Letter to the Editor by Bill Beattie – Harbour Divestiture in Cornwall = Land Give Away

LTE UThe ongoing behind closed doors Secret Negotiations with Akwesasne over our Port and Port Land is I believe nothing short of an engineered   sham a diversionary tactic by Mayor Kilger attempting to turn our focus away from the truth about the Trillium Tanks on our water front land.

Was it Economic Development that dropped the Ball as they were properly notified by Trillium and as such they had a duty to properly  notify City Council  which as  I understand it, they failed to do ? OR
 Perhaps it was Mayor Kilger himself  agreeing to those Chemical  Tanks on our Water Front Property, until the public became aware  and became very upset, then the scramble began to shift any knowledge of or blame away from himself and or the E D.
Divestiture then enters into the picture with Mayor Kilger stating that we must enter into an agreement via divestiture with Akwesasne on
a 50 = 50 % basis to ensure that a Trillium like deal will never happen again.  What utter nonsense .  Kilger is trying to pull a fast one here?
History tells us that  in 1784 an agreement was reached with the St Regis Indians that Pointe Maligne was CROWN LAND  then and no evidence has  been found to the contrary since that point in time.
.
Mayor Kilger is proceeding with this Divestiture sell out allowing  50% of  our Port and Port Land to go to Akwesasne.  Kilger and those persons that   support this divestiture deal must be held responsible now.
Mayor Kilger could stop negotiations  and admit that he made a huge error in judgement or that Economic Development dropped the Ball and
 then step back and let the Fed Govt settle the land Claim with Akwesasne .
This Divestiture agreement once signed  becomes a precedent that will negatively effect any  future opportunity that the City of Cornwall may         wish to pursue re  land Acquisition with the Fed Govt . Clearly this deal  ( Divestiture)  is not in Cornwall’s best interest.
William E Beattie    – Cornwall Ontario

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8 Comments

  1. Wait a minute here, wait a freaking minute here. Kilgour has made too many decisions in the past number of years, I believe totally on his own and then brow-beating a majority of council behind closed doors into supporting him.

    Also, where does he get off with negotiating anything without the citizens of Cornwall having a say, especially something as big as getting ourselves screwed out of our rightful ownership of our waterfront. This must be challenged in court before he in particular should be involved in anything of this magnitude before a new council is voted in.

    It must be ratified at the very least as a fair and appropriate settlement focusing on Cornwall’s ownership.

    DO NOT ACCEPT ANYTHING LESS.

  2. Every time Bare Ass opens his mouth he screws up badly and he is not fit at all to be mayor. If Bare Ass is ever elected again God Help the people of Cornwall – it may be your last. Have Bare Ass build more hockey arenas since his brain is frozen on that crap. The man is mighty sick and must leave pronto before he does any more damage to the town.

  3. While I agree with the comments of Diddlysquatt and Jules you have to realize governments (including the MCA) do these kind of negotiations behind closed doors. Is it right? Probably not. Will it ever change? Again Probably not.

  4. Come on everybody wake up already!

    Kilger and present council, past mayors and previous councils and past and present waterfront committee members are all responsible for the massive failure to protect the Cornwall waterfront. The land has been in federal hands for decades. When the concept of redevelopment of the habour area and former mills was born the first item on the agenda should have clearly been how to protect the vision going forward. The issue of the federal land within the subject zone was quite obviously the pinnacle point of consideration. Unfortunately lack of experience, lack of knowledge and in a nut shell poor or inadequate planning capabilities have united to present the issue now at hand. Anyway you slice and dice it the mayor is attempting damage control rather than holding himself accountable as the leader who failed the community. I find his lack of backbone despicable. As for the rest of council their silence speaks volumes, no character, no clue, no concern. Certainly no right to earn our vote.

  5. You are absolutely right Mr. Oldham and Bare Ass sure doesn’t have any backbone. Bare Ass is like a fox who runs away from responsibilities and he doesn’t belong in the mayor seat. His council are nothing but butt kissers and they too run away from responsibilities and are not fit to be in council seat at all. Throw all the bums out and ditch them and their clique to the garbage dump where they belong.

  6. This council must be restricted from passing anything that must be born on the shoulders of a new council come Dec 01 or Jan. 01.

    As a matter of fact, I believe this mayor should be impeached for so many in-camera sessions. By doing so he shows contempt for the community disrespect for the community and a belief he has a lot of sins to hide.

    tough call for the voters on this one. All \I can say is vote for ‘anyone but Bob… but who has been calling him out the most over the last 5 to 6 years? Maybe that’s the one we need after all.

  7. Bare in mind that mayor Bob only has a grade 10 education. Isn’t it a wonder that he has been able to clearly think issues ahead, to foresee the potential of major legal and severance costs, the like this city has never seen, compared to acknowledging whistleblowers admonitions about problems in the work place. Abuse, employee special health issues, potential of nepotism, calling upon special, yet expensive consultations, stomping down ideas for the waterfront and so much more.

    Bob has been a populace mayor, himself voted in for his contact potential. His denial of the value of eliminating the fluoridation of our water supply. If people are concerned on an individual basis for their children’s cavity protection then they should buy fluoridated toothpaste.

    We have had enough of this mayors antics, manipulations and over expensed poor decision making. Taxed out of pocket, citizens of Cornwall, stand tall in this election, vote in favor of YOUR bank account, NOT the cities robbery of it for the next four years.

  8. There appears to have been sneaky dealings in the past couple of years concerning the riverfront. Whenever federal property is up for sale or transfer, it is supposed to be offered to First Nations first, then everyone else, but the land the Civic complex sits upon was never offered to Akwesasne. So that means Cornwall owes rent for being on Akwesasne’s property?
    Now Kilger(Cornwall) is trying to acquire more land by signing a MOU with MCA.
    Land that is going to be offered to Akwesasne first, unless there’s more shady deals going on. again.

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