CORNWALL Ontario – The July 14th meeting of Cornwall Ontario City Council has to be the best example of the dysfunction and corruption of the Kilger group.
The meeting itself lasted until nearly 11PM and there were three main issues (four but I promised I’d play nicey nice on the last one) .
First up was the Benson University which at the end of the day will most likely be a satellite of Queen’s University and a French school of higher learning.
The report, which was taxed on the public with gross conflict of interest as the Mayor and Councilor MacDonald are on the committee and didn’t recuse themselves for the funding meeting, came in over six months late. The short and fuzzy is that NAV CAN is a perfect spot; which is true. It may or may not be available if its main client leaves as scheduled.
Yes the province wants to add some Uni seats in the province but only at established schools, so if the group wants to cash lightning in the bottle it’ll have to work with established schools which might but St. Lawrence College Dean Don Fairweather who’s in the group in a bit of a conflict situation as it sounds by what was said last night that our local college would benefit.
The good news is that no more tax payer monies were asked for. The bad news is that the presentation showed that some of the group are not in touch with the realities of education and marketing in 2014.
The deal would be good news for Akwesasne in particular as their kids wouldn’t have to travel for Uni as long as what was offered at the local school was acceptable.
One of the group was excited about the concept of remote learning where students see their teachers and class mates online. Of course they don’t have to go to a campus to participate via computer.
Another issue that wasn’t brought up is that if the dream of having a Uni in Cornwall somehow comes off where will we lodge an influx of 300, 600, or 1000 students?
There already is an acute shortage of good quality rental property in our city. This same meeting saw more apartment units converted to condo sadly with Mayor Kilger giving a hand gesture to the developer who was at the meeting that everything was good and no real discussion on the issue as it was rubber stamped.
Sadly this project should have happened over 20 years ago. The question is why didn’t it as most of the committee were around then too? Is it purely because of the potential need to fill NAV Can the reason?
Projects like these remind this writer of the Benson Centre; which is ironic as this project is referred to as the Benson University.
Because the Federal and Provincial government had some funding the city built a $35+ million dollar facility on top of toxic soil which miraculously sold for the highest price per acre in Cornwall history as the city ONLY had to kick in about $12M.
As opposed to simply filling the needs of the community and building two $5M single pad arenas.
One of the strongest themes as I heard from those in attendance including some of the few current candidates for council that actually show up to meetings and events is that there seems to be a hidden agenda at City Hall from this project, to the waterfront, and of course all the in camera secret meetings that the Kilger council keeps getting spanked over.
What do you think Cornwall? Are you happy with your investment so far in this project? Part Two Coming Up Soon!
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If I was the fly on the wall yesterday I would have laughed myself to pieces as I am just now. I cannot stop and this is so funny like a barrel full of monkeys at all the complete and utter incompetents. When we lived in Cornwall there wasn’t hardly a place to rent at all and it is still the same way since most people have left town just as we did. LOL LOL. This is mighty hilarious for me and I thank Jamie for giving me such a good laugh. If Bare Ass is ever elected in October more and more people will leave town because it is going to be so expensive to keep a university going that failed in past years and their taxes, utilities, water, etc. will be going through the roof. You all haven’t seen anything yet. Who in their right mind would go to such a place called Benson University and you might as well call it the Three Stooges University of highjinks and laughter. LOL LOL. ROLF! Again this is more fun than a barrel of monkeys and waiting for part II with bells on. LOL LOL. Jamie your paper is never dull and I can’t stop laughing. This is hilarious.
Do a little research and you will quickly find that the current and foreseeable future job market requires diplomas not degrees. A university in Cornwall makes no sense other than online courses.
As far as arenas were concerned… of course it made no sense to have a facility in the east end and one in the west end at far less expense and convenience when expensive contaminated land was available on the far west side of the city. Come on now commonsense is passe.
The city is behind the 8-ball on this. Like you mentioned this should of been done 20 years ago. I’m not saying that a uni in Cornwall is bad, it is a good idea and I welcome it. However a Bachelor’s Degree in 2014 is the new high school diploma. Universities pump them out like they are going out of style, its good business 🙂
I can even get an BA in Psychology, History, Global Studies, or English COMPLETELY ONLINE via Queen’s University. No need for any special Cornwall University partnership.
oh… on the whole “hidden agenda”… it might be similar to Kingston and how those who own property will see $$$ from increased rental units being built or higher rents essentially turning affordable homes into “student ghettos” and pushing the dream of home ownership for the average Joe our of reach, as being begin to move away from affordable areas…those areas being converted to student ghettos, leaving only high priced homes in newer subdivions up for sale or higher priced rents in what use to be an affordable part of town.
