Cornwall Ontario – Hmm…how to gentrify a former industrial city with a stunningly beautiful waterfront…. a) build luxury condos? b) build lovely green spaces for the community to enjoy? c) lease out lands to a firm that will plunk a chemical tank or two after the property had been cleaned up at taxpayer expense to remove oil tanks?
If you’re the Federal government of Canada apparently the choice is c) which has many in the lovely city of Cornwall Ontario up in arms and ready to protest at the site on Monday.
Chuck Charlebois, who has devoted a generation to seeing the once homely waterfront bloom is outraged.
You can’t suck and blow at the same time.
Unless you’re Cornwall Ontario Mayor Robert “Bob” Kilger who CFN learned, as well as City Manager Stephen Alexander, knew about the construction as early as November 21, 2013 at the Waterfront Development committee both attended. After the meeting the two spoke about this exact construction with former members Bill Beattie, and Bill Parisien.
The odd thing is that councilors CFN spoke to this morning were quite clear that they only heard about this after Mr. Charlebois emailed council this week; nearly three weeks after the meeting of the 21st! CFN spoke with councilors Elaine MacDonald, Maurice Dupelle, Denis Carr, and Andre Rivette. We telephoned others but they went to voice mail or in the case of councilor Bernadette Clement only give out a work number available during week day business hours.
Andre Rivette stated:
I’m not a happy Camper.
Councilor Carr:
I’m very surprised?
Councilor MacDonald when informed of our video interview with Messers Beattie & Parisien regarding Mr. Alexander and Mayor Kilger’s knowledge of construction at the site simply suggested that I was “stirring the pot” and hung up on me.
MP Guy Lauzon was quoted as “knowing nothing” about the construction in the largest city of his riding with said construction being done on Federally owned lands.
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Mayor Kilger issued a press release on his own; as opposed to one by he and council.
The City of Cornwall has received numerous inquiries and concerns regarding a development project currently underway at the Cornwall Harbour on Transport Canada lands.
The City has not issued any building permits or site plan approvals for this project. The Public Port of Cornwall is under the sole administration and control of Transport Canada. As such, the development is on federal land and thus exempt from Provincial Regulations like the Ontario Building Code and municipal site plan control. The federal government can proceed to construction without any approval from the municipality, and has done so.
In Fall 2013, Transport Canada entered into a lease agreement for this federally-owned property with a company that is licensed to distribute products for regional road safety including dust suppression and ice control for roadways. Activity currently taking place at the Public Port of Cornwall includes construction by the tenant of two storage tanks for the purpose of receiving, storing and distributing calcium chloride as part of the company’s operations. Transport Canada has dealt with its tenant exclusively with regards to lease negotiations, site plan issues and construction schedules.
“The project is clearly inconsistent with the Waterfront Plan, with the Official Plan, with the long term vision of our community, with recent developments and efforts in the area, and we are very disappointed with this outcome,” said Mayor Bob Kilger. “We are also very concerned about the lack of dialogue and public consultation.”
As a result, Mayor Kilger has requested a meeting with Federal Transport Minister Lisa Raitt.
For further information, please contact:
Mayor Bob Kilger
City of Cornwall
(613) 930-2787 ext. 2386
mayor@cornwall.ca
What strikes me…
“The project is clearly inconsistent with the Waterfront Plan, with the Official Plan, with the long term vision of our community, with recent developments and efforts in the area, and we are very disappointed with this outcome,”
Why would Mayor Kilger mention in other media about the tanks not sticking out much if he didn’t already know the plans?
Why didn’t he officially bring this to council instead leaving most of council with their pants down on the issue?
Was there a back room deal with the Federal Government he was concealing from Council?
I spoke with former councilor Leslie O’Shaughnessy who resigned from the Kilger council in part because of behaviour like this by the mayor and management.
If what you are telling me is true,(Mayor Kilger knowing about the tanks in advance, and council as a whole not being aware) it would not surprise me at all. There are many occasions that I had during my year and a half on council. Where some knew more than others and the information was not shared.
As an example at one meeting on a committee that I was appointed to by council I was asked questions in regards to correspondence that had been received from the mayor and CAO. when I was asked the particulars in regards to that correspondence I knew nothing about it and had not been informed.
This happened on many other occasions on issues I cannot comment on at this time.
The reaction from the public is pretty clear on this one.
Groups are leading a charge to have a 1 PM protest on site Monday and a forum at the Civic Complex Wednesday night; but it sounds like the people that should be answering the big questions right now are Mayor Kilger & MP Lauzon. The Chamber of Commerce (who did not send a release to the largest newspaper in the city, Le Village, Groupe Renaissance)
Either communications with the Federal government are so bad that the Feds allowed this lease to be signed or there was yet another back room deal with local leadership not expecting the blow back from the public.
