CORNWALL Ontario – In Shakespearean tales things usually start with a storm and end with sunshine. Weather can be a predictor of a good story.
Today’s story is one of hate and willful ignorance. While South Stormont Deputy Mayor seems to be targeting it at CFN and myself the true victims are the people that are simply mobbing up and following a very clear smear and lie.
There are very few ways to deal with lies when it comes to an angry mob. Protest of innocence usually seems like guilt. Silence also can seem like guilt.
I personally like to go with facts. My five years here at CFN have involved over 8,000 stories without a single lawsuit against us. For Ms Hart and her mob to be factual I would have had to have made up stories, gone out of my way to hurt local business and people, lied about facts, and have huge hate ons. The facts clearly point that I don’t and never have. Even the picture above was from an event when Tammy phoned me up asking to come cover her and do a story on language issues via the Parks commission. I actually counseled her not to do that as it seemed a bit anti-French, but Ms Hart is a like a dog with a bone in her mouth when she gets going so we did the story.
I can point out a multitude of times that we have come to the community’s defense and won even beating the likes of Wal-Mart and OPG in the process of defending our community.
Tammy was actually a huge fan of CFN for many years and a supporter. What changed was when we covered her mess when her council and staff felt that they had to call in Robert Swayze, South Stormont’s Integrity Investigator after allegations of the Deputy Mayor being nasty including Ms Hart leaking information to the media. LINK
Ms Hart was upset that the township would spend tax dollars on the process and I pointed out that as Mr. Swayze found her guilty as charged and censured her that maybe she should write the cheque out of her own pocket instead of on the public dime?
I thought that was reasonable and certainly not some heinous or hideous crime or insult.
When you write opinion, and one of the reasons that CFN has been so strong is that we write a lot of opinion and the public gets to have their say too, is that no matter what you write some will be happy and some will not.
On Facebook or Twitter for example when we have people who are trolling or simply being hyper confrontational they get blocked. Nothing angers a troll apparently more than when you turn them off or close the door on them.
Ms Hart has teamed up with a small group of what we’ll term “trolls” and has waged another war against small business growth for South Stormont.
For nearly a year myself and a small team have worked on creating The South Stormont News which is to be a community newspaper in print and online.
It’s been a scary project; but it’s been in jeopardy as Ms Hart has been trying to get it shut down since we brought it to South Stormont Council. She has publicly stated that we’ve asked for and are to receive public monies. A total fabrication as we have not asked for a dime of “start up” funding, loans, grants, or gifts of any type.
What we did do was make a presentation to council. We shared that we wanted South Stormont to have its own newspaper that was devoted to local issues and local merchants. We shared our success in building an audience to the township, and we also shared that SSN was an entirely new corporation based in Ingleside Ontario which of course is in South Stormont, and not owned by the same corporation that owns CFN.
We shared that we were using local and regional companies for printing, graphic design, writers, photographers. SSN would not only be a local community paper, but also help the local economy. It would also be a boon for local business too as we would be able to offer a newspaper with the same dimensions as the Seaway News in full colour with ads at about half their rate.
And then we did what any newspaper would do, is ask that the township consider advertising in this new newspaper! We asked that the township bulletin be published in the South Stormont News at a savings of 20% of what they are paying the Seaway News now. This was at the presentation and in writing. Again, not a single penny of support, grant, or loan was requested.
Now those aren’t bad things to a reasonable person. No harm or foul. We even added that as CFN is considered a Gonzo journal type newspaper SSN would be written in a traditional form.
All of this information was shared with council, township management, and Ms Hart who after tearing into me personally during our presentation to council later claimed that she never received the package from the Clerk, so I emailed her what council had received. After all you have to give people the benefit of the doubt or as I say, rope to hang themselves.
Below was printed on a hate group Friday March 14, 2014. It was first formed on Facebook to be a boycott of CFN, but was taken down by Facebook and noted to contain hate symbols and contain harassment.
