Haldimand "Together we can Open Doors"

I have received some phone calls and e-mails regarding the decision that council made last week regarding "all" correspondence that goes through the Mayor's Office. I have a few ideas, and I need your help. But first, here is the resolution that was passed by council last week;

Resolution 863-07

Moved By: Councillor Sloat
Seconded By: Councillor Bartlett

WHEREAS the Mayor’s office receives a considerable volume of correspondence through written or electronic form;

AND WHEREAS the Mayor has acknowledged in the past that management of this correspondence, especially e-mails has been overwhelming to the point where many e-mails may go unanswered or otherwise not responded to;

AND WHEREAS the management of this correspondence is critical to the effective operation of the County;

AND WHEREAS the dissemination of this correspondence to the remainder of Council as well as the Clerk is of utmost importance to successfully conduct the business of the Corporation.

NOW THEREFORE be it resolved:

THAT all correspondence sent and received through the Mayor’s office including all email addressed to the Mayor by title or name, be copied to the Mayor’s Assistant and the Chief Administrative Officer of the County;

AND THAT the Mayor’s Assistant implement this direction for all hard copy correspondence;

AND THAT the Information Systems Division ensure that all emails sent to the Mayor by title or name are automatically copied to the Mayor’s Assistant and the Chief Administrative Officer of the County;

AND THAT the Chief Administrative Officer, in his/her discretion, refer relevant emails/correspondence to the appropriate General Manager for action/response;

AND THAT the Chief Administrative Officer, in his/her discretion, bring relevant emails/correspondence to Council through the Clerk’s office for action/response while protecting the privacy of individuals in terms of personal information;

AND THAT the Chief Administrative Officer report back to Council within six months as to the effectiveness of this process.

This was a recorded vote. Mayor Trainer and Councilor Grice voted against this resolution.

What can we do?

The following is a copy of the "petition" that I have put together;

As Residents of Haldimand County we no longer have the faith or the confidence in the Administrative Performance of the Corporation of Haldimand County.

Mr. John Gerretsen, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing; We the Residents of Haldimand County request your Ministry to conduct a "Forensic Audit" on the "Corporation of Haldimand County" immediately.

About three years ago we had approached Municipal Affairs with a petition of 150 signatures (that was what was required) and requested that a forensic audit be done on Haldimand County. We were told at that time that Municipal Affairs felt that we needed to deal with this on our own with council. Well the truth of the matter is that Council will not even listen to the taxpayers of Haldimand County.

So I suggest that we try this again. If we can get 5,000 signatures from residents of Haldimand County, that would be powerful! Someone would have to hear our cry for help! Remember when we fought and saved Haldimand County Hydro? That petition had 3,267 signatures! In the 2006 Municipal Election approx. 16,800 residents went to the polls. We will be heard if we are successful with the numbers on this petition. I have already e-mailed this petition to a few people across the County, I will be asking some local business owners to once again help out. I will update you with where you can sign the petition.

The next plan of action is going to the Courts. I have not completed all of my paperwork required for this, but I should be ready in the next couple of weeks. This is where I will also need some help. I will be going to see the Justice of the Peace regarding Criminal Charges under section 184 (1) and 184 (2), more detail on that in a later post. I can not promise that this will work, but we have to try. I will have to make out 5 sets of complaints, one for each council member that voted "yes", and the cost for the paperwork at the Courthouse is $181.00 for each complaint. I will need financial assistance to do this. If you can help please contact me, I am not hard to find.

I have also started the paperwork for a formal complaint to the "Privacy Commissioner's Office", the "Integrity Commissioner" and the "Ombudsman". If you have any suggestions, please let me know.

We can not fight council on this decision. "The Doors are Closed Tight".

I would like to "clarify" a statement that was made by Councilor Sloat to a local newspaper reporter, "he stated that we did not go through the "proper" channels to be heard"! The truth about this was that "council" didn't follow their own procedures here! There was no "motion" prior to this "resolution", the public was not privy to this, actually the Mayor was not even "privy" to what council and staff were up to! So is this how a Council Member tells the "truth" to the public?

We can make a Difference!

Haldimand "Big Brother is Watching You"

Thanks to all that attended Council of the Whole meeting Monday August 13th, 2007. "It was a Full House"! The pressure was certainly on council members that were determined to pass the Resolution regarding all e-mails and correspondence that comes through the Mayor’s office. If you are not up to par on what this was all about, please read my article called Haldimand "Vote deferred Again".

I must say that in all the council meetings that I have attended in the last 4 years, this council meeting in particular was an embarrassment to say the least! What council proved to us last night was that "business as usual" is "not the case" in Haldimand County. This council last night lost the little respect that was left from the public that attended the meeting. Last night’s council meeting was a sham, and all that this Council proved to the public was that the nature of their actions last night was nothing less than, bullying, harassing, finger pointing, passing the buck that I have ever seen. All directed at Mayor Trainer! "Is this a government that is accountable and transparent"?

At the Council in Committee meeting last Wednesday, this resolution was "deferred" until Monday night. "Reason", to find out if this resolution was actually legal! Well I am certainly "curious" to the fact that this never came up last night, no information from the "Lawyer". So my question is, did they receive information from the Lawyer? "Is this a government that is "accountable and transparent"?

Regardless this issue is now in the hands of the residents of Haldimand County. "Is this a government that is "accountable and transparent"?

