Chair and past chair of Planning and Environment Committee oppose flood relief grant

It is disappointing to read that the present chair (Councillor Hume) and past chair (Councillor Hunter) of the City’s Planning and Environment Committee were the only people to vote in opposition to the motion to pay a small grant to residents in Kanata who have been affected by three flooding occurrences over the past 15 years (Committee passes flood relief grant, Jennifer Burden, Kanata Kourier-Standard, November 18, 2009).

The proposed motion to go before city council is already considered by many affected residents to be too lean and restrictive. Surely being affected by only a single incident of flooding should be sufficient to justify some payment and the amount of compensation should be cumulative, on a per occurrence say? The flooding results from bad development decisions in the first place. It is not the fault of residents. The expenditures involved are peanuts when compared with some of the obscene spending decisions that this city council makes.

Of course, if the Hume/Hunter duo opposed the motion because they think the city should pay more, then I’ll eat my words!