Jason listening to their marketing guy talk about reaching the local market via radio was such a head shake. It was like this guy is from the 80’s. CFN probably reaches more people than all the Cornwall media combined. I’m willing to bet money on it even if they’d show their numbers.
I seem to remember a very experienced retired educator Ken M voiced his opinion on this very idea of a University here in Cornwall and didn’t approve, thinking a Trade School would be a much better proposal. I believe Ken was correct, and this Benson University won’t fly without more and more Taxpayers money thrown in to support it, heck this group had to get City money to get it started, and rest assured they will be back to Council for a whole lot more.
radio!? What is this 1989?
A more targeted marketing campaign would be at the very least a Facebook targeted ad campaign.
Jamie my good man and folks I still haven’t stopped laughing and wondering what these incompetent idiots are thinking about. Just like Jason said that housing would be completely unaffordable and I was trying to tell everyone this which is completely true and not only that ghettos like Jason said and it would make the east end look like Manhattan. LOL LOL. ROLF! I am bent in two trying to type with so much laughter. University was always meant for those who are scholastically advanced and not just to go and be prepared for work. Colleges are the most important for today to be prepared to work like the trades which are so badly needed. So many went to university and they came out with nothing. Where my daughter works her co-worker and she is also a former co-worker where my daughter used to work (her daughter has a Bachelors Degree from university in Business) and guess what she is doing. She is working in the office of the supermarket and at the same time she is doing cashier. She is living at home with her parents and is married and has a child. Folks out there reading what I am posting I am telling you no lie but the entire truth. When my husband and I came to look at apartments for rent we first went out to Ottawa’s west end and we saw an apartment way too small and met a lady who is born and raised in Ottawa and has her degree in IT. Well that lady went through a lay off and was working with an agency doing work at home in IT. She was losing contracts and decided to go back to university in IT but in health and all the way out to the University of BC for heaven’s sake and she was close to my age group then which was 11 years ago. I am trying to tell you that in the future you need trades more than a degree. Like Jason said you can get that on line if you wish. When we came to this building 11 years ago (I swear on my own life) a man had 2 full degrees in electrical and mechanical engineering and did a little of IT and he couldn’t find work. He literally plastered his vehicle with lettering trying to find work going all over the city and that was 11 years ago when the economy was better than today. There are tons of young people coming out with debts that they cannot pay back and ruining their credit and no work and if they find work it is at minimum wage. Talk about incompetence Bare Ass takes the cake. Not only that where on God’s earth in Cornwall is he going to find all those places for rent when there are no places to rent and I know I was a tenant as well as a homeowner and I can tell you that there are no places in Cornwall to rent. LOL LOL. ROLF! Jamie I am bent in two laughing my head off. Talk about crazy dreams and incompetence to the hilt. All you people out there who are dreaming you will be stuck in a real nightmare of taxes, homes that you will not be able to sell and so on ….
In June we set a single monthly record with 62,362 unique visitors. This month we’ve already recorded 39,803. Could you imagine the impact on local business if we simply had our market share of advertising on the local economy. CFN spends over 80% of our earnings back into the local economy as well. Can other media state that in Cornwall? Yet the list of who boycotts CFN clearly shows why our fair city finishes where it does in any of the standards for business in Ontario and Canada. Last month I had someone visit Cornwall. They wanted to go out to eat. I honestly wasn’t sure where to take them. They suggested Kelsey’s and after I told them about Kevin Hargreaves comments and actions against CFN as his role as Chamber Prez my guy said that not only would we not go to Kelsey’s but that he wouldnt’ go to the one he goes to in Ottawa any longer.
It’s time for our business community to start thinking and acting like business people.
Congratulations Jamie and I always knew that you were the best. Small town minds and yet Ottawa has some of that characteristics of a small town because even though it is a big city the minds of the people are like a small town. My husband says just about every day that Ottawa went backwards in some ways. People’s minds went back like in Cornwall. Something must be in that water for that to happen.
I feel establishing a new university here would be a very big mistake. Trying to establish a “branch office” of a current university might be a good idea. But I’d be concerned with the impact on SLC. Housing for potential students is an issue, unless NAVCAN is used as a student residence.
As for the results due to the “investment” in the study I’d say the results to investments is very poor. The money should have achieved better results.