MUSKOKA LAKES – Muskoka Lakes Councillor Don Furniss inadvertently got himself into a little hot water on Tuesday when he used the word “niggardly” at a committee of the whole meeting.
Some of the public attending the meeting took offence at the use of the word, which they believed to be a racial slur.
However, niggardly means stingy and comes from the root word niggard, a mean or stingy person. There is no connection to any racially offensive word.
Coun. Furniss used the word to describe the majority of council’s belief that a three per cent increase in the grant to the Muskoka Lakes library board would be sufficient.
“Just one comment on that: 2008 you gave the library $180,000, 2012 you’re talking about $198,000. That’s four per cent compounded over five years, I think that’s pretty niggardly,” said Furniss.
When questioned later about his choice of words, Counc. Furniss said there are all sorts of words and people should stay informed about their meanings, rather than jumping to conclusions.
“I would suggest to people if they don’t understand a word they look in the dictionary first,” he said. “I don’t view it as offensive any more than I view referring to a small twig as a faggot… People just have to look at the word.”
According to the Canadian Oxford dictionary, faggot has multiple definitions, including “a bundle of sticks or twigs bound together as fuel.”
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