OP ED by Jamie Gilcig – Should Claude McIntosh be Calling People Jerks? Waterfront Coverage VIDEO

CFN – I always find it interesting that different media outlets can be at the same event and have very different angles on a story.

Saturday Standard Free Holder Columnist and dean of  scribblers here in Cornwall Claude McIntosh penciled an column that was stunning on a multitude of levels.

First off he maligned two well respected members of the public; calling them “jerks”!   LINK

He of course was not present at the meeting; nor were any reporters from the Free Holder.   The only evidence of that session was video from CFN.

This first clip is the second half of a speech that suggests the committee resign.

It certainly was not rude and it did not single out any particular member of the committee.

Sadly, a couple of jerks decided to hijack the public consultation sessions at the civic complex to attack the integrity of waterfront development committee members, particularly Guy Menard and Roy Perkins, two civic-minded businessmen who have devoted countless hours to making this city a better place to live.

As you can see the crowd was supportive of the speaker and the moderator did not attack or moderate him.   While Pat Finucan tried to do some damage control and protect the committee what was he really protecting?  The crowd certainly did not respond to his request.  I won’t even bother with Councilor Grants ridiculous explanation.

Councilor Grant sitting with Protesting Little Leaguers

Again, while the first part of this speech is not in the clip at no time were Mr. Perkins or Menard mentioned by name.

A particularly mean-spirited attack was delivered by a local lawyer who accused Menard, a much respected second-generation builder, and Perkins, owner of the Rona store on Marleau Avenue and a Citizen of the Year Award recipient, of trying to cash in on a proposal to use parkland between the complex and marina for condo development.

The second so called “Jerk”  is in this clip below (advance to the 14:13 mark)

This scribbler finds it totally ironic that Mr.McIntosh is attacking these citizens of good standing in the exact manner he his accusing them of attacking Mr Perkins and Menard.  The only difference being that these two gentlemen did not do what Mr. MacIntosh claims nor were they….   “Jerks!”

Which begs the question as to where Mr. MacIntosh got his information?     His column is possibly actionable.   It’s a gross attack against people that care about their city and took the time to show up to a public meeting and spoke in a manner that drew a lot of applause from the crowd.

Do we really want to try and embarrass, humiliate, and bully people for simply speaking their opinions in this city?  Is this truly our society here in Cornwall and how we do things?   I should hope not.

Mr. MacIntosh has not responded to our call and email as of press time.

What do you think?  Is this sort of journalism acceptable?  Should people be maligned publicly in this manner without proper support; IE photos/video/ an actual reporter present?

You can post your comments below.

Image-ine

32 Comments

  1. OMG someone please tell people to stop clapping and let people speak, didn’t your parents ever teach… better yet since they are all past 50 years old, didn’t you ever teach your kids not to interrupt people when they are speaking? mine mine mine mine mine mine

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-3e0EkvIEM

    fXXX

  2. Excellent questions CFN. Anyone reading the columnist’s words might assume he was at the meeting. But that’s pure hogwash. He didn’t go and doesn’t disclose that minor fact. And you’re right, in an attempt to shield two people from allegations about conflict of interest, he ends up slandering another by calling him a jerk. Anyone reading the column would get the impression that two businessmen were attacked in a manner that could be accurately described as a bloodbath.

  3. Claude was being very soft in his literature,there are other words that came used, but, I’ll stop short here.
    I cannot believe how a group of suppose-to-be intelligent people can be so blindfolded as to what charades is being played out in the city hall.
    Have a nice day,folks.

  4. Author

    You get it Mare. If you only read the piece by Mac you could not truly be faulted for accepting it as happened. It is not supported by video, photograph or true testimony of an on site journalist who witnessed the event. Even his description of what was supposedly said is inaccurate as Mr. St. Aubin essentially declared that the committee should be disbanded while the other gentlemen suggested a closer examination of “conflict of interest” both very different statements; both roundly supported by the crowd; neither targeted at an individual amongst the committee as Claude’s article suggests.

