A massive correction and a rebuttal to anonymous email

One of the wonders, and dangers, of running an online publication like this that one runs into conflicts. The usual one for me is simple - do I publish anonymous emails, even if they are sole sourced. When they are topical or interesting I will publish as it may be in the public interest, besides 90% of them turn out to be factual. Such was the decision last week when I published an anonymous email quoting the Deputy Mayor being overheard saying topical things. I have since received a phone call from the Deputy Mayor refuting, in the strongest terms, the allegation that he was trying to support Mr MacDonald's incumbency by promising him any portfolio he wanted if he was elected. This is untrue as Mr Brocanier has told me it is. So we at the BurdReport don't apologise for the printing but do regret the consequences that may have caused to a few.

Just to sum up

A lot of effort and hot air has been expended for the public good this week. I refer to the manoevres in the Hospital debacle. A perfectly good discussion of the issue - can we change direction and have the announced departmental cuts reversed - has developed into a test of wills between the Board and its members.

We must understand that the Hospital Association is just that, a membership of people who get together once a year to give people they elect to the Board the responsibility of running the Hospital on their behalf. Once a year the membership come together to elect new members to the Board or to replace the ones they have. It is the only guaranteed act that the bylaws allow - to vote in an election.

The present Board, in an effort to keep people they consider not qualified, one of the applicants was told by a member of the nominating committee, producing a potential Human Rights complaint, "You are too ****ing old!", out of the election nominated a slate of people equal to the number of vacancies and then are now prepared to declare them elected by acclamation. This will take place without a vote by the members.

This naturally produced pushback and 10% of the members asked for a special meeting the subject being the removal of Directors. The present Directors obviously declared the 'requisition' not within the purview of the role of a member and refused to schedule a special meeting.

Let's look at this phrase 'not within the purview of the role of a member'. This was the phrase used when Ben Burd tried to place a motion into the AGM. It has not been defined or explained. Mr Hudson, the Board Chair referred Mr Burd to section 296 of the Corporations Act. and that section explains the rightds of a member to make 'requisitions'. Why the CA you ask, well it's because not only is the NHH an association it is a Corporation in Ontario. Which brings us back to the Corporations Act.

This Act defined shareholders' rights and all shareholders are entitled to two things: the right to attend an Annuual Meeting and the right to vote as such a meeting. Also business may be brought before the meeting if the person making the 'requisition' has the support of other shareholders.

Now for the important part - if shareholders have the right to vote for Directors they also have the right to Unvote them. Ever heard of shareholders' uprisings Mr Hudson, well we have one here. I guess it's time to go back to the lawyer and force the NHH Board to live by the Corporations Act.

BTW letters have been received by the people who requested membership lists that they are now available. Apparently the Privacy Commissioner told Mr Biron what some of us have been telling him - that the list is public. Anyway when Mr Morand phoned to find out how to pick it up he was told by Mr Biron that it was only available from him. When Mr Morand went to Mr Biron's office, after being told it was available Mr Biron had gone away for the weekend. A piece of class! But still the stalling effort continues in his attempt to stop the membership being informed about their affairs. With a mailing ready to go out to all the members the loss of the weekend was crucial.

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Now for the sparks

In an email just circulated the Chair of the Citizens for Alternative Solutions, Mr Frank Farago said,

"FYI at or about 1545h this afternoon, I delivered and handed directly to Mr. R. Biron the subject request.Outside the hospital, just before making my delivery, Eva and I were photographed for Northumberland Today. Mr. Biron said that they will be in touch with me later about the request."

So now let the lawyers battle it out. A Special Meeting of the members has been asked for and the Board must either dismiss the application as not being consistent with the Bylaws or schedule a meeting to be held in the next 21 days. I understand that the subject of the meeting will be a number of items including a move to replace the Directors. Interesting times.

BTW congratulations to all for standing up for local democracy.

No more F-bombs please

In the name of fairness it has been pointed out to me that the comments in the comments section that are laden with F-bombs are not just the production of one person. So when I asked the person guilty in the last instance to tone it down he pointed quite correctly that he is not the only purveyor of F-bombs, so now everybody tone it down F-bombs are not classy and we all want to have class don't we? After a couple of well aimed ones are very useful to the comment but seriously do we need that much emphasis. Of course if the emphasis is fuelled by social lubricants just have a couple less before you let loose! Mary Whitehouse would appreciate it.

I think that the taxpayers of Port Hope may have something to say about this

Ooooops the Town of Port Hope is basically bankrupt. Its expenses outweigh its revenues, but who cares? Obviously nobody on the Finance Committee. If the Town is running an eight million dollar overdraft there is something wrong in Denmark!

So the next question is - how do they get out of this and what kind of a repayment plan is going to be constructed? What a horrible piece of timing this is. It sets up all kinds of TeaParty candidates and will be fun to watch.

Just wonder how long it will be before one of the proposed solutions will be the dreaded almagamation?

