Category: deception & secrecy

Hamlin’s Letter-Writing Debacle, Part Two

Collingwood / Council / deception & secrecy / Disrespect and bad behaviour / Hospital / Publicity & Communications4 Comments

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Collingwood’s mayor’s arrogant refusal to cooperate and collaborate with our regional neighbours to support the long-overdue redevelopment of the General and Marine Hospital continues to make local news and infuriate residents. While her autocratic behaviour in refusing to sign the letter of support backed by all other neighbouring municipalities throws egg all over her, it also blackens the reputation of the town. But does the feckless Hamlin care? Not a whit. Let them eat cake! The original letter as signed by five other local mayors … click below for more ↓

Our Arrogant Mayor is At It Again

Collingwood / Council / deception & secrecy / Disrespect and bad behaviour / Hospital3 Comments

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For me, I didn’t see the need for another letter at this time. Things could change,” Mayor Yvonne Hamlin sniffily replied to CollingwoodToday in her best “Let them eat cake” manner. “For me.” It’s always about me, me, me. It’s almost like she took selfishness lessons from Councillor Jeffrey. Hamlin was responding to a question about why she, representing Collingwood, refused to sign a letter about our hospital being sent to “provincial health minister and deputy premier Sylvia Jones indicating the desire to see the … click below for more ↓

Don’t Forget Who Blocked the Hospital Redevelopment

Collingwood / Council / deception & secrecy / Election 2022 / Ethics and behaviour / Hospital3 Comments

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Among those incumbents running for re-election, are (so far), three who were part of the cabal on the 2014-18 council that actively and aggressively tried to block the Collingwood General & Marine Hospital’s redevelopment. Their efforts did cost the hospital money and time, and set the redevelopment back at least five years. Who can forget when that previous council brought in a highly-paid lawyer and a highly-paid PR consultant (both sole-sourced) to lecture the public as to why the hospital should not be allowed to … click below for more ↓

The Misogynist Bully Files for Deputy Mayor

Collingwood / Council / deception & secrecy / Disrespect and bad behaviour / Election 2022 / Hospital2 Comments

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Councillor Bob “Lapdog” Madigan — council’s most notable bully and misogynist — filed his papers for deputy mayor, a position for which he is supremely unqualified. Well, to be fair, he’s not really qualified for any council position, is he? In almost eight years in office, Madigan’s accomplishments have been… well, nothing. Aside, that is, from being a misogynist bully; showing disrespect for not only other councillors and the public but for the office itself; acting the clown; sucking on the public tit, voting as … click below for more ↓

Utterly Corrupt and Contemptible

Collingwood / Conflicts of Interest / Council / deception & secrecy / Disrespect and bad behaviour / Entitlement / Ethics and behaviour5 Comments

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Last night, our council contemptuously appointed a replacement for former councillor Tina Comi, who had been bullied out of office by the Gang of Six of the eight currently at the table. The man they chose was former mayor, Chris Carrier, who also: Is a registered lobbyist in Collingwood for a major property developer and an insurance company (potential conflicts of interest); Donated money to the 2018 election campaigns of five of the six who voted for him to be the new councillor: Brian Saunderson … click below for more ↓

The Bullying Will Continue Until We’re Satisfied

Collingwood / Council / deception & secrecy / Disrespect and bad behaviour / Entitlement / Ethics and behaviour2 Comments

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Which of the following words or phrases do you feel best describe Collingwood Council (you may choose more than one): Petty Vindictive Puritanical Hypocritical Vicious Punitive Jealous Envious Mean-spirited Puerile Slavishly loyal to their Great Leader Self-righteous All of the above Imagine this (cue the Twilight Zone soundtrack…): a council member is participating in an in-camera Zoom meeting, this one a training session about the importance of in-camera confidentiality in which NO CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION was shared. It should, of course, have been held IN THE … click below for more ↓

A Bullied Councillor Resigns

Collingwood / Council / deception & secrecy / Disrespect and bad behaviour / Entitlement / Ethics and behaviour5 Comments

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On Friday, Jan. 21, Councillor Tina Comi resigned from council. I am deeply disappointed and troubled. She was the only one at the table not among the slate of slavish sycophants who serve The Great Leader. Her departure leaves us with a dysfunctional council devoid of wisdom, devoid of community spirit, with a black hole of greed at their collective core instead of a conscience. She was the sole independent voice at the table and will be sorely missed. While I have sometimes chastised her … click below for more ↓

Saunderson’s Groundhog Day

Collingwood / Council / deception & secrecy / Entitlement / Ethics and behaviour / Legal issues / Saunderson's MPP campaign / Saunderson's Vindictive Judicial InquiryLeave a comment

