Bolton’s Trojan Horse

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Before we begin this cautionary tale, remember the name MJJJ Developments.

Trust me.

Trojan Horse - 44168726

There are very few people who are not aware of the famous story of the Trojan Horse. It harkens back to the days of Greek legends when their army was attacking Troy but seemed unable to breach the walls of the great city. One morning the Trojans woke up to see that the Greek army and ships had disappeared, but standing outside the gates of the city was a magnificent huge wooden horse.

The Trojans thought that this was a tribute to Troy and they dragged the great horse through the gates into the city centre. Victory celebrations ensued with much drinking and carousing until the victorious Trojans eventually passed out for the night. Little did they know that in the hollow belly of the horse a group of Greek soldiers were hiding. Under cover of darkness, they climbed out, opened the city gates for the returning Greek army, and sacked the city of Troy. Thus was born the expression, ”Beware of Greeks bearing gifts.”

Legend has it that the surviving Trojans fled to Italy carrying their mythology with them and became the foundation of the Roman Empire. That was then. But the hard lesson learned by the Trojans still holds true today.

Here’s a modern version. Imagine that a local company wants to build an asphalt processing plant in the prestige industrial area of your town. The problem is that the Town Council and the citizens of the Town and the other businesses in the prestige industrial area are opposed to the idea of petrochemical pollution fouling the air of their community and endangering their health. So the clever company enlists the help of a local community “leader” to help drag a Trojan Horse into the Town. It is disguised as a bocce centre, a “gift” to the Town, for which the Town will pay thousands of dollars in perpetuity for the upkeep of the “gift.” The “leader” who brought the “gift” into Town repeatedly acclaims the health and recreation benefits this “gift” will bring to a minuscule portion of the town’s population.

However, hidden inside the belly of the Trojan horse bocce centre is an asphalt processing plant. And last week the belly of the beast opened up with the approval of the Ontario Land Tribunal. That interim approval did not come easily. Someone must have facilitated a lot of coaching in 2018 and 2019 to help the company navigate the environmental requirements of the Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks. That coaching paved the way for the company’s successful appeal to the Ontario Land Tribunal. The asphalt processing plant will now be built and the town will be sacked with petrochemical pollution for generations to come. Not just a tiny portion of the town’s population. Everyone.

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Remember that name MJJJ Developments? That’s the company whose lawyers successfully argued against the wishes of the Town and its citizens and its businesses. You can read part of the story in the October 13, 2022 edition of the Caledon Citizen. I am always intrigued when a company slides its brand name under layers. Maybe I’ve been watching too much Ozark. In this case, MJJJ Developments is Dig-Con International Ltd is DiGregorio International Paving & Construction Ltd.

Bocce anyone?

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Skid Crease, Caledon

On a more positive Note: “Boccia Canada is the boccia delivery arm of the Canadian Cerebral Palsy Sports Association focused on providing athletes and individuals of all ages with the chance to play a unique Paralympic sport.

Boccia Canada is committed to supporting boccia athletes, coaches, partners and volunteers to achieve their potential. We strive to offer opportunities for individuals to participate at all levels and encourage people to get involved in boccia in any way possible.”

Caledon Councillor Conduct Unbecoming

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Four months ago, I wrote a news report for Just Sayin’ Caledon from the May 24, 2022 regular Town of Caledon Council meeting titled: “You Take My Breath Away: truck traffic, aggregates, and air quality in Caledon.” It featured a delegation by Bolton resident Joe Grogan detailing his concerns about increasing truck traffic and the health hazards of diesel exhaust. Council was so impressed with Mr. Grogan’s delegation and detailed scientific and medical research that they passed a Motion to address air quality monitoring in Caledon.

Mr. Grogan noted with disappointment that his Regional Councillor, Annette Groves, was absent during his presentation: “I’m disappointed frankly, that Councillor Groves at the moment is not available but hopefully she will appear and make some comments.” Unfortunately that did not happen and the Town Clerk noted when the vote was recorded that “Councillor Groves is still absent.” That struck me as curious. Ms. Groves purports to be a champion of community health and an opponent of heavy truck traffic around and through Bolton. So, where was Regional Councillor Annette Groves on the evening of May 24, 2022?

Before we answer that question keep in mind that Municipal Councillors play both a legislative role and a constituency role. “In their legislative role they are responsible for considering and establishing policies and by laws to implement Council’s decisions.” Our Caledon councillors are paid (before the raise) $40,000 a year by the taxpaying citizens of Caledon to carry out that legislative role responsibly and to be responsive to their constituents.

