Editor:
On March 21 I was invited to a "think tank" for local business owners hosted by Sechelt council. The meeting opened, introductions were made, and all the town council members were present as well as the mayor. There were approximately 30 people in the room, with the conversation about getting younger people into the downtown stores.
The councillor running the meeting asked, "Why are people not going into the downtown stores?"
I responded by saying, "I don't shop downtown because they don't have product that I need. My 30-year-old son is visually impaired, has a serious illness, is a big man and goes to Victoria most weekends because there is nothing for him here."
The councillor proceeded to tell me to "sell my house and move" and for my visually impaired son to "take up mountain biking." There was silence in the room; no one said anything.
Two weeks later, the councillor phoned me, declined to apologize and told me he just wants to move on.
I am a 61-year-old widow who started a business after the death of my husband, and my son is a man who is doing his best to make a good life. We are just ordinary citizens. I have never been to a council meeting, written to a paper or gotten involved in local politics.
That this councillor believes he has the right to verbally attack a member of the voting public he has never met came as quite a shock to me. The fact that his behaviour is not only tolerated but accepted shows a lack of professionalism and integrity in our local government that does not bode well for our town.
Victoria Livingstone, Sechelt
