This post is courtesy of and reprinted with the express permission of www.VoiceofCanada.ca
IMPORTANT UPDATE 2315 EST, Aug 07/07:
I am back from attending today’s disgusting meeting at Haldimand Council:
1. YOUR MAYOR NEEDS YOU! You need to be at Haldimand Council at 1pm tomorrow (address below) to send a strong message that their last minute sneak attack on Mayor Trainer’s privacy, authority and relationships with her constituents (that’s you!) will not be tolerated. I drove all the way from London to attend today’s meeting because if they can do it to your mayor someone can do it to mine. Please…read my original post below, then go support your mayor tomorrow. Call your councillor, or at least send them an email (links below).
2. The Council went out of its way today to deny Haldimand residents the opportunity to speak on this very important resolution. Councillor Grice was the only bright spot in that he did put forth a motion that people be allowed to speak. It was seconded by the mayor, but was defeated. Unbelievable.
3. Councillors Sloat and Dalimonte left early. Council managed to deal with $100,000+ issues without them, but then, when the motion regarding the mayor’s email came up for discussion, the matter was suddenly deferred until tomorrow at 1pm despite the Council having a quorum. Our information is that Sloat, at least, was attending a Liberal photo op. I guess supporting McGuinty’s re-election campaign was more important than dealing with a resolution undermining the mayor’s privacy and authority.
4. Be careful if you decide to go to council tomorrow! In an unprovoked attack at 1215 today, after voting not to allow Haldimand residents to speak, Ward 2 Councillor Buck Sloat grabbed a man by the shoulder, snatched his tape recorder from his shirt pocket and threw it on the ground, right on the back steps at city hall! The incident was witnessed and recorded on audio. The man filed a report with the OPP shortly afterwards asking that Sloat be charged with assault.
In the ‘What goes around, comes around’ category, readers may recall that Buck Sloat was the guy who said, in a public meeting, that he couldn’t support Gary McHale or me because “he couldn’t support anyone coming to town to commit offences.” [see Audio Segment #3, Question 4] Well, Bucky, neither Gary or I have committed a single crime in Caledonia, and we have never been accused of assault either.
Tomorrow morning, Haldimand Council will present a repugnant bit of skullduggery cooked up by behind the Mayor’s back with the help of some councillors and county staff. This treachery takes the form of a resolution that removes all privacy between you and your mayor. Here is an excerpt:
BE IT RESOLVED; THAT ALL correspondence sent and received through the Mayor’s office including all e-mail addressed to the Mayor by title or name, be copied to all councilors as well as the County Clerk;
AND THAT the Mayor’s assistant implement this direction for all hard copy correspondence;
You got it. Council wants copies of everything sent to and from the Mayor! Of course, they aren’t suggesting that copies of their messages be subject to this odious rule, only the Mayor’s.
In addition to violating the privacy between you and your Mayor, Council is seeking to dramatically undermine her role as the CEO of Haldimand, a post for which she was duly elected. It is un-democratic and it cannot be allowed to succeed.
Mayor Trainer needs your help NOW!
Recently, Haldimand’s Unheard Voice ran a story called My Chat with the Mayor that exposed how Mayor Trainer was the only person on council to ask that the McGuinty government be held accountable for their role in the Douglas Creek Estates occupation. Instead, all of council (except for Lorne Boyko who was out of town), including Craig Grice, voted against her and decided to blame the federal government who has repeatedly said the DCE claim is invalid!
Mayor Trainer is the only member on Haldimand Council who has had the courage to publicly speak the truth about the failures of Fantino and McGuinty in connection with the occupation of the Douglas Creek Estates, and now she needs your help to defend democracy and constituent privacy against those who wish to silence her. Here’s what you need to do:
1. Attend the presentation of this resolution:
Tuesday, August 7th at 9:30AM
Haldimand Council Chambers
45 Munsee Street
Cayuga, Ontario
2. Call your councillor to tell them how you feel about democracy and privacy:
Leroy Bartlett 905 961 4834, lbartlett@haldimandcounty.on.ca
Lorne Boyko 905 774 6309, lboyko@haldimandcounty.on.ca
Tony Dalimonte 905 768 1260, tdalimonte@haldimandcounty.on.ca
Craig Grice 905 961 1264, cgrice@haldimandcounty.on.ca
Don Ricker 905 774 4661, dricker@haldimandcounty.on.ca
Buck Sloat 905 961 3270, bsloat@haldimandcounty.on.ca
Mayor Trainer 905 318 5932, Ext 201, mayor@haldimandcounty.on.ca
If you’re not sure who your councillor is, check out this map.
This resolution has the potential to impact leaders and citizens in municipalities all across Ontario, so I will be driving in from London tomorrow to support your mayor. I hope to see you there!
Mark Vandermaas, Editor
VoiceofCanada
Edit: I will be in attendance as well. Caledonia Wakeup Call will have a presence at this meeting, and we WILL be informing the Canadian public of the outcome.
Jeff Parkinson Caledonia Wakeup Call
Posted by caledoniawakeupcall 