Also at the Council in Committee meeting last Wednesday, council excepted Mike Parent’s letter as information. If you are not familiar with this letter, it is posted on my site as "Bold attack on Freedoms". Last night council defeated this vote, so there will be no "official" record of Mike’s letter. So in an essence, council is saying, we don’t "care" what you have to say, or what you think, and we "strike" your comments from the "record"! "Is this a government that is "accountable and transparent"?

Before the motion came up for a vote, Mayor Trainer had the floor. Now for those that are not familiar with the workings of a Council of the Whole meeting, it really is the "official" council meeting. Council members are in suits and ties, and as each councilor speaks on an issue, they stand and every issue is directed through the "Mayor". The Mayor may also ask questions of "Staff", which in return are respectfully answered. This did not happen last night! "Is this a government that is "accountable and transparent"?

The following were some questions from Mayor Trainer to her CAO, staff and Council, regarding the resolution on the floor;

On Thursday afternoon when I asked Bill Pearce what this item on the agenda meant he said Councilor Sloat is leading the charge on behalf of council members and he was asked to prepare a motion. You went behind my back to meet with council members and have discussions to prepare a motion?

Answer from CAO Mr. Pearce……….Silence, no answer!

This resolution is absurd. How do you think Council will be perceived?

Answer from Council……….Silence, no answer

Where did this motion come from?

Answer from Council……….Silence, no answer

At what meeting did this decision take place, and Bill Pearce be given the authorization to prepare the motion that sits in from of us today?

Answer from Council……….Silence, no answer

How did this Council get to this resolution without my knowledge?

Answer from Council……….Silence, no answer

A lot of effort went into this motion and I presume council must have had a meeting? Why was I not consulted?

Answer from Council……….Silence, no answer

It appears a lot of private meetings have been happening behind my back.
When did you have a meeting to do something like this?

Answer from Council……….Silence, no answer

Shouldn’t the deputy mayor have contacted me and given me a heads up?

Answer from Deputy Mayor Councilor Sloat……….silence, no answer

If there was a problem why did you go behind my back in a private meeting instead of talking to me?

Answer from Council……….Silence, no answer

The motion states that the dissemination of correspondence is of utmost importance to successfully conduct the business of the corporation. Where is the staff report, giving examples of where this has occurred because of a letter or e-mail someone did not get?

Answer from Staff or Council………Silence, now answer

Where is the report of such happenings, and when was it reported to me and what was the resolve?

Answer from Staff or Council……….Silence, no answer

Where is the staff report that the county is in jeopardy?

Answer from Staff or Council……….Silence, no answer

The following was a comment made by Mayor Trainer to her Council last night;

You were all aware except Lorne Boyko who was away on vacation and not one of you had the courtesy to notify me. You have left me totally out of the loop. This is unacceptable behavior. My duty is to represent the public and consider their well being and interest and I am the Mayor and correspondence sent to me is for me not for Karen General and the council. This resolution would be an invasion of the privacy of the public to speak to their Mayor in confidence and is most likely "illegal".

As I see the ways things played out last night was that council and the CAO of Haldimand County showed their blatant disrespect to Mayor Trainer. Now I could be accused of just a personal opinion here…but….once again the proof is in the pudding……

Councilor Sloat stood up and directed a question to CAO Bill Pearce. Did you tell the Mayor that I lead the charge in this motion?

Immediate Answer from CAO Bill Pearce……No, what I said was that you were speaking on behalf of Council.

Well low and behold Mr. Pearce has a voice. So my question is why did CAO Bill Pearce answer Councilor Sloat’s question, and not answer the Mayor’s questions? Well obviously Mr. Pearce was publicly showing his respect to Councilor Sloat!

Now speaking of office of the CAO. Mr. Pearce is retiring as of August 24th, 2007. Council is currently interviewing for a replacement. Interestingly enough the Council chooses who the next CAO will be. Interestingly one part of the motion that was changed, was that instead of Karen General receiving the Mayor’s e-mails, it would now be the CAO!

So do you think that this Council will choose "wisely" their next CAO, a CAO that will work for "Council"? You bet they will!

Now back to the resolution on the table. Council passed this motion in a recorded vote of 5-2. Councilor Grice and Mayor Trainer voted against the motion. So there you go, starting "immediately", The Mayor of Haldimand County has been bullied and forced by her "Council and Staff" to give up the "privacy" of her office!

So BEWARE, big brother is watching YOU!

What can we do as residents of Haldimand County you ask? Well there is a lot of action going on, but for the moment I "choose" to keep this confidential, at least from Council……stay tuned……

Halidmand "Council would you like to Test this Law in Court"?

Thank you to all who came to Council of the Whole meeting tonight. "The House was Full".


Well things did not go well, but I will write about that soon, so please stay tuned in.


In the meantime a resolution was passed tonight, 5 in favour 2 against, a re-written resolution that we did not get a copy of, as the agenda on the table for the public was not updated! Again more on this later...........

I was asked by a few people to post an article that was written by Lisa Parent. This is regarding Privacy, and the Law.

Thanks Lisa, very well written, Kudos to you!


Madam Mayor and Council,

Unfortunately I could not attend today’s meeting as my 101 year old Mother is very ill in Kitchener and I am forced to attend to her rather than the sorry mess in Haldimand County.Up until today I thought I lived in a democratic society where free speech and the voice of the citizens of this country were sacred. Unfortunately today I believe that democracy as we have grown up to know it has ceased to exist.

