Where was city’s advocate during premier’s visit?

It’s not often the premier comes to town.
And on a quiet Tuesday, he ventured to the city to give Georgian College more cash.

Business leaders were there; Arch Brown, a pillar of the community, sat in the front row. Georgian College president Brian Tamblyn made a speech; RVH CEO Janice Skot looked on as nursing students greeted the premier in the nursing-simulation lab. Even Simcoe County (which supports the hospital and the college) was there, in the person of Oro-Medonte Mayor Harry Hughes.

Not surprisingly, Barrie Mayor Dave Aspden wasn’t there.
Aspden has an incredible ability to be away when provincial officials are in town. Admittedly, there was just a day’s notice of Dalton McGuinty’s visit.

But in a community that’s designated as the region’s urban growth centre, in a community that needs provincial investment (yes, cash!) for roads, schools, hospitals, parks, so that it can be a complete community, you’d think the mayor would delay an out-trip or venture back to smile and thank the province for its cash.

But no, not Aspden.
Aspden has really never understood the job of mayor. A key part of the role is to serve as the city’s advocate.

We can go back to March 2007 when Aspden skipped a Large Urban Municipalities of Ontario (LUMCO) meeting, at which mayors would be discussing a strategy to get more cash from the federal and provincial governments. Since then, the lobby group has been pretty successful, with changes to the gas-tax and new infrastructure funding.

The upper levels of government seem to be realizing the local level – although it gets only eight cents of every tax dollar – delivers a lot of services. There’s a lot of value, in more ways than one: monetary and quality of life. Quality of life, too, has an economic role to play, as communities around the globe compete for investment and top entrepreneurial and creative talent.

The mayor routinely misses meetings; in fact, it’s so routine, it’s hardly a topic of conversation any more. No one keeps track.

Barrie has received a lot of cash from the upper levels – and Aspden cannot take any credit for it.
Neither can he take credit for being an effective ambassador for the city.

Almost three years into his term as mayor, he should know better.