    I think the Free Holder owes both of those gentlemen and the public an apology.

  5. Claude McIntosh is just ranting because some of his sandbox friends got caught with their hands in the cookie jar.

  6. Having witnessed first hand the meeting and listened to the gentlemen who have been name-called by Mr. McIntosh I think he should be charged with a bullying complaint. Both speakers at the meeting spoke their truth in a calm and rational manner and brought up principles which have moral and ethical implications worthy of putting this City on a whole new level of operation, founded in a governance that could be trusted, rather than what we have at present where the tail is wagging the dog.

    If Mr. McIntosh disagrees to the point of descending into a place which is at the starting point of violence then I believe that the police need to hear about it. Wars do not come out of nowhere, they start with bullying, this conduct is reprehensible, meaning out of order. You, Mr. McIntosh, should try the name on for yourself and see that it is a perfect fit.

  7. Guess Mac is just a has been who has lost all credibility & is still trying to stir the populace to his opinion .When you can’t state your objection without name calling & behaving like a bully then you do not really have a credible stance & people we see through him eventually.He also had to know that new top news reporter would be there & telling it like is,thanks CFN for informing us of the truth.Mac & Standard owe an opology

  8. The following is part of Mac’s quote (rant-tirade), where he attempts to stand up for his sand box buddies, at the public meeting. In doing so, he attempts to ridicule & bully two very eloquent
    individuals, by calling them names ! It shows just how disconnected, people can be from reality ! I was present Mac, you were not, neither was your paper ! Why, Mac, was your paper not present, covering a very big topic in our City ? Your paper spends more time, at a ribbon cutting ceremony, than the biggest issue in Cornwall. You would think, that with the money $$$ that the City spent advertising the public meetings, in your paper, that you could of had wall to wall coverage, of this event ? IMO, the City got a poor return, on that investment !

    “If anybody was going to attempt an end run around public opinion, they wouldn’t be holding two well-publicized public meetings to discuss the issue.”
    The answer, to your statement is, they the Committee had no choice to hold those public meetings, they were mandated by municipal laws, to do so !

  9. When will people learn that all Macintosh ever does is stick up for his buddys, whether there right or wrong.He,s allso a master at sugar coating and twisting and turning the truths around.

  10. I used to like reading Claude MacIintosh’ column in the newspaper. Over the past two weeks he has made some stupid statements in his column that are really controversial, two weeks ago about the mayor running again in the next election and last week about the waterfront boondoggle. Claude, what have you been smoking?

  11. Did Claude ever say he was at the meeting or was it simply an editorial?
    In this case perhaps taken out of context by the free news

    If you understand the meaning of editorial it is simply an opinion piece.

  12. Anyone with an ounce of intelligence and the facts already presented could only come to one conclusion and that is that a conflict of interest does or did exist on this 2011 waterfront com. They are as yet not willing to admit to any wrong doing, further it appears that this group have their heads stuck so deep in the sand no doubt in an effort to avoid having to discuss or answer for their survey which has already been compromised (by any person doing the survey more than once). I am not amused by the antics that have taken place by W/F Com nor am I amused by their attemped cover up.I can only believe that Claude Mac Intosh was somehow pushed into this mess as damage control

  13. Simply put, It is the Conservative and Sun Media, (standard-freeholder) way. They baffle you with BS, and most city residents believe everything they read in that rag. Get Involved folks with the political parties in SD&SG. Caution: it may disgust you.

  14. Author

    Willie I think people need to get involved with the issues. Partisan politics is a huge part of the problem where some people won’t condone wrong because the person doing wrong is in their political party or service club.

