I believe this idea is well-intended but it's misguided. I went back to look at our budget deliberations when we first proposed such a staff report and I echo what Councillor Dodd said, what was said at tby hat budget meeting, I believe it was by Councillor Thomas when he seconded Mr O'Leary's motion at the time. It's time to think outside the box for revenue. I get that. But this isn't that – it says the wrong message. In my view the outsiders of Owen Sound are not parasitical entities. They are customers of our stores, they bring their dogs to our pet groomers, they get their mental health attended to on our streets, they bank here, they employ our tellers,.

One person called me and said she's from out of town and brings her mother in for chemo at the hospital and goes to Harrison Park with her mother afterwards, and she was quite distressed by this idea. I appreciate she is not a rate payer, and perhaps her views should not be important to me, but they are legitimate views nonetheless.

I don't think you can compare us with the pressures that Toronto or Tobermory have faced. Each of those places is unique. Just taking Tobermory, the utter fire hydrant of population that Tobermory has faced in the summer, they could charge three hundred bucks for a parking spot for the day and they'd probably get it, just looking at the numbers. We don't have that pressure and we don't have that fire hydrant.

So we'll spend $40,000 to find some data, but we till won't have an economic study to tell us much of anything, and I say that with the greatest of respect to the City Manager. Because I'm not saying it's a dumb idea to get more data, but once you get more data of where people are from and what you might raise, it's not dealing with what we might call the behavioural responses that Councillor Dodd dealt with here. So you charge for parking and all of a sudden people are parking up and down the street instead of in your parking lots where they are supposed to.

Are we going to have an economist look at that for us – the behavioural responses. Are we going to have an economist interview and perhaps scope out what the lost business would be downtown if people hear? Because here's what I think people will hear. They won't hear that “oh you have to pay to park here, you have to pay to park there.” In a general sense they'll hear that Owen Sound's a place that kind of doesn't really want your business all that bad. And I'm afraid that's the message that's going to go out and it's a message that's contrary to the branding of our communications to date.

So I can't support spending the $40,000 – I could, IF I saw myself able to be convinced once the report is done to move on and consider the legitimacy of the proposal. I see no point in spending the 40 grand if my gut tells me it's just – to Councillor Merton's point – just not something that I could see down the future.

I just want in closing to say this – it is not written in the firmament that Owen Sound is the regional centre of Grey-Bruce forever. I only point out that I believe it is the Port Elgin Walmart is bigger than our Walmart. The population growth over in Saugeen Shores is going to be considerable – this is not a diversion Your Worship – I'll close shortly – but to simply point out that to assume that Grey Bruce wants us to be at their centre – they have other options – and I don't want messages to go out that erode the saleability of our city. So again, I think it's misguided but very well intended and with Councillor Dodd I commend Deputy Mayor O'Leary for thinking outside the box.