Open Memorandum
Date: March 13, 2014
To: Mayor McGillis and Council members Cindy Woods, Richard Waldroff and Barry Brownlee
From: Deputy Mayor Tammy A. Hart.
Re: Presented at the March 13, 2014 Council Meeting to raise awareness and objections to the funding of start-up company, The Cornwall Free News..
I wish to note my concerns and objections regarding the decision made during a budget meeting on March 5th by Mayor McGillis and Council members to provide tax payer money to help fund the start-up of a small business, The Cornwall Free News..
During the March 5th 2014 South Stormont budget meeting; Mayor Bryan McGillis, Councillor’s Cindy Woods, Richard Waldroff and Barry Brownlee voted to award The Cornwall Free News $10,600.00 of financial assistance towards the cost to establish a private newsletter called the South Stormont News; within the Township of South Stormont..
During the meeting, the Deputy Mayor raised concerns of the possible misuse of tax-payer money regarding the funding of a sole enterprise; and voted to reject this motion. The Deputy Mayor also questioned; if it was now the mandate of Council; to help fund small enterprise.
In light of this recent action taken by the Mayor and Council, and prior to the funds being allocated to The Cornwall Free News; as Deputy Mayor I feel, there are questions and issues that need to be addressed. On behalf of the tax-payers I would appreciate the following questions answered prior to any funds being released:
.
I would like to know where in the by-laws (or in the history of South Stormont) that a “Precedence” had been set, to provide funding for a start-up company;
How was it determined by Mayor and Council that this company, The Cornwall Free News, met the criteria to warrant funds and if so, what was the criteria;
What, if any, are the terms of this “Loan” of $10,600.00 to repay the taxpayers; or are the funds considered an “Agreement” in terms that “The Cornwall Free News” will agree to establish a small business within the parameters of the Township of South Stormont and to provide employment for “X” number of people;
Was a Business Plan provided to the Mayor and Council and if so, can it be made known in order to have complete disclosure;
Was there a Request for Proposal (RFP) discussed or awarded prior to agreeing to fund a small business start-up;
And lastly, if we set this “Precedence”, how will Council be able to refuse the next proposal to establish a business within the Township of South Stormont.
.
On behalf of the tax payers of the Township of South Stormont, I respectfully request these questions and concerns be answered in writing prior to any funds being released to The Cornwall Free News.
Yours Truly,Tammy A. Hart
Deputy Mayor of South Stormont
Again, a truly boggling scene. After all why would Ms Hart present this to council when she herself already knew the answers to those questions having received the official package before her meetings? Also, the budget process did not grant monies, but only set out space in the budget?
But how did the leader of this hate group get this document? He has written that people present at the meeting shared word with him, but how would they share this document unless it was Ms Hart herself that shared it?
So this document was published on Facebook and a mob was stirred up based on Ms Hart’s clearly false document. The mob actually formed a petition online demanding the Township stop funding which we haven’t asked for or are receiving; but actually the petition reads.
“Petition to Stop Stormont News”
Again, I could not make this stuff up. As I write this there are 72 signature of which nearly a third are anonymous. Ms Hart’s name is on it as well.
Imagine a friend or family member tells you that a person was a thief or a pedophile and that they want you to help sign a petition or boycott them? How many people would even think twice to check the facts? How many times do we give people we like a pass over issues. For example Ms Hart being critical of Justin Trudeau’s admission of pot use vs her support for Rob Ford or her silence on her own family member being charged with possession?
As for Ms Hart herself, she recently herself attacked the project to build a new health clinic in Ingleside, and was alleged to have said that Hawkesbury was in Quebec in reference to one of the firms involvement in the project.
She also considers the current formation of the hate group to be a local source for news in South Stormont.
So to be clear Ms Hart considers a hate group that was shut down on Facebook, and reopened by the same person the next day, using a Trade Marked infringing image, to have all the local news in South Stormont and the surrounding area her fave website?
