Only in Port Hope, we hope
A snippet from a letter to the paper from John Miller.
One council, two opinions and closed doors
Let me see if I've got this right: Port Hope's councillors, sitting as elected officials, paid two consultants to look into the operations of the Harbour Commission. They concluded that it was a municipal board, not a private corporation, and its meetings should be open to the public.
Those same Port Hope councillors, sitting as appointed members of the Harbour Commission, are now paying a lawyer to see if they can get different advice. Mayor Linda Thompson (who is obviously quite comfortable meeting behind closed doors when she's wearing her nautical hat) is not saying which set of advice her Harbour Commission will act on.
Very interesting set of circumstances and all too common with local Councils, unfortunately they get away with it because of the lack of voter oversight. Where was the crusading press on this one?
Let me see if I've got this right: Port Hope's councillors, sitting as elected officials, paid two consultants to look into the operations of the Harbour Commission. They concluded that it was a municipal board, not a private corporation, and its meetings should be open to the public.
Those same Port Hope councillors, sitting as appointed members of the Harbour Commission, are now paying a lawyer to see if they can get different advice. Mayor Linda Thompson (who is obviously quite comfortable meeting behind closed doors when she's wearing her nautical hat) is not saying which set of advice her Harbour Commission will act on.
Very interesting set of circumstances and all too common with local Councils, unfortunately they get away with it because of the lack of voter oversight. Where was the crusading press on this one?
5 comments:
The private citizen who is complaining to the Ontario Government (under The Municipal Act and, as well, the Human Rights Commission) is John Dietz. Mr. Dietz issued a press relaease last week drawn up, he says, by his lawyer, John Morand. In the body of the release, Mr. Morand incorrectly identifies "the municipality's consultants" as "Amberley Gamble Inc." when in fact it is Amberley Gavel Inc. Further, Page 2 of the release begins with the mysterious header "LAW FIRM ADDS PACIFIC RIM OFFICE" unquote.
Since the fine hand of John Morand is behind this, I'm not going to touch it. It's toxic -much in the same way anything bearing the fingerprints of Mr. Morand's former FARE confederate, John Miller is journalistic poison as well. Those who wish to take Morand and Miller at their word are free to do so. I personally wouldn't trust either of them as far as I could throw them. Judge youself accordingly.
Please, Anon, identify yourself, else how will we know how far we can throw you, eh?! :)
Throw away!
I did not identify myself for any sinister reason. I simply cannot seem to bring myself up to speed on Google's identity process. I should, simply, have stated my name after what I wrote.
I am Daniel J. Christie. My e-mail is djchrist@cogeco.ca
905 885-0864
I stand by all I've said and I thank Ben for publishing it.
As a mother, although no longer actively practising that art, I like to apply the knowledge I learned then to life situations in general, and this is no exception.
See, Port Hope Council is like a group of kids who are playing too quietly off in the corner. When mom comes around to ask what they are doing, the children simultaneously call out "oh nothing" as they scramble to hide their handiwork under a large blanket. If mom comes closer, the kids gather in a circle around the blanket, each grabbing a corner so mom can't snatch it away and reveal whatever is underneath.
The harder mom grabs at the blanket, the harder the kids hang on and the louder their protestations of innocence become.
I don't claim to know much about the Port Hope personalities, but my advice from next door is to grab that blanket no matter what it takes. Any kid trying this hard to hide their activities is definitely up to no good!
I think Deb O'Connor, aka artful mom, is onto something: kids will be kids.
Washburn from Loyalist has commented on the disdain with which Port Hope Council treats citizens who speak to issues at council meetings.
My recollection is that John Miller's letter has got the facts of The Mysterious Case of the Two Lawyers about right. If so, his question, Where was the crusading press on this one? is to the point.
I'm sorry to read that columnist Christie will NOT be dealing with this issue, certainly not in this space. His opinion: "blogs aren't worth the paper they're not printed on." Pity.
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