Special thanks to Andy and Larry and the Cogeco team for making it possible.

Link to the video

Below are my notes for the Cogeco meet the candidates interview on the Tele.

I was a tad nervous and did miss some bits;

Hi I’m Dean Workman, and I am your Councillor for Ward 3

My peers voted me in as councilor for Ward 3 back in April of this year to take over from Mary Lloyd when she was moved on the County.

It’s only been about 6 months but it has been a very eye opening and busy 6 months.

Who Am I?

I come from humble beginnings. My father is ex military and my mum is a very gracious lady.

I am happily married to my Canadian Sweetheart and we have 3 wonderful children.

The Accent!!!    What Accent???    Many try and guess… see if you can? …

Yes you are right.  I am originally from Australia. I have lived in the area for just over 13 years now. My wife’s family are farmers in the area and that’s how I discovered you. My wife and I actually met while backing through Turkey. And here I am…. I am now A Canadian and an Aussie.

Many of you have met me before. Perhaps I’ve helped you get into your house when you were locked out or perhaps I have changed your locks for you… Yes, I’m that guy. I’m a locksmith by trade and I have my storefront in Elora, I’m hardly ever there. I live on a farm here in Fergus within the boundaries of  Ward 3 where we grow a specialty crop. I’m often asked,,, What are the poles for? No it’s not a Caber farm…

We grow Hops. Hops are one of the essential ingredients for making GREAT Craft beer. It is a lot of work and the harvest window is very narrow and did I mention it is really full on hard work…

It has been an honour to have been of service on Town Council so far and given the opportunity to continue in my role as your Councillor for Ward 3 I will do my best to represent you well. I come from a working class background and it upsets me personally to see our hard-earned tax dollars blown on stuff that doesn’t really benefit our community.

For example…. I will do my utmost to try and reduce what I see as a flamboyant waste of our tax dollars on unnecessary consultants fees. I will post some numbers on my website in the coming days. Believe me… if you have ever worked hard in any job, especially in a manual labour job or ever felt like you have slaved in a factory job or have worked as a farm hand, (I’ve done all of these) you will be shocked by the figures these people charge.

Our township has already hired exceptionally skilled people on staff and I’d like to give them the opportunity to excel in their field of expertise.

Thanks for your time

kind regards

Dean

Hi,

I’ve been asked several time what my thoughts are about the potential bulk water taking by Nestle.

My answer is still as consistent as ever.

“I’ve seen the blue ribbons everywhere, I’ve seen the signs. As far as I am concerned the people have already spoken”.

I agree with the people….

Below is an excerpt of my recent response to a concerned citizen.

“As far as I am concerned, the water for our community is not up for trade or sale for massive bulk water taking at any price. I personally am not willing to risk the future of my children or anyone else’s children. The next generation will need and deserves the right to clean drinking water. In fact we need to be on top this issue and preparing for the not to distant future right now. If I was the sole person making the decision, they would already be gone. The upside of the whole Nestle thing is that it has made people realize just how fragile our fresh water system really is and has prompted people to take steps to address potential challenges.”

To continue the thought, I sincerely thank the wonderful people from www.saveourwater.ca  who have worked tirelessly to help people become aware and educated of what is actually going on.

Thanks

enjoy your day

Dean

Few can truly comprehend the immense pressure on farmers while they are working hard and as fast as they physically can, often for well over 12 hours a day for days and then weeks on end in order to harvest their crops before they spoil. All while dodging the weather. When it rains it’s maintenance time to minimize the risk of equipment failure when the next weather window opens. Let’s respect and support farmers, small business people their staff and our community foundations as we grow.

Dean in the Hop Yard

It has been quite the education being on council for the last few weeks. Full of intensity, diversity, challenges and a few wins.

One of my main concerns so far has been what appears to me to be a flamboyant expenditure by the Township on some very expensive consultants. I have questioned the reasoning  behind this and will continue to do so. I believe we have really great people on staff who more than have the skills to complete some of the proposals and plans that consulting firms have been hired to do. Some of these consultants are not cheap…. many of them often coming in with over inflated price tags.

While I agree that sometimes a professional consultant or consulting firm is required, I think that often this should be the case when the existing team is at an impasse or has trouble finding a clear direction. I think it sells our staff short when a consultant is hired for input when not necessary.

But hey, what would I know? I’m just an ordinary guy from humble beginnings who is a bit of a tight ass when it comes to other peoples money and how I think it should be spent.

Update…..

I have been encouraged to enter the running to fill the vacancy for councillor of Ward 3.

I live on a farm in Ward 3.

I am in to running.

I’ll update all the previous data from the Ward 1 Election later.

Lots to do…

Wish me luck

Thanks