Whistle Blower Deputy Fire Chief Rob Hickley Issues Suit Against City of Cornwall Ontario & Mayor Bob KILGER CONFLICT OF INTEREST

kilger slumpCFN – Deputy Fire Chief Rob Hickley has filed suit against the City of Cornwall.  He is not being represented in this case by lawyer Fay Brunning due to the huge legal costs involved and has been forced to represent himself at this point.   With legal costs exceeding $2,000 per hour the city of Cornwall is burning through tax payer dollars while Mr. Hickley must risk his family’s security to gain justice pointing to the huge weakness in the Province of Ontario’s system.

Rob Hickley:

I’d rather enter a burning building than do what I’ve had to do…

Even if found guilty city managers and the mayor in the case are not forced to reimburse city coffers while Whistle blowers have to fight to get their court fees covered.

Here is Mr. Hickley’s statement:

From Deputy Fire Chief J. Robert Hickley

 

April 10, 2013

 

With great regret, I have filed an application in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice against my employer, the City of Cornwall and Mayor Bob Kilger.  

 

I am seeking a determination for the electors of Cornwall, as to whether or not Mayor Kilger is in a conflict of interest under the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act.  I am the whistleblower who filed a complaint on May 31, 2012.  I have served this community to the best of my ability for the past 26 years as a public servant.   In that whistleblower complaint, I brought forward my evidence to City Council about code of conduct violations that required investigation, all in the context of City Council investigating the role and conduct of Mr. Paul Fitzpatrick, CAO, arising out of the conviction for illegal retaliation.    

 

Retired CAO  & Clerk Paul Fitzpatrick & Denise Labelle Gelinas with Mayor Kilger on Election night.
Retired CAO & Clerk Paul Fitzpatrick & Denise Labelle Gelinas with Mayor Kilger on Election night.

I am also seeking other relief against remaining members of City Council, seeking protection against retaliation for myself, and for other City employees who have relevant information to provide.  To get to the truth of the whistleblower complaint I filed almost a year ago, protection is needed.  

 

The Notice of Application is public and available at the Court.  My evidence is currently under seal with the Court.  The Court is being asked to determine what, if any, of my evidence can be made public.   The Court has been given a copy of the whistleblower complaint and evidence, to allow a judge to make a determination as to whether or not there is a conflict of interest of Mayor Kilger under MCIA.

 

Although I have funded my own legal expenses entirely  to date, I am seeking an interim Order from the Court that funding for legal representation be ordered against the City of Cornwall.  I hope to bring a fair and proper adjudication of these matters by having a qualified external investigator, or the Court, conduct a proper investigation and make the necessary findings of credibility.   

 

What do you think?   Should Whistle blowers fees be covered by the city if proven accurate?  You can post your comments below.

UPDATE 4:31 PM

Mayor Kilger answered his cell phone saying he had no time to respond.

James Moak

41 Comments

  1. Absolutely, in answer to the question, but a better payer would be personal costs charged to the Mayor and Mr. Fitzpatrick if found culpable.

    Karma and what goes around comes around.

  2. It is very sad that we have one City employee after the other having to sacrifice themselves and their families for EXTREME corruption for the Mayor and his cronies.
    Mr Hickley you are to be commended for doing the right thing. You have a huge amount of support in and outside of the city.

  3. If the complainant has a legitimate case and the judge deems the complainant’s accusations are justified, the cost should be the responsibility of the person who created the situation to begin with. The complainants should be covered for all costs as he/she are the victims.

    If in this case or even Diane’s case, if it is proven that Mr. Kilger is in fact wrong, he should be paying for all costs, it is not the tax payers responsibility.

    Power is not a good enough reason to neglect responsibilities nor does it give one the right to intimidate their subordinates.

  4. I was wondering Admin if you noticed Rick Shaver’s paper with the picture of attention whores Kilger and Holy Gilles Latour looking at the lesbian Premier’s boobs at the Kaneb joint.

