Owen-sound Council-meeting Meeting Transcript — October 7, 2026
Hook: Ross Baker proposes police budget increase for community engagement
Owen-sound · Council-meeting · October 7, 2026
Summary
Whole Stream Summary Ross Baker proposes increasing the police budget specifically to hire additional officers for community engagement and drug removal. He suggests reallocating resources away from non-essential locations like courthouses toward areas requiring civilian crisis response. Regarding climate policy, he opposes net zero initiatives by citing historical data indicating that temperature records from previous decades were higher than current levels. The speaker compares the concept of an emergency police role to a nursing hierarchy involving personal support workers and registered nurses, suggesting that properly trained individuals could fulfil similar functions where needed. Additionally, the speaker mentions they have not yet spent funds on their campaign and views politics as distinct from a career.
Top Newsworthy Developments
- Police staffing, budget increases, and net zero stance: Ross Baker proposes increasing the police budget to hire more officers for community engagement and drug removal. He opposes net zero initiatives, arguing that historical climate records from previous decades were higher than current levels.
Key Topics & Sections
Meeting Details
- Jurisdiction
- Owen-sound
- Body
- Council-meeting
- Date
- October 7, 2026
- Transcript Status
- Machine transcription, lightly cleaned
- Official Source
- View official meeting page
- Agenda Page
- View agenda page
- Original Video
- View original meeting video
- Meeting Portal
- View eScribe meeting page
Related Discussion
HelpOS discussion thread link pending.
Transcript Notice
This transcript was generated automatically and may contain errors in wording, speaker identification, punctuation, or timestamps.
It is an unofficial convenience copy provided for reading and searchability.
For the official record, refer to the original source materials published by the relevant authority, including the official video, agenda, minutes, and meeting records.
Full Transcript
Police staffing, budget increases, and net zero stance
Ross Baker proposes increasing the police budget to hire more officers for community engagement and drug removal. He opposes net zero initiatives, arguing that historical climate records from previous decades were higher than current levels. The candidate suggests redirecting police resources away from non-pertinent locations like courthouses toward areas needing civilian crisis response.
00:00:00 SPEAKER_003: Hello, Andre.
00:00:03 SPEAKER_003: Good to see you too, Ross.
00:00:04 SPEAKER_003: I'm Ross Baker, running for city council in Owen Sound.
00:00:06 SPEAKER_003: Been here for five years now.
00:00:10 SPEAKER_003: And why are you running?
00:00:12 SPEAKER_003: Ah, well, actually, a couple months ago, I heard that there weren't many candidates, so I've always said since I moved to Owen Sound, you know, I should be mayor.
00:00:21 SPEAKER_003: I should be on council, and so it's my turn to run.
00:00:24 SPEAKER_003: That's how democracy works.
00:00:25 SPEAKER_003: Every citizen has to step up and do their turn.
00:00:28 SPEAKER_003: You know, in the eighteenth.
00:00:29 SPEAKER_003: Know in the ancient, colonialistic sense, you know.
00:00:33 SPEAKER_003: So politics is not a career, but everybody takes a turn.
00:00:38 SPEAKER_003: What are your top issues you'd like addressed in the city?
00:00:42 SPEAKER_003: Well, just put a freeze on any hiring of staff.
00:00:47 SPEAKER_003: For you know, we don't have the budget.
00:00:51 SPEAKER_003: Although we do need more police officers, so I'll be in favour of increasing the police budget.
00:00:58 SPEAKER_003: And I like to stop or rescind net zero nonsense.
00:01:03 SPEAKER_003: Is what I call it.
00:01:06 SPEAKER_003: The climate catastrophe people are talking about is not real.
00:01:11 SPEAKER_003: Just got to look back a hundred years, ninety years, and the climate records you see it was even higher than hard back in the nineteen thirties.
00:01:18 SPEAKER_003: But there are some good ideas that are put forth.
00:01:20 SPEAKER_003: For example, street lighting.
00:01:23 SPEAKER_003: Street lighting.
00:01:24 SPEAKER_003: The light energy should be aimed down on the road, not up into the air.
00:01:28 SPEAKER_003: So there are lots of good ideas and good things in the plans around, but the concept of net zero has to be rolled back.
00:01:39 SPEAKER_003: And do you have any things you'd like to accomplish at council?
00:01:43 SPEAKER_003: I'd like to see, as I mentioned, more police officers hired, because the police officers can do community engagement.
00:01:54 SPEAKER_003: See, it's to get the drugs off the street.
00:01:57 SPEAKER_003: How do you feel about us?
00:01:58 SPEAKER_003: Because the police say they're overloaded right now, and they need more officers.
00:02:02 SPEAKER_011: Well, going to places where they don't need to be, because it's not pertinent to their role.
00:02:06 SPEAKER_011: Yeah, like the courthouse.
00:02:08 SPEAKER_011: Well, they wanted civilian crisis response to deal with like mental health calls and things like that.
00:02:14 SPEAKER_011: Would you be?
00:02:15 SPEAKER_011: Because that's what they're.
00:02:17 SPEAKER_011: That's what they want.
00:02:18 SPEAKER_011: It's got to be done right.
Emergency Mark Police Officer Role Proposal
The speaker compares the proposed emergency role to a nursing hierarchy involving personal support workers and registered nurses. They suggest that properly trained individuals could function similarly to police officers who can be called where needed. The candidate notes they have not spent money on their campaign yet and states that politics is not a career.
00:02:19 SPEAKER_003: Yeah, if people are properly trained, so there be like it'll be like to make an analogy in nursing, it'll be like you know, personal support worker or a registered practical nurse.
00:02:31 SPEAKER_003: And then there's the registered nurse, and then there's the nurse practitioner.
00:02:35 SPEAKER_003: So, yep, you'd have to be sort of like almost a police officer.
00:02:39 SPEAKER_003: I guess that might work.
00:02:40 SPEAKER_003: Emergency Mark, just police officer, so they can always be called to go where they need to.
00:02:46 SPEAKER_003: You know, any final remarks?
00:02:49 SPEAKER_003: Closing remarks.
00:02:50 SPEAKER_003: Marks, I haven't spent any money on my campaign yet.
00:02:55 SPEAKER_003: As I mentioned, politics is not a career.
00:02:59 SPEAKER_003: Although, who knows?
00:03:01 SPEAKER_003: Thank you, thanks, Andre.
Unofficial machine-generated transcript for convenience. Please verify against official source materials for the authoritative record.