CFN – The Glass Blowing Place & Chillax Café had its grand opening Saturday, 19 May and Liberal MPP (Glengarry–Prescott–Russell) Grant Crack was there to cut the ribbon, glass ribbon that is.

Here you can see the process that the glass blowers went through to get this glass ribbon.

In the front of the glass blowing studio is a café and retail store where you can purchase some of the wonderful glass art produced there as well as other art produced by local artists. You can come in and have a cup of fresh roasted coffee, study the glass artistry and even observe the glass blowers at work. Courses in glass blowing are available on site if you want to try your hand at handling molten glass.

In the picture below you can see Chris Van Zanten, Heinz Kaswurm (a non-glass blowing partner), MPP Grant Crack, Eric Covington, Gian Paolo BAstianello and David Paterson hamming it up for the camera.

More information about The Glass Blowing Place can be found on their web site:

www.glassblowingplace.com

CFN – On Saturday, May 19 at 12:00, Grant Crack, MPP (Glengarry–Prescott–Russell) will officiate at The Glass Blowing Place & Chillax Café Grand Opening and Party.

Location: 152 Main Street South, Alexandria, Ontario (613) 703-9110

Website: http://glass-blowing-place.com

The Glass Blowing Place is an artist’s dream place. It is both a first-class gallery and a learning place for the visual arts. The new gallery space is a venue for regional artists’ creations and is the exclusive sales venue for the output of Glengarry Glass Blowing.

While glass blowing is the principal educational experience offered, but there will also be classes in jewelry making, painting and drawing, stained glass and the lapidary arts.

Glengarry Glass Blowing ( http://glengarry-glass-blowing.com ), the primary artists’ group in residence, is comprised of Canadian masters David Paterson, Chris Van Zanten, Eric Covington and Murano Master Gian Paolo Bastianello. These artists will demonstrate the process of making their stunning glass art during the Grand Opening party on Saturday and Sunday, May 19 and 20.

Other artists, Jenny McBride (wire wrapped jewelry), Julie Laframboise (stained

glass) and Ken McBride (lapidary art) will also demonstrate their art.

Open registration for all courses will be offered at The Glass Blowing Place opening.

CFN

I submitted a letter to council requesting a 90 day moratorium on trapping in Guindon park, and this too was not responded to.

Click the link to get CONTACT INFO for OPG

However several emails requests and phone calls  for information yielded this response from the City and OPG.

There’s no formal contract between the City and OPG for trapping, however trapping is seen as a necessary measure in order to maintain OPG’s monitoring and vegetation control programs at the dyke.  OPG have requested the City’s assistance with issues of beaver control and flooding.

Christine Lefebvre, Division Manager, Parks and Recreation,  City of Cornwall             Ted Gruetzner, Media Relations Manager ,OPG 

This is where it starts to get fuzzy?    If this is a city park why is Ontario Power Generation having a voice in this issue?   And why are taxpayers on the hook, not to mention endangerment to the public and animal and wild life?

When I spoke on the phone with OPG they categorically denied any contractual obligation on the city’s part with OPG regarding trapping even going as far as to suggest minimal trapping was done on OPG lands.

A new development thanks to communication with the Raisin River Conservation Authority is that this form of trapping is also a danger to Snapping Turtles who while not endangered, are on a watch list as a turtle can take as many as 25 years to reach maturity and the ability to reproduce. 

Likewise I spoke with Dr. Brian Hickey of  The Lawrence River Institute who also talked about issues about wild life and trapping.  Oddly enough City Councilor Bernadette Clement is on the board of The SLRI and refused comment for this story.  Methinks that if  Councilor Clement refuses to champion the wild life in Guindon Park she should not be on the board of this Institute or any other related to Nature.

Video of Birds diving for fish in Guindon Park

Searching the net I found recent stories of dogs being caught in Conibear Beaver Traps.

LINK  Woman and Dog caught in Trap

“I just almost went berserk,” he said. “I’m a retired fire chief, I’ve seen lots of trauma, and there was nothing I ever saw that amounted to this.”

He was working on removing the dog’s leg from the trap when his daughter lifted up her own captured hand.

“Krystle was not concerned with herself, she was more concerned about the dog,” he said. “She was crying for the dog.”

