A Minute with Michael Bryant

April 24, 2008

When Aboriginal Appeasement Minister Michael J. Bryant visited Cayuga on April 22, 2008 I had the pleasure of being in attendance with many residents, and as I sat listening intently to his words, I found myself a bit confused as he appeared to be avoiding giving any real answer to the questions posed to him, but surely no member of the Liberal government (appointed by Dalton McGuinty no less!) would try to swerve us.

Assault charge against Buck Sloat dismissed by Attorney General

March 5, 2008

A representative of the Attorney General’s office went before a Justice of the Peace this morning in Cayuga court and deemed the assault committed against me in August 2007 to be too “trivial” to pursue. He asked that the charge be dismissed and as the crown has absolute authority over these decisions, the Justice had no choice but to put an end to my unresolved private prosecution of Councilor Buck Sloat.

Haldimand Council votes to pay for Sloat defence

CD98.9

Haldimand County council has decided to provide legal representation for one of its councillors facing a charge after a incident last summer. On January 9th, Councillor Buck Sloat was charged with assault stemming from a private complaint filed against him. Allegations are that Sloat assaulted an individual at the county offices while on break from a council meeting in August. That month Gary McHale, who has made headlines in Caledonia before, faxed the OPP and politicians asking for police protection from Councillor Sloat.  

The request was made due to an alleged altercation between Sloat and another man outside council chambers earlier that month, and that fact that McHale feels Sloat has a personal hatred towards him. Under a by-law passed in 2002, council ensured that public servants exercising duties in good faith would be protected from personal and financial risk from claims and actions with respect to matters arising out of County business. This incident is believed to fall directly under that clause.

Haldimand “Should We Foot the Bill”

By Donna Pitcher - Haldimands Unheard Voice

At the Council meeting February 4th, 2008, council voted 6-0 in favor of having the County Lawyer represent Councilor Buck Sloat. Councilor Sloat appeared in the Cayuga Courthouse Wednesday February 6th, 2008, with the County Lawyer and Councilor Grice at his side.

I don’t really have a problem with a member of council being represented by the county lawyer if in fact the problem is of an “official” Haldimand County Matter. But when a council member is charged under the Criminal Code, that is a whole new ball game!

Read the full story here

Councilor Sloat makes first court appearance

February 6, 2008

Deputy Mayor of Haldimand / Council member Buck Sloat made his first appearance in a Cayuga court this morning to answer to the assault charge laid I laid against him stemming from an August 2007 incident.

Accompanied by Councilor Craig Grice and a Haldimand County lawyer, Sloat appeared before a Justice of the Peace who remanded the matter until March 5 at 9am.

Haldimand councilor charged with assault

Update: 01/10/2008 8:55pm: This site has reached #11 of 100 in the wordpress blogs of the day “growing blogs” section for today. WordPress is currently hosting 2,131,522 blogs. My thanks to all of the readers.

January 9, 2008

After much effort by myself and Merlyn Kinrade, a Justice of the Peace has signed a criminal charge of assault against Haldimand council member Buck Sloat, and he will have to appear at the Cayuga court house on February 6, 2008 at 9am to answer to the charge.

The foundation of the law and order that we are fighting to see upheld clearly states that Mr. Sloat is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law, so please consider all statements below to be alleged until such time as they are proven.

The circumstances are somewhat unique as the OPP refused to lay this charge and I had to go to court personally to get it done.

Land rights letter riles up council

A Haldimand County councillor denounced a letter from the Six Nations land rights department as ridiculous at this week’s council meeting.“I think we are falling into the trap - to be quite frank,” said Coun. Buck Sloat. “We’re debating a letter that’s been sent to us that implies that we should follow an illegal course. Why are we even talking about it?”

Council was in the midst of discussing a letter sent to Mayor Marie Trainer to put the county on notice about outstanding land rights including 999 year mortgages, 21-year term leases and life leases with individuals with promised reversion back to Six Nations upon death.

If necessary, Six Nations will interfere with permit issuance, the author wrote.Sloat was visibly upset with the letter’s contents.

“It’s ridiculous - absolutely asinine. We should have thrown it in the garbage,” he continued. “It’s not our issue…It (the letter) comes from nowhere.”