  15. how can a coonflict of interest exist if the mandate to build and build and build on waterfront property is set by the very committee “in charge” of the waterfront? clearly the “committee ” is making their own rules and mandates in contavention of the vocal public outcry! so actually ,it is not conflict of interest if the committee makes up the rules because the committee s not contravening its own rules and mandate!! That is why some the public are crying foul ball..about this questionnable direction… where do they expect to get buyers for these overpriced apartments!! because that`s what a condominium is.. an overpriced over taxed apartment that you are stuck with if you can`t get along with the neighbors above you,under you and beside you!!!

  16. but the ol scribbler Claude should not have called anyone jerks for strong opinions expressed on the matter.. the opinions expressed were valid and emotional yes because it is an emotional issue… calling people jerks in print because you don`t agree with the way some people react to this committee`s plans is not playing nice…granted the vocal anti build side is emotional because we in Cornwall have been steamrollered with huge projects before at taxpayers expense…there are other places along the waterline to build privately …that is the basic complaint the WC should be reviewing!!

  17. Hey Brent,

    Interesting comment you make ! Because of the way, the meetings were set, people were moving around quite a bit. I was present, and do not recall seeing Mac, as I would of said hello, but I realize, this is part of the point you are making. I do agree about an editorial, but Mac went out of his way, to label two gentlemen as “jerks” ! Furthermore, he went on to state, the names of the two members of the WC ! Those two members of the WC, were never mentioned personnaly, nor were they attacked personnaly, by either of these two “jerks” as Mac refers to them. Both, of these so called “jerks” spoke extremely eloquently, calmly, non threatning, explaining their point of view, in quite an admirable fashion, and their views were directed to the WC, not the two named members, as Mac states.

  18. Thank you very much for these comments, “Mr. Magoo” (whoever you are).

    As one of the “jerks” referred to by Claude McIntosh and an experienced news reporter in my own right (received several Canadian Farmwriters Assocation national awards back in the 1970s), this morning I called the Cornwall Standard-Freeholder’s editor, Brian Dryden, not to defend my comments, but to point out what I felt to be serious misrepresentation and mischaracterization of the Cornwall Waterfront Development Committee’s public meeting on the 12th of this month in Claude’s column. Although I have generally enjoyed reading Claude’s column as a mine of local information (historical and current), I feel he must have gone more on heresay to write this particular one. In my particular case, the moderator Pat Finucan spoke to me after the meeting and said that he took exception to the “personal” attacks. When I heard this, I immediately went to the front to say to the members of the waterfront committee (particularly Glen Grant) that my comments were intended to simply raise matters of principle. After reflecting, the next day I also phoned Pat Finucan at home to acknowledge some validity in his remarks to me and thank him for making them. In the course of our conversation, Mr. Finucan also clarified that Glen Grant is not connected with Cornwall Grant and Grant Ready-Mix, which was my previous understanding.

    Consequently, I immediately sent the following email to the committee:

    From: Neil Macmilllan
    Sent: Wednesday, June 13, 2012 9:59 PM
    To: Cornwall Planning
    Cc: Jane
    Subject: Appreciation for yesterday’s Open House consultations

    To the Waterfront Development Committee:

    As a “member of the public” who participated in most of yesterday’s Open House consultations, I would like to express my deep appreciation for the exercise.

    Although feelings ran high at times, I felt that the Committee members together with Planning, Parks and Recreation General Manager Stephen Alexander and consultation moderator Pat Finucan conducted themselves admirably under pressure with the result that the whole groundbreaking process brought a lot of clarity to the situation.

    For instance, I personally have come to a clearer understanding of the importance of people with “private development” experience in exploring “private development” solutions to part of the waterfront’s overall development. I also subsequently learnt in a conversation with Pat Finucan that Glen Grant is not the owner of Cornwall Gravel and Grant Ready-Mix, which was my former understanding!!

    Consequently, I would simply like to express my warmest good wishes to the committee for its future work.

    Neil Macmillan

    Needless to say, the other “jerk,” who is a distinguished local lawyer, is certainly quite capable of taking whatever steps (if any) on his own in response to Claude’s column, which nonetheless made some excellent points about the sterling qualities of Mr. Menard and Mr. Perkins and the need for people with their kind of experience and expertise on the Waterfront Development Committee.