In fact when it comes to Haldimand County I believe we have entered a period of totalitarian rule where the voice of the people is silenced and an elected Mayor is terrorized by the very Council and staff that in effect work for her.

You gentlemen, and I use that word facetiously, are playing with fire with this resolution you are trying to ram down the throats of the taxpayers of Haldimand County. The Mayor was duly elected by the taxpayers of this County to represent them as their CEO and Head of Council.

You are in effect trying to neuter the Mayor’s role by usurping her relationship with her constituents from her. You are not attacking the Mayor, you are attacking the very people you are supposed to represent by attacking their duly elected Mayor.If you are not hearing from your constituents in your wards you might want to take a look at yourselves and not the Mayor.

At the same time if I communicate with the Mayor it is because I want to interact with her and not you. The first time you become privy to an email or letter anyone sends privately to the Mayor, the County will be in a position to be sued for invasion of privacy.

You Mr. Sloat and those of you on Council who intend to vote “Yes” for the resolution to force the Mayor to share all emails and correspondence with you and staff should be personally held liable for invasion of privacy.

You may or may not be aware but Part VI of Bill C-46 Invasion of Privacy in the Criminal Code of Canada could easily be used to prosecute any attempt to intercept emails sent to the Mayor.

In case you are not familiar with this section of the Criminal Code I will include the link here for you http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/showdoc/cs/c-46/bo-ga:l_VI//en#anchorbo-ga:l_VI . Before you vote “Yes” to this resolution you may want to take a look at this piece of legislation in the Criminal Code.

To help you understand this section of the Criminal Code read the following:· “private communication" means any oral communication, or any telecommunication (I would suggest this can include emails), that is made by an originator who is in Canada or is intended by the originator to be received by a person who is in Canada and that is made under circumstances in which it is reasonable for the originator to expect that it will not be intercepted by any person other than the person intended by the originator to receive it, and includes any radio-based telephone communication that is treated electronically or otherwise for the purpose of preventing intelligible reception by any person other than the person intended by the originator to receive it;”·

“184. (1) Every one who, by means of any electro-magnetic, acoustic, mechanical or other device, wilfully intercepts a private communication is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years.”·

“184.2 (1) A person may intercept, by means of any electro-magnetic, acoustic, mechanical or other device, a private communication where either the originator of the private communication or the person intended by the originator to receive it has consented to the interception and an authorization has been obtained pursuant to subsection (3).”

You see gentlemen this has nothing to do with the Mayor but rather has everything to do with the protection of the privacy of the residents of this County.

Would you like to test this law in court?

As a resident of this County and taxpayer I am fed up with your attempts to circumvent the role of Mayor who was openly and fairly elected to her position in the County.

Lisa Parent
Caledonia

Haldimand "Bold Attack on Freedoms"

The following is a letter written by Mike Parent of Caledonia. Mike was present at both council meetings this week, and will be there again on Monday August 13th, 2007 at 6:00pm, your support is needed!

I felt that Mike's comments were too important to be just posted as a comment at the bottom of my article. So I called Mike and asked his permission to post this as a main article. The following letter has already been sent to The Mayor and all Councillors of Haldimand County.

Thanks Mike!



Dear Mayor Trainer and Councillors:

This latest attempt to disrupt the functionality of the “Office of the Mayor” with a poorly thought out plan to re-address the Mayor’s correspondence leaves me very disturbed as so many people were involved in a concerted effort at a “backdoor” endeavor.

My concerns are that the proposed motion of redistributing the Mayor’s correspondence is clearly and undeniably an effort to be disruptive. Councillors and staff have “taken the law onto themselves” by challenging:

A recognized legal and established process of handling The Queen’s Mail and Electronic Mail

Democratic Rights of Unelected Civilians

The Right to be Heard

Invasion of Privacy

Federal Privacy Laws

Provincial Statutes - Protection of Individual Rights

Canada Post Regulations - Mail Tampering

The Right to Confidentiality

The Department of Justice Criminal Code - Invasion of Privacy

The Municipal Act - Responsibilities

I take this opportunity to highlight issues that may have gone un-noticed or issues that have failed to be addressed, namely as they apply to Councillors, to Staff and to the Mayor.

Councillors

The individual Councillors responsible for proposing to put this motion forward are acting in a “self appointed” mode under the false impression that Councillors may take the law into their own hands and do with it as they please! Regretfully, this proposal goes beyond the Office of the Mayor and beyond the issue of redistributing the correspondence sent to or from the Mayor.

The proposed motion touches on basic democratic rights. Such basic democratic rights have been addressed in countless litigation cases. Accordingly, the Justice System has clearly dealt with the issue of democratic rights. Legal decisions are the cornerstone of the legal system and are reflected in the disciplines articulated throughout Canadian Law.

The proposal put forward is an attack and an invasion of my basic beliefs and basic values while it attacks democracy and everything that’s cherished in any democratic society. As a concerned citizen, my moral values won’t allow me to idly sit by and let such a contravention of generally accepted ethics deteriorate without taking a stand to protect myself and others from immoral and unethical practices that are both illegal and in contempt of Federal Laws and Provincial Statutes. There’s a time when one must exercise their power of objection and this is the very time to do it.

The actions of the Councillors are a bold attack on freedoms we’ve come to expect in Canada. None of us can allow that to happen. We have an army of men and women who put their lives on the line regularly to protect similar democratic rights of others in third world countries. Why then is democracy under attack in our own Council Chambers?

