Doug & Rachelle Raymond live in a lovely avenue in Cornwall Ontario. Doug, a retired accountant, has a card game with some of the family friends on Friday nights.
Raymond home on the right
The group of Seniors generally don’t play past 10PM and listen to such raunchy artists and bands as…Chicago, Tom Petty, the Bee Gees, Burton Cummings, April Wine, and the Beach Boys.
The music, played on their Bose home music unit, can’t be played too loud because they of course need to hear each other while playing cards.
Which is why Mr. Raymond was utterly flabbergasted when a knock on their door Tuesday led to a citation of $130 which was delivered by a Cornwall by law enforcement officer who had decided to accept the complaint of a neighbor without proof or speaking to the Raymond’s.
This is the same by law officer that gave a “Vicious Dog” order over a month ago in the same manner, that the city has yet to respond to.
Mr. Raymond, speaking with this writer, stated that their neighbor has phoned police over fifty times making complaints and that they’ve never been warned or charged, including previous noise complaints. He was so upset he contacted Cornwall Power Lawyer and former Crown Andre Bourgon who had defended the Worm Kids.
Even though the cost to address the citation is much greater than the amount ticketed for, the Raymond’s feel it’s worth it, and are upset at the manner in which this was handled.
Mr. Bourgon, asked for comment stated:
I know the Raymond’s to be good people and I value the confidence that they have placed in me. Expect that matters will be litigated fully and we hope that good sense prevails in their favour.
The by laws themselves are a bit fuzzy to read, and clearly open to interpretation.
A reasonable person, reading number 8 might perceive that it’s ok to party on your patio until midnight, but #9 doesn’t state if it’s separate to #8 or it’s simply supporting #8, which if is the case shows that Cornwall may have something against music?
It gets stranger further down the document.
So according to this by law playing music is bad at all times in Cornwall, but ringing of bells and banging on gongs, or blowing a horn or siren is ok until 11PM in a residential neighborhood?
Cornwall is a community that has been reaching out as a place for seniors to retire to, as there’s not much else going on in the community whose best quality is that it’s close to places people want to hang out in but are too expensive, such as Ottawa and Montreal.
The town seems to have a by law officer or two that’s running amok issuing citations and giving citizens grief. Are they on quota? Are city coffers low due to a lack of economic development to the point that the city is citing and ticketing the population Willy Nilly?
Last week CFN published a Letter to the Editor for a Senior from Long Sault who was nailed for a ticket after parking with a hundred or so other cars on the grass at the Civic Centre during Ribfest? Do the Jehovah Witnesses have to worry about their cars too?
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What do you think dear CFN viewers? Should one be cited for listening to Abba in their back yard on a Summer’s Friday night while playing cards with friends? You can post your comments below.
Flaccid rock should be banned from the face of the earth at all times.
Some people have far too much time on their hands. This includes the neighbours who called the bylaw officers and the bylaw officers who couldn’t be bothered to even speak to the Raymonds. It seems common sense is very lacking in Cornwall.
perhaps they are noisier than they are aware…if they have been called numerous times then obviously this is not a one time incident??
I’ve dealt with the bylaw officers here in Cornwall. Apparently our dog was barking too much for a few minutes. We know who called the bylaw czars, but they have moved. When they came here there were three of them. Do they think showing up with two more than is necessary will give them strength in numbers? IMHO these bylaw officers have let the power go to their heads. Wannabes.
This by law officer needs to be addressed by city, he doesn,t seem to know the bylaws himself. If they can play cards & be heard by each other & before 11pm, then the neighbour has a problem that should not become the Raymond,s,also same officer that gave a ticket to the wrong dog owner that had their dog on a leash & under control.Cornwall already has a bad enough name
Laurie McOuat….It’s possible. But more probable is the neighbour has problems. You have to learn to live with your neighbours, not call bylaw every time they do something you don’t like. Withe the neighbour calling numerous times I think it’s a case of the neighbour not liking the Raymonds and doing anything to get them in trouble.
Anyone that lives on first and pitt or augustus can tell you that the bar deek and squeek is terribly loud almost all nights except sunday night. Drunk people getting into cars and squealing tires and the gravel parking lot at 2am is constant. Drunk girls screaming and fighting every friday and saturday night, until 2am. It’s disgusting and annoying and makes me wonder why police let this go on.