The family said the Ontario ministry of natural resources is investigating the incident.

LINK  Second Dog Caught in Smiths Falls Traps

Stacey Cassell lost his dog Socks when he took her for a routine walk in a farmer’s field in Smiths Falls on New Year’s Eve. The 11-year-old Labrador Miska wandered off and got caught in a kill trap, chocking her to death.

“She went off a little bit. She was gone. When I went to go look for her, I found her in the trap,” Cassell recalled.

“We miss her terribly and we would do anything to have her back.”

Rebecca Sorrell of Cornwall Ontario has started a petition that has yielded over 400 signatures in less than a week.   LINK

Some of the comments from the Poll:

20:28, May 02, Mr. Dick Artley, ID
Is sadism the prerequsite for mayer and city council of Cornwall? Folks, the world watches you with disdain!

15:42, May 01, Ms. Fran Fulwiler, OR
Beavers are considered a keystone species because of the benefits they provide to all animals and plants in their environment. Humane trapping and relocation would be better than killing them, if removal is in fact necessary.

09:21, May 01, Ms. Carol C., MI
Is there a reason you can’t live trap them?? We lost a dog to a conibear, this isn’t necessary, please stop and live trap. Thank you, the animals will thank you too.

07:28, May 01, Ms. Elaine Hirst, United Kingdom
Although I live in the UK, I have been to this park and am appalled that you are even considering eradicating beavers!

05:25, May 01, Mrs. shelley boisvenue, ON
who was the fool behind this disgusting deed??? can’t you let nature be? we’re still the laughing stock of other cities because of our coyote/wolf killing spree last year!!! first you take away the rapids now nature….

17:01, Apr 30, Mrs. Nancy Leinweber, Australia
I grew up minutes from this park and visit it everything I’m home for a visit. It is a special place. Please keep it that way.

We will be updating the story as it continues.    When myself and another journalist visited the park recently there were no sights or sounds of beavers.  It may actually be too late for family of beavers that were living in this home to hundreds of species of birds and wild life.

With nearly 1,000 comments on facebook and the petition Council is intent on digging its heels in and countering the mass majority of public opinion.

You can post your comments below and to reach Cornwall Ontario City Council you can click this LINK to find the individually or address your emails to councillors@cornwall.ca.  To contact OPG click the banner above.

CFN

Question

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When my grandfather reached a certain age, he had to go for a driver test to keep his driver’s license. Are there any checks or tests for airline pilots, after a certain time, to demonstrate that they can still hold their license and safely fly an airplane ?

Question asked by Pauline.

Answer

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Airline and commercial pilots constantly undergo competency and medical checks, to maintain their pilot license.This is from the time the license is issued.  A pilot license, or an Aviation Document, is a booklet type document, similar to a passport. It has three sections in it. The first section describes the privileges of the license for which the pilot has qualified, the second section is to record pilot competency checks, the third section is to record medical certifications, which validate the license.

Once a pilot has qualified to fly under certain meteorological conditions, or how to fly a certain type of airplane, to maintain those privileges, pilots must regularly demonstrate their ability and competency to do so. Every six months, airline pilots and pilots employed in many other commercial operations must demonstrate in a sophisticated flight simulator, which is an exact replica of the type of airplane they fly, that they can safely operate the airplane under normal and emergency conditions. These flight simulator sessions are conducted by a Transport Canada approved check pilot and at times also monitored by a Transport Canada inspector. In addition, every twelve months, pilots must also demonstrate, to an approved check pilot, or a Transport Canada inspector, their performance on a regular revenue flight. This is called a Recurrent Line Check.

For the Pilot License to be valid, pilots must pass a medical certification examination, conducted by an Aeromedical doctor, approved by Transport Canada.  Airline and Commercial pilots must regularly undergo this examination. Pilots under 40 years of age every 12 months, pilots 40 years of age and over every 6 months.

Failure to pass any of the competency or medical checks could jeopardize a pilot’s job, or possibly his or her career.

A bit more about Captain Dan:

Captain Dan Baz enrolled in Flight School at the age of 16.
He has completed studies in Aircraft Engineering and Master of Business Administration. He has been at the controls of many different types of aircraft, from single engine Cessnas to large intercontinental jets on global routes.
Over the last four decades he has flown thousands of hours up in the blue sky.