    So thank you again, “Mr. Magoo,” for presenting an unsolicited third-party testimony, which helps to “set the record straight” on this particular aspect.

    For your information, my conversation with Brian Dryden, the CSF’s editor, was cordial and business-like, and I was particularly impressed with his assurance that his door is “always open” for any member of the public with a concern to share.

  19. It’s OK Mr. Macmillan, everyone is entitled to thier own opinion. I do not know who you are and niether do I care, but, when you the find that green area has change to the ashphalt private area and the families have nowhere to go in the very near future, I hope you will feel good about the change of Cornwall.
    Have a nice day.

  20. Thanks for the feedback, “bigfellow” but that’s certainly not my view, and I don’t see where I gave that impression. I share your apparent view that Lamoureux Park, as defined in the existing Cornwall Waterfront Plan, should remain as public green space for all the citizens of Cornwall, rich or poor.

  21. Thank you for your reply, Mr. Macmillan, I really appreciate it, but, really after all this boondocking, has either sides won?
    Here we have the WC working hard at trying to please the city hall pers,( even though I personally feel they are puppets of someone/group in the city hall) and with bad enough trying to be involded in one piece of property to a be made a stink of it and then hearing that there is not one condo and then making a 360 degrees turn in given out a possibilities of info for more condos in ten years for the green area. Is this the art of lying between the teeth? Or is it the art of “I don’t know or have not heard of it”.
    On the other side, the residents of cornwall, want no part of this and the majority want to keep it (green area) as is.
    So, who won?
    I fully blame the city council for allowing this to happen, allowing the responsibillites of these VOLUNTEERS, who have made a package on thier own time( wasted effort) for someone/group in city hall who is being well paid to the job, through EVERYONE (S) property taxes.
    It’s time to say goodby to this crap.
    Have a nice day.
    It’s bad enough that we are on the brink of depression, that will be worst than the ’30s, that we have people in the city hall who want to spend, spend and as I recall, this is exactly the way it happen in the 30’s.

  22. Thanks for your comments, “bigfellow.” Clearly, you’re deeply concerned. Looking ahead, hopefully, everyone involved (both the decision-makers and the general populace) can come back to the table at an appropriate time with a renewed willingness to share information as fully and as transparently as possible and listen respectfully to each other. However, for that to happen, we have to develop more trust in the process – trust that is partly inherent because of the community’s respect for its duly constituted leadership and partly earned by the conduct of that leadership. Right now, there appears to be a danger that those “in the know” will become more secretive and less open, while ordinary members of the community will become more polarized “for and against” and more distrustful and suspicious of the “other” side – and that would be most unfortunate for Cornwall (not only for council and its committees but also for its ordinary residents). In this regard, I personally feel that the Watefront Development Committee should be left to continue the work it was appointed to undertake because it is very reassuring that its meetings are open to the public (if interested) and that the minutes of those meetings are apparently part of the public record and can be consulted at City Hall.

  23. Cornwall is a beautiful City & has a Beautiful Waterfront & it will be safe as long as this Water Committee either resignes in mass or stands up & admits that they screwed up big time. The people of Cornwall have their number now. It’s our Water Front & we are going to protect it Are You With Me Taxpayers?

  24. There should be no question…..they should all resign, they all had a hand in being deceptive. Fool me once shame on you……fool me twice shame on me. They tried to pull a fast one and got caught, don’t give them a second chance to try and hide anything else.

  25. I read in Cornwall’s Freeholder that the waterfront lands belong to the First Nations (Mohawks) and that is very true. I have read this before and even lands from Cornwall all the way out to the 417 highway is all Indian land including the east and all the way to Long Sault (not just waterfront land but the whole thing). Whiteys do not own the land at all that they think that they own so give up. I am glad that the Mohawks are gone to Harpo on this matter. Leave the waterfront alone. I would agree with marinas for boats or boardwalks but not condos. Stick your condos up where the sun doesn’t shine.

