Jason Belanger

LaSalle is Home

I was born in Chatham and raised in Pain Court, but my connection to LaSalle goes back to the beginning. I had family living here when I was born, so visits to LaSalle were part of my life long before I eventually made it my home.

I’ve now lived in LaSalle for more than 30 years. My wife and I raised our family here, and this is the community we chose to call home. Over the years, our home has also welcomed two Rotary International Youth Exchange students, giving our family the chance to share LaSalle with young people from other parts of the world and to learn from them in return.

Over those years, I’ve watched LaSalle grow and change. Growth brings opportunity, but it also brings important decisions about taxes, infrastructure, services, development and what kind of community we want LaSalle to be in the future.

I want the next generation to have the same opportunity my family had.

I want our kids to be able to grow up here, build their lives here and afford to call LaSalle home too.

That means thinking carefully about the decisions we make today. The taxes we set, the projects we approve, the infrastructure we build and the financial commitments we make will affect residents for years to come.

That’s a big part of why I’m running for Council.

My Experience

I spent 30 years with the Windsor Police Service, including service as a Sergeant, and I have continued working in the public sector following my retirement from policing.

My career has given me experience in areas directly relevant to municipal government, including leadership, policy development, project management, technology, procurement, budgeting, privacy, training and organizational governance.

I also hold a Master of Science in Forensic Computing and Cybercrime.

Throughout my career, I’ve had to deal with complicated problems, understand the evidence, know the policies and rules that apply, ask questions and make practical decisions.

That experience has also taught me something important: good governance depends on people being willing to do their homework.

That’s the approach I’ll bring to Council.

From Facebook to the Council Table

Many people in LaSalle already know me from Facebook.

For years, I’ve been actively involved in conversations about our community online. But my involvement has never just been about posting an opinion.

I read the reports.

I read the budgets.

I look at the numbers.

I read the policies and try to understand the rules behind the decisions being made.

Then I ask questions.

Sometimes I agree with the decisions Council makes. Sometimes I don’t. And I certainly don’t expect everyone to agree with me.

That’s okay.

Healthy disagreement is part of a healthy community. What matters to me is that the discussion is based on facts and that residents have enough information to reach their own conclusions.

Facebook may be where many residents first came to know me, but my interest in how LaSalle is governed goes well beyond social media.

I believe an informed and engaged community makes for better local government.

Why I’m Running

The more I’ve learned about how our Town operates, the more I’ve come to appreciate just how important the oversight role of Council is.

Council decisions can involve millions of dollars and create financial commitments that last for decades.

Councillors are stewards of public money. They have a responsibility to understand what they’re approving, consider the impact on ratepayers and ask questions when something doesn’t make sense.

Council’s job is not to run the Town’s day-to-day operations. That is the responsibility of administration.

Council’s job is oversight.

And meaningful oversight requires doing your homework.

Councillors should have a working knowledge of the important policies that govern the decisions they are being asked to make.

Procurement is a good example.

Councillors don’t need to be procurement experts, but they should understand the Town’s procurement policy well enough to ask informed questions about how public money is being spent, whether the proper process was followed and whether taxpayers are receiving good value.

If I cast a vote to approve an expenditure, residents should reasonably expect me to understand what I approved and be able to explain why I supported it.

That is what accountability means to me.

Clearer Budgets. Better Decisions.

I believe residents should be able to understand how their money is being spent.

Municipal budgets are complicated. They don’t need to be made more complicated by vague descriptions that leave residents wondering what individual expenditures are actually for.

I want clearer budgets, including meaningful descriptions of budget items so both Council and the public can understand where the money is going.

The same principle applies to major projects.

It isn’t enough to know what something will cost to build.

Before making major commitments, Council should also understand what a project is expected to cost to operate, maintain and eventually replace, and what those costs could mean for future tax levies.

I also believe meaningful public consultation should happen while residents can still influence a decision, not after the important decisions have already been made.

And when Council has to choose between competing priorities, we need to be willing to distinguish between what our community needs and what would simply be nice to have.

That doesn’t mean we stop investing in LaSalle.

It means we make informed choices, understand the full cost of those choices and make sure the decisions we make today are sustainable for the people who will be paying for them tomorrow.

Evidence. Value. Accountability.

Those three words describe how I intend to approach the job.

Evidence means making decisions based on facts, research and good information.

Value means remembering that every dollar Council spends came from someone who worked for it and asking whether residents are receiving good value in return.

Accountability means taking responsibility for the decisions I make and the votes I cast.

And this isn’t something I plan to start doing if I’m elected.

For years, I’ve been doing the homework. I’ve read the budgets, staff reports, studies and policies. I’ve taken the time to understand how the Town operates, including becoming familiar with LaSalle’s procurement policy and the rules that govern how public money is spent.

I’ll bring that same approach to the Council table.

I’ll read the reports. I’ll understand the policies that apply. I’ll look at the numbers. I’ll ask questions before I vote, not after. And I’ll consider the impact on ratepayers today and in the years ahead.

I won’t pretend to know everything.

If a resident asks me something I genuinely don’t know, I’ll say so, find the answer and get back to them.

But if I cast a vote to approve something, I should understand what I voted for and why.

That is the standard I will set for myself.

Looking Ahead

LaSalle is a great place to live. I want to help keep it that way.

I believe we can continue to grow and invest in our community while being responsible with public money, making better-informed decisions and keeping an eye on the long-term impact those decisions will have on taxpayers.

Because ultimately, this isn’t just about the next four years.

It’s about helping build a community where the next generation can put down roots, raise their own families and afford to call LaSalle home too.