Or this image, a tribute to Woodhouse Museum Curator Ian Bowering striking my camera at a rally. (We blanked out the first profanity in the image)
Again, I really couldn’t make all this up.
Clearly there are some issues that will eventually be met by the courts and most likely law enforcement. It’s sad, but it’s also terribly hurtful to a lot of people.
I didn’t even want to write this story as frankly it’s embarrassing to our community. There will be more to this story that comes out in the next few weeks as it’s believed that Integrity Commissioner Swayze will again be busy reviewing Ms Hart’s actions. It’s also been damaging to Ms Hart’s council who I gather will be making their own statement next week.
All this hate, and energy. Imagine, just imagine if it were spent on productive things for the community and people working together….
In the meanwhile we will ride out this storm, and I have a hunch the first issue of The South Stormont News will be in hot demand!
You can post your comments below.
You’re right Jamie! You can’t make this stuff up. The stories you post day in and day out keep me coming back to CFN. You have a tremendous amount of material and characters to write about. And only by continuing to peel the onion will you help move Cornwall and the surrounding area into a positive direction. I will be back!
It would appear that the creator of the hate blog considers South Stormont as nothing more than an annex of Cornwall and casually includes it in the “n Area”.
Ms. Hart’s Facebook page is quite something. She seems a bit obsessed with The South Stormont News.
At least she’s off her anti-French thing for now.
I’ve always enjoyed Ingleside. It’s like Long Sault without drunks and a-holes or Lunenberg off meth.
I completely agree with “420” about Ingleside and yes it is a nice place to visit and even to live. Cornwall as well as Long Sault – gee you can hardly tell Long Sault apart from Cornwall – and yes plenty of drunks and druggies. Long Sault and Morrisburg are the better towns to visit and to live.
I never listen to anything that Tammy Hart says and I know about her hatred towards the French people and I will have nothing to do with listening to this kind of garbage. If Ms. Hart wanted to improve Long Sault she would keep her big racist mouth shut and find ways to improve her community and not knock Jamie down who is a mighty hard worker and a good man as well. Jamie deserves a great deal better than what he is getting and so many do not appreciate all what this man is doing for the community.
Correction I meant Ingleside and Morrisburg are the better towns to live in and visit.
I live in Montreal and am fed up with the politics and all the other garbage going on here. I was researching Cornwall as a possible alternative since it would still be close to “home”. Initially I was excited at the potential of Cornwall, it seemed that the town was really working towards attracting investment & new residents. Well as I searched more all I came up with were these negative stories about corruption and conflicts. Hell, I can stay in Montreal for that. The thing is Mr. Gilcig is that all the negative articles & websites I’ve come across have been penned by you. I get it that you’re an investigative journalist but maybe you should focus on some of the positive aspects of your town. Right now Cornwall has a lot of potential to grow since there are many other disillusioned Anglophones like myself who are considering relocation. I’m not disputing your claims and stories but why aren’t you also portraying the good things about your town? I’m just too war weary to try and figure out what all the kerfuffle is about over there. Anyway I just wanted to share the impression you are presenting about your town. My intention of this comment is not for dispute but to offer constructive criticism. I think I will just have to focus my sights on Kingston or Ottawa instead. I wish your town luck for the future.
Cathy we actually write a ton of news positive news stories. Sadly they do not get the attention they deserve which begs the question why people click on any story?
An example being that we had two stories in the last few months on local schools rankings in the Fraser report. One pointed out a poor performance and one pointed out a positive one and gave kudos to the kids and schools. The good story only drew about 25% as much traffic as the one about the schools ranking poorly.
There is a ton of potential in Cornwall. It’s why I’ve stayed and hung in there despite the Montreal style corruption that exists here. It’s up to the people of Cornwall if they want to change their culture and attract new people or if they want to keep the status quo.
Our Real Estate market is hurting here while Quebecer’s are moving to Hawkesbury, South Stormont, and areas West of Cornwall. They are bypassing us because of some of the negativity that “triggered” some of these stories; not because of the stories.
