Contrary to what I’m reading in the paper, it’s not John Tamming undermining the Medical Officer of Health (MOH), but it is the Medical Officer of Health and his Board, undermining themselves.

The grossly over-compensated MOH, along with a trail of empty positions at our Public Health Unit, have demanded some serious questions be asked. Dr. Arra’s own performance at the council meeting left little comfort for those who would like these questions answered.

And all the questions are reasonable. None of them are personal. Yet the rest of council, and some members of the media, would like us to believe that we all band together and give our blind support to our Medical Officer of Health. Sorry, but that is dangerous groupthink and can lead to a whole host of problems.

The Mayor says this is not City business, yet also let Dr. Arra address the same issues. The Owen Sound Hub has also been asking questions, yet the Public Health Unit will no longer answer their questions.

It is incredibly patronizing to the citizens of the region to be told that we are all just supposed to support our Medical Officer of Health without question. That is not democracy. The underlying facts suggest there is something wrong. The Public Health Unit closing themselves off for questioning, suggests things are even worse. This does more to undermine confidence then the common sense questions John Tamming is asking.

Contrary to what the Integrity Commissioner says, I believe John Tamming is one of the few councillors acting with integrity. But I have come to learn that some boards are more concerned with groupthink, than their actual duty: to represent the citizens of the area. To that, I’d like to say, thank you John Tamming, for asking the questions many of us have.

Diane Ferguson, Grey County resident