CORNWALL Ontario – One of the last acts done by out going Mayor Bob Kilger and his campaign manager Pat Finucan was to give current Cornwall Community Police Chief Dan Parkinson a brand new contract.
It was explained to CFN today that while council may be functioning with lame duck rules, the Police Board does not.
It was expected that the decision to grant the police chief a new contract (as well as Deputy Chief Danny Aikman) would be ratified by a new incoming police board.
Mr. Parkinson is connected to the police charges against CFN Editor Jamie Gilcig and many feel that his contract should not be renewed until a full investigation took place as to his involvement.
It has been six months since a production order from Bell Telephone showed that no phone calls were made as per the Police report and crown disclosure.
After initial Crown Jennifer Burke was removed from the case ( her father Neil Burke is a sponsor, like the CCPS of Heart of the City in Cornwall) she was replaced by Ottawa Assistant Crown Attorney Julie C Scott who has also now left the case.
Gilcig was charged with making threatening phone calls and death threats via phone without his phone or phone records being reviewed.
Both crowns insisted on pushing the case forward in spite of the lack of clear evidence with Ms Scott insisting on pushing through after the production order showed that the calls were not made as per the file.
Mr. Gilcig ran against Mayor Kilger in the election with Mayor Kilger losing to Leslie O’Shaughnessy, a council member that had resigned from the Kilger council over what he described as lies from the Mayor and illegal council in camera practices. Mr. Finucan, the Chair of the police board, was Mayor Kilger’s campaign manager.
Chief Parkinson did not respond to this story prior to press time as he was busy leaking the story to Greg Peerenboom of the Freeholder.
The Police Service or board did not issue a release. In fact it was only after CFN sent a request for quote to the Police Chief Wednesday that the quickie story with details was released to the Freeholder which is odd as the Police Chief had previously attacked them in an internal memo ?
It’s unknown if the Chief ever renewed his subscription out in Glen Walter where he resides. He is not a resident of Cornwall.
What do you think CFN viewers? Does this reek? Should the Chief’s contract have been renewed by Mayor Kilger and his Campaign manager or should it have waited until the new council and new police board was in?
You can post your comments below.
(Comments and opinions of Editorials, Letters to the Editor, and comments from readers are purely their own and don’t necessarily reflect those of the owners of this site, their staff, or sponsors.)
Comment policy reminder
CFN suggests you post comments using your real name. If you wish to post with a pseudonym you can register that user id by emailing info@cornwallfreenews.com with your name, address, phone number and user id you wish to register.
Guess he had to pay his debts before leaving, once a mayor has been defeated in an election, his duties should have been limited & new council should be making the decisions after all ….. Kilger & his gang were kicked to the curb because of his bad decisions & conflicts
A very unbiased review of Little Caesar’s. The chief spelled nobodies wrong 4 years ago. Bring on the OPP!
Hi WOW,,,, The OPP history of municipal policing, is not very good, most municipalities that did switch over, are not all that satisfied . They give a low ball cost projection, then nickel & dime you to death afterwards with extras. However, with these recent antics, perhaps we (City) should get a newer, more recent costing from the OPP ? Maybe, with the OPP, we could avoid nasty situations like this ? It is, IMO, a cheap shot at Mayor Leslie ! The Police Services Board should all be terminated where possible, other than the Provincial appointee ? They are a lame duck Council & this decision should of been the duty of the new CPS Board (Dec 2014) ? Is it possible to terminate this contract legally, citing rules related to lame duck provisions ? I would imagine the legal bills would be atrocious ! But, this Council, has never taken second place for sparing us taxpayers, when it comes to legal bills ? lol Do hear I footsteps, from the Integrity Commissioner, racing down to Cornwall, again & again ? lol
Bebe I would hope that our council if they feel strongly about this will take steps to get a proper legal opinion on this contract that doesn’t take place until AFTER they are officially elected.
There is no reason why this could have waited.
Oh no I think that I am going to be literally sick. I ate something and shouldn’t before coming to read this article. I warned each and everyone of you that BARE ASS will be up to something before he leaves and I wasn’t kidding any of you. Yes Jamie Bare Ass and it will stick. I think that a number of people miss my name calling to where it deserves. That chief of the Barney Fife PD has to go without a doubt and he is as much involved with all the conflicts of interest and false claims against you and it reminds me of the deep south of the US program THE DUKES OF HAZARD and Cornwall is HAZARD without a doubt. The mayor is that big fat mayor of Hazard with all the corruption and all. I warned all of you and I mean every single word that I type and I don’t back down at all. BARE ASS IS HIS NAME AND IT WILL STICK. A leopard never changes its spots.
