elected them.
Mr. Thomas is our District of Clearwater’s employee and deserves respect and support, not rude out bursts and demands for him to “fix” roads.
Sandra Holmes
Clearwater, B.C.
newsroom@surgeryitaly.com
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