  5. Totally agree! One would have to be a rather silly person to think otherwise. In the way our system works, we see that innocent people have to pay to prove their innocence. While people can say anything they want, about anyone they want to hurt, they pay nothing! But then, you have to prove your innocence with your own coin. I don’t think that that is fair.

  6. But Bob’s lawyer ruled that he wasn’t in conflict, at least according to the Freeloader. I think Bob should get a refund.

  7. If Bob Kilger committed an act that was a “conflict of interest”, that action would have been uncondoned and outside of his duties as an elected official.

    Therefore he would be personally accountable and liable for any personal loss or damage suffered.

    So too bad Bob, I don’t think you have enough favours to call-in on this one, and Cardinal won’t be the Judge.

    …but so sad too, for all the women and children to whom he pays support.

  8. Mind boggling, nauseating, non-stop CONFLICTS OF INTEREST left and right with KILGER. HE NEEDS TO STEP DOWN!!!!!! We are sick and tired of paying his high priced lawyers. How long is he going to play this costly game with the good citizen’s of Cornwall’s tax dollars?!?!?!? TOTALLY PATHETIC, A CRYING SHAME, A TOTAL SIN.

    PACK YOUR BAGS AT ONCE AND GET LOST KILGER!!!!!!!!!

  9. Rob Hickley, I don’t know you but you have already showed more integrity than pretty much everyone in this city. Brave doesn’t even begin to describe it! I pray that you are successful in cleaning up this pathetic circus of a Mayor and Council. Stand proud. There are tons of people behind you. You are already a HERO in my eyes!!!!!!!

  10. Absolutely! Whistleblowers must be compensated and then some!!!! Go get’em Rob!

    Lord, all of these whistleblowers can’t be wrong! There are too many people risking their emotional/physical/financial well-being, not to mention friends and family!!!

    May the truth finally be accepted as such and may the corrupt bunch meet Karma ASAP!

  11. Bob Kilger has a $140,000 pension from his 6-8 years of Fedea service. Mine is $9,000 after 38 years of service.

    Add to his 140, his Mayor job is what, $52,000 plus expenses, meetings etc.

    Oh, his fed pen is tax FREE as will be MP Guy Lauzon’s mega bucks pen.

    Anyway, this tells us that BOBBY can well afford $2,000/hour and should be sued for it plus costs to do that, if he is not forthcoming.

    If he is ‘fired’ he is likely o end up with a $200,000 payout from the city plus a life pension of 60% of his salary.

    Since we do not have full transparency on all this, it can only be said to be speculation. However, I think it is pretty close assessment.

    How do you like all this so far?

  12. Well Admin.
    You asked, the readers, what we think.
    So, even though, I don’t have a clue as to what Mr. Hickley’s concern is about, I have to ask, myself why, most of your readers pick sides and are so willing to condemn their mayor, Mr. Kilger without having seen the evidence .
    What of the right to the presomption on innocence?
    Or is it that, Mr. Kilger has already been found guilty, in the court of CFN?

  13. Bare Ass Kilger is going to bankrupt Cornwall since he feels that he is superior to everyone including his clan Fitzy and all the rest of the goons out there. Bare Ass has so many kids to support that he is hanging on for dear heaven. So many kids in town will be going to city hall asking Bare Ass “are you my daddy”? Oh how I would love to be a fly on the wall to hear all this.

    I am so happy to hear another person coming forward. I was about to turn in for the night and this made my night. Good for you Mr. Hinkley. We need plenty like you. Bare Ass has to go and I know very well that he will bankrupt Cornwall and these are his plans. He has to go now not tomorrow but now before the town is gone for good.

  14. Pierre,

    It is almost black and white! No court here, but the thousands of people supporting the `NUMEROUS`and still growing group willing to risk everything to stand up for what is right!

    First the people smelled smoke, more allegations, then we seen smoke and now well his ass is on fire and there`s no hiding that…..oh no wait, where is Chad, maybe he can help daddy with that!

