Haldimand "Toby Barrett Sits with Haldimand Council"

Toby Barrett spoke with the members of Haldimand County Council on Monday, regarding Land Claims Issues.

There were many excellent points and suggestions brought up at this joint meeting by both Toby Barrett and Haldimand County Council.

I won't go into all the details regarding the meeting, but if you are interested Numberswatchdog taped the meeting for your to view. Please go to; MPP Toby Barrett meets Haldimand Council Feb 11 08

This was an excellent meeting and I urge you to take the time and watch this "raw" footage. Thanks once again to Numberswatch, you are a valuable resource for the residents of this County!

One of the highlights was the following document that Toby presented to Council to endorse if they wish. Council did receive this as information and will send it to staff to look at. I do believe it was Councillor Boyko that stated the County would need a week to look at it and make a decision.

Regardless Toby is asking for "Your" opinions, here is another great opportunity to have your voice heard!

The following is an update from Toby and the proclamation;

Hi, Toby here,

Yesterday I was invited to sit with Haldimand Councillors during Committee of the Whole to discuss the impact of Aboriginal issues on the County.

As part of our deliberations I presented the attached proclamation for review and possible action by councillors.

Your thoughts (additions, deletions or other changes) would be most welcome.

HALDIMAND PROCLAMATION FOR PEACE, ORDER AND GOOD GOVERNMENT

February 2008

WHEREAS, since February 28, 2006, people across Haldimand County and beyond have been subjected to arson, extortion, barricades, land seizures, occupations, militant protests, and related harassment, intimidation, mob violence and threats to public safety.

AND WHEREAS, the community safety, social and economic life, of Haldimand and neighbouring residents, has declined because of the climate of fear, chaos and uncertainty generated by various acts of lawlessness and related intimidation.

AND WHEREAS, there is a perception, and evidence, of two categories of law, of justice, of police protection, and government action based on one’s race and geographical location within Haldimand County and beyond.

AND WHEREAS, the lawlessness, and the less than adequate prevention and response on the part of police and other government authorities regarding these illegal acts appears to be tolerated, and perhaps condoned, by provincial and federal government policy.

AND WHEREAS, both the provincial and federal governments have legislative, regulatory, enforcement, decision-making and policy-making capability beyond the mandate and scope of Haldimand County.

NOW THEREFORE, BE IT HEREBY RESOLVED, that Haldimand County, in support of all of its residents, proclaim and request, with utmost urgency, that the following actions be taken where mandated at the provincial and federal level:

(1) Restore police patrol, response and enforcement as well as justice, order and the rule of law, including court injunctions, throughout Haldimand County regardless of one’s race or geographical location.

(2) Cease all land dispute negotiations and related actions until extortion, and illegal occupations and protests are terminated.

(3) Budget and publicly set timelines and deadlines to continue to resolve legitimate land disputes expeditiously within a climate of openness, mutual respect, and justice for all affected.
(4) Compensate individuals, businesses and the municipality for loss, insecurity, economic decline, and any other collateral damage stemming from provincial and federal decisions and policy, or lack thereof, that have eroded peace, order and good government in Haldimand County and beyond.

Draft #1 Respectfully submitted, Toby Barrett, MPP Haldimand-Norfolk — February 11, 2008

You can contact Toby Barrett at toby@tobybarrett@pc.ola.org

I can't say it enough that this is your opportunity to be Heard!

Haldimand "Should We Foot the Bill"

.............Update Wednesday February 13th, 2008......................

The following is an article written by Karen Best of the Dunnville Chroncile, dated Wednesday February 13th, 2008;

A bylaw protecting council members while acting in an official capacity will save a councillor legal costs. Haldimand County taxpayers will pay legal fees incurred by Coun. Buck Sloat when he answers to an assault charge in an Ontario court.