  26. Jules I respect your opinion but I disagree with your land ownership position I also take exception to your use of the word Whiteys, Canadian people shouldn’t ever be judged or classifed by the colour of their skin. I would respectfully suggest the reading of the Bicentennial Corporation book by Elinor Kyte Senior as she states a very different picture of Sir John Johnsons men & their arrival at Pointe Maligne & further of the involvement of Indian Chief Capt. Joseph Brant who was instrumental in making a settlement at that time. If that book of Corn. history is correct some so called land claims just don’t exist.

  27. Let’s face it, Claude McIntosh is the biggest jerk of all. On the jerk scale he is Capo di tutti di capi.

  28. I like Claude MacIntosh very much and find his stories very interesting. I have names for that waterfront committee that I cannot write about and what Claude said is mighty mild. I can say to everyone that the only thing that the Menards, Perkins, and others want are to sell their wood, have their builders build anything that can be sold or rented to feather their pockets. None of the people of Cornwall have any idea how valuable your parks are whether in Cornwall or its surrounding towns. You have a quiet place to live and enjoy recreation. This is something that we don’t have in big cities. You go to parks and all there is is noise from mighty high traffic and not that many places to go to. The waterfront has to remain a waterfront. I am just recovering from climbing those stairs and I went out walking in the usual park where we walk every morning which is an NCC Park and we miss those of Cornwall. Your waterfront is very valuable folks more than you know and it belongs to the people and not to blood sucking developers. I like the way Mr. Markell made his condos and even my husband said the same thing when he saw them. My daughter said the same thing that those condos on Water Street are well constructed in very good taste and not in a park. I wanted to say something else as well about high rises. In high rises you hear the traffic and noises of all kinds more so than living down below. I live near one of the main arteries of the city here in Ottawa and it never stops. It feels good to go down to Cornwall and relax. I am going down next month. Enjoy your parks folks and take advantage of them – you are so very lucky.

  29. “Is It True” I am white myself and I do know that the natives (Indians) do own the land from Cornwall all the way to the 417 and that is the truth. The natives own a lot of the waterfront land and even my eldest sister leased a piece of land to put her trailor on their lot and it was on land out in the Lancaster area or somewhere like that.
    You are all so very lucky to have beautiful parks. There is a Canadian lady from Tornto who lives in Vermont and I was in contact with her years ago and loved your parks. She loved Upper Canada Village as well. When my daughter was in school here in Ottawa my daughter’s class went down to Upper Canada Village and I went with the class to help supervise and everyone said how beautiful it was.
    We have seen couples from the US in the state of Kansas say the same thing about Cornwall and they were on bicycles out at the Power Dam. Keep your parks beautiful folks and that is what attracts tourists. We always spend when we go to Cornwall. Keep Cornwall beautiful and know how to build. If I were to purchase in Cornwall or the surrounding areas it would have to be a single even here in Ottawa. I would not buy in Ottawa that is for sure. Ottawa used to be nice back in the 70’s and then everything went down hill. Living with a million people sure isn’t easy. There are many perks here and there are pit falls as well. My husband keeps after me all the time about living in Cornwall but none of us can handle the daily commutes.

  30. Jules You state on the land ownership that Natives (Indians) own all the land yet you so far haven’t even given any evidence to back that up. It seems your not alone with that opinion. It also seems quite clear to me that the natives are looking for another handout of taxpayers Dollars.If & when that comes about through a settlement It most certainly wont be the end of it as they will surely be after more.THATS JUST THE WAY THEY ARE. History tells us so.

  31. I just looked – up the word “jerks” in google, I suggest you too, there are many variations of good and bad, to that word, unless the word has been used in a derogatory way and after reading the above statement, I don’t perceive it meant to be derogatory at all.
    Therefore, no apologies are required.
    Anyways, hopefully, this subject is closed, forever.

Leave a Reply