Have a question for the Captain ? Send it to Captain Dan Baz captaindanbaz@yahoo.com Every week a question from the readers will be selected and answer posted in this column.

CFN

Nearly 32% of you are viewing us from Cornwall; a massive jump as our Intensely Local campaign is having a deeper impact!   Cornwall viewers of CFN  view 3.37 pages per visit taking 3.55 minutes compared to our number two city, Ottawa, with 2.91 pages per visit and 3.05 minutes.

Our Top 20 Cities for the last 30 days

1) Cornwall

2) Ottawa

3) Toronto

4) Montreal

5) Kingston

6) Edmonton

7) London

8.) Calgary

9) Prescott

10) Winnipeg

11) Halifax

12) Brockville

13) Vancouver

14) Victoria

15) Hull

16) Kitchener

17) New York NY

18)  London (UK)

19) Guelph

20) Chicago

We’re excited about our new FREE Help Wanted ads.  We’d like to see as many students as possible find employment so if you have a job why not post it free on The Cornwall Free News.    Just click here to post your JOB OFFER.

Non-Aggregated Media Site Rankings in our Region

1) The Cornwall Free News 2,463

2) Kingston Whig Standard 3,283

3) Standard Free Holder 3,298

4) The Local Seeker 8, 264

5) Kingstonthisweek.com 12,929

6) Seaway News 13,064

7) The Cornwall Daily 16,967

8.) Edition EAP (chain including The Journal) 21,704

9) Brockville Recorder 33,311

10) Brocknews.ca No Data

If you want to communicate with Eastern Ontario Online there’s only one true place to share your message!  Contact one of our media consultants today for more information!

The Cornwall Free News – The Fastest Growing Online Media in Eastern Ontario!

News, Views, and Reviews, 24/7

* Alexa.com is an Amazon owned company that measures web traffic.  Over one million people use the Alexa toolbar which gives a far larger and consistent sampling that those taken in other media which can use samplings as low as in the hundreds over short periods of time.

CFN

Yes the Gong show is back and louder than ever.    Good councilor Rivette was surprised after the video was played as council went around the circle with councilors taking shots and making comments.    One of the ring leaders, Councilor Thibault of course was not at this council meeting,  nor did Council get ahead of this story and do the right thing by apologizing to Andre.

I’m not sure what lessons Council has learned.   From the tone and lack of comments during the video above the only contrition really seeming to be shown is for getting caught.

Councilor Clement:

This report tells us that we have to be very careful…

Careful?  Do you really need an investigator to tell you that having a closed meeting, ambushing a councilor, running a video, and then going around the council table taking shots and making comments is appropriate or professional behavior?

Councilor Rivette is being a good sport hoping that council has learned something, but watching the video from clearly shows that the only contrition exhibited by council was that of getting caught and exposed.

Speaking of exposing it seems that Councillor Thibault was caught lying to media when he stated in the video below that there were no changes to the procedural bylaw on how a replacement is chosen for the mayor or council in the event of an opening.

Jump to the 46 second mark of the clip.

…look at the old procedural bylaw and the new procedural bylaw it’s exactly the same thing…

Wow!

It was also a bit odd that the new procedural by law was passed in council on Monday’s meeting after it was stated that the new by law was in play for the meeting of the 16th?

Gerald Samson was sworn in as the new Councilor.  Mr. Samson will bring his wealth of experience to the table where he made multiple motions and statements his first meeting.

CFN wishes Mr. Samson the best of luck with his new role and had a few words with him before he signed in.

What do you think Cornwall?  You can post your comments below, and stay tuned to our Vienna Travelogue piece coming soon!

CFN

About the number that City Councilor Andre Rivette mentioned in his interview with CFN which led to an investigation by Stephen Fournier.  An Investigation that has vindicated Councilor Rivette and admonished the council for gang banging the veteran councilor for having given this interview.

We’re including much of the text of the report because the Standard Free Holder other local media tend to not report items which include CFN (Cornwall Free News) in them.

We reached Councilor Rivette who was in Toronto attending a conference for comment:

I feel good and am happy with the results.  I think this sends a message that council needs to be more transparent and was really happy to see Mr. Fournier state that in camera meetings be more indicated to the public and that council stick to the subject during the meetings.