Cathy as an ex-Cornwallite Ottawa and Kingston are good places with a lot of opportunity. I live in Ottawa and love it. There are people who live here and don’t like and no place is complete. If I were to live in a small place near Cornwall I would pick either Ingleside or Morrisburg or any other small place but honestly I would not move back to Cornwall at all. You will read plenty of negativity from me and I don’t hide my feelings and I am honest in what I say whether it hurts someone or not – I am not a hypocrite.
Jamie is also an ex Montrealer and has family and friends there and I don’t blame you for wanting to move and I can just imagine how many people in Québec who are going to leave. I support the French language and its culture but I do not support its independence. I can tell you honestly Cathy that Jamie is a wonderful person and that is the truth and I don’t say that unless I could see what kind of a person that he is and works mighty hard.
Cathy what I would recommend to you or anyone contemplating to move is to go and visit the town or city that you want to move and stay there for at least a week or two to get the feel of the place and not just in one place but go to a few at least. Not every town or city suits everyone. I am from Cornwall but can no longer live there – I can’t take the mentality. I do agree that there are plenty of very good people in Cornwall and that is the truth and many will go out of their way to help you when you need it but there are many things that I cannot take anymore. The best of luck to you Cathy and it is heart wrenching to leave your city. I have been through that years ago and it took me time to adapt.
Cathy I just wanted to add another thing here. I speak both English and French fluently and when I was in a French elementary school in Cornwall I was picked on as well and I had to get tough in mind, body and spirit to go through a lot of what I did as a child. There is corruption in Cornwall and people are hired down there by what family that they belong to. Even to have a business it is all a “clique” who decides who gets a business and what kind. These are the negative things that are in Cornwall. If this clique was not in power doing horrible things to people then Cornwall would have grown and reached a good potential a long time ago. If you think that I like sitting here speaking negativity about my former town the answer is no I don’t but I speak the truth and I don’t butter up a place making something negative into positive. I speak what is real and not fantasy. Cornwall is a beautiful town and that is the truth but what is pushing it behind is the corruption and a clique. I just told you the truth Cathy and I don’t want you to think that it is all good because it isn’t. I get attacked here on CFN for stating the truth and I don’t shut up for anyone. You have to visit some places before deciding where you will go before you make the big move. It is difficult to go from a large city to a very small town. Best of luck to you and take your time to do your research.
Fair enough but maybe you should focus on CFN’s Twitter feed. I started following it along with some other Cornwall related sites like Choose Cornawall.ca in order to get a feel for the area. Many of the tweets I’ve fallen on are on the negative side. Also going forward I will make an effort to focus on the positive stories of your publication. I think my husband and I will still take a drive when spring finally comes and check out your neck of the woods…who knows.
Thanks for the response. Have a Happy St. Patrick’s Day:)
P.S. In Hawkesbury I’d still be a minority…been there, done that;)
Hi Cathy, Please remember you can read stories you may not “like” in any city newspaper in any democracy on the planet. (I know you know that.) But it means your human rights are being protected by a free press. In fact, Jamie did start a 100 letter campaign so we could all write stories about what’s beautiful on this side of the Quebec border. Attached is my entry about moving here from Montreal. Problem was, the mayor didn’t recognize the PR opportunity and flatly refused to have the stories linked to the city’s website for people like you to read. http://cornwallfreenews.com/2013/02/lte-mary-anne-pankhurst-on-cornwall-ontario-city-council-reaction-to-100-letter-campaign-february-12-2013/
Hey Cathy drop me a line when you guys come to Cornwall, and I’ll show you some of the sights and give you some of the 411 on the best and worst of our fair city!
Actually Mary Anne he stated on camera that it was a “security issue” for the city if you can believe that…
THANK God she is not the boss off me………….LOLLOLLOL
Sorry Cathy. I put the wrong link. This is the story: http://cornwallfreenews.com/2013/01/100-letter-cornwall-competition-mary-anne-pankhurst-south-glengarry-ontario-january-20-2013/
Hello Cathy you like many Montrealer’s are yearning to leave that oppressive province .
