Disinformation, Misinformation and Rumours

Generally, municipalities are dealing with a growing volume of disinformation, misinformation and rumours in their respective communities over the past decade or more. What is perplexing, is that this phenomenon has been growing exponentially over the past three to five years with dedicated “keyboard warriors” and/or “coffee shop kings and queens” that love to gossip, spread rumours and/or are deep in the bowels of conspiracy theories. As a municipality, it is not within our ability to stop this from happening; however, we do our best to provide accurate information to our citizens, ratepayers and general public.

Every community has that small handful of people that intentionally create and spread false information that is intended to deceive and manipulate others, otherwise known as disinformation. Misinformation on the other hand refers to false or inaccurate information that is unintentionally spread. It is often said that if you haven’t heard a good rumour by 10:00 AM, start one or the coffee shop row will take care of that for you.

No folks, we are not encouraging you to start rumours or spread mis or disinformation. We do encourage you to reach out to us if you are interested in or concerned about anything related to Town operations or policies. Mayor and Council are approachable and happy to hear any of your concerns or questions, while responding with accurate information. We also have a very capable staff that are happy to listen and respond with accurate information.

We will continue to provide accurate information to our public and in the meantime, you know how to reach us – we are approachable.

I hope you have a great day!

- Mayor Tony Mycock