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speakup

Information is knowledge and knowledge is power.

Hopefully, a series of articles we've presented our readers throughout the month of April and in today's paper has given some power to Bathurst voters, in terms of making an informed decision when cast their ballots on May 12.

We've endeavored to paint as big a picture as we can for voters, to help them know who's offering in next Monday's municipal election and what they stand for. Because job creation is such a major issue of current concern for our community, we started by asking the incumbent councillors who are reoffering what they think has been achieved on their watch, and what needs to be done over the next four years.

We've presented mini profiles of the seven candidates for city council who have come forward, and asked them what they have in mind to try and turn Bathurst's fortunes around.

We've written in-depth stories on the two mayoralty candidates, letting readers know what they stand for and some objectives they have.

As the primary source of local news for the Bathurst area, we take municipal elections quite seriously. Subsequently, our intent is to give readers as much information as space allows as to who's running, to help them make informed decisions in the voting booth.

Unfortunately, it would appear not all our local media rivals are like minded, judging by the superficiality of the coverage we've heard. I have no interest in serving as a consultant for our competitors, so I'll stop right there on that point.

Meanwhile, it's too bad the Greater Bathurst Chamber of Commerce wasn't able to commit the time and resources to organizing a debate for the council contenders. Given how economic growth is such an issue in this campaign, it would have certainly fit in with their overall game plan, one would think, even though I realize it would have been a substantial undertaking.

In closing, I'll leave you with a quote from the late Edward R. Murrow, one of the great American journalists of the last century. It's a line that applies to both voters and the media: "Our major obligation is not to mistake slogans for solutions."