From the Report:

Here is the nitty and gritty of how this report came to be:

1. On February 27, 2012, Councillor Rivette received a call from the Mayor’s secretary, Ms Diane Brown, indicating the Mayor wished to meet with Councillor  Rivette at 2:30 pm that same day. Councillor Rivette advised Ms. Brown that he could meet with the Mayor later in the day around 4:15 pm.;

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2. At 4:00 pm on February 27, 2012 Councillor Rivette attended the council chambers at city hall and was advised by the Mayor that he could not meet with Councillor Rivette since he had just returned from Toronto. At that time Councillor Rivette was not given any indication regarding the matter or the reason for the meeting requested by the Mayor;

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3. At the council meeting held later in the day on February 27, 2012 council convened an in camera session. The agenda for the closed meeting was subsequently amended to add a verbal report by the Mayor on personnel- HR issues;

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4. The matter raised by the Mayor in the closed session stems from a video interview conducted with Councillor Rivette by the Cornwall Free News (CFN) that was posted for public viewing on YouTube prior to February 27, 2012.   Councillor Rivette states he was taken by surprise- in fact “blind- sided”- when  the subject video interview was played on a large screen during the closed
session without any prior warning or consultation with him. He further adds that some members of council were allowed to personally attack his integrity during the discussions that ensued ;

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5. On March 1, 2012, Councillor Rivette expressed his concerns over the lack of consultation with him and the personal attacks attributed to some councilors  during the closed meeting sessions on February 27, 2012 in correspondence addressed to the Mayor, Bob Kilger. In a reply dated March 2, 2012, Mayor Kilger states the interview with CFN was not the issue; but rather the issue centered on comments directed by Councillor Rivette towards an ‘identifiable individual’ during the course of the video interview that prompted the action to bring the 3 matter forward to an in camera session of council. In addition Mayor Kilger invited Councillor Rivette to contact him, should he wish to discuss the matter further. Councillor Rivette chose to file a written complaint under the closed meeting procedures set out in the Municipal Act and the city’s procedural by- law.

6. In summary, Councillor Rivette believes the discussions on the matter held in camera, which occurred prior to and following the open session of the council meeting, do not qualify as an item for consideration in a closed meeting of council under the Act. Consequently, it is his position that the city acted improperly when the matter was brought forward to the in camera session of the
council meeting held on February 27, 2012.

Investigative Procedure:

The video interview conducted by CFN with Councillor Rivette and the draft record of the minutes of the ‘In- Camera Committee of Council meeting held on February 27,  2012 were reviewed in conjunction with the information set out in the complaint form
and the city’s procedural by- law. Private interviews with Mayor Kilger, Councillor Rivette and the City Clerk were conducted at city hall on March 21, 2012. Additional private interviews with two (2) other members of city council were conducted over the
telephone on March 29, 2012.

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A second private interview was held by telephone with the City Clerk on April 10, 2012.  The CFN video interview, the information set out in the complaint form, the closed meeting procedures described in the city’s procedural by- law, the draft closed meeting
record and the information gathered through the private interviews serve as the basis for the findings set out in this report.

Summary of Findings, Conclusions and Recommendat ions:
The key findings, conclusions and recommendations with respect to this request for an investigation follow below:

1. The action by council to add Item #4 under the heading- Personnel IssuesMayors Verbal Report technically qualifies as an exception to the requirement of  an open meeting under sub-section 239.2(b) of the Act. Specifically, a council’s  consideration of the conduct, performance, or behavior of its chief administrative officer is a matter that is addressed through the human resource policies and procedures of the city and normally would fall within the exception pertaining to “personal matters about an identifiable individual, including municipal or local  board employees”. Reference to this particular exception is found in the general resolution to move in camera for this particular item that was added to the  agenda for the closed session in accordance with the city’s procedures. In part council acted properly by considering the matter relating to the conduct of its CAO during the closed meetings held on February 27, 2012.

2. The evidence indicates the discussions that took place in the in camera sessions on this matter extended beyond the consideration of the conduct or role of the  City CAO in the personnel issues, which initially was cited as the reason for adding this matter to the in camera agenda.