Where was that by law officer when we needed him on my previous street in Cornhole when 2 big dogs were left alone for a whole week barking their heads off outside. Where was the by law officer when we needed him for a stupid kid disturbing us when we lived at an apartment building with those things that they roll on and jump to all hours. I love the music that these people were playing.
Jerry I live off two major routes here in Ottawa in a residential area and we hear the drunks speeding their cars at night and motorcycles like you wouldn’t believe. We would hear some of the drunks yelling as well. Our building is so quiet that if you dropped a pin you would hear it. We have good neighbors even those in the singles and townhouses. We can never live in Cornhole at all.
Jerry where we live here in Ottawa the traffic is so heavy and I wish that I could tape the sounds that would drive you bananas to listen to. The traffic here is non stop day or night and it makes the 401 as well as well as the highway No. 2 on Vincent Massey and other places seem tame and I am not kidding. It is deafening and we can’t wait for winter to close up – it is insane.
Jules, have you watered your tomatoes today?
So this is unreal… I feel bad for this couple who just seems to want to have a good time in a reasonable manner. If I were this couple I would be blowing horns and ringing bells until 12am… Heck I think I would hire a brass band and play music by Metallica until 11:59pm. The neighbours need to get a life and live a little… Maybe they just suck at cards and they are jealous of the Raymond’s.
Hi Furtz. I am going to water the tomatoes around 6 p.m. because it is very hot and hubby has the AC on in the living room and we have 3 fans going on. It is way too hot to water because it can do more damage to the plants. I will wait till 6 when the sun goes down a little. I am almost dead after coming back with my daughter from the store. I am hybernating inside.
I see no reason why the neighbor complained about the Raymond’s with their card playing and good music – gee they should have invited yours truly since I love the music. LOL LOL. I always said that Cornhole is dead but there is a little life left down there or should be. My husband keeps teasing me about going down – maybe I should. It is over a year since we went down.
Furtz I watered the plants at 6 p.m. and we have 4 that are turning color – there is some hope for them. Tomatoes are great in salads and we had some store bought ones in a salad but nothing like home grown. It is so hot that I fell asleep this afternoon and my family thought that I died – I was that quiet. LOL LOL. ROLF!
That reminds me folks I am going to listen to ABBA soon. I love that group and all the old songs. I agree that the neighbor who complained must have a beef of some sort against this couple other than them playing cards and such beautiful music. I would say to the couple enjoy yourselves because life is mighty short. Some people chased a good family The Vincents out of Cornhole.
Burton Cummings, the Bee Gees well of course I am going to play that music after I get my bath and come back here. This morning my husband and I heard Burton Cummings on our car radio and we both said how much talent he had in his songs. Enjoy your lives folks because life is mighty short. I am living in a bird cage in the sky and it is very hot here.
Over fifty calls to bylaw by the Raymond’s neighbour. I’d say it’s a case of the neighbour not liking the Raymond’s. The Raymond’s are the ones who are the problem….it’s the bylaw calling neighbour who is the problem. You have to learn to live with your neighbours, not become enemies.
Where does common sense end and harassment begin. I suspect problems with both parties exist however I feel for the Raymond’s. Remember when adults could communicate (without electronic devices) and resolve differences on their own. A new world where adults need constant supervision to divert unhealthy confrontation. Time out everybody.
David Oldham exactly. Nanny state and/ or Big Brother is Watching…..take your pick.
Today all you see are those smart phones in people’s possession to dumb them all down and Hugger and Mr. Oldham you are right where people can no longer communicate with one another. The Raymonds are entitled to their enjoyment and I love that music but keep it to a level where you can hear it without distracting the graveyard.
These people are older like myself and are not going to play the horrible crap they call music today. It would be nice to hear good music like that. Oh that reminds me if my husband would play the Middle Eastern songs then they would literally have something to complain about so haunting like Phil Donahue said where he had to keep the light on all night to sleep. LOL LOL.
