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A dispute over the proposed ALTO high-speed rail project has escalated between Elizabethtown-Kitley Mayor Brant Burrow and Rideau Lakes Councillor Paula Banks, who is also a candidate for mayor in the upcoming municipal election in Rideau Lakes.
The disagreement centres on meetings between ALTO and local municipalities, what information has been shared with councils and whether some comments made publicly about those meetings were accurate. The issue came to a head following a Rideau Lakes council meeting where ALTO was discussed.
According to Banks, the CAO and mayors of Rideau Lakes told council that ALTO had been meeting with Rideau Lakes, Elizabethtown-Kitley and Leeds and the Thousand Islands.
Banks said she was simply repeating information provided to her by the Rideau Lakes CAO.
Burrow said he did not originally plan to respond to the discussion at the Rideau Lakes council meeting. However, he said that changed after Banks circulated a report about the ALTO meeting to numerous federal politicians, municipalities, media outlets and others.
Burrow said Banks’ comments, along with what happened during the Rideau Lakes council meeting, painted Elizabethtown-Kitley, its CAO and himself in a negative light. He said they created the impression that the township was hiding information, despite the Rideau Lakes CAO indicating that was not the case.
Burrow said the process is unfolding naturally.
Banks said she was offended by Burrow’s response to her email.
She said Rideau Lakes council had voted for her to attend an ALTO meeting as a secretary.
When she attended, she said she asked ALTO representatives whether the meeting could be recorded and publicized. Banks said ALTO told her it could not be recorded. She said she then told representatives she would not keep the information confidential and asked whether she was still allowed to remain at the meeting.
Banks said she was allowed to stay.
Another point of disagreement involves the July 17 Wardens’ Caucus meeting.
Banks has stated that meetings between ALTO and Rideau Lakes, Leeds and the Thousand Islands, Elizabethtown-Kitley and other municipalities were discussed by mayors at that meeting.
Burrow said he and his CAO had no involvement with the Wardens’ Caucus on July 17.
Banks said she contacted councillors in Leeds and the Thousand Islands and Elizabethtown-Kitley to ask whether they had heard about the Wardens’ Caucus discussions and said the councillors had not.
Banks said that if Burrow or Leeds and the Thousand Islands Mayor Corinna Smith-Gatcke do not want rumours or speculation, they should have informed their councils that they were meeting or that ALTO had approached them.
Burrow said he never denied that he and his CAO had met with ALTO.
He said they did meet with ALTO and that the information will be brought forward to Elizabethtown-Kitley council at its next meeting on Monday, which is the normal municipal process.
Burrow said, “some of the things she is perpetuating have not come out of her mouth, but you can’t suck and blow at the same time.”
He says you can’t claim to be a spokesperson or representative of every Canadian and then say, “what I say is not my fault, I’m only saying what others are.”
The mayor has also asked Banks to apologize to him, the township’s CAO and Elizabethtown-Kitley.
Banks said if Burrow wants an apology, he should ask the Rideau Lakes CAO or mayor.
Burrow also made his position on ALTO very clear.
The dispute between Burrow and Banks comes as ALTO continues to narrow potential routes and consult with municipalities across the region, with Monday’s Elizabethtown-Kitley council meeting expected to shed more light on the township’s discussions with the project.
Story by: Evan Gibb
