LETTER

Partnerships?

 

I found interesting your editorial suggestion that the City of Gatineau and the Bulletin d’Aylmer work closer in some form of “partnership” to facilitate consultations in both directions, getting the city’s proposals out to the population and getting the voters’ reactions back to the functionaires (August 29 edition).  That said, I also found the idea slightly far-fetched, given the city’s tendancy to view consultations as “this is what we are going to do”.
    
You suggest, without saying so directly, that such a partnership would support the local newspaper in an era when newspapers are struggling. Our communities desperately need local media that is professional, not troll-driven, and we have a great example right here.
    
I see the idea as also supporting the city’s finances. There has been a growing move toward decentralizing, privatizing, and contracting out services and facilities which cost the public purse too much to maintain with tax dollars. This is the public-private partnership movement, and although it has its problems, they seem to involve partnerships which bite into the public treasury by the millions – bridges, airports, infrastructure.
    
Just as small business is a different breed of business than large corporations, small contracting-out partnerships might also be more fruitful than the multi-million dollar projects most often in the news.

 

This is an offer worth investigating.
 
Andy Black
North Aylmer