Under a bylaw passed by county council in 2002, council members, county employees and board members will be indemnified for actions or omissions made while acting in good faith on behalf of the county. After Sloat notified him about the legal matter, chief administrative officer Don Boyle forwarded the request for coverage of legal fees to the county solicitor. In turn, the lawyer provided an opinion that stated this case fell under the bylaw and legal fees should be covered by the municipality.

The incident occurred during a break in a council committee meeting on county property while Sloat was fulfilling his role as a representative of the public, said Boyle. As such, his fees will be paid by the county.

In January, a justice of the peace charged Sloat with assault after Jeff Parkinson requested a charge be laid. The Delhi resident alleged Sloat grabbed his shoulder, pulled out his recording device out of his pocket and dropped it to the ground. This incident has not yet gone before a court of law.

Council did discuss paying Sloat's legal fees in a closed session where there was lots of discussion but no vote could be taken, said Boyle. The bylaw superseded any vote but there was a consensus of council in support of payment, he added.When Mayor Marie Trainer asked for coverage of her legal fees in 2005, council reviewed the circumstances at that time and felt she did not act in good faith or in the best interests of the county, said Boyle.As a result, her request did not fit into the bylaw, he added.

Hind sight is 20/20 and it's unfortunate how that played out, but now council needs to move forward and support these individuals, said Boyle.

Trainer hired a lawyer after her former administrative assistant complained about harassment in the workplace in 2003 and 2004. Council paid for the assistant's legal fees but not the mayor's.After receiving a consultant report on the incident, council decided the Mayor did harass her assistant.

Boyle said the legal opinion on Sloat's situation made sense. Life in public office and in the public realm is not always easy and the municipality should stand behind people who are doing their best in those roles, he said.Sloat appeared in court on Feb. 6 and his case was held over to March 5 to set a trial date.

A few interesting points that Karen made here. The first and most obvious is that "council did" in fact have "lots of discussion" of this issue "behind closed closed doors". The second is that Dan Boyle himself stated that the "consensus" of council was in support of the payment on Sloat's behalf. I do believe that the term for a consensus behind closed doors is "drawing straws". The third was that this bylaw 235/02 "supersedes "any" vote by council.

Isn't it amazing that Councillor Sloat according to council and the CAO of Haldimand County was "acting in good faith", and yet the Mayor was "not" "acting in good faith" in August of 2005. Regardless, the Mayor's charge was of an "internal" one at the time that council "voted" against paying her lawyers fees, the alleged charge against Sloat is a "criminal charge". A vote actually by the words of the CAO of Haldimand County cannot take place! The employee that laid the "alleged harassment" charge against the Mayor "was" indeed covered under this bylaw 235/02 long before the employee even went further with a court case.

It is interesting when I picked up the minutes of the February 4th, 2008 Council Meeting, there is no reference to a "Disclosure of Pecuniary Interest" by Councillor Sloat. According to the minutes Councillor Sloat was in fact in the "closed session" when this was being discussed in length. According to the "public" minutes of that meeting, it was Councillor Sloat that moved to adjourn the meeting.

Maybe the Mayor needs to demand that she be paid for her lawyers fees as it seems the county was wrong in the fact that they cannot supersede their own bylaws. But if I am not mistaken it was the County Lawyer that advised Council on this issue. But does that make it "legal"? Now in saying that, I would hope to God that Council knows that they cannot supersede their own bylaws!

Could this be Haldimand County's first "investigation" into Closed Door Meetings?

...............Update Wednesday February 13th, 2008........................

On January 9, 2008 Councillor Buck Sloat was charged with assault as a result of a private complaint filed against the Councillor. The charge stems from an allegation that Councillor Sloat assaulted an individual at the County Offices while on a break from a Council meeting in August, 2007.

On January 31, 2008 Councillor Sloat notified the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) that he would be seeking legal assistance from the County Solicitor as the charge was as a direct result of him carrying out County business in good faith. The CAO informed the County Solicitor of the Councillors notification and requested an opinion as to whether it was appropriate for the County to cover the legal representation.