My efforts are to convince Councillors that this is a poorly conceived plan, it’s illegal and if the motion is put in place as a by-law or directive policy that forces certain staff individuals to commit illegal acts, these same staff members will find themselves party to committing the illegal acts. History shows that “following orders” is not an excuse under any circumstances when they (staff members) know that they’ve schemed a process and when they’re party to the execution of such a process.

Canada Post has an opinion directed at mail tampering. As recently as November 5, 2003, Mr. John Caines, Manager, National Media Relations of Canada Post in Ottawa (613 734-7675) wrote an article clearly stating that mail in Canada is secure and tampering of any kind is a criminal offence.

I strongly suspect that Councillors have not delved deeply enough or investigated the process completely before attempting to put it in place. The very fact that prudence is being recommended twice now by knowledgeable people should serve as a severe reminder that moving forward with this proposal is self defeating and opens the door for a slippery slope to litigation issues.

Individuals will report this process and “others” (the legal system) will take it from there. Are Councillors ready for the legal contentions here and are Councillors prepared to accept the legal consequences of breaking and knowingly flouting the law?

Councillors are advised that there are severe consequences to breaking the law, there are severe consequences to privacy invasion and there are severe consequences to ignoring basic democratic rights.

Staff Members

In addition to all of the Councillors, there’s a whole administrative bureaucracy that knew about this proposal. These are bureaucrats who would probably prefer not to be involved, but they are involved, they participated and they knew (or ought to have known) that such a motion could be disastrous to the organization as a whole and that it would undermine existing legalities as articulated in municipal, provincial and federal policies.

Besides breaking the law, these employees have committed acts of disrespect to the Mayor, acts of grandeur to the taxpayers that pay their salaries, and they’ve basically ignored the policy of honesty and ethical conduct towards their employer. In general business terms, this would call for severe reprimands and immediate dismissal for blatantly participating in a flawed process aimed at disruption and aimed at encouraging the execution of illegal acts.

I recommend to Mayor Marie Trainer to demand an investigation into the issue of staff participation in the development of the planned motion and that those found to be party to such be promptly removed from their position of authority. Taxpayers of this county cannot afford to be at the mercy of bureaucrats that have the misconception that they are “protected” while they attack the very system and the very tax payers who keep them employed.

If the investigation reveals that no hired or contracted employee knew about this proposal, then they’re all off the hook… but that’s a BIG IF…

The Mayor

Mayor Trainer has the ability to deal with her correspondence in the manner she determines to be suitable for her office. She‘s the exclusive and authoritative voice to determine who will open her correspondence, who will get a copy of the documentation, and what she’ll say in any response and again she’s responsible for determining who will be privy to such responses either electronically or by Queen’s Mail.

It’s her right to privacy, it’s her right to manage any literature directed at her, and it’s her right to say whatever she wants to say without being accountable to Councillors or to Staff. As Chief Executive Officer, she also has a number of other rights. I strongly encourage the Mayor to take steps to protect these rights such that future “back door” efforts to undermine these rights will be ended and addressed in a severe fashion, be it that such efforts could come from Staff or Councillors or a combination. We cannot and should not tolerate efforts to dismantle in whole or in part the Office of the Mayor, nor should we tolerate the Councillors that support such motions.

A simple examination of the duties of any CEO will reveal that such a person must be able to function independently without interference from others. In terms of reporting, the CEO is the topmost senior person and management reporting in any organization is on an upward scale. In other words, the CEO of The Corporation of Haldimand County does not report to Staff, the CEO does not report to Councillors unless inclined to do so and that’s that!

The moment that the Town of Haldimand became The Corporation of Haldimand County, the newly formed enterprise became an entity subject to a whole new set of business rules, including the general business rules that apply to every Chief Executive Officer.

It has to be noted that keeping Councillors informed of situations requiring their assistance or interference is an issue that Mayor Trainer has been able to accomplish without this “burr” that would at best only confuse the issues at hand and issues under consideration.

Conclusion

In conclusion, we already know that this issue boils down to technicalities. We are fully aware that previous cases have been successfully challenged with the results being in preference to the written laws and we’re also aware that the Federal and Provincial Laws cannot be rewritten at the municipal level. To change such laws, I encourage Councillors to contact their MPPs or their MPs directly.

We are prepared to pursue our end by securing legal representation with regards to our democratic rights and privacy invasion. This kind of “single handed” manipulation of our civil liberties cannot and will not be tolerated. Privacy laws are in place to protect the privacy of individuals. The Charter of Rights is there to protect democracy and to protect citizens from such outrageous interference as proposed by the Councillors.

Sincerely

Mike Parent
Caledonia ON

Haldimand "Vote Deferred Again"

"Thanks to the many residents" that came to Council on Tuesday and Wednesday! A very special thanks to Gary Mchale from Caledonia Wake up Call and Mark Vandermaas from Voice of Canada that helped spread this important news on their websites. Please visit Gary's site for all the latest information at http://caledoniawakeupcall.com/, and Mark's site at http://voiceofcanada.wordpress.com/.

I believe for some this experience was an eye opener to what is going on in this County. Without your support and laying pressure on our elected officials to be accountable, this resolution would have been voted on and passed all under the radar.

Now back to how this all played out, make a coffee and relax, even for me this experience was quite "unbelievable"!