Read the full story here

2 Tiered Justice struggle: What has been accomplished

For many months now we - with the help of some extraordinary fellow Canadians in and outside of Caledonia - have worked full time to vigorously and legally oppose the Two Tier Justice policies of the McGuinty government and the Ontario Provincial Police, and give a voice to those who had none. During this protracted and tiring struggle it is hard for people, especially those closest to the continuing occupation of the Douglas Creek Estates in Caledonia to believe that anything at all has been accomplished, especially given that native intimidation of landowners is spreading.

In fact, a great deal has been accomplished to date:

Our accomplishments

• Helped media realize that residents were innocent victims. Public opinion has turned against them so much that Natives involved in the most recent landclaim intimidation event resorted to carrying signs saying, “We are NOT terrorists!“
• Provided reliable source of information for media stories.
• Made ‘Two Tier Justice’ a household phrase.
• Exposed terrorist threats to CSIS and the public.
• Created ‘The Ipperwash Papers’ project to expose Ipperwash Inquiry for the shameful cover-up it was, thereby denying it as a tool for McGuinty’s re-election campaign. We were the first to tell  the real story of what happened to the residents of Ipperwash. We were the first to get that story in the mainstream media, and we were the first to predict - 2 ½ months prior to release of its report, that the Inquiry would not be able to make any recommendations for preventing violence against innocent residents. 
• Silenced OPP propaganda machine with lawsuits and police complaints.
• Exposed Liberal plan to sell out residents.

Read the full story here

Democracy in Haldimand takes a Huge Hit

By Mark Vandermaas - www.VoiceofCanada.ca

IMPORTANT: Be advised that, as per Council’s vote last night, until further notice, any mail - electronic or post - sent to Mayor Trainer at her Haldimand County address is no longer private, and may be distributed to staff and/or other council members at the discretion of the Chief Administrative Officer.

Last night I, along with Gary McHale, Jeff Parkinson, Donna Pitcher, Merlyn Kinrade and many other residents of Haldimand, watched a farce worthy of a Monty Python production during which council put forth a last minute change to their repugnant resolution which Council approved by a vote of 5-1. Councillor Grice opposed.

The new resolution says that the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) will get copies of the mayor’s correspondence, not the entire council. He will also have the authority to distribute your mail as he sees fit. This means, of course, that you and your mayor now have no privacy.

Attack on mayor’s privacy was revenge for speaking out against McGuinty 

In a delicious and, no doubt, inadvertent revelation, Grice defended council’s attack on the mayor’s privacy by confronting her about her decision to publicly speak about the fact that she disagreed with council’s decision not to blame the province in a county press release regarding the native occupation of the Douglas Creek Estates. There is now little doubt that council’s attack on the mayor was motivated by revenge, not by legitimate mail distribution concerns.

Read the full story here

Dear Mayor Trainer…

Reprinted from and with the exclusive permission of www.VoiceofCanada.ca  Please direct all comments to the original article here

After witnessing last night’s shameful vote at the Haldimand County council meeting (see, ‘Democracy takes a huge hit in Haldimand’), I sent the message below to Mayor Trainer and whoever else is now reading her mail.

I welcome your comments in support of the mayor.

========================================= 

Tue 8/14/2007 12:15 

Dear Mayor Trainer:

I would like to pass on my compliments to you for your professionalism while publicly revealing the truth about the sneak attack on your privacy, your authority and your relationships with your constituents last night. In sharp contrast to the remainder of council you showed yourself to be a true professional - firm, yet humble and restrained. Honest in your response to those attacking you, yet forgiving and co-operative.

You were most dignified in the face of unbelievable treachery from those who should be showing you respect as the CEO of Haldimand County, and it did not go un-noticed or appreciated by those of us who were there. I suspect that the outrageous conduct of council in attacking your privacy and in stifling the voices of residents will not be soon forgotten.

Please feel free to share this email with council and staff should you wish to do so. I will be posting it at www.voiceofcanada.ca.

Regards,

Mark Vandermaas, Editor

VoiceofCanada

Sloat leads Charge to Read Mayor’s Email

By Gary McHale - www.CaledoniaWakeupCall.com

According to the Mayor it is Mr. Sloat who is directing council to pass the motion to read the Mayor’s Email. Mr. Sloat attempted to clarify this point by getting Mr. Pearce to state that Sloat wasn’t the one behind the motion. 

But is wasn’t too hard to see which council member was leading the charge because Mr. Sloat made the debate over the motion very personal – directly attacking the Mayor and her staff.

While Bartlett, Boyko and even Grice tried to find a middle ground it was clear Mr. Sloat would settle for nothing but all emails in his hands.