It was decided that legal representation should be provided based on By-law No. 235/02, being a by-law to provide for the legal indemnification of Employees, Councillors or Members of Local Boards of Haldimand County. The by-law applies to any act or omission alleged to have occurred on or after January 1, 2001. The purpose of the by-law is to indemnify and save harmless Employees, Councillors or Members of Local Boards, in respect of acts or omissions done or made by these individuals, in good faith, in his or her capacity, including acting in the performance of any statutory duty on behalf of the County.

County Council’s decision in 2002 to pass By-law 235/02 ensured that public servants, exercising their duties in good faith, would be protected from personal and financial risk from claims and actions with respect to matters arising out of County business. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, please contact Don Boyle, Chief Administrative Officer, 905-318-5932 Ext. 220.


..................Update Monday February 11th, 2008................

I attended the council meeting today to hear Toby Barrett speak to Council regarding Land Claims issues, while we were waiting a few of us were having a very interesting conversation regarding this article. Now according to Councillor Grice I was wrong in stating that Council even needed to vote on whether Councillor Sloat would be represented by the County Lawyer or not.

Apparently By law #235/02 that came into effect in 2002 basically states that employees and Council members are covered for the use of the County Lawyer. I did have this document in my hands but I gave it to someone to look into for me.

Now to tell you the truth I am quite confused here. As I stated in my article, Council voted 6-0 to "Not" cover Mayer Trainers Lawyer in the alleged harassment case. So in order to do that one, Council would have had to "repeal" this By law #235/02.

I have sent Councillor Grice an e-mail asking for clarification on this information. I will up date you when I receive an answer.
......................................................................................................................

At the Council meeting February 4th, 2008, council voted 6-0 in favour of having the County Lawyer represent Councillor Buck Sloat. Councillor Sloat appeared in the Cayuga Courthouse Wednesday February 6th, 2008, with the County Lawyer and Councillor Grice at his side.

To this date there has been no open vote or resolution/motion stating that this even took place. So here we go once again......."Behind Closed Doors"........

I am sure by now that some are saying, my god Donna you certainly have a problem with "closed door meetings"! You would be right on the money on that one!

I don't really have a problem with a member of council being represented by the county lawyer if in fact the problem is of an "official" Haldimand County Matter. But when a council member is charged under the Criminal Code, that is a whole new ball game!

Let's take a little walk down history lane. Let's revisit the Mayor's internal investigation regarding alleged harassment. This was never a "court case", this was a case of council voting to spend $25,000.00 dollars on a consultant, and voting 6-0 against the county lawyer representing the Mayor. Mayor Trainer paid her own bill!

So you may ask what is so different about this case with Councillor Sloat? Well when you find the answer please let me know because I am sure interested in the logic of this council!

My understanding is that unless an item is in the budget or is voted on by council as a resolution/motion, it is actually illegal for the County to spend our money. As this is not a budgeted item, and there is no resolution/motion is this legal? Again if you have the answer I am very interested to hear it. This money for the County Lawyer will come out of what is called the "emergency fund".

Maybe this is just an example of a "two tiered" Council. Or maybe this is a case of what's good for the goose is "not" good for the gander. Regardless of what it is, we will all have our own opinion on this matter.

Haldimand "Toby Barrett & David Crombie"

A few meetings coming up this week that you may be interested in coming to.

Toby Barrett will be coming to the Haldimand County Council Meeting on Monday February 11th, 2008 at 4:00pm. The meeting will be held in the council chambers. Haldimand County invited Toby back in December to appear as a delegate to speak on the issues of Land Claims in Haldimand County. This meeting is open to the public.

David Crombie will be holding a Town Hall meeting Wednesday February 13th, 2008 at 7:00pm. The meeting will be held in the council chambers as well. This will be David Crombie's second town hall meeting, the first one took place back in November of 2007. Updates on the progress of the Land Claims will be discussed. This meeting is open to the public.

