Don’t Forget Who Blocked the Hospital Redevelopment

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 re-develop on Poplar Sideroad? And to publicly scold those who disagreed?

During the previous council’s four years (2014-18), I documented the aggressive efforts to stall the local hospital’s desperately-needed redevelopment by a group of those on council (aka The Block). Every other municipality in the region enthusiastically supported the hospital’s plan; only The Block on Collingwood council put up roadblocks. And they were significant roadblocks raised at great expense to the taxpayer.

And who was among The Block? Councillors Doherty, Jeffrey, and Madigan, all running for re-election. Former councillor Ecclestone, again seeking a council seat this term, was also among the RoadBlock. And, of course, our new MPP, Brian Saunderson pulled their strings to further this anti-hospital effort.

I thought it might be a good time to remind readers about that earlier story and their parts in it. Here is a list of the stories I published about the hospital issue, about The Block’s objections, their collective stalling tactics, their fight against the hospital’s plans, their inappropriate (and arguably illegal) closed-door meetings, and the final vote-grabbing turnaround they made as the next municipal election approached. Please take the time to read them because this is an important issue to Collingwood and you really should know the nefarious, often secretive history behind it.

1. The Wasaga Beach G&M Hospital, Sept. 3, 2016
2. Blockheads severely chastised over CG&MH motion, Sept. 9, 2016
3. Hospital destruction avoided… for now, Sept. 12, 2016
4. Sabotaging the hospital (again), Sept. 26, 2017
5. Another scathing email to council, Sept. 27, 2016
6. Fulfilling a role? Who are you kidding? Oct. 26, 2016
7. I used to like him; not so much now… Nov. 27, 2016
8. The Block torpedoes the hospital, again, Jan. 28, 2017
9. Saunderson’s disrespectful performance, March 2, 2017
10. Council in panic mode, March 3, 2017
11. GIS for CGMH, March 5, 2017
12. Which do we need more?, March 9, 2017
13. Council continues to attack the hospital, March 29, 2017
14. The hospital, the trolley and political ethics, April 3, 2017
15. Another imaginary roadblock for the hospital, April 22, 2017
16. The DM’s height of hypocrisy, May 4, 2017
17. Sadly, it’s business as usual, May 15, 2017
18. The Block killed the hospital. They MUST all resign. Now., May 28, 2017
19. How to piss off The Block, June 4, 2017
20. Bullying the hospital again, July 22, 2017
21. Brian just keeps bashing our hospital, Sept. 11, 2017
22. Update: closed-door meetings in Collingwood, Jul. 18, 2018
23. Saunderson’s Abject Desperation, Jul. 24, 2018

Doherty, Jeffrey, Madigan, and Ecclestone. After reading these, ask yourself: are these the sort of people you want to return to the council table? Is this the sort of behaviour you can condone from a municipal representative? If you care at all about local healthcare and our hospital, you will not vote for a single one of them.