When Bartlett and Boyko presented the argument that no one wanted to read the Mayor’s email, Sloat was clear – I want her Emails.

Mr. Sloat’s argument was he missed an event that the Mayor went to and that was because she didn’t give him the email. The Mayor’s answer is that her staff forwards all emails that are either labelled Mayor & Councilor or includes a request to another council member.

I guess Mr. Sloat didn’t think that maybe this event he is so concerned about didn’t have his name on it in the email. Maybe the person who invited the Mayor didn’t include Mr. Sloat’s name and that is why he didn’t get a copy. 

Mr. Sloat is an experienced council member and I would ask why he cannot get people in his riding to email him directly instead of going through the Mayor? He does have an email account so why not ask why the person in his riding failed to email Mr. Sloat directly – maybe because Mr. Sloat wasn’t invited.

Mr. Sloat claims that he had nothing to do with creating the motion. Somehow his views are the ones expressed in the motion and somehow it just happens to be a personal problem he claims to be having with the Major but he didn’t help create the motion.

Read the full story here. Much more at www.CaledoniaWakeupCall.com

Help Wanted: Chief Snooping Officer

By Gary McHale - www.CaledoniaWakeupCall.com

One of the more surprising things that I heard at the Council Meeting last night was Boyko’s speech about how the first resolution title “Mayors Office Correspondence Management” was being called ‘Snooping’. He used the word more than once to refer to resolution that council had before it the previous week.

He didn’t say that someone may think it is snooping or that people have told him it may be snooping, he was very clear that “it is snooping”. Boyko is an experienced councillor and who am I to disagree with his inside information on why last week’s motion was put forward. 

What is surprising is that according to Boyko’s judgement of the resolution, Ricker, Bartlett, Sloat and Pearce, who all had a hand in creating the resolution and/or bringing it forward, were trying to snoop.

Well quite the judgment call by Boyko towards the people who created and brought forward this resolution. Again let’s be clear, Boyko didn’t say that someone may think it is snooping, he declared it was snooping.

The solution to the snooping, for Mr. Boyko, was to have the new CAO (Chief Administrative Officer) be the one reading the email.

So let’s get this straight, Mr. Boyko saw the resolution to Ricker’s, Bartlett’s, Sloat’s and Pearce’s snooping was to have the New CAO be what?… the chief Snoop? 

How is controlling who is snooping change whether it is snooping?

How is a paid snoop any better than an elected snoop?

 

Read the full story here. Much more at www.CaledoniaWakeupCall.com

Grice Reveals Revenge is the Motive

By Gary McHale - www.CaledoniaWakeupCall.com 

One has to hand it to Grice for informing the public about the Revenge factor as the motivator behind the Email motion. During the debate about the Email motion Grice did a little speech in which he talked about a united council. To be more exact he was pointing to the press release by the council that blamed Harper and Harper alone for the ongoing problems on DCE. 

The Council was united that the OPP shared no blame. The Council was united that McGuinty should not be blamed at all. Grice and all the councillors wanted to blame Harper alone and thus they issued their press release. 

Grice stated last night that the Mayor publicly went against this within a few short hours.

Grice and Council were completely united that it was time to help McGuinty’s re-election campaign and say almost word for word what McGuinty and Fantino have been passing by the public as the truth for months. What McGuinty wants most is for the public, just before the election, to think that he has handled Caledonia properly.

How exactly, Mr. Grice, was Harper to stop the attack on the CHTV camera crew?

It is the OPP not the RCMP who police  Caledonia – maybe you didn’t notice that point?

 How exactly, Mr. Grice, was Harper to stop McGuinty from buying DCE? How was Harper to stop McGuinty from appealing Judge Marshall’s decision? 

How was Harper responsible for appointing Fantino, the bully who has you so scared to speak out because he threatened to sue you?

It doesn’t take much logic to conclude that in Grice’s mind the council needs access to the Mayor’s email to ensure that she doesn’t speak out.

Now Mr. Grice didn’t directly say this – what politician directly says anything?  But he talked about how upset he was by the Mayor’s actions over the press release and this he did while debating the email motion.

Grice didn’t say the motion was needed so he could know about events in the area or because he was missing being invited to such events. He didn’t talk about how the motion was to allow for better bonding between the Mayor and the new CAO – those were Boyko’s and Bartlett’s speeches.

How, exactly, is passing this email motion to help? 