With regards to neg news stories ,it gets the traffic as many underlining issues over the years have come to surface.
I welcome you to Cornwall it is a nice city,but if you think you left language laws behind you would be very well mistaken.The minority rules here and if you are not bilingual like the 80% of the poulation then you might as well continue heading down the 401 .Better to head west where there is no archaic/repressive language laws .
Oh by the way South Stormont is the only district in Ontario that WILL NOT FORCE PRIVATE BUSINESSES to have bilingual .It’s actually in writing ….a free choice for bussiness .
I bid you well ,but feel I needed to inform you of cornwalls language issues ,and that the language natzi’s do not stop at the border.
Hi Cathy,
I am a local accountant, business owner and lifelong resident. I’m also a member of several organizations including the Chamber of Commerce and Team Cornwall.
Make sure you follow Team Cornwall (TeamCornwall.com) on Facebook and Twitter. We are a volunteer organization (I am the Treasurer) that’s focus is the promotion of Cornwall’s positive attributes for business owners as well as prospective new residents. We are constantly sharing stories about what makes Cornwall and it’s amazing residents so great! No city is perfect but we choose to focus on the good and do our best to improve what needs improvement.
You should most definitely leave Cornwall at the top of your list for cities in which to relocate. Cornwall is a beautiful city with tons of options for recreational activities. Cornwall’s potential for growth and success is boundless and I’m sure you would enjoy being a part of Cornwall’s bright future.
If you would like more information about what makes Cornwall so great, you can find my contact information on the Team Cornwall website.
Paul
It’s funny. In the township where I live in the Thousand Island area, we have a deputy mayor who loves to showboat and dominate and be a general pain in the a$$. Are these traits a requirement for the job? Following our municipal politics has been like watching a badly written soap-opera for the last few years. Occasionally funny, but mostly wince inducing.
Cathy I don’t do Twitter nor Facebook and yes I know very well that there is a lot of negativity even coming from me which is very true. I said before that not every place suits everyone. There is a lady that lives just further down from me where I used to live but in the homes is from Hawkesbury and is French Canadian and is a teacher and her husband who is an engineer who is also French Canadian and from Cornwall. Both of them would not live in Cornwall at all. I have met two professional level ladies who said the same thing and one is from Cornwall and hasn’t been down there since the 60’s and doesn’t even read about what is going on and another one was from another town but married and divorced from a man in Cornwall. Neither of them would ever return to live there again. Each person has their own opinions but Cornwall is not for me at all. Some people from Montréal and other parts of Québec live in Lancaster Ontario which is outside of Cornwall (eastern – outside of Cornwall) and they commute to Montréal for work. None of us can tell you where to live or not to live and it has to be your choice and the only way to do that is to go and spend time in a place.
When we came back to Ottawa so much has changed and the city grew tremendously compared to what we left it. We have everything here at hand and I can’t see us living anywhere else at the moment. My daughter misses the small and easy life of Cornwall and my son loves Ottawa and wouldn’t return to Cornwall at all. I have spoken to some people on the net who do not like Kingston and some others like it. I have relatives in Kingston that I have never met and have been there forever. I had an uncle that lived in Guelph and never returned to Cornwall to live and that was a mighty long time ago. I have relatives everywhere and very few remained in Cornwall and left a long time ago. I have only a few relatives left in Cornwall and some are gradually leaving that town. Like I said not every place suits everyone and go and stay for a short while in each and talk to people and find out what the administration is like as well. Cornwall does not suit many people and that is true so before making a move anywhere and it doesn’t matter where it may be go and search it out for yourself. What you may like another person may not like it at all. I will say something here and that is that Jamie is honest in his approach and some of his friends do not like Cornwall and he said that before here on CFN. Go and find out for yourself. I do have a big mouth but I say what I think and feel. All the best.
