Weyburn’s city council did not see the freight train headed their way when they voted 4-1 to reject an application for a personal care home for the Weyburn Group Homes Society in The Creeks subdivision.
In the days that followed that council decision, Coun. Brad Wheeler issued an apology, and then two days later, city council as a whole issued an apology for the comments made at their meeting.
Mayor Marcel Roy held a press conference at City Hall, and later that day, around 60 residents gathered on Coteau Avenue at the entrance to The Creeks, brandishing protest signs expressing their disappointment and outrage about the attitudes and comments made by council and by residents of The Creeks in their letters to the city.
In the meantime, outraged comments came in from all over, including from the Legislature, with former premier Brad Wall and Social Services minister Paul Merriman both urging the city to reverse their decision, and the current premier, Scott Moe, expressing disappointment over council’s decision.
The question falls to city council then, what will they do now? Will they in fact rescind the decision?
A meeting was held on Monday with all the parties involved, and later the City issued a statement saying they “left feeling that the direction going forward will get this home built in The Creeks.”
Time will certainly tell the tale on this, as it’s uncertain what the Creeks residents will feel now after hearing and seeing such a strong reaction to their comments on the Internet, on social media, and with the protest held at the entrance to their subdivision. How much weight will council give them now, seeing the outrage expressed from across the province and across Canada?
One of the mistakes was the rush to make a decision. Some Creeks residents, along with many other residents from the city, noted they wanted more information. Indeed, the lone councillor who did not support the initial decision, Coun. Dick Michel, fairly begged council to allow two more weeks in order to get more information, but he was refused that opportunity.
Clearly he had the right idea by refusing to cast a vote on this decision, and hopefully the meeting held on Monday will have straightened out some thoughts and attitudes on what was being proposed. The best outcome to this would be a reversal to the decision, and full support given to the building of a new care home. — Greg Nikkel
