Never on the cutting age of vernacular trends, the phrase “big boy pants” kind of snuck up on us.
Telling someone to put on their big boy pants, akin to telling them to grow up, seems to be gaining in popularity – at least among politicians who have run out of tactful ways to articulate their point.
Wellington County councillor Doug Breen recently directed the comment to fellow councillor Andy Lennox in response to Lennox’s inquiry about the county’s spending priorities and the need to have more thorough discussions on the topic.
To be fair, a lot of those discussions already take place at the committee level. And Breen is right in noting that pitting projects in one department (libraries) against another (roads/bridges) – and by extension, one community against another – is not constructive.
The new library in Hillsburgh is the last project in an ambitious program to upgrade the county’s library system, now the envy of many others across the province. Projects in Lennox’s own backyard include major renovations to the Carnegie Library in Mount Forest and a brand new facility in Arthur. We don’t think he’s actually suggesting Hillsburgh does not deserve a new library (if so, he should take a trip to the village and check out its current cramped, antiquated facility).
But we believe the point being made by Lennox, and supported by Centre Wellington’s Kelly Linton, is a fair one. What happens when the county’s library system overhaul is completed? We highly doubt residents will receive a much-needed break on their taxes. The county will take that money and invest it elsewhere, likely to address its (cue newest political buzzwords) “infrastructure deficit.”
As the province is finding out, the time for grandiose projects and excessive discretionary spending has long since passed. Now more than ever, strategic, in-depth discussions – the very type being urged by Lennox and Linton – are needed to plot the county’s future spending habits.
It’s time for all county councillors to put on their big boy pants and commit to those difficult conversations.