We are hoping that at least 1,000 people sign our online petition above to help send a message to the Federal government to immediately stop construction and terminate their lease with the Chemical company oddly enough to be named Trillium.
The intrigue to this mess will be explored in my upcoming editorial. What do you think dear viewers of CFN is behind this bizarre act?
You can post your comments below.
UPDATED 3:30 PM
Councilor Syd Gardiner called in. He stated that he also only found out on Friday about this issue and was surprised that Mayor Kilger and City Management would not have informed council if they had known on the 21st?
He also went on to add:
The City of Cornwall is considered the butt end of the World as far as the Province and Federal government are concerned. I say that as I think that the inter-city bus service; train station closing with only two trains per day, and the airport situation. I don’t think they really care about the area…
We need to elect people who are going to stand up for the area more, and if we continue to elect good old party boys selected by the party’s nothing will change.
It says c) lease out lands to a firm that will plunk a chemical tank or two after the property had been cleaned up at taxpayer expense to remove oil tanks?
If the taxpayers paid for the cleanup and removal of the tanks shouldn’t the taxpayers have a say on what goes there?
That would make sense Monique. They have in fact. There are written plans in place to develop the area for tourism. The public needs answers.
Chuckles is alleged to have been a shill for a certain family that sucked the blood out of the city with sweetheart deals when one of their tribe was mayor and left the previous tank mess. He is misleading the public with his outrage and I would allege that the same family is somehow behind these tanks as well since progress with the conversion of their holdings in the area has stalled.
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Follow the money.
Jamie I don’t know if you have read or heard anything about oil pipes that are going to run underground and through the St. Lawrence River even going through the St. Lawrence River where the “beluga whales” live and that their lives would be at risk. These pipes have to do with the dirty sludge oil from Alberta and would be sent to somewhere on the east coast where the oil would be refined and shipped over to Europe. This is what ran in my head while listening to you and Chuck Charlebois talk about those tanks. It sure is something to look into and if that is the case then the St. Lawrence River would be even more polluted than what it is at the present time and would be a great catastrophe.
Actually Jules the Enbridge pipeline runs along the northern side of the 401; nowhere near the River; at least near Cornwall.
This is an outrage and MUST stop!!!!!
Not these tanks…but Jamie….trying to “stir the pot”
First you point out that Cornwall Square might be falling apart
Now your making trouble for these poor downtroden tank builders
Have you NO shame Mr Gilcig?????lol
Panic Button Bob is trying to get things done under the radar and you have nothing better to do
but publish stories about these SECRET projects…shame shame shame…
Thanks Jamie for letting me know and at least you know what is going on. It was something that popped into mind when listening to you and Chuck Charlebois.
Conservatives struggle under the weight of blunder after blunder
Mr Beattie says MP Lauzon can’t do anything…I agree
He seems great at cutting ribbon but on an important issue like this waiting for MP Guy Lauzon
to fight against this project…without prior approval of the PMO…just isn’t going to happen.
If Guy pops his head out of his foxhole…it will be a cold day in hell
Like Mayor Rob Ford// the guys in this video say they are ok with more condos…
How about some decent affordable housing..or like Ford// its not ok to have poor folks on the waterfront in Toronto or Cornwall
Who owns these lands? ” The Public Port of Cornwall is under the sole administration and control of Transport Canada.” It’s federal government crown land. The Landlord can do or approve what its tenant can do with said lands as it pleases for itself. If the federal government wanted to build a nuclear power plant on these lands it can. It decided to build a road maintenance chemical storage transfer station. What about the roads? Who will take care of the roads?
What council wants to do is take the poor people and throw them away. Just take a good look and listen well when Gerry Samson was sticking up for the little people who own and rent condos and can’t keep up with the rent and taxes. Apartments in many countries that are built near the water have always been for the poor and down trotten of society. This is something that my husband can vouch for and many others who come from other countries. It is only lately that you see the rich moving along the water. I don’t know what people see in water – I would never want to live near water at all whatsoever. I have a sneaky feeling that with the time that east end will be erased just like what Bare Ass and Fitzy wanted to do before Fitzy left with his humoungous sized pension that he took from the people of Cornwall. I can assure you that something is mighty fishy indeed and I smell a big rat. If people do not wake up and know what is going on around them then they will be the ones who will regret every minute that they didn’t open their eyes and ears to what is going on. That is why I am mighty angry and you all wonder why and then criticize me because I am angry. I am trying my best to wake everyone up that I can. I don’t care how I do it as long as I can have a voice and speak what I think and feel.
