Category: Conflicts of Interest

Council Votes to Waste More Tax Dollars on Personal Vendetta

Collingwood / Conflicts of Interest / Council / Saunderson's Vindictive Judicial Inquiry7 Comments

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Just when you thought our council could not get any more petty or puerile, they lower the bar again. Last night, in a 7-2 vote, our punishment-obsessed council voted to spend yet more of your tax dollars on the Saunderson Vindictive Judicial Inquiry (aka the SVJI). Yes, that’s right: they agreed to give even more of your money to sole-sourced lawyers. Again. It will likely cost taxpayers millions more before it’s over. And guess what? There are even more undeclared conflicts of interest involved! According to the story in CollingwoodToday, During a meeting this evening (July 19), council voted to ……… click below for more ↓

Engineers Disagree With Water “Crisis” Report

Collingwood / Conflicts of Interest / Council / deception & secrecy / Ineptitude and bungling / Saunderson's Vindictive Judicial Inquiry / Utilities: electricity and water2 Comments

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In a letter dated July 2, 2021 to the CAO and the mayor, in response to staff report CAO 2021-10, two of Collingwood’s most respected engineering firms took exception to the town’s claim there was a “water crisis” and offered solutions to the alleged problems. In responding to the report’s recommendations about releasing some capacity for development, the engineers said the recommendations fell “considerably short of what is appropriate.” It adds, Further the report makes little mention to the dialogue and solutions discussed with the industry that have occurred since the ICBL was abruptly put in place on April 26, ……… click below for more ↓

The Corrupt PC Nomination Process

Conflicts of Interest / Disrespect and bad behaviour / Provincial Politics / Saunderson's MPP campaign3 Comments

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This week, Stella Ambler, a former candidate for the nomination for the PC party in Simcoe Grey, sent an email that expressed her disappointment over the party’s authoritarian actions: On Monday, Patrick Harris (4th Vice-President, PC Party of Ontario & Chair of the Provincial Nomination Committee for Simcoe-Grey) sent an official reply to my appeal of the decision to cancel the democratic nomination process here in Simcoe-Grey. In short, Mr. Harris informed me that my appeal was unworthy of the party’s consideration and would be neither considered nor voted upon by the Provincial Nomination Committee. Ambler was challenging Collingwood’s mayor, ……… click below for more ↓

More Secrecy, More Deception, More Conflicts

Collingwood / Conflicts of Interest / Council / deception & secrecy / Planning & Policies / Publicity & Communications / Saunderson's MPP campaign / Saunderson's Vindictive Judicial Inquiry / Utilities: electricity and waterOne Comment

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Once again our council scurried behind closed doors to discuss town business that should have been discussed in the open. But openness was never a watchword for this council. However, secretive and deceptive seem appropriate adjectives. Two of the three items on Friday’s (June 11) “special” council meeting were about or related to the job-and-revenue-killing interim control bylaw (ICBL) that was passed in late April without even the pretense of consultation with the public, with water companies, with developers, or with the municipalities affected by the bylaw who get water from Collingwood: Items for discussion: a) ICBL Amendments; b) Water ……… click below for more ↓

Ignoring the Potential Conflicts of Interest

Collingwood / Conflicts of Interest / Council / Ineptitude and bungling / Saunderson's MPP campaign / Saunderson's Vindictive Judicial Inquiry / Utilities: electricity and water3 Comments

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A story in CollingwoodToday notes that council will hold a meeting on May 31 to consider exceptions to their job-and-revenue-killing interim control bylaw (ICBL). That bylaw abruptly ended all growth, building, and development because our inept council had failed to pay attention ever since they were elected to the water issue and the pipeline contract, despite staff reports about both. I wrote about this last month, pointing out how in 2015 the previous council killed the negotiations that began in 2014 under an earlier council. Had the negotiations been allowed to continue, we would have had a new contract PLUS ……… click below for more ↓

ICBL: Another Reason Saunderson Should Resign

Collingwood / Conflicts of Interest / Saunderson's MPP campaign / Saunderson's Vindictive Judicial InquiryOne Comment

