Haldimand "Who is in Control"

After watching the news on CH TV. I am beginning to wonder if there is any level of Government that actually knows what they are doing. The recent news that the possibility of the Provincial Government purchasing another parcel of land in (Hagersville) Haldimand County is very disturbing. And yet another Builder possibly being paid out by the Province for his loss of Revenue. Will Haldimand County follow suit and pay this Builder back his money for infrastructure as well, as they did the builder in Caledonia?

I am not by any means putting any blame on the Builders or any one in fact that already has a vested interest in Haldimand County. But the Province has already set the precedent! If the Province purchases this land in Hagersville, the writing is on the wall. The next step I can see happening is that all current developers in Haldimand County don’t even need to wait for an occupation, just file your papers now and "get out", no courts, no burden of proof, no cost!

The loss of the tax base in Haldimand will become a burden on the residents that we cannot bear. If the Province keeps buying up land, the taxes collected on Provincially owned lands wouldn’t buy you or I a coffee at Tim Hortons. Oh and I just realized that more than likely Haldimand County will follow suit and call upon the Province to also pay the County for the loss of tax revenue. Regardless "You and I", meaning all residents of Ontario ultimately pay the price.

What I would like to talk about is my opinion on what has happened in Haldimand County in the last 15 months. Just to clarify so I won’t get myself into "legal" trouble, these are "MY" personal opinions. I would also like to clarify that I try to stay away from personal opinions or judgments, as they are usual wrong. I would rather state the "facts", but with so many levels of governments that are involved, the facts and the truth are hard to come by! So I am hoping and praying that I am wrong!

Haldimand County Council; states that there is "nothing" that they can do, basically it seems that their hands are tied by upper levels of Government! So in saying this a few things come to mind. Haldimand County can no longer promote our County to "Developers". Haldimand County can no longer promote "living in a fear free community". Haldimand County will no longer be financially viable. Is this all a smoke screen? Are there secret deals going on behind closed doors? Are we being told the truth by our Council? Has their workload been such that regular everyday business is being put aside? Will Haldimand County become a "Ghost Town"? Well unfortunately you and I are not privy to this information!

The Provincial Government; states that land claims are a Federal jurisdiction, so when they purchased the land in Caledonia did they shoot themselves in the foot, and now they are going to repeat this in Hagersville? The Provincial Government condones the actions of the O.P.P., stating that they are "peacekeepers". The O.P.P. are "not" peacekeepers, unless we are actually in a state of "war" and we haven’t been informed yet! The Provincial Government is pressuring the Federal Government to solve all land claims, and yet they seem to be doing such a wonderful job on there own here in Haldimand County, except for one thing, they are not solving a damn thing!

The Federal Government; well what can I say here, except they have really not said much! I spoke with Mayor Trainer last night and she informed me that the Federal Government is making a "huge" announcement today regarding Caledonia. Well let’s see what could this announcement be? I am not too sure that I even want to know.

I have actually run out of words! Well all I can say is that I need another coffee.
Donna