    Holy crap, no CFN court whatsoever. It`s everybody else who are professionals that are crying foul! A nurse and a depty fire chief -Can`t get more credible that that!!!! Something really stinks. He needs to leave! All integrity is lost. Nobody except his few friends in the clique will support him. Not for love, but for the love of money. Corruption has once again reared it`s ugly head. RESIGN!

  15. If for no other reason than the last paragraph (below) perhaps the mayor should step down for being “incapable”.

    The Municipal Conflict of Interest Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. M.50.

    “5(1) Where a member, either on his or her own behalf or while acting for, by, with or through another, has any pecuniary interest, direct or indirect, in any matter and is present at a meeting of the council or local board at which the matter is the subject of consideration, the member,
    (a) shall, prior to any consideration of the matter at the meeting, disclose the interest and the general nature thereof;
    (b) shall not take part in the discussion of, or vote on any question in respect of the matter; and
    (c) shall not attempt in any way whether before, during or after the meeting to influence the voting on any such question.

    (2) Where the meeting referred to in subsection (1) is not open to the public, in addition to complying with the requirements of that subsection, the member shall forthwith leave the meeting or the part of the meeting during which the matter is under consideration.

    (3) Where the interest of a member has not been disclosed as required by subsection (1) by reason of the member’s absence from the meeting referred to therein, the member shall disclose the interest and otherwise comply with subsection (1) at the first meeting of the council or local board, as the case may be,
    attended by the meeting referred to in subsection (1).”

    !!!
    Of equal importance is section 3 which deems “the pecuniary interest, direct or indirect, of a parent or the spouse of any child of the member … to be also the pecuniary interest of the member”.
    !!!

    This has two implications…
    First, anyone who fails to disclose a conflict and takes part in decision making contrary to the provisions of the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act may be guilty of “misconduct”.

    Second, anyone with a persistent conflict which precludes him or her from participating in normal …business may be “incapable of performing the duties of his or her position in a satisfactory manner”.

  16. Congratulations Rob. In some senses, you have already triumphed.

  17. It seems in a Whistle Blower Complaint situation that things quickly become turned around 360 degrees . The accused and their cronies tighten ranks and often times go on the attack attempting to show the whistle blower to be the Guilty one, ( shift the blame )
    Make no mistake about it a person has to have plenty of guts to blow the whistle as it can ruin their life and their family’s well being .
    I certainly don’t believe that a whistle blower should be paying his or her own legal expenses when as it seems the Mayor, ex CAO etc
    don’t personally pay their own Legal Teams .
    Certainly not sure in this town if a Judge can be found not connected in any way to those being accused ?

  18. Well people, the truth is finally coming out. How do you all think Kilger will weasel his way out of this one? Congratulations to you Mr. Hickley for having the balls to do what you are doing. At least you have some, more than I can say for “CORRUPT KILGER”
    I hope the citizens of Cornwall all stand behind you and allow the truth to come out once and for all. By the way, don’t go into a burning building if his little boy is suppose to back you up.
    Has anyone noticed how quickly the scrap paper S.F. removed the comment section on this story? Earlier there were twenty comments but now they are all gone. Go figure! Sticking up for Kilger and his wanna be hockey player/firefighter.

  19. $2000 an hour sounds very obscene! How can we allow lawyers to charge these exorbitant amounts? Unless, of course, there may be a kickback! Hows that for a theory?

  20. Was the community why those protesters where in front of city hall.

    cornwallhockey April 12, 2013 at 8:17 am

    Has anyone noticed how quickly the scrap paper S.F. removed the comment section on this story? Earlier there were twenty comments but now they are all gone. Go figure! Sticking up for Kilger and his wanna be hockey player/firefighter.

    Someone needs to put that on social media ,to keep these clowns accountable ,they have omitted information before .
    Omitting the news is the same as deceiving the public.

    Corus and Standard freeholder Bobs Friends ,they are even willing to give up their journalistic integrity to keep in the councils good books.of course there is a lot of advertising $$$ to be made.

