Re: Article “Sudbury in no-win situation,” which appeared in the June 12 edition of Northern Life.

Here are the main reasons why people are so unhappy with Greater Sudbury. First of all, we didn’t even get to vote or voice our opinion to amalgamate — we were forced to.

The second reason is, although the city is such a big city, it is also a rural place. Before we amalgamated, all of the towns of on the outskirts of Sudbury were able to sustain themselves and the workload was all done adequately.

We had our own volunteer fire departments, which were doing fine. In winter after a snowstorm, all the roads were clean in a timely manner. Now, I sometime wait two days before my road is done.

In the summer, our roads would be fixed. If we had plumbing issues, it would be done properly. Every outskirts town was self-sufficient, with minimal tax hikes.

I remember when I was younger, every town had its own festivals. People in town would get to know one another, meet some neighbours and make new friends. There were always volunteers available to help out, and less red tape and fees.

Then, we amalgamated. So what do you think happened next?
Now, the city cancelled all the festivals in our areas or even tried to steal them to promote at Bell Park.

Just take the boat races, for instance. We had those races every year here in Azilda. When we amalgamated, Sudbury took it and brought it to Bell Park, and where are those races now?

Also, the city took our brand new fire truck pumper and gave it to another station.

All the promises that were made when we first started talking about amalgamating were false. We were told taxes would decrease and we would pay less, and the availability of services would rise thoughout our area.

Yet property taxes keep rising, fees keep rising, hell, everything keeps rising.

Eric Paquette
Greater Sudbury

Posted by Vivian Scinto