Both of these meetings are well worth attending, I encourage you to come out and get the up to date information first hand!

Haldimand "What is Your say on the Recovery Package"

You may agree or disagree with Jason Clark and Haldimand County, and I certainly don’t believe that any of us want to look a "gift horse" in the mouth, but once again the "process" in my opinion was wrong. I don’t understand why Haldimand County decided to do all of this "behind closed doors". It seems that this process should have been done in the open for all to see, maybe even via a "public meeting". What did the County use as a reason for doing this business behind closed doors? This document is very similar to the process of the County Budget, yet this is done in the open.

The following information is a short breakdown of the Recovery Package that Haldimand County has sent off to both upper levels of government in December of 2007. As you can see, this document is still marked Private and Confidential. You can view the complete document here;
http://www.numberswatchdog.com/documents/County_Recovery_Plan_Projects.pdf

I have also attached an e-mail from Jason Clark of Caledonia that he wanted distributed to as many residents in Haldimand County as possible.

The contact e-mail addresses are at the bottom, so if you want to "voice" your opinion you now have a choice.

Haldimand County
Private and Confidential
Report CAO-09-2007
Haldimand County Recovery Projects Plan.

Objective; To seek Council approval of the Haldimand County Recovery Projects Plan related to the impacts of Land Claims Issues, which will be forwarded to the Federal and Provincial governments, soliciting financial assistance in undertaking these initiatives.

Nanticoke Area Infrastructure Upgrades; $20 million dollars

Community Servicing Capacity Initiatives; $29.1 million dollars
The above dollar amount includes the following areas, Hagersville, Dunnville, Cayuga and Caledonia.

Lafortune Park Educational Interpretive and Research Centre and Retreat; Unknown dollar amount at this time.

Downtown Improvements;
Dunnville decorative lighting; $250,000.00 dollars
Queen Lock channelization Project; $635,000.00 dollars
Talbot Street (Cayuga) roads and watermains; $1.4 million dollars
Main St. West Dunnville, roads; $600,000.00 dollars
Completing the resurfacing of Lakeshore Rd; $900,000.00 dollars

The above is a short breakdown, please read the whole report it is quite interesting.


From: Jason Clark
To: Undisclosed-Recipient:;
Sent: Thursday, February 07, 2008 5:03 PM
Subject: Fw: County Recovery Plan Projects.pdf

Hello Everyone, as many of you know, I am a member of the Caledonia Citizens Alliance along with a group of about ten others. Basically, what we do at this point is (other than yell at each other out of pure frustration) to stay close to the situation by keeping the various levels of government aware that any decisions made relative to the DCE property need to be in the best interest of Caledonia. As you may have read in the local papers recently, the County created a "Request for Assistance" months ago and submitted it to the Province.

Unfortunately, the County felt it necessary to conduct all of their meetings pertaining to this request behind closed doors. Fortunately, the Province realized this and forced the County to make the documents public citing that it would make no sense for them to reward us with financial assistance without proper disclosure to the public.

Essentially, the Province wanted to make sure that the residents of Haldimand County were in agreement with the request. I have attached the official County Recovery Plan document, as you will see, there is very little for Caledonia in the request.

Unfortunately, the Councillors from outside our community saw an opportunity to make gains in their respective backyards on the "back" of our problems. Obviously Caledonia hasn't been the only community impacted from the events of the past two years but it certainly has been impacted the most. The Province has made us aware that what they're waiting for is a response from the public now that the request is out in the open. If they don't hear anything, they will assume people agree with it.

At the bottom of this message I am adding the email addresses of the pertinent people from the Provincial Government. This is a rare opportunity to send a letter to the Provincial Government knowing that it will likely be read.

I'm sure that most of you will agree with me that a $250,000 request for decorative lighting in Dunnville has very little to do with the events of the past two years. If I'm not mistaken, we raised all or part of the money for the decorative lighting we have in Caledonia.

