Cornwall Ontario – Monday was a rainy drizzly day in Cornwall. Apparently our mayor, not big on original thought or ideas of his own, tried to team up with another sizzling mind in MP Guy Lauzon to have a partisan party in Lamoureux Parc at taxpayer expense.
Did you know about it? I didn’t. Which is odd because whether our MP or Mayor like it or not this newspaper has the largest audience in Cornwall. We didn’t get an invite or press release.
And then some complain that we don’t cover certain events?
Then again there is much partisan dramz about our Canada Day event. Only in a city like Cornwall do we let a politician hijack Canada Day.
Furthermore our MP, Guy Lauzon, refuses to divulge the finances for the event which is run through his riding office. He hits up local businesses and politicians for sponsorship yet refuses to disclose the books. Shades of Lift Off and we all know how that ended.
This Newspaper can confirm that via former councilor Glen Grant every member on Council was asked to kick in $500 cash from their expense accounts for the July 1st event that Lauzon runs. Apparently the cash was on its way until CFN initiated an investigation and was not sent out as scheduled. That is in addition to the approximately $15K that the city kicks in of in kind services.
Are we getting value for our taxes? If you’re not on the MP’s list you’re not, as apparently this writer isn’t, but why penalize the public? Isn’t that crazy?
Canada Day should be about bringing Canadians together of all walks of life. Not a partisan cash cow for Dave Runions friends and hanger ons of the MP.
While there’s nothing wrong with the MP running an event through his office budget, the numbers should be fully disclosed and available to the public. They should be audited as well. Mr. Lauzon’s Chief of Staff has refused to do so citing that committee meetings are in camera so they don’t have to. Adrien Bugelli then tries to distance the MP’s office from the event, but why is his COS giving out that type of answer if the MP’s office isn’t running the show?
Now that’s a total load, especially since said committee isn’t a legal entity, but simply an extension of Lauzon’s office.
What do you think dear CFN viewers? Should our MP be running a partisan and apparently private event via tax dollars of Federal and Municipal nature? Is there not pressure on a local business to cough up cash when asked or risk the wrath of our local politicians?
You can post your comments below.
Jamie, can the information be obtained via freedom of information act?
Pete the information should, but not if it’s being run in the shadows. You can only get what’s officially on record. There were allegations about Lift Off for example, that were never proved, that a certain group was skimming cash off the top to pay for their sponsorship and other sundries.
I knew about the mayor’s picnic, but didn’t attend. I find it strange that it’s being revived a year before the municipal election. If that isn’t just a tad weird, well…. And the expenses should be posted and audited.
Guy Lauzon’s COS citing the meetings, etc are “in camera” simply puts a stink on it but that’s to be expected in Cornwall. It seems unfavourable items to the taxpayers are behind closed doors in Cornwall, so taxpayers/media can’t question these things. Arrggghhhh!!!!!
Doesn’t this sound like “Trumps” way of doing business ? The City spends $15,000. of taxpayer dollars on the July 1st party (in kind ), with NO minutes of the meeting from Lauzon, who is the organizer ? Then Lauzon admits that their meetings are held in camera (behind closed doors) I guess my point is, the City cannot allow these expenditures to continue, without a proper audit ? It stinks !
With this councils love of closed door meetings it’ll never happen.
Hugger this council has been in conflict. It’s corrupt. It clearly has no love for the arts. It has not moved the city forward, but in fact backwards, especially economically, and embarrassed it, but it actually has improved its behavior when it comes to closed door meetings.
Right now there is not a single elected official that should be voted back in. We need a clean sweep, especially of those that bloat the tax bill and clearly don’t represent the citizens of Cornwall. And we need good candidates in the upcoming election who will be brave enough to ask Dan Parkinson why his department needs about $6M more per year than the counties spend for about half the population and twice the area. And if he doesn’t have a good reason then we need to chop his budget and let the CCPS figure out the solution or we need to invite the OPP to make a bid to police Cornwall. We need politicians brave enough to ask Maureen Adams why she keeps giving HR manager Geoff Clarke more money, and we need to know what the heck it is that Mark Boileau & Kevin Lajoie actually do and get rid of management that are ineffective like Bob Peters. Do we really need the city running a de facto media outlet?
In other words we need to be Brampton 2.0 if we are to have any hope of moving forward.
The last election was progress. Next one we need results.
Generally, in-camera meetings are only permitted when personal or legal matters have to be discussed.
Go and look at pictures of Mayor Horovitz’s picnics. That was a mayors picnic! By the way what about the tacky lighting in Lamoureaux Park, is it permanent! What an embarrassment ! Whose decision was it?
I agree to a certain point. But I find they have a tendency to find a reason to go to a closed door meeting when the decision they’re making will beunpopular with media or taxpayers. Making a decision behind closed doors that is probably illegal will not win them any friends. What I’m referring to is the decision to force a 0% wage increase on city unions with expired contracts.
Some councillors and unions have already questioned if that move is legal. Unions have said they may look into this to see if it qualifies as bad faith bargaining. IMHO ANY budget discussions must be in an open forum so these “decisions” can be questioned, not behind closed doors. After all it is our money, not theirs to do with as they see fit. But this council doesn’t seem to understand this.
I’m off my soap box now.
Jamie you are absolutely right that Cornwall’s mayor and council are corrupt and the same bunch of crooks keep showing their mug shots year after year and the sheeple keep electing these frauds. The cop department should take down their shingle and bring in a whole new cop force if they cannot keep their budget down.
When I reminiss about what Cornwall was like in past years yes it was corrupt boy the stories that went on but today it stinks to high heaven of corruption even much worse than what it was back then. The more things go on the worse things get.
Jamie the days that your relative was mayor of Cornwall were the better days and that is so true. Cornwall thrived and you didn’t see the corruption like what you see today and of course the society was much better back then. How I wish that I could turn back the clock to the 1950’s and I mean that.
The lights in Lamoureux Park are for Canada’s 150th. Hopefully they’ll disappear come 1/1/2018. Council decided on it back in 2016.
Jules there was a lot of corruption back then, but I think those in charge were simply smarter and knew that more people, and not less needed to make a living to make the town work.
Cornwall needs a Fiorello LaGuardia.
Good luck with that…
I think that you’ve got a point there Jamie. I remember a certain doctor who gave abortion pills to his patients and the cops back then raided his residence and his wife flushed the pills down the toilet so as to save her husband from arrest. I remember that very well and he became mayor of Cornwall. I have other stories as well. It was always corrupt as you said.
Mayor Horowitz was a good mayor but today we see the worst. OMG! When I think back I say “what in the hell happened.” There were some good people back in those days but today I put my head down in shame.
Thanks for the info Hugger1. The city of Cornwall has in the past participated in tasteless displays around town however those lights take tackiness to new depths. People responsible for these decisions really need to shop other than at the dollar store.
or be replaced by people that are better at their jobs….
A huge draining of the swamp is needed in Cornwall. Why pay the idiots who are supposed to help bring businesses to the town when all the time they do nothing but chase businesses away with high taxes and an uneducated population of welfare recipients. Trump is taking away welfare from the sheeple and making them go and work and that is a leader not Trudeau at all but Trump.
I see some of us are failing to realize with Trump’s new medicare millions will be without coverage. Arrggghhh!!!!!
Hugger1 the same right that allows an American to buy groceries, acquire a home or purchase a car permits them to pay for medical care. Nothing in life is really free, someone pays. The top 10 percent cover 90 percent of the tax bill which includes health care in Canada. Not fair but great for low or no income Canadians. Each country to its own.