Without any fanfare or media coverage (no surprises there!), last September Collingwood Council approved a significant change to the policy regarding the Order of Collingwood that would pave the way for Mayor Brian Saunderson to launch his cancel-culture attack on someone he despises for hurting his feelings. But the real
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Scripturient: Saunderson Continues His Cancel-Culture Program
On the agenda for the Strategic Initiatives Standing Committee (SIC) for Jan. 10, 2022 is a single line under other business that underscores just how petty, puerile, and vindictive our mayor is: Order of Collingwood Revocation and OMWA Membership, Mayor Saunderson As you might expect from a secretive, deceptive mayor,
Continue readingScripturient: Yet More Disrespect From Madigan
NB: This is a repost from Dec. 9, 2021. See below. Last year, I wrote about how Councillor Bob “Lapdog” Madigan had behaved in a churlish, misogynistic manner towards female members of council during open council meetings, first in March, 2021, and again in October. But if you thought the boorish
Continue readingScripturient: Power Play Behind Council’s Closed Doors
This is a repost from a draft of the piece posted on Dec 7, 2021: In the Dec. 7 meeting of the Strategic Initiatives Standing Committee, last Tuesday, one of the issues discussed was the replacement of Deputy Mayor Hull during his unexplained absence, as well the “potential” (nudge, nudge, wink,
Continue readingScripturient: Heritage District Rules Need Repair
A November story in CollingwoodToday about a new homeowner who got caught in the quagmire of our heritage district rules underscores the need for a thorough overhaul of the rules, a review of how the district is managed, and serious improvements in how the town and the heritage committee communicate information about the zone
Continue readingScripturient: Power Play Behind Council’s Closed Doors
In the recent meeting of the Strategic Initiatives Standing Committee, last Tuesday, one of the issues discussed was the replacement of Deputy Mayor Hull during his unexplained absence, as well the “potential” (nudge, nudge, wink, wink) “Mayoral Vacancy” coming soon (readers will recall that Mayor Saunderson sloughed off his mayoral
Continue readingScripturient: Yet More Disrespect From Madigan
Earlier this year, I wrote about how Councillor Bob “Lapdog” Madigan had behaved in a churlish, misogynistic manner towards female members of council during council meetings, first in March, 2021, and again in October. But if you thought Madigan could not set the bar any lower in puerile, boorish behaviour,
Continue readingScripturient: Fixing the Broken Committee System
Some days, the irony just pours from council news. In a story on CollingwoodToday, we learned that council, …will be considering changes to their procedural bylaw, which will include making a recommendation whether they will continue with the existing committee structure, or move to a committee of the whole structure.
Continue readingScripturient: Did Our Mayor Violate Copyright Law?
Did our mayor violate Canadian copyright law? And not just once? His “saundersonformpp” website recently had copies of three separate articles from Municipal World magazine about his vendetta (aka his vindictive judicial inquiry). As of yesterday morning (Nov. 17, 2021), they were all on his site. These pieces were not
Continue readingScripturient: Our Council’s Reprehensible Greed
Our council’s sense of entitlement again came to light this week. A report from a consultant tabled in the Nov.1 meeting of the Strategic Initiatives Standing Committee recommends that the mayor receive a 9.5% increase, while councillors get a 5% increase (page five of the report). Nine-point-five percent? Who gets
Continue readingScripturient: Mayor and Council: Absque Verecundia
The same year Columbus set sail west for unknown lands, Sir John Kendal received a stern admonition in writing from the council of King Henry VII, of which he was part. The reproof, written in Latin, was for publishing self-serving documents meant to promote his goal to be appointed prior
Continue readingScripturient: Petitioning Mayor Saunderson to Actually Act Like a Mayor
There’s a petition being shared online that calls on Mayor Brian Saunderson to actually do his job as head of council and discipline the misbehaving Councillor Madigan. You can read my post about Madigan’s behaviour here, and download a PDF of the petition here. I doubt he will heed it,
Continue readingScripturient: Why is Our Mayor Being Sued?
Ontario civil court records found online show our Mayor, Brian Saunderson, is listed as the first defendant in a recent lawsuit, along with his allegedly former employers. The lawsuit is for $150,000 and was filed Sept. 17, 2019. The plaintiff is Grand Mortgage Investment Corporation, which the Financial Services Registry
Continue readingScripturient: Another Council Facepalm Moment
In a story on CollingwoodToday, this week council again discussed their job-growth-and revenue-killing interim control bylaw (ICBL) that has stopped the town from issuing new home building permits for the next four or more years, until a new water treatment plant is built. Of course, none of the developers or
Continue readingScripturient: The Sad Neglect of Collingwood’s Terminals
Whether you want to restore them or tear them down, you would probably like council to do SOMETHING about the decaying, century-old icon*on our waterfront. Anything, in fact. But as usual, council’s approach to actually doing something has been instead to do defer, delay, hire consultants, bloviate, ignore, pretend it
Continue readingScripturient: Wilson Blames Council for Hospital Debacle, Brushes Off Saunderson
“I blame somewhat the local council,” said MPP Jim Wilson in this recent interview from the Peak FM about the continuing debacle of the hospital redevelopment. Well, so does most of this town. “We’ve not had a clear expression to Queen’s Park from the community, other than myself and Norah
Continue readingScripturient: Meng and the SVJI: Parallel Cases?
The ongoing case against Huawei’s Meng Wanzhou has an odd parallel in Collingwood. Our own petty, revenge-obsessed council’s threats to sue people who caused no harm nor have ever been charged with a crime has an echo in a comment made during Meng’s recent extradition hearings. Associate Chief Justice Heather
Continue readingScripturient: Musings on The Tempest and Council
It was a dark and stormy night… Shakespeare’s last solo-authored play, The Tempest, opens with a storm (the eponymous tempest) in which a group of elite passengers (a king, a duke, relatives, and courtly hangers-on) gets washed overboard (or jump) while the working sailors remain safe onboard their ship. In
Continue readingScripturient: Council Votes to Waste More Tax Dollars on Personal Vendetta
Just when you thought our council could not get any more petty or puerile, they lower the bar again. Last night, in a 7-2 vote, our punishment-obsessed council voted to spend yet more of your tax dollars on the Saunderson Vindictive Judicial Inquiry (aka the SVJI). Yes, that’s right: they
Continue readingScripturient: More Lawyers, More Costs, More Secrecy
Monday night, council will once again scurry behind closed doors like cockroaches to avoid the light of public scrutiny to hear yet another virtual presentation from lawyers about the Saunderson Vindictive Judicial Inquiry (aka the SVJI). And, of course, it will cost the taxpayers again to help The Great Leader
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