On May 24, 2022, instead of fulfilling her legislative and constituency roles in Council, Regional Councillor Annette Groves was attending a “Family and Friends” BBQ hosted by Falcon Xpress Transportation Group Inc, a firm with whom the Town of Caledon is currently in litigation. The legal department could not confirm at the time if this was in relation to the ongoing illegal trucking issues plaguing the Town.

At this “Family and Friends” event, Ms. Groves gave a speech seeking support for her mayoral bid in the Town of Caledon. Several other politicians were at the event, mostly campaigning for support in the Ontario provincial election.

Keep in mind that Councillors receive their agenda for the Council meetings days in advance, so Ms. Groves was fully aware that one of her own constituents was making a delegation on an topic which she claimed to champion. Instead, she chose to violate her constituency responsibilities by being deliberately absent from Council that evening. Further, she violated her legislative responsibilities by missing both the discussion and vote to create a policy for air quality monitoring in Caledon.

Add to this her attendance at an event hosted by a company with whom the Town was in litigation, and some might call it a breech of ethics or a conflict of interest or fiscally irresponsible, Some might choose all of the above.

In any case it was conduct unbecoming, and certainly unworthy of anyone seeking the office of Mayor. The way I see it.

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Skid Crease, Caledon

 

 

 

 

Election Choices – a non-partisan guide

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originally written for Just Sayin’ Caledon

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Imagine you are at the 1972 Canada Russia Summit Series. The game is tied as the final seconds tick away. Suddenly, Paul Henderson breaks away from Team Canada and deliberately scores a goal for the Russians.

No, that didn’t happen to Canada in 1972. But it did happen to Caledon in 2020. If you are playing on Team Caledon and you deliberately give the puck away so that Team  Brampton-Mississauga can score, maybe you shouldn’t be on the team, let alone wanting to become the team captain.

Given all of the development issues facing Caledon over the next four years it is critical that whoever is elected to Town Council must fully support our commitment to a made in Caledon smart growth plan not dictated by Brampton and Mississauga development interests. Whoever we elect on October 24th, we must ensure we have selected the best team possible.

But how to choose? There is a large slate of new candidates running for various positions of responsibility on our Town Council, with only a few returning councillors in the mix. Add to this the creation of a new Ward 6 on the north side of Bolton, and the reduction to only two Regional Councillors and you have a recipe for confusion. What Ward do I live in and for whom will I vote?

Finding your Ward is the easy part. The only major change is in the Bolton area where Ward 5 has been split into Wards 5 and 6. Basically Ward 5 is Bolton south of King and Ward 6 goes from King to Castlederg. Our reduced Regional representation now consists of one Councillor who will be elected to cover Wards 1,2,3 and one Councillor for Wards 4,5, 6.  Basically, an east -west split for Caledon.

Selecting a candidate is the tricky part. With only five returning previous members running in this election, there are a lot of unknown players in the game. When you have no previous record of past performance in Town Council  to research, it makes the selection of new candidates more difficult. It really comes down to what are the qualities we expect from our elected representatives? How about honesty, integrity, literacy, diligence and the ability to work collaboratively as a team to achieve consensus.

During the election campaign did they play fair and follow the rules for all candidates, or did they cheat? In their print or online materials, did they provide misinformation on issues, or manipulate data to their advantage? Here’s a simple one given to me by a neighbour: “If a political candidate can’t read the by-laws of the Town, or deliberately violates them, they shouldn’t be running for public office.” For example, the Town’s Fence by-law makes it clear that election signs cannot be mounted on fences for display, so violations are easy to spot. Pretty simple. If you lie, or you cheat, or you deliberately mislead, you might not be the best person to trust with our taxpayer dollars.

With new candidates we have to go with their newspaper articles,or their flyers, or the style of their election signs. Better still is the impression they make on us when they go door to door. Do they convey genuine energy and enthusiasm for the new role they are seeking? Do they listen earnestly to our concerns about local and regional issues? Most importantly, do they respond to our questions without putting any spin on their answers?

We often just go with our gut when it comes down to marking the ballot for a new candidate. Hopefully when we check the box, it will not have been determined by the quantity of election signs or fancy folders, but by the depth of character they conveyed to us in their communication.

With returning candidates, it is easier to choose. We have their records to examine, for some as few as four years, while others have many terms of service. Does their record show that they have participated diligently in our Town Council meetings? Have they been in attendance when their constituents made delegations? Have they worked cooperatively on their Committees? Have they ever been found in violation of their Code of Conduct and been charged by the Integrity Commissioner? Have they ever betrayed the trust of their colleagues? Have they conducted their Town business efficiently and economically? Have they been good team players?