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The discussion that ensued regarding the video interview by Councillor Rivette with CFN, while arguably linked to the comments made about the city CAO, moved during the course of the in camera sessions to include discussions on the conduct or actions of  Councillor Rivette. From a strictly procedural perspective the conduct or actions  of the latter individual per se were never identified or cited as, or part of, the reason when the in camera agenda was amended.

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Moreover, if a breach of confidentiality is alleged, the conduct of a member of council regarding matters that have been previously considered in closed meetings is governed by the provisions of section 7.9 Code of Ethic Confidentiality in the city’s procedural bylaw (By- Law 2010-093). It is concluded that council acted improperly, in part, when its consideration of the matter moved from discussions on the conduct of  the City CAO to include discussions regarding the conduct of Councillor Rivette  without specifically citing his conduct as the reason for an exception under  Section 239 of the Act, or invoking the provisions of By- Law 2010-093.

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It is recommended that the chair, or presiding officer of a meeting that is closed to the 8 public exercise due diligence and take all proper steps to ensure council’s  consideration of a matter remains centered on the topic (i.e., the cited reason) for the whole duration of the matter under consideration.

So ladies and gentlemen what we have is a councilor who was frustrated with the shenanigans of the not only the CAO, but most likely elected officials who were protecting him getting bullied and gang banged in an in camera meeting.

The questions right now are many.    The answers may be played out at the April 23 council meeting.  Will the Mayor and Council issue  an apology to Councilor Rivette?

Will the CAO and Clerk be held accountable ?    Will those councilors who abused Mr. Rivette, notably Councilor Thibault, be held accountable?

While this report is an indictment against the Gong Show that this council has become, it has no teeth.   No penalties or punishment can be vetted out via Mr. Fournier’s office.

It should never be a crime to read CFN or be interviewed by yours truly.   Hopefully Cornwall Ontario city council have learned that lesson and maybe, just maybe, residents will start to hold the mayor and council accountable for what’s been going on since the last Municipal election.

There are huge issues like the slippery slope that the Waterfront committee is playing with and of course the new Procedural by-law that allows council to virtually circumvent the voice of the public by appointing replacements to council or the Mayor’s chair.

You can post your comments below:

CFN

Monday April 16th Council voted to replace Leslie O’Shaugnessy with the 11th vote getter in the 2010 election, Gerry Samson.  While Mr. Samson has to qualify as per the Municipal act to take his seat;  he was chosen as per the by laws for the city have been practicing for at least seven years or the 2005 procedural by laws.

Procedural By Laws of course are reviewed, tinkered with, and changed.   Council have been very odd though with the 2012 changes.  Why the secrecy and strange explanations?   The 2005 by law clearly states that the choice of council, of the options available from the Municipal act that supersedes all, is to choose a replacement in descending order.

Imagine a mayors race that say one candidate loses by say…. 5%.   If something should happen to the sitting mayor and they had to step down would any other solution fit other than placing the second finisher at the helm of power?

The 2010 by law cleaned up the wording, but essentially stated the same route.

And it was no surprise that Council unanimously voted to replace Councilor O’Shaughnessy with 11th place finisher Gerald Samson.   Council has the right of course to pass new by laws, but why the spin and obvious false statements about the new by law passed?

What are the real reasons that a city that lived by the Democratic choice of the voters, who they are responsible to serve,  would change a law that would allow not only a councilor to be “chosen” via the Office of the Mayor, but also appoint someone to fill the seat of mayor if needed?

And to do so without clearly outlining the process in the new by law?

Video excerpt from City of Cornwall April 10th Council Session

Does Queen Bernadette Clement, whose day job as a lawyer makes her explanation even more boggling make any sense to you?

A reflection of the municipal act?  The past two by  laws were fair dinkum according to the Municipal act.  What odd reasoning?

Again, her quote from another media blog:

The preferred method is outlined in the city’s procedural bylaw, which was under review at council’s regular meeting Tuesday evening.

The wording was changed slightly, adding the option for council to appoint any eligible resident, as the Municipal Act stipulates.

“It allows us as many opportunities as possible to make a decision,” said Coun. Bernadette Clement, who was part of the committee that suggested the changes. “It broadens our ability to make decisions that reflect what council wants.”