He stated, “Will this solve the problem? No. Will it help? maybe”. I got one clear message from Mr. Grice’s speech – How dare you mayor speak out. We told you what to say.

Fortunately for Haldimand County Mayor Trainer is no puppet.

 

Read the full story here. Much more at www.CaledoniaWakeupCall.com

Listening to Politicians is a Dirty Job but someone has to do it

By Gary McHale - www.CaledoniaWakeupCall.com

In my mid-teen years I had the great pleasure of having to be the one who got up at 5:30 each morning to milk the cows and clean out the pig pen. Certainly I didn’t think that such an experience would have such a comparitive side to it as an adult. But last night’s council meeting at Haldimand Council should have had a warning sign posted so the public could have been aware they were entering the pig pen of political life.

Don’t get me wrong, I truly enjoy watching political debates and am one of the few who will sit and watch election results until the wee hours of the morning even if it is a US election.

It truly is a fine art that some politicians have that allows the best of them to lie without any expression of concern that you know they are lying. A good politician is one who can take a group of 100 people, sit them in front of a completely white wall and speak for 20 minutes and 50+ 1 will leave convinced the wall was black. 

This is politics at its best or worst depends on who you want to word it. 

But watching Haldimand Council is like watching the Keystone Cops of politicians. Truthfully, there were several times I laughed - I couldn’t believe my ears. The main problem last night for the Tag Team Liars at Council is that each one wanted to be the hero – each were playing to the crowd and not focusing on their lying and therefore they slipped up. Here is my review of the councillors.

 

Read the Full Story Here Much more at www.CaledoniaWakeupCall.com

Councillors set Fall Guy up for Criminal Charges

Last week councillors were told to “Beware” by the county lawyer. What exactly are they to ‘beware’ of is not completely clear since the letter has not been made public. The Ministry of Municipal Affairs warned the Council to seek legal advice, but again it is not completely clear why since council stopped the Mayor as she was reading it out.

The new improved resolution by council was to remove them from the list of people intercepting the Mayor’s email.

Now I am not saying that these possible charges would hold up in court nor am I saying that a local council has the authority to override the Criminal Code of Canada. What I am suggesting is that council suddenly wanted their names off the list of people ‘intercepting’ the Mayor’s email.

 

Read the full story here. Much more at www.CaledoniaWakeupCall.com

The resolution everyone is talking about

Courtesy of www.caledoniawakeupcall.com here is the resolution to deny your privacy.

Ist Resolution - Aug. 3, 2007

Resolution Re: Mayors Office Correspondence Management

WHEREAS THE Mayors’ office receives a considerable volume of correspondence through written or electronic form;

AND WHEREAS THE MAYOR has acknowledged in the past that management of this correspondence, especially e-mails has been overwhelming to the point where many e-mails may go unanswered of otherwise not responded to;

AND WHEREAS the management of this correspondence is critical to the effective operation of the County;

AND WHEREAS the dissemination of this correspondence to the remainder of Council as well as the Clerk is if utmost importance to successfully conduct the business of the Corporation;
NOW THEREFORE 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;

AND THAT the General Manager of Corporate Services through the information Systems Division ensure that all e-mail sent to the Mayor by title or name, is automatically copied to all Councillors and the County Clerk;

AND THAT any questions or concerns from Councillors regarding specific correspondence to the Mayor’s office be first directed to the Mayor for a response and if required, the matter be referred to Council in Committee under the “Inquires, Announcements and Concerns of Councillors” part of the agenda.

Haldimand “Big Brother is Watching You”

By Donna Pitcher - Haldimands Unheard Voice

Before the motion came up for a vote, Mayor Trainer had the floor. Now for those that are not familiar with the workings of a Council of the Whole meeting, it really is the “official” council meeting. Council members are in suits and ties, and as each councilor speaks on an issue, they stand and every issue is directed through the “Mayor“. The Mayor may also ask questions of “Staff“, which in return are respectfully answered. This did not happen last night! “Is this a government that is “accountable and transparent”?

The following were some questions from Mayor Trainer to her CAO, staff and Council, regarding the resolution on the floor;

On Thursday afternoon when I asked Bill Pearce what this item on the agenda meant he said Councilor Sloat is leading the charge on behalf of council members and he was asked to prepare a motion. You went behind my back to meet with council members and have discussions to prepare a motion?

Answer from CAO Mr. Pearce……….Silence, no answer!