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Mayor Saunderson continues his job-hunting campaign to get out of his mayoral responsibilities and become our riding’s next MPP. Yet this week he also set himself up for more accusations of conflicts of interest, both real and apparent — the sort castigated in his beloved Saunderson Vindictive Judicial Inquiry (aka the SVJI) with its 306 mostly irrelevant or redundant recommendations (but ignored by him and his council).* That’s because the town’s new interim control bylaw (ICBL) that kills construction and jobs, has provisions for proponents to beg for exceptions. Developers are going to be lining up to do so because ……… click below for more ↓

ICBL Sinks Development and Saunderson’s MPP Dream

Collingwood / Conflicts of Interest / Council / deception & secrecy / Disrespect and bad behaviour / Ineptitude and bungling / Saunderson's MPP campaign / Saunderson's Vindictive Judicial Inquiry2 Comments

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I wonder if our mayor, Brian Saunderson, gave any thought to what last night’s vote to kill construction in Collingwood might do to his dream of becoming our riding’s next MPP? I’d say both went down the tube when the draconian, interim control bylaw to stop providing building permits (the ICBL) was passed. In one meeting, our mayor and his cabal managed to alienate pretty much every developer and builder who was a potential supporter and donor to his campaign. And with them went the local real estate business, whose lifeblood is in the new home industry. Everyone in the ……… click below for more ↓

Council Rewards Its Friend. Again.

Collingwood / Conflicts of Interest / Council / Disrespect and bad behaviour / Entitlement / Saunderson's Vindictive Judicial Inquiry / User fees and costs4 Comments

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Our council has found yet another way to reward its friend, despite the recommendations in the report from the Saunderson Vindictive Judicial Inquiry (aka the SVJI) warning about “apparent” conflicts of interest with friends. Page 7 of the full SVJI report states (emphasis added): Councillors and staff should avoid providing or appearing to provide preferential treatment to close friends and family. They should not conduct municipal business or encourage the municipality to contract with individuals with whom they have a close relationship. Recommendation 42 states (emphasis added): The Code of Conduct should state that Council members cannot use their position ……… click below for more ↓

Bones of Contention: Saunderson’s Campaign Emails

Collingwood / Conflicts of Interest / Saunderson's MPP campaignOne Comment

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In his latest email to potential supporters (dated Mar. 18 at 10:12 a.m.), Mayor Brian Saunderson again tries to leverage his role as mayor and Simcoe County councillor to get enough votes that will allow him to leave those roles he had committed in his oaths of office to perform “truly, faithfully and impartially exercise this office to the best of my knowledge and ability.” Yeah, right. But even though he seemingly can’t wait to be free of those responsibilities, he still boasts about his positions as he trawls for supporters: As the Mayor of the Town of Collingwood, I ……… click below for more ↓

Saunderson Still Won’t Do the Right Thing

Collingwood / Conflicts of Interest / Disrespect and bad behaviour / Saunderson's MPP campaignLeave a comment

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Mayor Brian Saunderson swore an oath at the council inauguration in 2018 that included the promise to “truly, faithfully and impartially exercise this office to the best of my knowledge and ability.” And yet barely halfway through his term, he announced he wanted to get out of that commitment and leave town for a better-paying job as an MPP in Toronto. What sort of “best” is that for Collingwood?* When someone is actively campaigning to get out of one job and into another, I doubt anyone else would consider they can or will do their current job to the “best ……… click below for more ↓

Let’s Play “Spread the Virus!”

Collingwood / Conflicts of Interest / Council / COVID-19 responses / Disrespect and bad behaviour / Entitlement / Ethics and behaviour / Hospital / Publicity & Communications / Saunderson's Vindictive Judicial Inquiry / Staff and administration2 Comments

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I see Collingwood Council wants the province to end the lockdown, but hasn’t said anything about improving public safety or accelerating the vaccinations if that happens. That suggests to me they are okay if the coronavirus spreads again, and strains our hospital’s already stretched capacity to deal with it. At least, that’s the message I got from the latest facepalm-worthy discussion and motion by council this week. As reported on CollingwoodToday: Collingwood council is demanding an explanation from the province for the local lockdown and asking for the town to be returned to red zone (or lower) restrictions effective immediately.  ……… click below for more ↓

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