Fort Erie Economic Development and Tourism Corporation office on Garrison Road. Bullet News photo by John Robbins.
Dear Editor,
I am writing in regards to the performance put on at Fort Erie council by Jim Thibert, the head of the Economic Development and Tourism Corp.
Thibert claimed that there are many jobs in Fort Erie and that the reason there are so many unemployed here is because Fort Erieans are illiterate, uneducated and lazy.
Does Thibert really think there are an abundance of jobs in Fort Erie?
Perhaps this explains why he has done so little to attract new businesses here.
More likely however, is that Thibert is putting on this sideshow as a smokescreen to distract from his dismal performance over the past decade. The truth is that he is using the ploy of “blaming the victim” to hide his own failures to improve the economy in Fort Erie.
What a slap in the face to the many hard working residents here who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own. Is he saying that those people, are too stupid and lazy to keep their jobs? My own daughters both hold extensive post secondary degrees, yet they had to send out hundreds and hundreds of resumes before they found jobs. And when they did, the jobs were out of town.
Thibert also blames Fort Erie economic woes on the fact that some of our vacant land has been designated as Provincially Significant and cannot be built on. How ridiculous. There is a lot of vacant land ready to go, along with many empty former businesses that he should be trying to find companies for. Instead, he wastes time and tries to put the blame on the province.
The taxpayers of Fort Erie have spent over $5 million in the last decade to fund Thibert and the EDTC. What do we have to show for our money? I can’t think of any new beneficial businesses that Thibert has brought to Fort Erie. But when I think of all the things we have lost over the past 10 years, the list goes on and on and on.
Some praise Thibert’s rude and ill-mannered antics and feel that it is not the right time to get rid of him. I think it is exactly the right time to demand his resignation. In fact it is long overdue.
Fort Erie desperately needs someone now who can bring some positive economic benefits to the area. We can’t afford to wait any longer for help. The time for showmanship and sideshows with vulgar and offensive language is over with.
Brigitte Bonner
Ridgeway
3 Comments on "LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Thibert’s comments a ‘slap in the face to hard-working residents’"
This letter is nothing but more propaganda. I was at that presentation and I can tell you that Bridgett Bonner was not. Mrs Bonner has a reputation for being anti development tho she will tell she isn’t. She was anti condo and now is spreading a spin about Thibert that is taken out of context. Shame on her.
I attended the State of Fort Erie address yesterday and Mr. Thibert presented the same talk he did at Council, minus the eye opening expletives, due to his respect for the youth present at the address.
Not once did he say people in Fort Erie are stupid, illiterate and lazy. He said there are jobs out there for people who want to get trained and/or retrained in the fields and people who want to work hard.
I work very hard for a living and I volunteer a lot, but that is the way I was raised, with a conscience and with the understanding that I alone can provide for me and I should not expect the government at any level to support me on a full time basis.
I worked for 26 years at Irvin Aerospace and got 15 minutes to decide if I wanted to uproot my girls and move to Trenton or be out of work. I spent three months closing down the business that had supported my family and I for 26 years. I then secured a job that I had to drive every morning at 6 am to Stoney Creek for. I did it because I had to, I needed a job, I was not going to sit back and say “oh well, I paid into EI, I will just sit back and take it easy. After 28 years in the parachute business as an engineering technician and manager I switched careers, I went into auditing and bookkeeping. I retrained and I got a job. Because that was the right thing to do.
That is what Mr. Thibert is talking about, people helping themselves, find out what is available and then go get trained for it. That is why we have the job gym and all the other agencies out there to help.
Brigitte, is right on the money, Thibert has spent over ten million dollars including $2 million in Tourism funds we now have less jobs in Town than ever, I have followed Fort Erie Council for over 35 years and believe the EDTC is a waste of tax-payers money , it is also loaded with Cof C cronies. Disband the EDTC ASAP and bring the Developement portfolio back into Town Hall.