Jeez, I'm really cranked up this morning

This post, taken from CBC News and repeated on NationalNewswatch talks about senior level insiders from the NDP and the LPC talking merger - are they nuts? Coalition and cooperation maybe but merger? Bad idea and it will never fly. This just demonstrates the disconnect between public opinon and reality. Must be a bad news day at the CBC, but then Warren Kinsella will spout off his meglomaniacal opinions at the drop of a hat, pity the CBC uses our tax dollars to reimburse him for appearing and pontificate.

A merger will never fly at either of the Party Conventions required to approve it no matter how much massaging of the policy goes on. The Libs are regarded as neo-cons by the Dippers and the NDP are looked upon as raving lefties by the Libs. Best to strike an accord, rather like the UK model, and then govern. Preferably it should be announced before the election as a fallback position and if one wants to get really brave some form of seat sharing should take place but mergomg of policy - no thanks.

Is this a fair comparison?

This fellow is Idi Amin, the infamous dictator of Uganda. Famous for his brutal treatment of his subjects but also the winner of every election that he contested.

How did he do it, he set up sham elections with only one candidate - himself - and then declared himself the winner. See any comparison to this and the way the the NHH Board proposes to run its election next week?

All legal but thoroughly reprehensible and an affront to democracy. This board, and Mr Biron, and the high-priced lawyer who is being paid for with our taxdollars, should be ashamed to even consider such moves that fly in the face of local democracy. Shame!

The marvels of anonymous email

Got this a couple of days ago.
Ben ... you probably know this ... I heard from a very reliable source, quote, "The Emperor-in-waiting, Brocanier, has offered MacDonald 'any portfolio he wants' if he runs and is elected. It seems he wants some familiar support on the new council." Counting chickens? If you haven't heard it and can use it, unattributed, go ahead.

Kinda goes against what i had been hearing so I held on to it, then last night I heard that Sluggo - Councillor "why do I always come in last" Bill MacDonald - has decided to run again. Let the fun begin!

You know the Town is in trouble when the future depends on "continuity" provided by a guy that can only bombastically declare, "Will this set a precedent?".

Does an election by acclamation have to be approved by the membership?

Not knowing the real answer to this question I asked the supreme authority of all - Wikipedia for the answer. Ironically the answer came back this way.

The most frequent type of acclamation is a voice vote, in which the voting group is asked who favors and who opposes the proposed candidate. In the event of a lack of opposition, the candidate is considered elected.

This form of election is most commonly associated with papal elections, though this method was discontinued by Pope John Paul II's apostolic constitution Universi Dominici Gregis.

The reason for the question is that now that the Board of the NHH has declared that only the sitting Directors, whose time is up, will be the recommended candidates in the Directors' election and the vote will be by acclamation I wondered just how that will go. But the second sentence of the answer is most revealing: this kind of election is usually associated with Papal elections - hmm sounds familiar.

Got the Summit Blues

For months now I've been ruminating about the escalating series of lies, screw ups and scandals perpetrated by our federal ruling party, and thought things were about as bad as they could get, but the advance media stories trickling out about the G-8 and G-20 Summits here in Ontario suggest it's only going to get worse.

Starting with the revelation that security alone for the two wank fests will cost a billion of our tax dollars, and will likely be much higher by the time it's all over, the whole thing becomes extremely anxiety provoking to contemplate what the entire tab will be.

With our intrepid RCMP in charge of security, they managed to find a company that isn't licensed in our province to do the work. Never mind, the provincial ministry will no doubt fast track the application process; they'd better, since hiring has already started and the fun starts rather soon.

The area around the Toronto event will be cordoned off, and even the Theatre District has given up and canceled performances that week, just as the CN Tower and Art Gallery will be closed to visitors. The University of Toronto, ever vigilant, closed down parts of the campus where it was deemed too close to potential protests. So has the Ontario College of Art & Design. The Blue Jays had to move their ball game out of town and even the much loved Steamwhistle Brewery will close its doors. Sounds more like a war zone than a conference.

But the icing on the cake has to be the artifical lake they are constructing down near the Exhibition grounds. When this story came out I thought I was dreaming. It's just too ridiculous, too bizarre, to be real. But, like the tories trumpeting maternal health while simultaneously banning funding for family planning, the fake lake is indeed true. And it is going to cost two million dollars!

This monument to wasteful spending and prime ministerial hubris is to include fake Muskoka chairs, a fake dock and fake back drop, all for the benefit of those journalists not chosen to head on up to the G-8 where the really important leaders will hang out. Maybe they can round up some of Mel Lastman's old life sized plastic mooses just to jazz it up even more. Perhaps along with them, a few fake fish in the water to add some realism. Hey, it's gonna need all the help it can get. Those journalists can get real snarky with their nasty comments.

It's a good thing our Auditor General, Sheila Fraser, will be on the job after the federal bank accounts have been emptied, to tell us all the juicy details about how our government, with a budget deficit this year of about 50 billion, blew all that dough on a party. It is to weep.