Mayor Bob Currie Protests Donation to Food Banks

After an investigation into the past Amaranth Township council meetings, it was found that earlier this year on April 2nd, council voted to donate $500 to each of Dufferin’s three food banks to help them through the COVID-19 pandemic. Amaranth’s Mayor Bob Currie made sure his disapproval of the donation was known.

At the following meeting, on April 15th, there was a motion before the Amaranth council to approve the minutes for the April 2nd meeting. When discussion ensued, the matter of the donation to the local food banks came up. Mayor Bob Currie expressed his opinion that the town could not afford to make the donation. Councillor Heather Foster said that when the motion regarding the food banks was before the council they had agreed to cut donations elsewhere later in the year. When the vote to approve the minutes for April 2nd came before council, all council members except for Currie voted ‘yes’. Currie was the last vote. At this point, it was apparent that he would not get his way. His ‘no’ vote against accepting the minutes was in protest of the Township of Amaranth’s donation to the local food banks. Former Councillor Mark Tijssen responded with how he knew the mayor was not happy about the donation, but the vote in favour of the donation did pass, implying that the minutes are correct and should be accepted.

Recently, Dufferin News reported how Mayor Currie insulted council members and expressed an intention to resign when Amaranth council would not approve him charging for mileage in order to give township staff a tour. After speaking with Currie’s fellow council members and town staff, it seems Mayor Currie is the only one who thought this tour was necessary. In addition to this, as a result of an investigation by the Ministry of Labour, Amaranth’s taxpayers have to fund a report that contained a legal opinion with the recommendation to revoke the Mayor’s powers and have Mayor Currie restricted from attending township offices. This did not occur. Other significant costs related to Mayor Currie’s actions may occur, as it was reported that they may be in a position to get sued after dismissing the town clerk earlier this year. All of these costs stem from events that occurred after Mayor Currie protested the donation to the food bank on the grounds that it was not financially viable.

The Food Bank is always in need of donations and currently, there are people in our community stepping up to help. Deb Van Galen and her family are examples of this. They are performing the ‘Ride for Food’ campaign for the month of September. Their team challenge is to ride 20,000km (halfway around the world) in the month of September in hopes that they can get local businesses, family, and friends to support the Orangeville Food Bank. They are hoping to collect 500 pounds of food and $5000 for the Orangeville Food Bank. Cycling Elements and Fifth Avenue Dental are assisting by allowing their locations to be used as food donation drop-offs. On top of this, they have offered to donate $1 for every pound of food they collect! If you want to make a cash donation, it can be made here.

Don’t forget the Food Banks are open to all in their respective areas who need it. It is not necessary for anyone in Dufferin to go hungry.

References – Mayor Bob Currie Protests Donation to Food Banks

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