This resolution is absurd. How do you think Council will be perceived?

Answer from Council……….Silence, no answer

Where did this motion come from?

Answer from Council……….Silence, no answer

At what meeting did this decision take place, and Bill Pearce be given the authorization to prepare the motion that sits in from of us today?

Answer from Council……….Silence, no answer

How did this Council get to this resolution without my knowledge?

Answer from Council……….Silence, no answer

A lot of effort went into this motion and I presume council must have had a meeting? Why was I not consulted?

Answer from Council……….Silence, no answer

It appears a lot of private meetings have been happening behind my back.
When did you have a meeting to do something like this?

Answer from Council……….Silence, no answer

Shouldn’t the deputy mayor have contacted me and given me a heads up?

Answer from Deputy Mayor Councilor Sloat……….silence, no answer

If there was a problem why did you go behind my back in a private meeting instead of talking to me?

Answer from Council……….Silence, no answer

The motion states that the dissemination of correspondence is of utmost importance to successfully conduct the business of the corporation. Where is the staff report, giving examples of where this has occurred because of a letter or e-mail someone did not get?

Answer from Staff or Council………Silence, now answer

Where is the report of such happenings, and when was it reported to me and what was the resolve?

Answer from Staff or Council……….Silence, no answer

Where is the staff report that the county is in jeopardy?

Answer from Staff or Council……….Silence, no answer

Read the entire Must Read story here

Democracy Defeated by Liberal Haldimand Council

 August 13, 2007

Lots of detailed information about this historic meeting is being made available via Donna Pitcher - Haldimands Unheard Voice,  www.voiceofcanada.ca and www.caledoniawakeupcall.com so I am going to just give you the straight brutal facts as they happened.

Democracy in Haldimand County is now dead. Your right as a citizen to communicate privately with your elected Mayor was Squashed in an unprecedented and unthinkable vote at tonight’s Council Meeting.

Buck Sloat voted that your privacy in speaking your mayor means nothing

Lorne Boyko voted that your privacy in speaking with your mayor means nothing.

Leroy Bartlett voted that your privacy in speaking with your mayor means nothing

Tony Dalimonte voted that your privacy in speaking with your mayor means nothing

Don Ricker voted that your  privacy in speaking with your mayor means nothing.

ONLY Craig Grice had the guts to stand up and vote against this absurd resolution which violates the privacy of each and every citizen of Haldimand.  

In very weak and thinly veiled attempts to justify their votes, Buck Sloat stood up and angrily proclaimed that he missed out on attending a private function for which the invitation was sent to Mayor Trainer. If someone wanted him at their function, is it not logical to assume they would send an invitation to him?

Leroy Bartlett offered the explanation that this is nothing personal against the Mayor (which of course it is) and that this is about better communication between the offices of the Mayor and the soon to be replaced Chief Administrative Officer.

Lorne Boyko repeated the same propaganda that this is about a “good relationship” between the Mayor and the CAO. A good relationship based on the complete undermining of the authority of the Chief Executive Officer of the County, Mayor Marie Trainer. If that makes sense to anyone, please feel free to comment and explain so that I too may understand this twilight zone logic.

Kudos to Craig Grice for having the guts to stand up in the middle of this insanity and say that he has no interest in the personal email of the Mayor.

Congratulations are also in order for the way Mayor Trainer handled herself against these jackles tonight. She made it very clear that at no time did any member of Council have the guts to say to her face that they felt there was a problem with the way the email system works, that this is an outright attack on the privacy of her constituents, and many other excellent statements that will be reported on in the coming days. She also made a point of explaining to those in attendance after the vote that your emails to her are no longer private.

Audio and Video from this meeting will be coming soon on www.caledoniawakeupcall.com

Much more detailed information is forthcoming. Those are the basics of tonights Council meeting. Your rights mean nothing to your councillors, and they feel they have to right to undercut the authority of the CEO of the County Mayor Trainer because one of them missed a function that nobody sent him an invitation to personally.

Jeff Parkinson

Caledonia Wakeup Call

Jeff@CaledoniaWakeupCall.com

Mayor Trainer needs your help NOW! ***UPDATE***

This post reprinted with the exclusive permission of www.VoiceofCanada.ca

IMPORTANT UPDATE 1240 EST, Aug 12/07:

YOUR MAYOR STILL NEEDS YOU! Haldimand Council was told its attack on Mayor Trainer’s privacy might not be legal (duh!), so instead of just voting to drop their silly resolution (scroll down to “ORIGINAL POST” below) at their August 8th meeting, the entire council voted to defer it - again - until Monday, August 13 at 6pm. The Mayor was the only one to vote against deferral, asking that the stupidity stop right then and there.

