Weds Aug 13 – Local News + Editorial: Public Health Power Shift Demands Answers

Plus: News from Grey Bruce OPP, City of Owen Sound, Intertownship Fire Department, Owen Sound Attack, and more

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2025 Walkerton Clean Water Legacy Award: Pictured from the left are Legacy Award committee members Stuart Reid of Community Foundation Grey Bruce, Curtis Bults of the Walkerton Clean Water Centre, 2025 award recipient Chloe Rands, and Mitch Clark and Tim Elphick of Brockton Council.

Democracy Derailed at Grey Bruce Public Health

EDITORIAL

Seven municipal members of the Grey Bruce Public Health Board were removed on August 6 without any explanation to the counties and constituents who fund them.

Days later, Ontario’s Minister of Health told The Owen Sound Current she expected those municipal reps to help shape the board’s response to a lengthy investigative report on its governance, finances, and operations. That means the very people she thought would play a role in fixing the problems have been cut out entirely.

We have been pushing for answers, but Public Health has not responded to our repeated questions, including requests for the Ministry’s report (which is now the subject of our latest Freedom of Information request). Both county wardens spoke to another publication but appeared to be in the dark, offering nothing of substance.

This is not just a staffing shuffle. Control of the governance board for a publicly funded agency — with legal responsibility for hiring and evaluating the Medical Officer of Health, overseeing budgets and resource allocation, and setting the health unit’s strategic direction — has now shifted almost entirely into the hands of provincial appointees.

No one will say who authorized it or why, and the public has yet to see the report behind it all.

Grey Bruce Public Health’s governance and transparency problems have been simmering for years. The Ministry’s assessment was supposed to bring those issues into the open and provide the catalyst for solutions. That work cannot be allowed to disappear behind closed doors or be manipulated to suit political or personal agendas.

If you believe changes like this should be made transparently and in public view, speak up, say so. Ask your municipal leaders and MPP why your local voice in public health has been cut out of the process.

And keep paying attention, because once democratic representation is gone, it’s notoriously hard to get back.

Public Notices

• The Inter Township Fire Department has issued a partial burn ban - Township of Georgian Bluffs

• Flagging in Place Wednesday and Thursday on 9th Avenue E for Manhole Replacement - City of Owen Sound

• Seasonal Changes in Taste and Odour of Tap Water Not Hazardous to Your Health - City of Owen Sound

Local News

Keep reading for community events, our original reporting, and curated local news updates.

Today: Details on the City’s application process for temporary usage of the Rice House; charges for an Arran-Elderslie man after a hydro pole was struck; an update on Salmon Spectacular harbour wall camping; and more.

Read on for details.

~ Miranda Miller, Editor

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