  21. Jules,
    Wow! You disgust me! You are a nasty woman to make such comments on a personal level. Comments with no real merit I must say. You are a gossip monger. I can’t stand reading your crap. I don’t understand why Jamie allows stuff like this through because I think it makes him look bad. He prints a great story then it gets tarnished by people like you and the public holds Jamie accountable.

  22. Author

    HoldFast here is our Mission statement and vision. Tolerance is something many people have issues with it seems…http://cornwallfreenews.com/mission-statement-contact-us/

    We are trying to foster more people to speak their minds even if I personally or some of our viewers don’t agree.

    Thanks for viewing and participating in the CFN family.

  23. It’s a sign of troubled times when the concept of pressure becomes an acceptable excuse for ethical shortcuts and moral shortcomings = City of Cornwall and decision makers.

    Pressures are just temptations in disguise and it’s never been acceptable to give in to temptation

    Ethics is about the way things ought to be, not about the way things are.

    When it comes to ethics, motive is very important. A person of character does the right thing for the right reason. Compliance is about what we must do; ethics is about what we should do. Ethical people often do more than the law requires. The test is doing the right thing. Rob and Diane, I commend you for coming forward, we need more people like you.

  24. Jamie, I have read your Mission Statement and agree with it. However I don’t see anything in there that states you wish to allow people to have a voice to safely gossip on your site. Allowing your viewers to have a voice to express their opinions about a story you’ve written or a political issue, to debate, discuss that issue is what I value about your site. However there is nothing to be gained by allowing ignorant, personal comments. That is where your site loses it’s credibility and it frustrates me because I think you have a good thing going but as I said you are tarnished by allowing such ugly, personal comments. You know I support most of what you do but this is something I can’t support and truly believe is your main problem with public perception. Keep going after the truth and writing the truth but don’t let other’s make you look bad by their ridiculous personal attacks of others. Keep the comments on topic!

  25. Author

    HoldFast we always aim. Sometimes we miss, but we always aim 🙂

  26. Holdfast..I get what you are saying but where do you draw the line ..At least we get to see all the comments on here .. except those that are really obscure.
    We personally have to filter the comments and realize where they are coming from . We have a voice here and are not censored like the FH.
    Social media is like that ..not everyone agrees with everyone’s posts .

  27. Point One
    Holdfast..just skip jules rants..nobody forces u to read them

    Point Two
    Here’s fifty bucks saying there will be no comment section under the pinhead/billy oreilly/there is no global warming/retraction times TWO/watering hole/ scribbler from coffee brakes… over at the Freeholder tonight

  28. Holdfast
    take a digital walk to the freeholder online comment section..there u will see penis and vagina mentioned about our almost minister of justice vic throw them all in jail toews
    At least Jamie looks over these witty inputs by the Super Fed Up people of Cornwall who have lived with scandal..project mistruth and sad journalism..coffee break for over 30 yrs
    quote yet was perfectly content to put his {MODERATED} of a woman who wasn’t the one he was already married to
    This from a clown who called Jamie all kinds of vicious bias bull crap

  29. Not to bore everybody to tears..but..the jamie haters complain about the comment section…but at least he reads the posts…tonight over at the “supposed” main stream media the knuckle draggers of Cornwall are ripping apart a young couple.
    Their crime–being young parents. So_ One of Life’s most important moments..child birth– is being torn apart by the trolls of the world..
    Talk about a sad sad sinking of a ONCE proud newspaper
    I am truly afraid that all the chemicals- from long gone Cornwall industry- has destroyed the minds of many posting over there

  30. In case people missed my point…I am on Jamie’s side. Just pointing out some issues to him that I think would make his site better and surrounded less by controversy. I don’t read the SF nor would I be offended by the words penis or vagina if I did. I am all for allowing comments. However, allowing attacks on a personal level only undermines the good work that Jamie does. Freedom of speech should not involve an anonymous personal attack. If people want to be taken seriously about their concerns they would be best to leave that crap out of their comments. They sound like jeuveniles which makes any valid comments they made irrelevant. It would be nice to read intelligent, relevant comments regarding the subject at hand instead of that garbage. Kudos to the people on here who are capable of that.