It has been learned that although the government can act unilaterally on it’s own lands unimpeded, it is very unusual for a project like this to proceed without a municipality’s input and unheard of that it would occur without any consultation or forewarning.
Elect Bob Kilger again in 2014 and continue to enjoy the new age style of transparency and clarity coupled with his brand of honesty and integrity that so many have come to love and respect.
as a citizen and homeowner in cornwall i am appalled by the incidences of appropriation of lands for federal use without proper consultation with those most effected by those changes. if secrecy is your goal you have done your job well, you deserve a big pat on the shoulder for your back stabbing and unethical approach at poisoning again the land, and waters we fought so hard to clear of waste from your era of criminal use. wasteful government, it is one thing to persistently tear up roads doing the same things over and over, expecting a different outcome, but to blatantly mislead our community into thinking the lands were being cleared for a greater cause and reason, and that our taxes were not being wasted on another misadventure by the federal government into another potentially dangerous health risk.
i suggest a new council would be in order. everyone over 65 years old may leave, bring in the new thinkers. give us the young 60 year old crowd, some fresh thoughts can’t hurt any more than what the old crowd has done to us
The problem John is that the crowd you’re talking about are grooming young puppets that virtually owe their lives and incomes to their elders. What are the chances that people like Alyssa Blais would act independently in favour of the public when she can’t even do that for the people she serves at Agape?
The replacement crew for our current team of crooks and cronies is being groomed in the mold of the Latours and Leckys, and promoted at public expense… just grab a copy of “Cornwall Living Magazine”; it’s not much of a read, but it’s a classic example of advertorial and vanity press rolled into one — perfect for show and tell at your next journalism class, or for lining the budgie cage, or even wrapping fish.
Moments like this (industrial storage tank scandal) are nevertheless interesting, when we see the self-interested, greed motivated clique in Cornwall having the rug pulled from under them, by the power and greed motivated Member of Parliament who has facilitated the waterfront to again be turned into an industrial eyesore, and environmental pox.
And speaking of the MP… watch how much browner the obsequient Guy’s nose becomes, when Stephen announces he’s stepping down.
So please, please, whatever power in heaven there be, please do not let a Senate appointment go to any lazy, self-centred, obfuscating, slug of a glad-handing insult to the community of Stormont-Dundas-South Glengarry. Amen.
ADMIN I would challenge that the root problem lies deeper than merely trained monkeys being groomed to keep Cornwall’s history repeating itself. People today from my observations rely far to heavily on what they read and fail to learn how to apply common sense to the world around them. In others words complacency in permitting others to do the thinking for them. To the degree that most, meaning the majority, will not even exercise their right to vote. Last election was decided, I believe, by a mere 38 % of eligible voters.
I personally believe in the value of public consultations. I believe completely that an electorate that are informed regarding municipal affairs are able to assist in the decision making process thereby establishing a stronger sense of community for all.
I believe that we are heavily overburdened as taxpayers and that current levels of increases are not only unjustified they are more simply not sustainable. Our pockets do not have the depth of the Marianas Trench.
Policing costs are spiraling upwards uncontrolled and ineffective. To many officers, poor decision making on technology costs and allocation of resources are not managing the results or causes for crime in our community.
Austerity in tougher financial times is not merely a word or concept, it is a matter of necessity. Tough decisions are required and a paring back of unreal expectations is not a recommendation, it is a requirement to move forward. Like constructing sidewalks on one side of the street, rather than both. Locating common use facilities centrally not only in the deep west, like a multi-pad arena and sporting facility. Returning to a ward system with fewer councilors, we are a community of only 46,000 we need to stop the insanity of attempting to be something we are not. I could go on and on but the bottom line is that if I were to run for council with my heart out on display because of my deep desire to create a better community for all of us success would not likely be in my grasp. I have never been good at telling people what they want to hear, such is the cross to bear of a realist.
I will however never forsake what I believe to be my obligation to vote and stand up for my neighbour who cannot be bothered his/her self. See you at the polls.
It seems that “Trillium Distribution” of Courtright, Ontario, is the chemical producer and handler here.
So don’t expect Guy Lauzon to help out, because that company is headquartered in Conservative territory; where Patricia Davidson MP is holding down the token woman portfolio, while Bev Shipley MP next door takes care of all the “corpstituents”, for both his and her ridings — Guy and Bev are old buddies from Ministry of Agriculture and Agriproducts so maybe watchout for SynAgri ramping up on the old canal as well (Oh, how PARIS Holdings and the new condo clients would cry).