I have known the Raymonds for the past 2 years, they are lovely helpful people with a well behaved and controlled dog and a beautiful property that they take care of meticulously. To be harassed over every little detail of everyday life is outrageous, what has happened to live and let live, and good common decency like talking face to face like neighbors do. The situation could be far worse!
I love living in the boonies. No neighbours anywhere nearby to squawk and chew about how I live.
I would think that if the Raymonds were so “rowdy” more than one neighbor would be complaining…..perhaps said by law officer should take that into account?
This story sounds like the Kravitz family on the program Bewitched from the 60’s era where Gladys Kravitz kept looking out her window at Samantha twitching her nose and things going flying around and yelling at her husband to come and see. The Raymonds are good people from what I see and those who complain all the time are crying wolf and nobody will listen ot them. Good luck to the Raymonds.
CBC has picked up our story and it will be on As It Happens tonight at 7 PM Nationally.
Jamie I hope that the people of Canada see this story and it shows how bad neighbors can hurt good people just like what happened to the Vincent family. How many good people do the sheeple of Cornwall think that they can attract to Cornhole when they can’t get along. The Raymond family look like a good family and not hoodlums. You don’t come across many good people these days.
We have known the Raymonds for at least 27 years and have never had even a hint of a problem. I walk by on the street in front and through the park at the back and I’ve never even heard their music once. Whatever happened to hearing both sides of a story??? I agree with David…there comes a time when this is no longer just a complaint but heading on to harassment…but that’s just my opinion!!!
Furtz the only ones that you have to squawk with are your animals. LOL LOL. Here in Ottawa we live where two of the major routes meet together and talk about noise. With a city of one million people what can one expect. The more people the more problems. The people around here are pretty good in general we have no problems with them.
“Mamma Mia!” Do our para-police have no sense of decency?
Is it just “Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!”, “Money, Money, Money”? So that City Council can feed its bevy of Ottawa lawyers — damning and crucifying a whistle-blower for protecting seniors from abuse in a City of Cornwall managed nursing home?
One can only hope City Hall has met their “Waterloo” this time… “I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do.”
When people get their next tax bills and jobs flying out of Cornhole and the sheeple have to come good for everything they will sing the tune of : Ma Ma Mia and wonder what planet that they landed on. Who wants to live in Cornhole with a mentality like that where you have a good family and are knocked down by others for no reason. This is rediculous. Money money , ma ma mia for sure. LOL LOL.
I am the Raymonds next door neighbor and I can say without a doubt the that are the best neighbors anyone could ask for. They are always there for us, my husband and I all ways say that if we were to ever move we would have to take them with us. The Raymonds are great neighbors and good hearted people.
Cornhole, sheeple, flying jobs, Ottawa, Cornhole is dead. The song remains the same…..boring. Time to turn the page. But some never learn. Repeating the same rhetoric gets you nowhere.
I look at the picture of the Raymonds and they appear like good people. Whoever are the trouble makers around need to get themselves a life. You go to a high end street where the Vincents lived and then to this level and the sheeple do nothing but complain. Just what kind of people are you who complain all the time and to send a no nothing around to warn these people over nothing.
“Sheeple” aren’t complaining. The people who complained are the troublemakers that give Cornwall it’s reputation. It’s time to realize Cornwall is better than the few troublemakers in the city.
After having lived in apartments we purchased a home in Cornhole and it sure didn’t feel like home at all. Neighbors would gawk at us and we had no privacy at all. One real estate lady told us about her problems and she was not from Cornhole and we shared a lot with her. One man from Cornhole had very bad experiences and left the town to live in the boonies and the sheeple followed him out.
Ask me about how life is here in my apartment building well you can drop a pin on the floor and hear it unlike what happens in Cornhole. Our neighbors in the building as well as the single homes and townhouses are the best. We live in a residential area off two main streets and the only noise is that of the traffic and emergency vehicles. People respect one another and our landlord is the best.
The more things change the more they stay the same. And if I have to explain that you haven’t been on CFN long enough.
If the woman Chantal Clément lives next door to the Raymonds then she would be able to hear if their music was excessively loud or not. People have the right to enjoy their home. My son has a friend the age of my husband 71 years old and he like to go there and play cards with him and his wife and others. You never hear of complaints at all and the man lives in a single home in Elmvale Acres.