Saunderson’s Vindictive Judicial Inquiry

Let Them Eat Cake

The Continued Arrogance of Brian Saunderson Our gormless backbencher, the CONservative MPP Brian Saunderson, recently exposed his egregious arrogance in a comment to CollingwoodToday about the province again burdening municipalities by downloading more costs onto them. For Collingwood, that means another $615,000 added to our expenses.* He didn’t even bother trying to explain — let alone justify — the downloading, merely shrugged it away. That’s arrogantly disrespectful of how the town deals with spending and what burden it puts on … click below for more!

An Odium of Politicians

The proper collective noun for a group of politicians is “an odium,” at least according to James Lipton in his delightful book, An Exaltation of Larks (Ultimate Edition, Penguin Books, 1993). I was thinking of how appropriate that term is, this week, when I read the odious comments from our mayor in the Connection. Odium, the Collins Dictionary tells us, means “dislike, disapproval, or hatred that people feel for a particular person, usually because of something that the person has … click below for more!

Vindication At Last!

© February 23, 2023 © February 23, 2023 Collingwood / Conflicts of Interest / Disrespect and bad behaviour / Legal issues / Local media / Saunderson's Vindictive Judicial Inquiry itemprop="discussionURL"6 Comments

The headline in CwoodToday reads, “OPP concludes investigation into JI events; no charges laid.” After ten years, the OPP finally shut down the investigation that actually concluded several years ago. And even then we knew the results: no one under investigation broke any laws. Not even the Municipal Act or the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act. Ten years during which innocent people were under suspicion, had their lives and work affected, were accused of wrongdoing, had reputations ruined, and suffered … click below for more!

Council’s Abject Failure Over Water

© March 18, 2022 © March 18, 2022 Collingwood / Council / Development & Growth / Disrespect and bad behaviour / Financial follies / Ineptitude and bungling / Saunderson's Vindictive Judicial Inquiry / Utilities: electricity and water itemprop="discussionURL"4 Comments

You may have learned from our local media that the new water treatment plant costs have doubled to almost $121 million — suggesting massive increases in your water bill and likely your property taxes are coming. The flaccid media coverage of this outrage didn’t explore the consequences of the increase, of course. As the story in CollingwoodToday notes, the egregious increase was sprung at the March 7 strategic initiatives standing committee meeting: Community benefit changes also being added include adding … click below for more!

Second Prize is 30 Minutes, Third is 60

A recent email from Brian Saunderson’s campaign to get out of his mayoral responsibilities* and get a better-paying job at Queen’s Park offers a chance for readers to “win” 15 minutes of time with The Great Leader. Ooh, I can see you’re wet with excitement. Control yourself. It’s not face-to-face with him, mind you, because Great Leaders like Brian don’t like to soil themselves with the physical company of Little Folk. That would be demeaning. Besides, you might be contagious … click below for more!

Saunderson’s Groundhog Day

© January 21, 2022 © January 21, 2022 Collingwood / Council / deception & secrecy / Entitlement / Ethics and behaviour / Legal issues / Saunderson's MPP campaign / Saunderson's Vindictive Judicial Inquiry itemprop="discussionURL"Leave a comment

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 … click below for more!

Bad Behaviour, Disrespect in Council Meetings

© October 18, 2021 © October 18, 2021 Collingwood / Conflicts of Interest / Council / Ethics and behaviour / Legal issues / Saunderson's MPP campaign / Saunderson's Vindictive Judicial Inquiry itemprop="discussionURL"2 Comments

There’s a video clip being shared on social media from the “special” meeting of the Strategic Initiatives Standing Committee Agenda, on Thursday, October 14, 2021 (full video here). It shows a dishevelled Councillor Bob “Lapdog” Madigan in the upper right corner of the screen. It’s worth watching to see how poorly some of our councillors treat their role and their office. The meeting was held to continue the discussions on the judicial report’s recommendations that councillors should disclose their personal … click below for more!

Can Collingwood Pass the Strong Towns’ Test?

Back in 2014, the USA-based Strong Towns group posted a test to “measure a successful Strong Town.” The ten questions or conditions posed include:

Our Scruffy, Run-Down Town

© September 12, 2021 © September 13, 2021 Collingwood / Council / Disrespect and bad behaviour / Entitlement / Saunderson's MPP campaign / Saunderson's Vindictive Judicial Inquiry / Staff and administration itemprop="discussionURL"5 Comments

There’s a gravel trail that runs along the waterfront, north of the Shipyards development, that’s been blocked by barricades since the spring. It’s been that way at least six months, perhaps longer. The path suffered erosion and some holes opened up along it. These were marked by barricades. Sort of. Most of the barricades collapsed some weeks (months?) ago, but no one from the town has bothered to pick them up. Yet someone from the town regularly fills the nearby … click below for more!

Meng and the SVJI: Parallel Cases?

© August 17, 2021 © August 17, 2021 Collingwood / Conflicts of Interest / Council / Disrespect and bad behaviour / Ethics and behaviour / Financial follies / Saunderson's Vindictive Judicial Inquiry itemprop="discussionURL"Leave a comment

The ongoing case against Huawei’s Meng Wanzhou has an odd parallel in Collingwood. Our own petty, revenge-obsessed council’s threats to sue people who caused no harm nor have ever been charged with a crime has an echo in a comment made during Meng’s recent extradition hearings. Associate Chief Justice Heather Holmes said she was “skeptical of the validity of the United States’ claim,” according to the report, and commented something worth quoting. Of course, many local people are also skeptical … click below for more!

Houghton Wins Precedent-Setting Lawsuit

Both local media reported that after a lengthy court battle, former Collus CEO Ed Houghton (and former Acting CAO for Collingwood), was awarded costs for his legal expenses during the Saunderson Vindictive Judicial Inquiry (aka the SVJI). This decision has implications for any subsequent lawsuits should our petty, punishment-obsessed council decide to attempt to sue those participants who have never been charged with any criminal activity from the SVJI’s events. It also shows how much the SVJI cost those participants … click below for more!

Council Votes to Waste More Tax Dollars on Personal Vendetta

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 … click below for more!

More Lawyers, More Costs, More Secrecy

Monday night, council will once again scurry behind closed doors like cockroaches to avoid the light of public scrutiny to hear yet another virtual presentation from lawyers about the Saunderson Vindictive Judicial Inquiry (aka the SVJI). And, of course, it will cost the taxpayers again to help The Great Leader pursue his personal vendetta against councillors and staff who countered his ambition, nearly a decade ago. The final report for the SVJI was released in early November, 2019, 20 months … click below for more!

Engineers Disagree With Water “Crisis” Report

© July 11, 2021 © July 12, 2021 Collingwood / Conflicts of Interest / Council / deception & secrecy / Ineptitude and bungling / Saunderson's Vindictive Judicial Inquiry / Utilities: electricity and water itemprop="discussionURL"2 Comments

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 … click below for more!