@ Highlander. For a while, I thought that you downtrodden victims of bilingualism had retreated to parent’s basements or maybe to a more French-free place in Canada. As I’ve said before, anywhere west of Winnipeg is pretty safe for those who have difficulty co-existing with French speaking Canadians.
Furtz no problem with co-existing with any language group (if only you knew my circumstances)
I have a problem with social engineering practiced by all levels of govetnment.
What of Those poor English in Quebec like Cathy …Furtz obviously you don’t have a problem with her being socially engineered out of Quebec like many others.
Furtz you were one who stated Quebec minorities were treated better then Ontario minorities.
Perhaps you should consult with Quebec minorities on that, they are leaving on mass .Cathy may just be one of those 23000 that are refuges from Quebec.
Hi everyone – just a reminder to please stay on subject. Thanks
One last reply to Highlander, if I may.
Stop the BS. I never stated that Quebec minorities were treated better than Ontario minorities.
Thanks.
For those interested & on FaceBook, please feel free to join my new group to support Jamie & CFN 🙂
https://www.facebook.com/groups/515885625187566/
I just had a funny thought and that is to put Tammy in with Mme Marois and see who wins. LOL LOL. We will see who says the most likes and the one with the most temper including who hates who the most. There will be an influx of a lot of people leaving Québec and it happened in the 60’s era and later and it is going to continue happening and Québec will be the loser in this battle. I support the French language and culture but not independence like I said before. When Québec drops further down because of separation they will only have themselves to blame. Québec is a beautiful province but they literally destroyed it with all this bickering and racism. Many people of all cultures have left Québec because of this and we have met some here in Ottawa when we first came back here to live. Many are fed up including a lot of francophones.
I’m looking forward to the South Stormont News!! When do you expect it to be up and running?
Re: Language, politics and negativity in Cornwall etc . I have lived here for almost 16 years and I call it home. I don’t feel the language issues are even remotely close to what’s happening in Quebec and as I have lived in various cities and provinces in this country, I can honestly say Cornwall , while not perfect is a great place to live. 🙂
In regard to Tammy Hart there is an election coming up. I don’t think she’ll be reelected. I think the taxpayers of South Stormont have had their fill of her.
Cathy, come to Cornwall, see what it’s like then decide if you’d like to move here. Don’t go by articles, comments, web searches, etc.
Jules….Tammy Hart and Pauline Marois together?? It may solve two problems all at once.
{MODERATED} You cannot post under a pseudonym any longer on CFN unless you have registered the id by emailing your name, address, phone, and user id you wish to use.Please email to info@cornwallfreenews.com
Hugger that is why I suggested that to everyone and it would make the “War of the Roses” all over again with those two at each others throats. LOL LOL. ROLF! Yes that might solve the problem indeed.
Hey Jules
This is a story about how Deputy Hart and others are leading a witch hunt that would have made Senator Joe McCarthy proud.
Making baseless claims and trying to destroy is like a social disease
Your comments from just this page are listed below and I would suggest do nothing but add more HATE to the fire.
“I get attacked here on CFN for stating the truth and I don’t shut up for anyone.”
” she would keep her big racist mouth shut”
” I speak what is real and not fantasy”
“you can hardly tell Long Sault apart from Cornwall – and yes plenty of drunks and druggies.”
“I do have a big mouth”
sin cer ly
Mel
{MODERATED}
Hi Everyone. I just wish to again remind y’all to debate the subject and not the poster. Please. Thanks.
{MODERATED}GAB we tried emailing you, but you posted a bogus email. All documents regarding SSN are public info at the Township office and are quite clear. We will be publishing them shortly as soon as the Township and everyone’s legal departments need to be consulted. Are you going to stop being a hater of CFN when they’re published and Ms Hart’s memo is shown to be a complete and utter lie? Will you email an apology? Or do you think you’re clever and think you’ve found a bone?
{MODERATED} Again GAB, your email address came back as a permanent fail. If you wish to post register.