Laughter, a few tears and many thanks were the order of the day as the current city council held its final meeting yesterday.
In his farewell speech, Alex Cullen warned against losing sight of poverty in the city.
“We live in a comfortable community and we have to remind ourselves that there are many in our community that don’t share that comfort,” he said.
Some councillors’ goodbyes were emotional. Jacques Legendre and Peggy Feltmate fought tears as they spoke.
Rideau-Vanier Coun. Georges Bedard paid a fond tribute to his diverse downtown ward, calling it “cross-cultural, cross-linguistic, and cross everything that you can, and throw it into an area and just let it rock and roll.”
“That’s the ward that I inherited and that I was pleased to work in,” he said.
Glenn Brooks admitted to regrets about the toll public life took on his family.
“I really wasn’t around when my three children were growing up, and that’s the sacrifice. If I had to make it again, I wouldn’t, quite frankly,” Brooks said. “You can’t reclaim those years.”