Tuesday August 7, 2007, nine residents attended the Council in Committee Meeting. Our main goal was to "ask Council to speak" in regards to a resolution on the agenda, namely "Mayor’s Office Correspondence Management". For those that are not aware of what this resolution was all about….below is the official wording…..you can decipher the meaning for yourself, it’s pretty plain and simple;

WHEREAS THE Mayors’ office receives a considerable volume of correspondence through written or electronic form;

AND WHEREAS THE MAYOR has acknowledged in the past that management of this correspondence, especially e-mails has been overwhelming to the point where many e-mails may go unanswered of otherwise not responded to;

AND WHEREAS the management of this correspondence is critical to the effective operation of the County;

AND WHEREAS the dissemination of this correspondence to the remainder of Council as well as the Clerk is if utmost importance to successfully conduct the business of the Corporation;

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED;

THAT ALL correspondence sent and received through the Mayor’s office including all e-mail addressed to the Mayor by title or name, be copied to all councilors as well as the County Clerk;

AND THAT the Mayor’s assistant implement this direction for all hard copy correspondence;

AND THAT the General Manager of Corporate Services through the information Systems Division ensure that all e-mail sent to the Mayor by title or name, is automatically copied to all Councillors and the County Clerk;

AND THAT any questions or concerns from Councillors regarding specific correspondence to the Mayor’s office be first directed to the Mayor for a response and if required, the matter be referred to Council in Committee under the "Inquires, Announcements and Concerns of Councillors" part of the agenda.

I have been to enough council meetings that I can tell you, council was "not happy" that we had involved ourselves with their business. That was made perfectly clear just before lunch when "Mayor Trainer" advised her council that the residents here today were asking to speak to council regarding the resolution on the table. In particular she named Mike Parent, Merlyn Kinrade, and Dave Brown, all residents of Haldimand County. What happened next blew me away!

Mayor Trainer started by saying that she needed a "mover and a seconder" for council to vote on whether to allow anyone to speak on this issue…..the council sat silent…..for what seemed like minutes….Mayor Trainer asked a second time if there was a mover……Councilor Grice finally spoke up……Mayor Trainer then asked for a seconder…….silence…….finally Mayor Trainer seconded the motion herself.

Then the vote….Nay…..Nay…..Nay…..Nay…..Nay……Yay….Yay…. 5 against, 2 for, defeated!

The residents were furious, outspoken, and very disruptive.

Now at this point I had expected that we were going to be kicked out of council chambers……..not the case……..what happened next again shocked me……One councilor called a motion to go in camera to do the next part of their business, we were told that they were going in camera, but we did not budge from our seats in defiance!

Then one councilor called for "all of council and staff" to leave the council chambers and carry on their meeting in "another room", that’s right you heard me, they "left us" sitting in the council chambers! Now at this point I felt that the council members were very rude and disrespectful to us. Now one could say that we were defiant as we would not leave chambers and we were in the wrong, but really when I think of it, what was the worst thing that council could have done….well….they….did it……they wouldn’t allow us to speak! So we stood in defiance, and I am proud of what we did!

Before Mayor Trainer went into the closed session, she came over to inform us of what had just happened, she wasn’t speaking to us for more than a minute, when the door opened, and Councilor Boyko called the Mayor to the meeting, she apologized to us and we told her we would be back after lunch.

We stayed in the council chambers for about 10 minutes talking, we then proceeded outside, to discuss what we were going to do next. Once outside we noticed Councilor Sloat just outside the side door on his cell phone. Merlyn Kinrade and Jeff Parkinson left the group to go and speak with councilor Sloat. We all stood there watching, I was little concerned about the body language of Councilor Sloat, and then all of a sudden Jeff starting walking towards us and Merlyn and Councilor Sloat went inside the building.

This is what happened, (Jeff Parkinson quote’s) "Buck Sloat suddenly grabbed my shoulder with one hand and ripped my digital recorder aggressively out of my pocket with the other proceeding to drop it on the concrete below".

A special thanks to Jeff Parkinson for coming out to council and supporting us on this issue, please read Jeff's article at http://www.caledoniawakeupcall.wordpress.com/. I would like to at this time send a my personal apology to Jeff on behalf of the residents of Haldimand County. Councilor Sloat was out of line when he assaulted Jeff, and I would hope that Councilor Sloat publicly gives Jeff an apology on Monday August 13th, 2007. If he refuses, I would then expect that Mayor Trainer will need to send her apology on behalf of herself and Council!

This incident is currently being investigated by the O.P.P., I will update you when I know the outcome.

If Councilor Sloat is charged with assault, and found guilty, he will be forced to leave his post as a Municipal Councilor, and will be unable to run for council for "6" years!

Tuesday afternoon around 2:00pm Councilor Sloat, Dalimonte, and CAO Bill Pearce left the council chambers and did not return until approximately 5:00pm, why you ask? What was so important that "2" council members needed to leave their duties at the table when this was the first council meeting after "6" weeks of vacation time, and this meeting was already slated as a "2" day Council in Committee meeting. They were also fully aware that there was a lot of controversy over this resolution on the table. They were also obviously aware that the timing of this resolution would be such that they would not even be present for the vote!

To go back to the resolution, when it came to the table (at this time 2 council members were missing) in the afternoon, it was voted on by council to be deferred until Wednesday August the 8th, at 1:00pm!

Now back to the "missing" members of Council. According to Mayor Trainer, she received a phone call at home from CAO Bill Pearce Sunday afternoon (August 5th) that Lorraine Bergstrand (Provincial Liberal Candidate) requested that Mayor Trainer meet with her and the Minister of Economic Development at Stelco in Nanticoke Tuesday afternoon.