Here’s hoping that the new mayor and council has this contract reviewed. But if it’s like a lot of other high ranking city officials it is loaded with legalese and potential high compensation if the contract is terminated without cause.
Mary Bray….I agree. But as Jamie pointed out in his article the “lame duck mayor / council” provincial laws do not apply to the police board. I’m presuming this also applies to commissions, etc. I’m actually surprised that there hasn’t been more “gift” handouts from Bobby et al.
Hugger to clarify that is what they are saying. I have not reviewed the boilerplate or sought a legal opinion which is what some of the council should be doing. I know I’d be quite upset if I were on the new council and found this “gift” done in the dark at the last second by a lame duck committee headed by a mayor that just lost and his campaign manager.
Admin…I agree with your last statement. But there is nothing that can be done until they are sworn in as council members in 11 or so days. Then the new police board will have to be formed.
We can at least hope the new city council or police board looks at the contract. The “lame duck” provision should be put in place for all committees, etc. that any defeated mayors / councilors sit on. These last minute deals stink. This contract surely could have waited until the new council / police board are installed.
Not only did the police chief ($160k now) get a new contract, the deputy chief ($150k now) did as well. Their current contracts don’t run out until December 2015. So, what was the freakin’ rush to get this done now?
The new mayor & council & the taxpayers that they will speak for should be making this decision about raises or even their job security. Do they really want a Chief who not only is involved in making false charges against a tax payer & continues to this day not to help remove the fake charge but went out of his way to get a convicted criminal out of jail sooner because of liking his family
“Real” budget steering committee, “real” councilors? There are “fake” budget steering committee, “fake” councilors? Who are these phoneys?
It would be interesting to see the contracts to see if they have sick leave payout clauses.
Told ya, …Bob the Knob isn’t finished screwing us over.
There is one court case coming up shortly involving Bob having the police pull me from council. Eventually there will be an investigation into my arrest as well.
The new council may be on the hook for a four year contract with clear evidence of the Chief being involved with both of those incidents.
Add in what may or may not have been signed by Bob via the Chem tanks and the possibility of the truth finally coming out over the Trillium tanks and that’s quite a legacy.
Jamie thank you for your blog about your court case coming up and Bare Ass and the chief of the Barney Fife PD coming up soon. I will be following this on CFN with bells on. I wish you all the best there is and hope that they all get nailed for what they did to you and to others. Take care from your wacky/loopy Jules.
Jules it was a comment. We don’t really blog on CFN. Blogging is awesome,but it’s a bit different than writing news or opinion pieces, or simple commenting. Btw, the trial will be open to the public. You can come down from Ottawa and grab a seat and watch Bob, council, and some of the police testify.
Jamie I apologize for the word “blog” and yes it is a comment section and not a blog section. Jamie I will be right here in Ottawa cheering you on and I cannot stand hair nor hide of Bare Ass, the chief of the Barney Fife PD nor any of them. The thing is Jamie is that you are way too good a person for them. I want to hear all about what happened from you in a write up. You are not the kind of person who would do such a thing to anyone. You are the kind of person who would just walk off is someone didn’t want to be with you. All the very best to you from me and hope that this clears up soon. Prayers and best wishes your way from your wacky and loopy Jules. I have been hoping for this to clear up and I hope that God has granted that for you. Take care.
dmin….when you said “You can come down from Ottawa and grab a seat and watch Bob, council, and some of the police testify:, I think you may have meant “You can come down from Ottawa and grab a seat and watch Bob, council, and some of the police squirm in their seats.”
No Hugger, that would been speaking for them. Some of them might be happy or arrogant enough to look forward to testifying why they did what they did.I don’t put words or thoughts into people’s mouths for them. I ask questions generally.
I think some of them (the mayor, police chief, etc.) may be squirming in their seats about what could come out.
You may be right. I know I would if I were them; but then I would never have allowed to occur that night to happen if I was them either…
I was doing my ironing and laughing about the cop from the Barney Fife PD that had the beard in the video that I spotted on Ninth and Marlborough when I was down in Cornwall and he was all set to fight. You can see him with his hands next to his chest wanting a good fight. The other cops (some of them) had smiles on their faces most likely when they glanced at Jamie’s funny shirt and they were wondering why they came up over such a minor thing. Not wanting to investigate what happened and putting false charges on Jamie then the Barney Fife PD should all be eliminated and a whole new police force put in from elsewhere. I find that there is too much conflict of interest and the mayor and council and administration should be apart from the police force. This is Hazard County all over again. The only way is to bring in an entire cop force from other cities to clean up the mess of Cornwall. You cannot continue in this manner at all.
While I’m sure there are some less than desirable officers on the CPS I am just as sure there are some very good officers as well.