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Mayor Brian Saunderon’s two petty, vindictive, and very personal motions are on the agenda for Monday, Jan. 24. You can read the agenda here, and read my comments on our mayor’s obsessive, Stalinist cancel-culture program here, and the background machinations that led to his motion here. This is nothing more than a personal vendetta using town funds and resources. Saunderson’s first motion — to revoke an award given for former Collus-CEO Ed Houghton’s contributions to the community 24 years ago — starts on page 5 … click below for more ↓

The Dark History Behind Saunderson’s Cancel-Culture Motion

Collingwood / Council / Deceit / deception & secrecy / Disrespect and bad behaviour / Entitlement / Ethics and behaviour / Wacky WTF ideasLeave a comment

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Without any fanfare or media coverage (no surprises there!), last September Collingwood Council approved a significant change to the policy regarding the Order of Collingwood that would pave the way for Mayor Brian Saunderson to launch his cancel-culture attack on someone he despises for hurting his feelings. But the real history goes back to the spring of 2021. It began with a CAO report presented to council in April, 2021. That report included two neo-Stalinist suggestions to erase and revise Collingwood’s history to suit the … click below for more ↓

Should Candidates and Officials Disclose Criminal Records?

Canadian Politics / Collingwood / deception & secrecy / Election campaigns / Municipal Politics / Musings / Politics / Provincial Politics5 Comments

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Some questions about openness and truth to consider as we start a year in which we have both a provincial and municipal election coming… Should a candidate for office disclose their criminal records when they campaign? Should they disclose it only if they were convicted of an offence or should they disclose charges as well? For full public transparency and accountability, should officeholders disclose any charges and convictions? Should candidates or officeholders disclose when they have been or are being sued and why? Would you … click below for more ↓

Saunderson Continues His Cancel-Culture Program

Collingwood / Council / Deceit / deception & secrecy / Disrespect and bad behaviour / Ethics and behaviour / Wacky WTF ideasOne Comment

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On the agenda for the Strategic Initiatives Standing Committee (SIC) for Jan. 10, 2022 is a single line under other business that underscores just how petty, puerile, and vindictive our mayor is: Order of Collingwood Revocation and OMWA Membership, Mayor Saunderson As you might expect from a secretive, deceptive mayor, there was no documentation or commentary attached to the agenda package as you would expect in an open, transparent council meeting. It cunningly doesn’t even mention he will present notices of motion. Clearly, he didn’t … click below for more ↓

Power Play Behind Council’s Closed Doors

Collingwood / Council / deception & secrecy / Disrespect and bad behaviour / Entitlement / Saunderson's MPP campaignOne Comment

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This is a repost from a draft of the piece posted on Dec 7, 2021: In the Dec. 7 meeting of the Strategic Initiatives Standing Committee, last Tuesday, one of the issues discussed was the replacement of Deputy Mayor Hull during his unexplained absence, as well the “potential” (nudge, nudge, wink, wink) “Mayoral Vacancy” (readers will recall that Mayor Saunderson sloughed off his mayoral responsibilities and his oath of office last January to announce he wanted a better-paying job at Queen’s Park, and since then has … click below for more ↓

An Exercise in Hypocrisy

Collingwood / Conflicts of Interest / Council / deception & secrecy / Disrespect and bad behaviour / EntitlementLeave a comment

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A story in CollingwoodToday is titled, Collingwood residents asked to add to council code of conduct. It suggests the town (aka council) is looking for public input into the always-changing, always-ignored Code of Conduct. Yes, I know what you’re thinking when you read that story’s headline. Stop laughing. As if this council would ever pay any attention to public input. Or would heed any rules, codes, protocols, regulations or anything else that crimps their style or gets in the way of their ambition. This has … click below for more ↓

Our Council’s Reprehensible Greed

Collingwood / Conflicts of Interest / Council / deception & secrecy / Disrespect and bad behaviour / Entitlement / Ineptitude and bungling / Planning & Policies / Taxes2 Comments

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Our council’s sense of entitlement again came to light this week. A report from a consultant tabled in the Nov.1 meeting of the Strategic Initiatives Standing Committee recommends that the mayor receive a 9.5% increase, while councillors get a 5% increase (page five of the report). Nine-point-five percent? Who gets a raise like that these days? Even five percent is over the top. The justification for this egregious salary boost is stated in the report: Remuneration traditionally is intended to provide some form of compensation … click below for more ↓

Why is Our Mayor Being Sued?

Collingwood / Conflicts of Interest / Council / deception & secrecy / Entitlement / Saunderson's MPP campaignLeave a comment

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Ontario civil court records found online show our Mayor, Brian Saunderson, is listed as the first defendant in a recent lawsuit, along with his allegedly former employers. The lawsuit is for $150,000 and was filed Sept. 17, 2019. The plaintiff is Grand Mortgage Investment Corporation, which the Financial Services Registry Authority office shows has a local office at 192 First Street, in Collingwood, with John Dopp listed as the mortgage administrator. M. Christopher Diamond, of DiamondPantel LLP, is listed as the company’s legal representative. I … click below for more ↓

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