Now I don’t know about you, but I certainly have some questions regarding this scenario;

"Was this a Haldimand County Official Business opportunity"?

(1) If this was Official County Business, why did the invitation not go through the "mayor’s office in a timely fashion?

(2) If this was Official County Business, as Stelco is merely 15 minutes away from Cayuga, why was the Minister not formally invited to Council!

(3) If this was Official County Business, what was CAO Bill Pearce thinking when he left this until Sunday afternoon to "invite" the Mayor?

(4) If this was Official County Business, shouldn’t "all" of Haldimand County Councilors been invited?

Well all said and done, this was obviously "not" County Business. This was an "election campaign photo op"! This was "personal business"! CAO Bill Pearce also had no "excuse" to leave his "high paying post", to attend a personal function! So my concern, what business did Councilor Sloat and Councilor Dalimonte have leaving their duties, mid afternoon, in the middle of a "council in committee meeting", to attend this function?

Was this a "priority" for these Councilors? Well obviously it was! I say, it was not their "business" to go and stand beside Lorraine Bergstrand for a photo op for "her" campaign for the Liberal Party! This is an "outrage" that our tax dollars paid these members of council to attend this function!

Now I am sure that you are wondering how I would come to the conclusion that this was "personal" business? Well that would be simple! Lorraine Bergstrand is not an "official" of any kind! Lorraine Bergstrand is a "candidate" for the Liberal Party for Haldimand Norfolk for the upcoming election in October 2007. So in saying that what "official" business would she have had with any council member, or the CAO of Haldimand County? No more than you or I would have!

Actually I will need to correct myself here, it seems that Lorraine Bergstrand does have some "pull" with certain council members, and the CAO! These same "2" council members voted against allowing us to speak on the resolution at hand, but they took the time out, left behind their County Business, to stand beside her and take pictures!

Wednesday August 8th, at 1:00pm there were "12" people in council chambers waiting for the resolution to come up for the "vote". Well it seems that the County Lawyer had sent a fax to members of council, advising to defer this vote until Monday August 13th, 2007! Apparently the lawyer needs some background information!

So for the "third" time we will be at Council, to see how this all turns out!!!!!! I am thankful that there are residents out there that have the time to keep coming back! Hopefully there will be a "FULL" Council there, and it won’t be deferred for a "third" time!

I would like to finish with a few quotes;

This one is from the movie "Vendetta"

"People should not fear it’s Government! The Government should fear it’s People"!

This following statement is from a very dear friend of mine, who wants to remain anonymous!

A lot has been said recently about our rights as citizens to hold our elected officials responsible for their actions. To quote George Orwell from his novel Animal Farm "All animals are created equal but some are more equal than others". It is fundamentally important that we all remember at all times that our citizens' rights are only valid when the powers that be wish to recognize them as such because you see, without their approval and recognition these so called rights have no authority.

Haldimand "Another Chat with the Mayor"

As Council is preparing for their first council meeting after a 6-week break, I once again have to wonder where certain council members come up with their ideas. I do believe that before you start reading this article, you will need to make yourself a cup of coffee !

As I was going through the agenda for the Tuesday August 7th, 2007 Council in Committee meeting, I came across the following resolution on the agenda. As I couldn’t believe what I was reading to be remotely possible, I called Mayor Trainer to ask what this was all about…….more detail about this later.

The following is the resolution being presented at council Tuesday August 7, 2007, and the following week Monday August 13, 2007 this will be written in stone with the second vote at Council of the Whole, if we don’t stop this!

Resolution Re: Mayors Office Correspondence Management

WHEREAS THE Mayors’ office receives a considerable volume of correspondence through written or electronic form;

AND WHEREAS THE MAYOR has acknowledged in the past that management of this correspondence, especially e-mails has been overwhelming to the point where many e-mails may go unanswered of otherwise not responded to;

AND WHEREAS the management of this correspondence is critical to the effective operation of the County;

AND WHEREAS the dissemination of this correspondence to the remainder of Council as well as the Clerk is if utmost importance to successfully conduct the business of the Corporation;
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED;

THAT ALL correspondence sent and received through the Mayor’s office including all e-mail addressed to the Mayor by title or name, be copied to all councilors as well as the County Clerk;

AND THAT the Mayor’s assistant implement this direction for all hard copy correspondence;

AND THAT the General Manager of Corporate Services through the information Systems Division ensure that all e-mail sent to the Mayor by title or name, is automatically copied to all Councillors and the County Clerk;

AND THAT any questions or concerns from Councillors regarding specific correspondence to the Mayor’s office be first directed to the Mayor for a response and if required, the matter be referred to Council in Committee under the "Inquires, Announcements and Concerns of Councillors" part of the agenda.

WOW that is certainly a mouth full, and a lot of effort went into this resolution by Councilor Sloat, although I am unsure as to the wording of the resolution, whether this was solely CAO Bill Pearce, or a combination of both, or a combination of a few Council Members. Regardless I would think that there must have been some kind of meeting? A meeting that the Mayor once again was not "privy" to!

I am really trying hard not to be too "hard" on certain council members, but if you look around "guys" there is a lot of serious issues in Haldimand County! This is not a "Priority" that needs to be passed in a week! "All" members of council and the "Clerks office" and "Karen General" do not have the "right" to scrutinize "ALL" correspondence that comes to the "Mayor Elects Office"! Stick to doing your own "JOBS".

