Comment
Know the rules before playing the game
by Michelle Minnoch

In the past week, I have sat down and interviewed the 26 candidates for the upcoming municipal election. Each candidate was given half an hour in which four questions were asked. Given the fact there are 26 candidates running, and the vote by mail kits will be in residents' hands by October 23rd or so, The Scope will be running candidate profiles this week and next week, so before the kit comes via Canada Post, you know a bit about each person and the issues they feel are facing the ward they are running in and the Town they are hoping to represent.

I remember when I went to my first job interview. I was told that as a rule before any interview, if possible, research the company you wish to work for; find out what they are about, what they manufacture, export, business history, etc. Being prepared for the job you are entering into not only makes sense, but is beneficial to you.

There are many candidates who have done their research. They have read the Official Plan, they have a copy of the budget; they have found out as much as possible before they decided to throw their hats in the ring.

Kudos to those candidates (and you know who you are) who have been showing up to council meetings each week, seeing for themselves the way things are done, finding out for themselves what decisions are being made at this point in time - you are doing your homework.

But, there are some who have not only not done their homework, but haven't even cracked a book open;

a) Not only did they not know what IGAP stood for, but did not know what it was all about

b) Did not know what was entailed in the Town's OP and OPA1, including population targets and growth factors.

c) Had to have the term Assimilative Capacity Study explained to them.

Now, I am not perfect and I have only covered news in Innisfil for almost one and a half years. There has been a lot that I have learned, and so much more to learn. The information presented at the IGAP open houses was interesting, but a lot to absorb. Reading the Town's Official Plan and going through the budget in order to prepare for news stories required a lot of attention.

All I know is that if I were to be interviewed by Bill Gates for a job at Microsoft, I would get up to speed on the software and on the performance of the company.

Is that a lot to ask?