Feel free to forward this message on to anyone who would be interested in sending an email to the individuals below.

Murray Coolican, murray.coolican.coolican@ontario.ca
Michael Bryant, mbryant.mpp.co@liberal.ola.org
Chris Maher, chris.maher1@ontario.ca
David Crombie, davidcrombie@rogers.com

Haldimand "Does Your Local Councillor Even give a Damn?"

Well the title says it all!

I am really beginning to wonder what goes through the mind of a Haldimand County Councillor.

We hear on a regular basis that Haldimand doesn't receive it's fair share from upper levels of government. We constantly hear from our local members of Council, that they in fact work hard and do what they can for us. But is this really the "truth"?.

Last month I posted an "On-Line Petition" to the Legislature of Ontario regarding the unfair distribution of the Provincial Gas Tax. I spent many many hours e-mailing "all" Mayors in Ontario asking for their assistance. I received an interesting response back from the Mayor of Oshawa, that basically said "we already receive the gas tax, and we certainly don't want to share it with you"!

Mayor Marie Trainer has sent this to everyone she knows, as well as "ALL MEMBERS OF HALDIMAND COUNTY COUNCIL", in fact she has sent this to her fellow council members more then once. To this date the only person on Haldimand County Council that has signed the on-line petition is Mayor Trainer! Thanks Marie!

So I would ask this......why are the other "6" hard working dedicated council members not signing this petition? Could some of the following be their excuse?.......I am extremely busy........I have not read my e-mails from the Mayor..........I know signing won't make a difference.....It's okay our residents can afford to pay higher taxes to pave their roads............I don't give a damn!!!

I can understand if the individual taxpayer in Haldimand or any other Municipality in Ontario doesn't give a damn, but our elected officials should "give a damn" on our behalf!

The following is the on-line petition if you are interested in making a difference, you just need to click onto the link at the bottom and you can sign the petition. It takes about "2" minutes in total!

To: The Legislature of Ontario

Whereas; The Province of Ontario currently receives 14.7 cents from every litre of Gas sold in the Province;

Whereas; The Province of Ontario currently allocates these funds for roads, bridges and transit;

Whereas; Not all Municipalities in Ontario have public transit;

Whereas; All Municipalities in Ontario however have roads and bridges in grave need of repair, and many Municipalities are under great financial burden do to the lack of funding;

Whereas; There are "445" Municipalities in the Province of Ontario, currently only "108" Municipalities receive gas tax funding from the Province of Ontario;

We the undersigned petition our Provincially Elected Legislators in Ontario to commence a Public Hearing into the collection and disbursement of the Provincial Gas Tax in fairness to "all" Municipalities of Ontario. Sincerely,

http://www.petitiononline.com/donnap/petition.html

Haldimand "Gas Tax Petition on Line"

Haldimand County is one of "337" Municipalities in Ontario that have been left out in the cold by Premier Dalton McGuinty.

The least we can try and do is ask for an inquiry or public hearing into the collection and disbursement of the gas tax revenues in Ontario.

Each one of us that drive and purchase gas in Ontario pay "14.7" cents per litre at the pumps to the Province of Ontario. The Province in return puts this money into the "general" coffer, and then grants only "certain" Municipalities the "gas tax funding". This needs to be investigated, as each Municipality in my opinion deserves and should demand their fair share.

So please pass this on-line petition to as many as you can, with many Municipalities in the same situation that we are, we can make a difference!