Now back to my call to Mayor Trainer, as I said earlier I called the Mayor to ask, "what is the deal about this resolution"? Well the answer surprised me, as I didn’t think that council would go this far, but they have! I should have known better as it is becoming more relevant that "certain members of council" are relentless in their personal charge to undermine the Mayor’s position!

Common practice in finalizing the agenda is a review meeting with CAO Bill Pearce, County Clerk Janis Lankester and Mayor Trainer, on the Thursday before the agenda goes out to Council Members. Last Thursday in the agenda meeting Mayor Trainer noticed on Page 3 of the agenda under Corporate Services, under "other", a resolution called "Mayors office correspondence management report". Mayor Trainer asked what this was regarding; CAO BILL Pearce informed her that this was a resolution that Councilor Buck Sloat is leading the charge of on behalf of members of Council, representing council’s position. CAO Bill Pearce was asked to write up the resolution for the council meeting, at the time of this meeting the resolution had not been written yet! Up until this time, I had presumed that "resolutions" were actually written by "council members", I was mistaken!

According to Mayor Trainer when she received her agenda on Friday she read the resolution for the first time! As you can imagine she is not pleased with this resolution. Mayor Trainer has a few calls into council members regarding this resolution but as of the time of our conversation, she had not heard back from anyone!

Here are a few reasons why I personally feel that this resolution needs to be put where it belongs………in a "garbage can".

I have no "representative" on Council! Reason! My Council Member Does Not Return My Phone Calls"! I live in Ward 2, and on many of an occasion I have called Councilor Buck Sloat, but he does not return my phone calls! So I have had to burden the Mayor, as she is my only "representative" on council. Now in saying that, just maybe there are a few other residents out there that also have "No Representation in their Ward", so they as well have to call or e-mail the Mayor! Hence maybe that is why sometimes she becomes a little overwhelmed with e-mails. But for any of us out there that have to deal "directly" through the Mayor because we are not "represented" we understand that it may take a bit longer to get a return phone call, or e-mail! We don’t have a problem with this, so why would Councilor Buck Sloat have a problem? Maybe he should "answer" his "own" calls!

When I contact my council "representative" which happens to be the "Mayor", I have a right to do that "confidentially"!

WHEREAS THE Mayors’ office receives a considerable volume of correspondence through written or electronic form; This statement is ridiculous, every "Mayor" in any Municipality would have the same situation, this does not give anyone the right to "scrutinize" or decide other the "Mayor" (person addressed to) what course of action is to be taken.

AND WHEREAS the management of this correspondence is critical to the effective operation of the County; This statement is a crock of s..t! When was the last time we heard that an e-mail that was a little late in receiving an answer, "effected the operation" of the County! Believe me if this had ever been the case, Councilor Sloat would have already informed the public one way or another!

AND THAT any questions or concerns from Councillors regarding specific correspondence to the Mayor’s office be first directed to the Mayor for a response and if required, the matter be referred to Council in Committee under the "Inquires, Announcements and Concerns of Councillors" part of the agenda. Give me a break, do you think for one moment that the correspondence would be directed to the Mayor first? This resolution is proof in the pudding, the Mayor didn’t know what this resolution was all about until she received her agenda at the same time as the rest of council! If this resolution goes through the Mayor would receive "surprises" every council meeting!

AND THAT the General Manager of Corporate Services through the information Systems Division ensure that all e-mail sent to the Mayor by title or name, is automatically copied to all Councillors and the County Clerk; Oh this one is really special, now a staff member, currently Karen General, will receive as well all the Mayor’s e-mails and she will ensure that all council members receive the information. It seems that at the start of this resolution that even the Mayor’s assistant won’t be trusted to do this part, which is to forward all "e-mail" information to all! Notice the part where it says by "title or name", they covered it all! Where will Karen General find the time to do all this additional work? Well looks like a request for a "raise" coming!

AND THAT the Mayor’s assistant implement this direction for all hard copy correspondence; Well look at that, they have all hard copy covered (mail) as well. Thank goodness they have shared the ownership of the Mayor’s office, by sharing the duties of making sure that "all" have "all" the information!

AND WHEREAS the dissemination of this correspondence to the remainder of Council as well as the Clerk is if utmost importance to successfully conduct the business of the Corporation; Well that says it in a "nutshell", "dissemination"…..spread the news!!!

Now if they are really serious about implementing this resolution, they should include the following;

AND WHERAS all e-mail, and hard copy correspondence that is sent to "all" members of "Council", should be in return sent to "all" other members of "council", and the "Mayor’s office", and such "e-mails" and hard copy correspondence be in return "sent" to "all" heads of staff, as this is "critical" to successfully conduct the business of the "Corporation".

There is a reason why we have Wards in Haldimand County. You vote for your "elected official" and the "Mayor" once every 4 years. Each Ward Council Member has their "own" e-mail address, as well as the "Mayor". Each member of Council is "responsible" for addressing the "concerns" of their "wards" at Council Meetings. If this "resolution" is adopted, the only elected "official" that it affects is the "Mayor", why? I believe that certain "council members" need to get a grip! The "PUBLIC" votes for the Mayor, start "respecting" the "public" which by the way is whom "you as a council member" represent!

If you don’t agree with the above resolution, the following is a list of our current council members, at this point I guess you could just contact any one of these individuals, as all "boundaries" seem to have been removed!