Here is the new wording.    Do you think it’s been changed slightly?

So we’ve split the procedure into two sections from one.   Is that slight?  And we’ve departed from seven years of ascending replacement to um, appointing people…  That’s doesn’t sound slight either does it?

Again, as of the 23rd a councilor or the mayor can be replaced if their seat becomes vacant by appointing Goober from Montreal Road, or someone’s hair dresser, or maybe Rob from Riley’s Bakery.    Yes, it’s legal under the municipal act, but why the change and why go to all this trouble to change a by law if you were going to use ascension anyway?  Odd no?

Councilor Thibault Pulls a Guy Lauzon to CFN

So why is one of my favorite all time councilors in Cornwall behaving in this manner to CFN??

Councilor Grant kinda gets it and talks about the public’s furor over all of the In Camera meetings.

And what is it with Syd Gardiner complaining every meeting?  Firemen, CFN, and now the media in general.   WARNING – This clip has a long Bernadette Clement speech!

Councilor Carr asks if the changes are “drastic”.   Our Clerk delivers the Spin.

Again, it’s not about what’s already in the municipal act, but how the City has chosen to change what’s been written.

What “misinformation” has been shared with the public?  I’d love to know that.

Speaking of Madame Clerk, she answered some media questions finally!  Not to CFN and thanks to Greg Kielec from The Journal for help with some files.

1. Why was the bylaw revamped just two years after orginal bylaw passed? 
Procedural Bylaws are, on an ongoing basis, reviewed and amended where required.  This particular revision had several revisions noted and when that is the case, a new Bylaw is offered rather than amending the many areas….some of the revisions were formatting changes, typos , word change and inserting additional clauses.  Always better to repeal and replace in cases such as this.

The original Bylaw dates back to when the Council was created back in the 40′s or 50′s so this is not ORIGINAL as you state.   
Members of Council, periodically, may see an area of the Bylaw that they would like changed and the change is done with an amending bylaw.  The Clerk’s office also reviews  the Procedural Bylaw on an ongoing basis to make sure that it adheres to any change in provincial legislation and if needed, requests that the Bylaw be amended.  

Procedural Bylaws are what we call a breathing document that is always reviewed to better the manner in which Members of Council do business. 
It is usually recommended that the Bylaw be amended when the change is minor in nature, however in this case, similar to in 2005, again in 2010 when the recommended amendments are spread through the document it is usually recommended to repeal and replace the bylaw with the revised one.  

An overall review is generally conducted on The Procedural Bylaw at least once in every new term.

 
2. Who authorized/initiated the procedural bylaw review committee? 
This has been an item of discussion since the beginning of last year, however because of circumstances, the committee was identified only at the beginning of 2012.  The clerk usually recommends that the review be conducted. 
 
3. At what council meeting was the committee formed to revamp this bylaw? 
January 9, 2012.  After the Christmas Break, All Members of Council were present at the meeting and Mayor Kilger asked, all Members of the Council who would be interested and have the time to sit with the Clerk on an Ad-Hoc Committee basis to review the  Procedural Bylaw .  Three Members came forward. 
 
4. Who was the committee size and membership chosen? 
Committee was three Members of Council, Councillors Bernadette Clement, Maurice Dupelle, Denis Thibault and myself.

5. Can you provide meeting dates, minutes and motions from this committee? 
Meetings dates were called for  February 15th, March 5th.  The Procedural Bylaw was provided to the selected Committee Members during the week of January 9th, to begin individual reviews and time to prepare their opinions and comments on the proposed changes .  Other correspondence was conducted by e-mail transmission. 
There are no minutes or motions .   Basically we work off the Procedural Bylaw and note where changes are suggested.   
Suggested changes are then prepared in accordance to committee and re-sent for further review.  Once the review of the Procedural Bylaw is completed and the Members believe that is ready for Council’s review it is sent to all Members of Council for their review.  The Procedural Bylaw was sent in its edited red-line form to all Members of Council on the  14th of March, indicating that the proposed changes would be on the Agenda of March 26th under Notice and on the April 10th meeting for adoption.

Members of Council are encouraged to provide their comments and/or additional suggestions to the Committee prior to it being endorsed.

