Saunderson’s MPP campaign – Page 2

Saunderson Abandons Collingwood

In his latest email to PC Party members, Brian Saunderson predictably celebrates his anti-democratic appointment as candidate without having had to actually work for it. Our much-disliked mayor was rescued from likely failure in the nomination process by the intervention of the premier. But at the close of his email Saunderson writes, …it is time to turn our heads to an election in 2022. We know it will take a lot of organization, commitment, and effort. I will continue to … click below for more!

Saunderson: An Affront to Democracy

© June 5, 2021 © June 5, 2021 Collingwood / Council / Deceit / deception & secrecy / Disrespect and bad behaviour / Provincial Politics / Saunderson's MPP campaign / Saunderson's Vindictive Judicial Inquiry itemprop="discussionURL"8 Comments

PC nominee candidate Stella Ambler reported that her competitor, Brian Saunderson was anointed appointed as the party’s candidate for Simcoe-Grey without allowing the members to decide if they want him. Party members weren’t even given a warning that this was coming: the autocrat premier merely waved his hands and made it happen without regard to the desires of the party’s members. Ambler wrote in a recent email: This is a very disappointing development, and represents an affront to the democratic … click below for more!

Ignoring the Potential Conflicts of Interest

© May 30, 2021 © May 30, 2021 Collingwood / Conflicts of Interest / Council / Ineptitude and bungling / Saunderson's MPP campaign / Saunderson's Vindictive Judicial Inquiry / Utilities: electricity and water itemprop="discussionURL"3 Comments

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 … click below for more!

Developers Bite Back at ICBL

© May 23, 2021 © May 23, 2021 Collingwood / Disrespect and bad behaviour / Ineptitude and bungling / Planning & Policies / Saunderson's MPP campaign / Saunderson's Vindictive Judicial Inquiry itemprop="discussionURL"One Comment

‘The town created its own emergency’: Collingwood developer says project on hold due to water capacity issues. So reads the headline on a story on Simcoe.com. I laughed and laughed at the risible hypocrisy when I read this line in it: “Addressing the water treatment plant expansion and the water capacity issue is one of the town’s highest priorities,” said Mayor Brian Saunderson. “The town is aggressively pursuing remedies to address the water capacity issue.” The water capacity “crisis” is a … click below for more!

Saunderson’s Petty Vindictiveness on Display

If you ever doubted our mayor, Brian Saunderson, was engaged in a petty, personal vendetta against people who thwarted him in 2012, you only need to read a recent article in CollingwoodToday, titled, Council to hire lawyer for potential action against parties involved in judicial inquiry. And, as usual, our secretive council scurried behind closed doors to hold their discussions in order to make their decision outside the scrutiny of the public’s eyes: After a closed session discussion this evening … click below for more!

Saunderson Follows Stalin’s Lead

In the 1930s, the Soviet dictator Josef Stalin removed his political rivals and enemies from history. Literally: he had their images brushed out of photographs, their names removed from books. Those he didn’t like simply disappeared from public notice. Kim Jong Un and Mao Tse Tung similarly erased their opponents. And now our own mayor wants to follow the example set by these dictators. But while photos were Stalin’s weapons in his purge, bronze plaques are Saunderson’s. You can read … click below for more!

ICBL: Another Reason Saunderson Should Resign

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 … click below for more!

ICBL Sinks Development and Saunderson’s MPP Dream

© April 27, 2021 © May 3, 2021 Collingwood / Conflicts of Interest / Council / deception & secrecy / Disrespect and bad behaviour / Ineptitude and bungling / Saunderson's MPP campaign / Saunderson's Vindictive Judicial Inquiry itemprop="discussionURL"2 Comments

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. … click below for more!

Council’s Frenzied, Deranged, and Expensive Obsession Over the SVJI

Three hundred seventy-nine boxes and one hundred binders. That’s what EPCOR has delivered to town hall for town staff to comb through looking for… well, no one knows yet. Maybe heffalumps. And it will occupy a considerable amount of the time for the town’s $216,000-a-year CAO to go through them looking for those elusive heffalumps. And the electronic records have not even arrived, which are probably as voluminous as the paper records. Keep in mind that this is the same … click below for more!

The Fox, The Hedgehog, and The Mayor

Brian Saunderson is a Hedgehog. Not literally: metaphorically. At least that’s how I read Isaiah Berlin’s 1953 essay that classified people into two categories; Hedgehogs or Foxes. Berlin wrote that Hedgehogs had a single, central vision; one core ideal through which they viewed their entire world. Foxes. on the other hand, pursued many ends, often unrelated and even contradictory. Their interests ran across many different schools of thought, areas of interest and belief systems. Berlin considered himself among the Foxes.* … click below for more!

An Example Our Mayor Should Follow

In a recent story in the Quinte News (March 31, 2021) the headline told us, “Belleville Councillor Ryan Williams has resigned from Belleville City Council.” Williams was elected the federal Conservative candidate for the Bay of Quinte riding for the next federal election, and instead of staying on in council taking the town’s paycheque and benefits, he has resigned his seat. In his media release, Williams said it was because that was the right thing to do for his community: … click below for more!

Once Upon a Time in Collingwood

© March 29, 2021 © March 29, 2021 Collingwood / Council / deception & secrecy / Disrespect and bad behaviour / Entitlement / Saunderson's MPP campaign / Saunderson's Vindictive Judicial Inquiry itemprop="discussionURL"7 Comments

MORE THAN SIX MONTHS after council received the final report from the Saunderson Vindictive Judicial Inquiry (aka the SVJI), council has finally seen fit to hold a (virtual) public meeting about it (April 7). Given their history of secrecy and deception, I suspect most of them begrudge even that one “public” activity. It is, after all, the first such public event since the previous council approved Saunderson’s motion to initiate the inquiry, more than three years ago. It’s been two years … click below for more!

Bones of Contention: Saunderson’s Campaign Emails

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, … click below for more!

Collingwood’s Version of QAnon: the SVJI

© March 18, 2021 © March 27, 2021 Collingwood / Council / deception & secrecy / Disrespect and bad behaviour / Entitlement / Saunderson's MPP campaign / Saunderson's Vindictive Judicial Inquiry itemprop="discussionURL"2 Comments

A story in CollingwoodToday titled, Council orders CAO to sift through old COLLUS documents kept by EPCOR shows just how far into the conspiracy pit they have dug themselves. They are so totally obsessed with the events of a decade ago, that they happily continue to waste administrative staff time and more of our tax dollars digging through the old records of emails that were already subpoenaed and sorted through by the Saunderson Vindictive Judicial Inquiry (aka the SVJI) two … click below for more!