Selwyn Hicks is applying for a job.
He is applying to be the MPP for Grey-Bruce. He said he wants to “to be there for the little guy who’s struggling”. The best way to find out what someone will do in a new job is to look at how they did in their last job. So what did Selwyn Hicks do for the “little guy” in his last job on the board of the Grey-Bruce Health Unit?
It's no secret. It's all in the public record. He approved the highest pay for any Medical Officer of Health in Ontario in the first year of the pandemic. That added up to over $600,000. For one guy. For one year. $600,000 is 20 times more than what the little guys in Grey-Bruce make, the ones who struggle to find money for rent.
The next year, he did it again. Over $500,000. Maybe he had a reason for it. It couldn’t be because things were going so well. Grey-Bruce went from having the lowest rates of COVID-19 to being one of only 2 COVID-19 hot spots in the province when others were doing far better. Grey-Bruce also had the lowest or second lowest vaccination rate in Ontario for much of 2021. The health unit lost so many staff that their turnover rate was 4 times higher than other similar places. About 1500 people in Grey-Bruce signed a petition asking Hicks to look into what was happening at the unit. He didn’t do it. He had lots to say about why he didn’t do it but at the end of the day, he still hasn't done it. If that’s how he was there for the little guy in his last job, how does that make you feel about what he will do in the job he is applying for now?
Some, including Selwyn, may feel it is unfair to saddle him with all the decisions of the Board of the health unit. Could be. On the other hand, the Board is not applying for the job of being there in Queen’s Park for the little guys of Grey-Bruce. Selwyn Hicks is.
(Many of his fellow board members will also be applying for jobs from the voters of Grey-Bruce again soon. This is a fair question for them too).
Let’s be good employers. Let’s run a good job interview. Let’s ask the tough questions. Let’s hire someone who has been there for the little guys (and possibly gals?) and just might do it again.
Carol Mulder, Georgian Bluffs