And do beware… those aren’t likely to be traditional storage tanks; these tanks can be converted in a jiffy for even filthier duty on the off season. Maybe watch for Brenntag in this too.
Depending on the mode of transport for receiving and shipping of product…
The proposed chemical storage facility is surrounded by residential properties and the city could easily prohit heavy commercial vehicles from using the roads.
I would like to know, MP Guy Lauzon who represents S,D and G, was he getting his picture taken or at an event when the Federal Gov’t decided to build a road maintenance chemical storage transfer station on our waterfront? He is a Federal Member of Parliament and knew nothing about this? Politicians are elected to SERVE US and represent us. What happened here? And, as far as the Municipal Gov’t, I guess that’s why there’s been so much talk about “pigeons” and “geese”. Let’s distract the Citizens of Cornwall about the real issues going on in the city.
I would like to leave comment to David Oldham. I’m sure a big reason why only 38% of the people voted is because the young generation are not interested in politics plus, if you look at who is running come election time , who would want to vote for any/many of them?
No Marie. Under our current system, MPs are elected to represent their party and leader. There was a time when they represented their constituents, but those days are long gone.
Civil disobedience anyone?
It looks like Simon is the only one with any valuable input in this discussion.
Other than the tanks are being built, does anyone actually have documented proof of what is happening?
If this is for road services and a granulated sodium based product why is it stored beneath grade. I do believe Bob had stated the containers will be virtually invisible.
If they are for road services you would think they place them on the north end near the major highway. Easier access for distribution unless it comes off the boats
Admin
You have often post about the thousands that visit your site, why do you think only 125 names are on your list?
Perhaps the same reason less than one hundred showed up at the rally in front of the construction site yesterday at noon.
Just try to get 100 people to agree on anything in Cornwall. You will probably get at least 25 different opinions and three threats to boycotting you.
The Trillium Group (aka Pollard Highway Products) also operates a marine cock on the St. Clair River connected by pipeline to the storage system. This network allows for the efficient shipment of products using marine vessels to terminals throughout the Great Lakes.
So it seems the crap will be delivered by ship, and offloaded next to the children’s ball diamonds and playground. But that won’t shouldn’t affect the mayor’s young’uns, not with the little family living in Ottawa.
They must have had a pretty well stocked Hospitality Suite at the Ontario Good Roads Convention, eh Bobby?
Quite accurate Reg, but I think it depends on the crowd and the general attitude of those people. There are some pretty good people locally they are just fed up with all the nonsense.
Admin
Less than 100 showed up at the rally because of the time. Contrary to statistics there is a good portion of people working at that time. That is the very people that could have maybe made a difference or brought some form on enlightenment to the rally. I can’t understand why they do this at such absurd times of day. It shows disregard by organizers and can add to the conspiracies of the infamous old boys club.
Hailey less than 100 in a city of 46,000. I interviewed someone that drove down from Waterloo University for the rally. We live in a city with a high level of retirees and non-employed. If all we can dredge up are 100 or so cliquesters for an issue as important as this it’s scary. Am curious to see the house Wednesday night at the Civic Complex. Although we already know the mayor is skipping that dance.
Was the individual from Waterloo a local resident or just one of the band wagoner’s ?
I agree many are unemployed but we have a large number of professionals that are employed and cannot attend these events. These professionals are the people you need to attract, what I am about to say is a bit rude and I apologize but, why would anyone take somebody who does nothing more then attend rally’s serious?
Hailey I rarely post to you because of your attitude, but less than 100 out of 46K is a fail under any measurement.
CITIZENS OF CORNWALL : Are we owed the truth ? I certainly believe so , but what is the truth ?
A new Company has been formed Trillium Distribution Cornwall Inc and they have apparently signed
a 10 year lease agreement with Transport Canada . Trillium. is currently building 2 big tanks on our
water front , just who are they, well for now that information is conveniently kept confidential. I believe
it’s called hush hush. Transport Canada claims that Trillium quite properly notified our City, yet our
Mayor supposedly knew nothing about it and certainly some of Councillors say they knew nothing about
it either .Some possibilities exist here did the Mayor know and kept City Council in the dark ? Re this
Lease and this new Company , is there any guarantee built into that Lease that would prohibit them
from walking away and leaving the clean up on our back if they were to operate here ? So many questions
and so few answers . City Council could call for a police Investigation on their behalf and on behalf of the
Taxpayers. What’s holding them back?
@Believe Me…”What’s holding them back?”
They lack a sense of accountability to this community could be one reason. Another is that they are still waiting for a memo on how to respond to this issue from Lord Bob or perhaps it is as simple as they are wondering what the big deal is ? Didn’t everyone get an envelope with a little something in it ?