5. The section on Resignation-Member-Vacancies has been significantly changed from 2010 bylaw. Why and to achieve what end? 
The changes are consistent with what is written in the Municipal Act.  The Municipal Act, always supercedes a municipal Bylaw, and the changes incorporated within the Bylaw compliment what the Act reflects as well as offering the Council with an opportunity to select the next elibible candate who ran in the last municipal election.  Although the changes seem significant, they are in reality the same choices they had in the past, simply written in a different format.

6. Is the revamped bylaw now in effect despite the changes that  Councillor Grant asked be made? 
The proposed changes, including the changes suggested by Councillor Grant and endorsed by Council through Resolution 2012-07 and are in effect.  The Bylaw will be prepared in its final state and presented at the April 23rd meeting.

7. Why was the amended bylaw not included in the media packages or published on the city website prior to Monday’s meeting? 
quite frankly, i forgot.  You did get a copy that I was able to scan for your review. 

So there you go learned and intelligent  viewers of  The Cornwall Free News.  Hopefully we in the media have added some clarity to some of the misinformation spread by some members of council regarding these drastic and potentially non-Democratic changes implemented by 9 of the same elected officials who changed the same by law in 2010.

You can of course always post your comments below.

CFN

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I was drawn to the championship through my connection to the FIT program at NAVFIT and by my interest in what motivates women. What I discovered is that this is an up and coming sport with an incredible amount of dedication driving its movement forward.

I had hoped to meet one of the boxers and my wish was fulfilled in the hallway as everyone was leaving I was able to speak to Tiffany Perez. I met her parents as well who are her most ardent supporters.

Tiffany Perez fought in the Flyweight/112 lbs (Olympic weight class) on Thursday April 5th, for Puerto Rico. She fought against Erica Cedeno of Ecuador and won.   She fought tonight against Erica Matos of Brazil and lost. During Tiffany’s fight I was struck by her single minded determination to succeed and the strength she radiated from her body. It was inspiring to meet a boxer in person because it is a new phenomenon to see women perform in the boxing ring.

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It is a physical sport, there is no doubt, but all things being equal, what determines the winner is a mental strength that is worthy of study. I wanted to know more about what had driven Tiffany to this sport so she graciously answered my questions.

Tiffany told me that her father ran a karate studio and she and her brother both participated in the sport. Her brother got the idea he wanted to try boxing and Tiffany went to watch him and decided that she wanted to try this herself. Her parents were not in favour of this and initially discouraged her as they did not think that this was something a girl should be doing.

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Tiffany persevered and eventually her parents got behind her. She told me that when she experienced her first hit in the face she was not happy about it and her family was convinced that she would quit, but she overcame that test and became more committed to the sport. It is a very demanding commitment since, as an amateur, all the expenses are paid for by the goodwill of your family. There is no pot of funding for these women.

Originally from Indiana in the United States, Tiffany’s passion for her sport led her to move to Puerto Rico in order to make her place in the world of women’s boxing. There, she stands out as one of two female members of the boxing team.

Of course, I rooted for Canada and was pleased to witness four  Canadian members of the team fighting tonight: Mandy Bujold, Melissa Guillemette, Sandra Bizier and Mary Spencer. Our Flyweight female boxer Mandy Bujold lost tonight in her fight against Marlen Esparza of the US. Guillemette and Bizier also lost their fights, but Mary Spencer beat her opponent from the Dominican Republic. She was awesome! At 75 kg she is a formidable fighter.

Tiffany’s words still ring in my ears and I hope they will resonate in yours:

“ Women’s boxing is important because women are always the underdogs and this makes them stronger and more determined.”

As you can see in the picture of this boxer, she is a boss! Do yourself a favour and go and catch the last day of this championship- Saturday, April 7^th

CFN

South Stormont Volunteer Firefighters attacked the blaze which also blew a transformer and caused grass fires nearby.

Richmond Road resident Mr. Wyatt Walsh of Walsh Pressure Cleaning had the following to say:

I was really impressed by the response time and effort of the South Stomont Firefighters.

… Powerlines fell and caused grass fires.

No injuries were reported.  We will be updating this story as more information becomes available.

UPDATED 4:31 PM EST

More video submitted as the building collapses.

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