Dear Editor:
In response to Donald E. Broome’s recent letter (published Feb. 15 in the Whitewater News), attacking me in protection of Mike Coates,* �Â� who is vying for the nomination of Conservative candidate for Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke, let’s get the damn facts straight.
A letter was not sent to the Barry’s Bay Landowners.* �Â� I received a request from the Renfrew County Private Landowners asking if they could post my letter sent to Renfrew Landowners Association members on their Facebook page providing the information about the upcoming federal Conservative Nomination Election* �Â� which included a couple of innocent questions posed* �Â� why suddenly the need for an impromptu nomination race in Renfrew County to replace incumbent Cheryl Gallant with an unknown Mike Coates who was relatively new to this riding. A simple question posed because the news at that time and still is, heavily focused on ethics, corruption, etc., within our own provincial politics, as well as corrupt politics in the United States and other parts of the world. It was all about the timing, not the individuals!
Mr. Coates had requested to meet with our Board a couple of times, which we did.
Unfortunately, Mr. Broome only focused on the first Facebook posting, jumping to wrong conclusions of course,* �Â� and didn’t mention the second* �Â� Facebook posting acknowledging* �Â� a pleasant* �Â� meeting with Mr. Coates along with additional information on the Election.* �Â� Being limited to so many words, and without repeating the second* �Â� Facebook posting, to be fair (as Mr. Broome claims I wasn’t), we should at least say something about the other candidate Cheryl Gallant:
* ��
* �Â�·Permanent resident in this Riding – 21 years
* �Â�·18 Years experience serving constituents in Parliament
* �Â�·Transparent to constituents with newsletters, etc on issues concerning the Riding
* �Â�·Reversed the cutbacks in Base Petawawa from planned downsizing of a training range to now being the largest military base in Canada with 7,000 employees, $300 million local payroll, $20M maintenance and local purchases * �Â� * �Â� * �Â� * �Â� * �Â� * �Â� * �Â� * �Â� * �Â� * �Â� * �Â� * �Â� * �Â� * �Â�
* �Â�·Worked to protect jobs at CNL (Chalk River) employing 2700 people and secured $1.2 billion over next 10 years for site revitalization. With previous government AECL never received a budget in seven years with nuclear industry being downsized — maybe threatened again if change in government in the 2019 election.
* �Â�·Election promise to scrap gun registry – promise kept.
* �Â�·First elected official (provincial or federal) to speak out against wind turbines and their effect on hydro prices
* �Â�·Only MP to vote* �Â� against* �Â� the Paris Accord (climate change) which includes the ban on burning wood plus new carbon taxes
* �Â�·Led charge against* �Â� Motion 104 Ottawa River Watershed Council – a motion to regulate and control the Ottawa River and its tributaries that will infringe on private properties in this Riding
* �Â�·Introduced Bill C278 Foreign Lobbyist Transparency Act – in response to lobbyist campaigns receiving unknown amounts of money from foreigners to lobby against our local forest industry risking thousands of jobs in the forest industry – coming up for its second* �Â� reading
* �Â�·Successfully introduced a Private Member’s Bill to protect vulnerable individuals who apply for disability tax credit from being overcharged fees by private promoters when completing applications
* �Â�·Ensured this Riding was a top recipient of grants:* �Â� Enabling Accessibility Fund* �Â� for things like elevators, wheel chair ramps and* �Â� New Horizon for Seniors Fund* �Â� improving lives of seniors for multiple years in a row
* �Â�·Cheryl Gallant ended 70 years of Liberal control of Renfrew County
* �� Wishing Good Luck to both candidates on February 24th.
Donna Burns,
President – Renfrew County Landowners
