LETTER: A salute to gentleman farmer Andrew Bennett
By rachael roussin
Dear editor,
Andrew Bennett has guts for submitting an opinion piece on our local government that was harsh and critical.
Yes his article was unforgiving, but his article was based on factual events that happened while our current mayor was the leader of our community.
The truth may rub us the wrong way and make us uncomfortable, but sometimes the truth hurts and we don’t like to be reminded of it. Andrew took a lashing for his article and in my opinion, he took one for the team.
It’s hard to be publicly critical of people especially when they are your neighbour, golf partner, or someone that we pass at the Post Office. I have no doubt in my mind that Mr. Granstrom is a good guy and I certainly respect the time that he has dedicated to serving this community. However, casting your ballot is not a popularity contest and should be subject to “pseudo-intellectual dinner party conversation banter.” That’s politics and democracy!
Andrew’s ‘facts’ are not farce. He was the reporter on council matters for almost two years where he sat through council meetings and recorded each one. He then listened to those recordings over and over. His journalistic rigour kept our community informed about our local government. Would we rather rely on the Rossland News (Blackwell Press) to cherry pick our information?
The reason I salute Andrew for his article is that he put himself out there and put in the effort to write something. I can assure you, this man has no ‘free time.’
Most of us don’t publicly express our political opinions (municipal, provincial or federal) and our culture of complacency allows leaders to sweep facts and history under the rug.
I’m not saying that we all need to write ‘harsh’ letters, but Andrew wrote a political opinion piece (the first of this election), and that’s what prompts informed political debate!
Sincerely,
Rachael Roussin
Rossland