Leroy Bartlett 905 961 4834, lbartlett@haldimandcounty.on.ca
Lorne Boyko 905 774 6309, lboyko@haldimandcounty.on.ca
Tony Dalimonte 905 768 1260, tdalimonte@haldimandcounty.on.ca
Craig Grice 905 961 1264, cgrice@haldimandcounty.on.ca
Don Ricker 905 774 4661, dricker@haldimandcounty.on.ca
Buck Sloat 905 961 3270, bsloat@haldimandcounty.on.ca
Mayor Trainer 905 318 5932, Ext 201, mayor@haldimandcounty.on.ca

Sugar Coat this all you want, but bottom line is this, once approved "Council as a whole will be our Mayor"!

Haldimand "I SWEAR"

The following is Mr. McGuinty's first speach as Premier of Ontario. This speach was very heartwarming, and uplifting, and full of promises.


Remarks By Dalton McGuinty, Premier Of Ontario
On The Occasion Of The Swearing-In of The Premier and Cabinet
October 23, 2003 — CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY


Your Honour, my Lord Chief Justice, distinguished guests, colleagues, friends and those people sitting in the first 30 rows here — family. My first words as Premier are to the people of Ontario. Thank you for the work you have entrusted to us.

Thank you for having given us these important responsibilities. I thank you for all the work you do every day.

We are honoured to work for you because we've seen you work. We've seen you make the kids' lunches, fill out the school forms, sell the chocolate almonds, put in more than a full day at the office or down at the plant, and still manage to get the kids to Brownies or hockey practice — sometimes even on time. Our government will be as tireless as you are.

We've seen you neglect your own needs to care for your aging parents, or make sacrifices to care for your young grandchildren. Our government will be as selfless as you are.

We have seen you innovate and take risks to create jobs. Or do your jobs so well that you help your employers create still more jobs. Our government will work as hard as you do.

We've seen you teach a child to read, nurse a patient back to health, fight a fire, police a community, provide public service, serve in our armed forces or strengthen our province in thousands of ways. Our government will work with you.

You do so much, so well. Government's job is to help you overcome those challenges that are simply too big for you to tackle on your own. And we gladly assume that responsibility. We won't blame you for our mistakes. We will starve cynicism, and feed hope.

A poet once described hope as "that everlasting duty that heaven lays for its own sake on mankind's heart." We embrace this notion of hope being our duty, our obligation, our shared responsibility. Our mission is to build a government that inspires hope in all Ontarians. People have told us they want things done differently.

They want real, positive change. They want us to improve their schools and health care, protect our environment and live within our means.

Today marks a first step in delivering change. There will be a new Ministry of Children's services to deliver on our commitment to ensure that children get off to the best start in life.
A new Ministry of Public Infrastructure signals our determination to provide the tools Ontarians need to compete and win by building roads and sewers and hospitals and schools.

For the first time, Ontario will have a Democratic Renewal Secretariat. Because we believe in public service and we believe in government, we will strive to make government more relevant to the people that we serve.

With that goal in mind, we're moving to make the people's representatives — our MPPs — even more relevant to government. For the first time in Ontario history, every MPP in the government caucus will sit on Cabinet Committees. And those committees will be chaired by non-ministers. In keeping with our parliamentary traditions, decisions will remain with Cabinet. But with this innovation, MPPs will have real, meaningful input into those decisions. When it comes to policy making in our government, there will be no back bench.

Our government will work for all Ontarians and with all Ontarians. That's why I'm so happy to welcome each of you today, and to have you here with us. Together, we will represent businesses and workers, youth and older Ontarians, public and private sector, as well as volunteers. You are all welcomed here, and you will be always.

I want you to know that yours is an idealistic government — one that wants to make Ontario the envy of the world.

We're not naive about the challenges ahead. We're under no illusions, but we do have a vision. It is a vision of working and building and dreaming together. And it is a vision that Ontarians share.

Before closing, I just want to say how proud I am to have my mother with us here today.
I also want to acknowledge the love and support of my family, Terri, my wife, and my children Carleen, Dalton Jr., Liam and Connor. I want to thank them for their particularly leveling influence. When I told Connor we were coming to Queen's Park for my swearing in, his only inquiry was, "is there going to be any food there?"

I want to conclude this, my first speech as Premier, in the same way that I concluded my maiden speech as an MPP in this chamber some 13 years ago. I want to conclude with words of advice written by my late father, Dalton McGuinty Sr. in a letter he sent as the member for Ottawa South to all members of this legislature, at that time.

His words are in paraphrase of a prayer from St. Francis of Assisi:
"Let us remember that when we leave this earth, we take with us nothing that we have received, fleeting symbols of honour, trappings of power, but only what we have been given, a full heart, enriched by honest service, love, sacrifice and courage."

My friends, let our new government govern with a full heart. Let it provide honest service. And let it show as much love, sacrifice and courage as the people we have the privilege of serving. Thank you.

Here are have a few questions that I have asked myself about the last 4 years with our "current" government;

Have they inspired Me? Is Ontario the "envy" of the World? Has this current government worked as "Hard" as you and I? Has this current government been as "selfless" as you and I? Has this current government given me "Hope" for the "future? Has this current government been "accountable"? Has this current government been "honest"?

For those that agree that Mr. McGuinty and his present government have in the past 4 years honoured their commitment to all Ontarians, your job is an easy one come October 10th, 2007.