May 26 - Local News + Another Call for Municipal Transparency

Plus: Grey-Bruce grieves the loss of four Walkerton District Community School Students and their teacher/coach, Matt Eckert

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Sun setting behind the Owen Sound grain elevators. Photo: Robert Mackey

We begin this week with heartfelt condolences for all grieving the tragic loss of four Walkerton students and their teacher and coach, Matt Eckert.

Scott Miller at CTV News has shared everything we know so far, as well as valuable community perspectives. We link to his coverage below.

I’d also like to add some important information shared by Jackie Ralph from the Canadian Mental Health Association:

“Access to resources in these moments is critical to our well-being. In these moments, we look for the helpers — and there are so many.

Stats show that in moments of deep, indescribable, large-scale community tragedies, the number of calls to Kids Help Phone can soar by 350%.

But they are built for this! They have been helping young people through loss and grief and sadness and inexplicable situations for over 30 years.

You can reach them by phone at 1-800-668-6868, by text at 686868, or by online chat on kidshelpphone.ca after 7pm to midnight.

Victim Services is another incredible resource: 1-866-376-9852.

There is also the new 9-8-8 cross-Canada Crisis Line that has helped over 350,000 people since it opened over a year ago. You can call or text them.

No one should ever have to manage their worst day by themselves. There are so many helps that you can reach out to for yourself or someone you know.”

Please share these resources where you think they may be helpful, and do not hesitate to reach out yourself if you’ve been impacted by this terrible loss.

Politics & Local Leadership

Last week, we asked readers: With all of the consultation and surveys happening, do you feel heard by your municipal government?

Just over half (54%) of you haven’t seen improvements and said the City incorporates public feedback about the same or less than before.

A fair portion—36%—really aren’t sure, indicating that if the City is using public feedback in meaningful ways, they could do a better job of communicating how.

Just 10% feel the City has improved in this regard during this council term, which is more than halfway through.

Alongside that survey, we mentioned that we were waiting on a finalized fee estimate from the City for our latest FOI request. Specifically, we’ve asked for emailed communications between the City Council, staff, and their Vision 2050 consultant from the last six months, given that we’re midway through 2025 and the final report has not yet been delivered.

Strategic planning is essential for municipal government. It aligns limited resources with community priorities and enables informed decision-making that supports sustainable growth and long-term public well-being.

Municipalities around us — towns that have far outpaced Owen Sound in growth in recent years, like Saugeen Shores and Collingwood — manage to bring together cohesive, comprehensive strategic plans every four years to guide their Councils’ decisions.

We have a duty to ask questions when Owen Sound cannot complete this process in-house, cannot achieve it on a set timeline with a firm budget, and continues executing on plans made 10 to 25 years ago.

Here is the City of Owen Sound’s estimate for the six months of emails we requested for enlightenment into this Vision 2050 process:

Needless to say, we will not be paying the City of Owen Sound $7,587.50 to review 14,116 pages of their emails (how is this volume even possible?) that might be relevant to determine which ones are specific to our request for:

1. All email correspondence between the Vision 2050 consultant, and their representatives, and City of Owen Sound staff and elected councillors, between November 10, 2024, and May 7, 2025 — regardless of subject matter.

2. Staff and elected council emails from November 10, 2024, to May 7, 2025, relating specifically to: The allocation of the $100,000 earmarked for the Vision 2050 project in 2025; The final report and any other outstanding tasks or elements of the consultant’s contract for Vision 2050 strategic planning.

We’re told the next step available to us is to complete a written request for a fee waiver that may be approved “if, in the City’s opinion, it is fair and equitable to do so, in certain circumstances.”

We are not informed what those circumstances are, or what fair and equitable might mean to the City. But we have been asked to submit written evidence in support of this request.

And this is where we come to your part, Owen Sounders.

If you also want greater transparency into this strategic planning process that has, so far, been allocated $180,000 in budget and taken over 18 months and thousands of emails and hours of staff time, drop us a line.

You can email your comments to owensoundcurrenteditor@gmail.com or simply reply to this email. Remember to include your name and the municipality you live in.

Public Notices

• Owen Sound City Council meets on Monday, May 26, at 5:30 p.m. in Council Chambers at City Hall. Their agenda includes a request to convene a downtown safety meeting, a renaming proposal for Ryerson Park, updates to 2025 fees and charges, a public committee vacancy, and infrastructure contracts for road and recreation centre repairs. See more here.

• City of Owen Sound’s Committee of Adjustment meets at 3:00 p.m. on Tuesday, May 27, in Council Chambers at City Hall.

• Speed Limit Lowered on Concession 24 and Zion Church Road - Township of Georgian Bluffs

Local News

Keep reading for community events, our original reporting, and curated local news updates. Today: the renaming of Ryerson Park may finally move ahead; the OSPS board had a heated meeting about downtown issues; the communities of Walkerton and BWDSB — and greater Grey Bruce — mourn an unthinkable loss.

Read on for these and other updates, plus upcoming events in Owen Sound & area.

~ Miranda Miller, Editor

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