  31. It is totally mind-boggling how the SF puts up a comment section and when bobblehead bob doesn’t like what he sees, it gets taken down. Purse strings are being controlled here by the corrupt. That’s ok though because the protesters can be out longer and we can be louder if you like, so all of Cornwall, hell Eastern Ontario can hear us!!!!

    You’d think for the sake of his family, Kilger would step down. Does he not have one shred of integrity? We all know that he is a BOSS HOGG that has to go. His days on the throne are now numbered!!!!!

  32. I don’t know where McIntosh is getting his information for his B.S. column but I can tell you he is wrong. Kilger’s little boy may have been first in the physical test for the fire department, but I know for a fact, and do have inside knowledge on this, that his little boy {MODERATED} and his Daddy had it immediately {MODERATED}. By no means did Mr. Hickley give me this information but when the ban is lifted off of his evidence, I am quite sure the exam {MODERATED} will be a part of it.
    There were many more men and women that deserved this job!

  33. Provided that a court determines that the taxpayers interests were represented by Mr. Hickley how could we not look after the legal bill ?

  34. Who ever this “HOLDFAST” is he can jump over a bridge if he cannot stand what I write. Everybody is entitled to their opinion and that is “free speech” and if we cannot speak then there is no freedom of speech. I have never knocked someone down on their opinion but there are these “ignorant sheeple” who do not know their rights in Tombstone-Cornwall who jump on me at every chance they get.

    I have said plenty about Bare Ass Kilger BOSS HOGG about what kind of a leader he is. Who in their right frame of mind goes and takes money from Willie Wise and builds a professional arena in a population that hasn’t grown since 1956 nor will it in fact it is depleting and who is that for senior citizens who cannot even stand up on a pair of skates. Those of you who are dumb enough to pay for such a monstrous thing is out of their minds and accepts all the bankrupting of the town does not have any brains at all.

    As for Jamie I have always stuck up for him. Jamie has always sensored by opinions and has not let many go through and I respect that because it is his paper. Many people post things and it goes through but when it comes to me posting then I get attacked and it isn’t attacked because of my opinion but I get attacked because certain “sheeple” have a hatred towards myself. I have always tried to share my opinions and if some of you don’t want me then why should I waste my precious time coming here.

    Jamie if I am not around you will know why. I like and respect you very much and you are a true professional. Thank you.

  35. Atta girl Jules……..freedom speak. Yes, Absolutely.

  36. How anyone can determine who is the best candidate for a job when one wasn’t present during the interview, was not part of the hiring process and don’t know the qualifications required to get the position?

  37. Author

    That’s a very good queston Stella. Mr. McIntosh also waded in and announced who the two finalists were for the CAO position. He seems to have quite a window into the most intimate decisions at City Hall…

  38. Two questions

    1) If this is a municipal issue and a civil servant ethical issue, why does a court determine what can be made public?

    2) Where is the rest of the letter?

  39. All whistle blowers need to be compensated for their coming forward ,losing pay,lawyers etc The Diane Shays,the Rob Hickleys & the Perry Dunlops are all heroes in my books Karma always comes back to bite …bareassbob is getting what is l o n g over due!!!

  40. I agree that Mr Hickley’s legal fees should be paid. At least someone has the guts to go for what is right and the rest are too scared because they know the power the Mayor holds over everyone in the City. So tell us Mr. Kilger why Mr. Fitzpatrick is still being paid when he should have been fired after calling City Works employees to help him and we know full well had that been an employee not in Management, they would have been fired on the spot. He could of afforded to call a tow truck!
    So his son the Hockey player was first in the physical, no kidding! I actually know someone who applied and was a Volunteer Firefighter, so why didn’t he get the job. Doesn’t experience count for anything at the City. Maybe they should check out the HR Department and see what’s going on there. Something stinks!

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