The public person and the real person - which version of Rory Nisan do you like?

By Pepper Parr

May 4th, 2022

BURLINGTON, ON

OPINION

The one thing a politician cannot and should not even try to do is position themselves as an open, honest person and then do things that do not measure up to the image they set out.

Rory Nisan described himself as a diplomat during his campaign. He was not a diplomat. He was around diplomatic events and worked with very senior members of the government setting up meetings that involved senior people from other counties.

He had a good blue suit, took order and was polite.

The blue suit might still exist but the rest of the traits aren’t being seen these days.

Nisan decided that the health of his new child was at some risk if he attended council meetings.

He has chosen to work from home.

I personally disagree with the position he took – the Council Chamber is probably the safest place in town to be – but – if Rory Nisan thinks his child might be at risk he has the right to work from home – and to be fair, as a responsible parent he is doing the right thing.

What wasn’t so right however was an event that took place on May 2nd.

Nisan used some of the time to meet with his campaign team in an outdoor setting

Rory Nisan with his campaign team on May 2nd, 2022  The optics don’t fit the image.

Most of his team is unmasked, as is Nisan.

That picture just does not jibe with the way Nisan has worked to portray himself.

Going to be interesting to hear what he has to say on some of the positions he has taken on matter of city business.

Salt with Pepper is the musings, reflections and opinions of the publisher of the Burlington Gazette, an online newspaper that was formed in 2010 and is a member of the National Newsmedia Council.

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9 comments to The public person and the real person – which version of Rory Nisan do you like?

  • Kyle Hutton

    I think the above is quite silly, to be honest – we all make judgments about our health and well-being and those of our family, and an indoor vs outdoor setting carries very different risks for the coronavirus. Rory’s done nothing wrong here.

    What he has done is very little outreach to the ward. Full disclosure in that I worked for his primary opponent, so take this as you will – but it’s been a struggle to follow what’s been going on with council through any official source from Nisan. At some points we were getting online newsletters letting us know about meetings *the day before the meeting*! Publicly his positions are generally in line with what I’ve wanted from council, but if he is re-elected I hope he puts a lot more effort into connecting with our community here.

  • Elan

    And I have heard, allegedly, Rory Nissan rarely ever deals directly with constituent issues. His EA handles it all independently. He is too busy.

  • Elan

    He is MMWs flying monkey. No original thoughts. She tells him what to say…it comes out his mouth.

  • Deedee Davies

    The photo shows nothing. He is standing well out in front of his team in an outdoor setting. FYI Canvassing for the provincial election is done wearing masks by the Green GPO team to be safe and courteous. Nothing double standard about that if that is what Rory does for theunicipal election. . Choose something substantive to tear a person down please

    • Eve St Clair

      I have to disagree based on Councillor Nissan’s rants about his safety while attending City Hall

  • Penny Hersh

    I can understand if a parent feels they have to protect their young child that has not been able to be immunized. I do have a question? Does the mother of his child work out of the house?

    What is Rory’s plan on campaigning? He might be outside going door to door, however, he will be in close contact with the residents in his ward. Is his plan to do virtual door to door campaigning? Doubt it as in the picture provided it shows Rory and his volunteers and no masks in sight. If this is the case there is no excuse for him not to be in council chambers.

    All council members should be in City Hall for all meetings, especially since they are meeting their residents for ward meetings.

    As for Rory’s past work experience with the Federal Government. It seems that people do a lot of “padding” when it comes to their resume’. It is up to residents to determine if what they are being told is the truth.

    This is one of the reasons I feel that there needs to be a group of residents who do some fact checking for this election. So many half truths and lies by omission took place in the last election.

    • Joe Gaetan

      Fact check, for sure. There was one mask in sight. Door to Door canvassing posing as the Lone Stranger may be an issue.

    • Sharon

      I live in Rory’s ward and there have been no Ward Meetings to my knowledge.
      Also I would like to point out there is no one that was on Rory’s campaign team in the last election in the above picture. I was one of them.

  • Jim Thomson

    Shooting fish in a barrel. 🙂