To: The Legislature of Ontario

Whereas; The Province of Ontario currently receives 14.7 cents from every litre of Gas sold in the Province;

Whereas; The Province of Ontario currently allocates these funds for roads,
bridges and transit;

Whereas; Not all Municipalities in Ontario have public transit;

Whereas; All Municipalities in Ontario however have roads and bridges in grave need of repair, and many Municipalities are under great financial burden do to the lack of funding;

Whereas; There are "445" Municipalities in the Province of Ontario, currently only "108" Municipalities receive gas tax funding from the Province of Ontario;

We the undersigned petition our Provincially Elected Legislators in Ontario to commence a Public Hearing into the collection and disbursement of the Provincial Gas Tax in fairness to "all" Municipalities of Ontario.

Sincerely,

http://www.petitiononline.com/donnap/petition.html

Haldimand "McGuinty where is our Gas Tax?"

I had a conversation a few days ago with Dianne Scott from Dunnville. For those who don't know Dianne she was instrumental in the Dunnville area in collecting names for a transportation petition that Toby Barrett introduced to the legislature.

During our conversation we were talking about the "gas tax" funds that Haldimand County receives each year. I had told Dianne that I had been at Council and I knew for a fact that we were receiving "gas tax" funds from the government that goes into our "roads reserve". What I didn't realize until Dianne called me back the next day was that we receive "zero" "gas tax" from the Province of Ontario!

Dianne took the time to call the new treasurer of Haldimand County and ask a few questions, one question was; do we receive "gas tax" funds from the Province? The treasurer informed Dianne that we only receive "gas tax" funds from the "Federal Government".

McGuinty promised the residents of Ontario that if he were re-elected as Premier he would make sure that his government was a "Fair" government! Well it seems that what is "Fair" government to McGuinty only includes just about "100" Municipalities when it comes to the "gas tax" that every one of us that drive pay at the pumps.

So I have a solution to this problem, Haldimand County along with the other "300" or so Municipalities that do not receive "gas tax' funding from the Province of Ontario should formally request that 14.7 cents per litre be deducted from the price of our gas immediately.

This is what I call "Fair Government".

Thanks to dedicated people like Dianne that go the extra mile!

So much for "McGuinty" and his "Promises" to deliver "Fair" government in Ontario!

Here is a news release I found while doing some research;

For immediate release
January 9, 2008

McGuinty gas tax funding leaves Haldimand, Norfolk at the curb
Rural residents miss the bus....again

Simcoe-Despite paying the same 14.7 cents a litre provincial gas tax as all other Ontarians, Haldimand and Norfolk residents continue to wait at the back of the line when it comes to gas tax funding.

At the end of 2007, the Ministry of Transportation announced $314 million in gas tax funding to 108 municipalities across the province - neither Haldimand nor Norfolk were included.

"This is yet another slap in the face for all those in our area who pay out gas taxes year after year," levelled Barrett. "We have the same needs for transportation services to access medical services, get to appointments, and visit family, we pay the same taxes, and yet we're left empty-handed while government gives our money to meet other - more urban - transit needs."

In the Spring, Barrett tabled petitions in the Ontario Legislature with over 1,075 Dunnville area signatures, requesting government "investigate the establishment of connecting public transit links between Haldimand county and Norfolk county communities and outlying municipalities, as well as to establish a mechanism to ensure rural municipalities receive the full benefit of the gas tax transit initiative."

During the recent provincial election, the Ontario PC party proposed that every penny of provincial gas and fuel taxes be allocated for roads, bridges and transit across the province. Currently, all gas tax money goes into the general revenue pot, and Queen's Park spends only part of that revenue on what it's being raised for - for example, the McGuinty Government spends $1.9 billion of the $3.1 billion worth of gas taxes on roads bridges and transit.

Meantime, Barrett went on to highlight the work of the The Haldimand and Norfolk Rural Transportation Initiative, titled "Spinning your Wheels".

"It's heartening to see the people in our area working toward solutions for our rural transportation needs," stated Barrett. "I fear that without some real support from the Ontario Government - beyond one-time Trillium grants - we will all be, as the title suggests, 'spinning our wheels'."

-30-
For more information, please contact MPP Toby Barrett
at (519) 428-0446 or 1-800-903-8629