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…
Ian Chadwick
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…
The Cancer Diaries, Part 30
The web of our life is of a mingled yarn, good and ill together… (Shakespeare: All’s Well That Ends Well, Act IV, Sc II.) Elumbated.* It’s an archaic word meaning…
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…
How Can Anyone Afford a New House Here?
My sources suggest that a local retailer recently bought the Blue Shores house shown on the right, paying more than $100,000 over the asking price, for a total of $1.15…
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…
Bad Behaviour, Disrespect in Council Meetings
There’s a video clip being shared on social media from the “special” meeting of the Strategic Initiatives Standing Committee Agenda, on Thursday, October 14, 2021 (full video here). It shows…
Ammon Shea is My New Hero
Eyyyyyyy Wssup guys This was the entire first post that started a thread in a group I belonged to on Facebook. I think seeing it aged me a decade, and…
Are Secular Nations Happier?
Are less-religious or more secular nations happier than religious ones? Studies suggest yes. Personally, I would certainly be happier in a more secular nation if it meant fewer angry, nasty,…
What is Council Trying to Hide?
In an article in CollingwoodToday titled 18 simple rules? Council receives draft of new Code of Conduct, we learn that council is looking to update and revise its current Code…
Council Considers Possibly Thinking About Maybe Doing Something Important Sometime in the Future
We’re almost two years into an ongoing pandemic, yet all the lessons learned in jurisdictions worldwide about vaccinations and public safety have apparently simply drifted past our inept and gormless…
Casanova Dies in Bohemia
At the end of his long and storied life, Giacomo Casanova found himself a lonely man in a damp, cold castle in Bohemia, a small German kingdom distant from all…
Why is Millennium Park so Poorly Maintained?
We took a walk along the sidewalk and trail into the inappropriately-named “Millennium” Park* this week and were deeply disappointed by the lack of maintenance there. Aside from seeing a…
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…
Can Collingwood Pass the Strong Towns’ Test?
Back in 2014, the USA-based Strong Towns group posted a test to “measure a successful Strong Town.” The ten questions or conditions posed include: Take a photo of your main…
Uppercase Imperialism?
Dr. Linda Manyguns has stylized herself as Dr. linda manyguns because she stopped using uppercase (capital) letters to protest the “symbols of hierarchy.” Manyguns is the associate vice-president of indigenization…
Our Scruffy, Run-Down Town
There’s a gravel trail that runs along the waterfront, north of the Shipyards development, that’s been blocked by barricades since the spring. It’s been that way at least six months,…
Cwood’s Ship Walk of Shame
Collingwood’s long history of shipbuilding, from the first hull (the Huronic, in 1901), to the last in 1985 (the Paterson, #231) was intended to be proudly captured in bronze plaques…
Musings on Swearing and Vulgar Language
(Warning: I swear in this post… frequently. You can’t write about swearing without actually swearing a bit. Or a lot. Easily offended folks might want to look elsewhere.) I find…