The next four years will require a team and a team captain who knows how to score that winning goal for Caledon. On October 24th, the puck stops here. The way I see it.

 

Setting the Record Straighter

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The Betrayal of Caledon, continued …

On Thursday, August 18, 2022, Regional Councillor and mayoral candidate Annette Groves put out a post on Facebook titled “Setting the Record Straight.” That record is in regard to Ms. Groves role in reducing Caledon’s representation at Peel Region Council. Unfortunately, Ms. Groves omitted a few key details which actually made the record more crooked. The act of concealing or misrepresenting the truth is known as deceit.

In her Facebook post, Councillor Groves encouraged all of us “to please do your research and look at the facts and the recorded votes which will clearly tell the truth.”

One omitted fact, on public record in the Peel Region Council recorded votes for November 26, 2020 reveals that Regional Councillor Groves was one of seventeen councillors who voted in favour of the Motion to reduce Caledon’s seats from 5 to 3 representatives. All other Caledon councillors present voted against the Motion. That is a fact.

At the Special Meeting called by Peel Region on December 17, 2020 to ratify the reduction of seats motion, the councillors from Caledon stood up and left the chambers. All but one – Caledon Regional Councillor Annette Groves. Under a Region of Peel bylaw, a council meeting cannot take place unless one representative from each of its three municipalities is present. If all of the Caledon councillors had left the chambers, the meeting would have ended, no vote could have been taken on the Motion, and it would have died on the floor or been deferred to a later date. That is a fact.

Ms. Groves was fully aware of the process of breaking quorum, having joined her colleagues from Caledon in walking out of a Region of Peel meeting on June 11, 2015 in order to stop a vote that would have stripped Caledon of authority over its own planning. However, this time Ms. Groves chose to stay, preserving quorum and allowing the vote to proceed. To add insult to injury, Ms. Groves then cast a duplicitous  inconsequential NO vote, thereby allowing her to go down on public record as having voted against the same motion she had previously supported.  The Motion was ratified. That is a fact.

This was the betrayal of Caledon. Facts and clear truth, All on public record at the Region of Peel. You can either trust the facts or you can buy the lie. Buyer beware.

Just setting the record straighter. The way I see it.

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Skid Crease, Caledon

 

Freedom versus Freedumb

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WARNING: This semi-satiric opinion piece contains descriptions of ghastly violence not suitable for young children or politically correct adults.

Freedumb" Sticker by Michaelnilson | Redbubble

Ah, remember being stirred by the dying shout from the actor Mel Gibson in the movie “Braveheart”  as he screamed out “FREEDOM!” from the executioner’s block?  Many people forget that the movie was a fictional account of the life of the real William Wallace. There is the reel world, and then there is the real world.

In actual historical fact, when Wallace was captured by the English, he was strangled by hanging but released while still alive. That act alone, causing bilateral vocal chord paralysis, would have rendered him unable to speak.

But then he was “emasculated, eviscerated and his bowels burned before him, beheaded, then cut into four parts. His silent head was dipped in tar and displayed on a pike atop London Bridge.” His body parts were distributed to four towns and cities across England and Scotland. This is how King Edward I dealt with uprisings in 1305, his own style of our much more humane Emergencies Act.

After tallying the cost, damages, pollution, and desecration of our Capital City and sacred memorials by the so-called “freedom convoy”, Edward’s way may have been a more permanent solution to ending the illegal occupation and subsequent threats of a summer repeat. “Freedom” can quickly turn into “Freedumb” when in the heads, hearts and hands of far-right, racist, homophobic, anti-science, misinformation mob mentality, Q-Anon conspiracy theory cultists.

These home-grown “Freedumb” terrorists tried to appropriate our national flag as their symbol, as if their selfish and stupid, fossil fuelled occupation had anything to do with true Canadian values of freedom and the right to dissenting expression. No, I thought the Emergencies Act came in way too late and was far too gentle.

The French use of the guillotine is faster, but a return to the slower but equally permanent punishment of gibbeting would greatly deter disturbances by freedumb fanatics this summer.  Gibbeting was a punishment whereby the criminals could be left hanging in iron cages outside the entrance to the town until they starved to death and the crows and insects finished the job.

Have a safe and happy summer responsibly enjoying our hard won democracy. Let’s try our best to keep the “dumb” out of our freedoms. A little tar might help, the way I see it.

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Skid Crease, Caledon