PelhamToday received the following letter to the editor regarding Niagara Regional Chair Jim Bradley's recent 'State of the Region' presentation:
One has to wonder what world the Regional Chair lives in? I think he started off as a teacher, then moved on to the provincial parliament, then on ‘retirement’ he was anointed, rather than elected as Regional Chair. Does that make it two or three index linked pensions he can count on for the rest of his life? And all ‘funded’ by the taxpayer.
A pretty good place to feel resilient from, and to claim how successful Niagara Region is doing ‘under his watch.’
There are many taxpayers finding it increasingly difficult to survive economically, ‘under his watch’, who receive not a scrap of help from the Region, but still have to pay these ever-increasing taxes and pay for food, gas and heating costs that show no signs of being cut.
1. How much of the $2.8m development investment was subsidized by the taxpayer?
2. Of that net gain of $5b will any of it go towards lowering our taxes?
3. Of the 222,000 people employed, how many of them are in the public sector, so directly paid for by the taxpayers?
4. If the agricultural sector is a ‘powerhouse’, and with serious concerns about the loss of agricultural land, why are planners still recommending new developments on agricultural lands?
5. Twenty industrial investments...generated $500 million in capital investment and 1,200 jobs? Is that truly a serious increase in new employment?
And finally, he claims that federal and provincial governments should do more to help? Does he not understand that they do exactly the same as he does and spend only more of our tax dollars?
Andrew Watts
Wainfleet
