MUNICIPAL CANDIDATES NEED TO UNDERSTAND JOB LIMITS

I read with interest a roundup of Cape Breton Regional Municipality candidates running in District 1 (Cape Breton Post, Sept. 28). Although I do not reside in this district, I like to learn what all the candidates would bring to the table if elected.

As I read through the candidates thoughts on key challenges facing the community or region, Danny Laffin’s response to this gave me pause. He states that one of the biggest challenges facing communities is a shortage of doctors. While he is correct in saying this, municipal politics have absolutely nothing to do with how doctors are recruited.

Groups such as Capers For Healthcare have been working very hard to make sure that the provincial government is hearing what we are all saying in response to the health-care crisis. As an organizer of the group, I have always been open to ideas from our communities as to how we can better attract and retain doctors to our province. We have held many rallies, attended meetings, gave suggestions and opinions, spoke out openly and tried as best we could to make sure that the government agency responsible for health care was held accountable, and were more transparent then they would have liked.

I wonder if candidate Laffin realizes that the provincial government is responsible for health care? I know he ran for an MLA spot in his district so he must know what branch of government is responsible.

We are all worried about health care. I bet if you asked any voter who lives in Nova Scotia what one of their main concerns is, the answer would be sustainable health care. I think it is misleading to the public to say he would be able to have any say or control over doctor recruitment if elected as a councillor. It is playing on something that is a vulnerability to everybody in the municipality. In fact, most of the things Laffin listed in his agenda such as child poverty, education, addiction and infrastructure are, for the most part, provincial issues.

If Laffin truly wanted to help with the health care crisis, then maybe he could have come to a rally when we had them and spoken up. Maybe he should have come to some of the meetings we attended and stood up and called out our provincial politicians. Making people feel he is standing up for issues that he will have no control over is unfair.

I am sure that the people who are in the position in which he is hoping to stand would love to have had the ability to have a say in physician recruitment, but it is not the job of our councillors. While they do play an extremely important role, I think the people running should have a good understanding of exactly what the role entails. That way they can work with the community to become stronger on issues that they DO have control over. It makes for a better municipality all around.

All the best to everyone running, but make sure you know what the job you’re are running for actually entails.

Rebecca Anthony

Westmount