Please…take some time out of your busy schedule to be there. I know I will be; after all, if they can do it to your mayor, someone can do it to mine. Gary McHale wasn’t able to make the last meeting due to a last-minute emergency, but he assures me he will definitely be in Cayuga for this meeting. Hopefully, Councillor Sloat won’t attack us. (See Aug 07/07 update below re Sloat’s unprovoked attack on a member of the public on the steps of Haldimand County hall.)

My sources tell me that the mayor really appreciates the support shown so far. Let’s send a strong message to Council that their attempts to undermine democracy will not be tolerated.

To Haldimand Council:

I suspect that if council is actually stupid enough to pass this resolution, you’ll be begging to rescind it in no time. That’s because the mayor’s supporters will start sending emails and letters to her asking important questions like, “Is Councillor Sloat going to be attacking anyone else today?” or “Will there be police to protect me from King Sloat?” or “How do you cope with such backstabbing, sneaky, underhanded tactics from fellow councillors?”

I’m sure the mayor would love to receive copies of VoiceofCanada posts or CaledoniaWakeUpCall editorials that staff would have to copy for distribution to council. Perhaps you’d each like to receive a copy of the 400+ pages of documents that make up The Ipperwash Papers. Let’s see…6 councillors x 400 pages… You get the idea.

If council wants the mayor’s mail, we’ll give it to you. I’m sure the mayor is capable and willing to set up a back-channel method of communicating with her for the important stuff.

Furthermore, if this resolution passes, every member of council who votes in favour will be subject to complaints to the Privacy Commissioner, the Minister of Municipal Affairs, and whatever other legal actions we can take against you to restore the mayor’s right to communicate privately with her constituents.

Do the right thing on Monday to end this un-democratic nonsense. If not, the fight will just be getting started. I promise.

P.S. Instead of subverting democracy, why don’t you suggest to King Sloat that he apologize for embarassing Haldimand with his insult to a Korean war veteran, and his unprovoked assault on a member of the public on the steps of city hall?

References

• CaledoniaWakeUpCall feature: Haldimand Council fights against Democracy, Free Speech and Privacy (Don’t miss ‘Hail King Sloat’ - a must-read!)
• Haldimand’s Unheard Voice, Aug 10/07: Bold Attack on Freedoms (reprint of letter by Caledonia resident, Mike Parent. Another must-read!)
• Haldimand’s Unheard Voice, Aug 9/07: Haldimand Vote Deferred Again
• CaledoniaWakeUpCall blog, Aug 08/07: Haldimand council fighting desperately against democracy - Your help is needed (Read Jeff Parkinson’s first hand account of Councillor Buck Sloat’s unprovoked attack on him)

Haldimand Council Fighting Desperately Against Democracy – Your help is needed

 August 8th, 2007

Each and every resident of Haldimand County who cares about Democracy is needed in Council Chambers this coming Monday night August 13^th @ 6pm as Council continues to try to force through a resolution to deny the public the right to privacy in their correspondence with Mayor Marie Trainer. Council was forced today to defer this issue until Monday by a request from the Ministry to investigate whether they are even legally allowed to pass such an absurd resolution and the issue will be spoken to on Monday night at 6pm.

I have just returned from spending 2 days in Cayuga at Haldimand County Council meetings and have witnessed with my own eyes Haldimand Council fighting desperately against democracy and the citizens who elected them.

As those who read the previous post by Mark Vandermaas are aware, Council set forth a resolution that they should each be copied every email and every piece of letter mail coming and going from the office of Mayor Marie Trainer. This is being done out of sheer contempt for the fact that Mayor Trainer refuses to join them in becoming puppets for the McGuinty Liberals. Many residents do not wish to speak to their Council member because they will not receive a response or would prefer to receive an honest one so they go to the only person they know still speaks for and represents them, Mayor Trainer.

This was designed to sneak through quietly by being on the Tuesday morning after a long weekend and buried in the agenda for the day with other business so nobody would notice. Donna Pitcher - Haldimands Unheard Voice made us aware of the situation and I attended yesterday August 7 along with Mark Vandermaas, and some citizens of Haldimand.