Why I Didn’t Run for Mayor or Council in Cornwall Ontario by Jamie Gilcig 072818

Cornwall Ontario –   From offers of hand made suits  by Montreal tailors and volunteers it was very tempting to run for office in Cornwall this election.

When I ran in 2014 I had one clear objective which I was very proud of the results contrary to what Hugo Rodrigues likes to spew.    I wanted change. I wanted to get rid of a corrupt mayor and council led by Bob Kilger.

I think that goal was achieved far more successfully than many thought would happen.

I learned a lot during that experience which resulted in fake police charges which to this day still haven’t been resolved as well as a hospital visit from the stress and abuse.   History will not look back well on Cornwall Ontario and its power structure.

The corruption was duly noted by many influential outsiders.    It cost the city millions because unlike some special folk here I do have a lot of acquaintances in high and low places as our corrupt police chief likes to wax, and whether some of our special clique leaders believe it or not an awful lot of people read this newspaper which resulted in some cancelled projects and disdain to invest and work in Cornwall.

There are some that say the change failed.   It didn’t.  Many realize that their votes do count and change can occur.   While that change didn’t achieve the results hoped for doesn’t mean you give up.   You be the change.  You build the community you want.  It’s how Democracy works.

After a recent trip to NYC I decided not to run for office.  It wasn’t an easy decision, but it came down to two factors; the utter corruption of our police and media in Cornwall, and the very simple fact that not enough good people stepped up to the plate willing to be brave enough to make change happen this election.

I sent out a release to all the local editors offering to be interviewed about my possible run.  Nary a peep back.   Is it just because I run the largest newspaper in town?  Is it just jealousy?  I’m not sure. I certainly would hope not.  In most communities I most certainly would’ve been interviewed as it’s all of our futures at stake here.

In life you usually follow the money.     When I was falsely arrested for making death threats via phone the Bell production order showed I didn’t make a single call.   I was still kept under punitive peace bond conditions through the election.  At the “big” debate at the complex the Police Chief sat close to me and even smiled at me.  It was creepy of Dan Parkinson to do and many considered it intimidation.    Chief Parkinson ended up with a four year contract that yielded him nearly a cool million dollars and topped up his pension.   Bob Kilger was on the police board and his campaign manager, Pat Finucan was its chair.   IE they voted to give our Chief his contract.   The optics alone reek on that one.

To date Crown Jennifer Burke has not been held accountable for her role.   Hilary McCormack at the AG in Ottawa was promoted out of her position and Mike Bedard, the man who made the false allegations was never charged.   Cst Casey Macgregor and Sgt Chad Maxwell also have been sucking back their salaries with no smudges on their record for their roles in the utter travesty of justice that smeared the name of the Cornwall Community Police Service.

That’s some old boy way of running things.   Would you want to go through that again?

During the last four years I asked Post Media Standard Freeholder Managing Editor Hugo Rodrigues for myself to be interviewed about budget issues.  After all I did run on cutting the budget as opposed to some of the two faced hypocrites that signed the CAG pledge and then were part of the biggest tax hike in Cornwall history while the tax levy rose nearly 20% this term.  He refused gleefully.  Again, one would have to ponder Hugo’s agenda and motivations….

You really can’t make up this stuff.

The simply reality is that I’ve always said if I ever gave up on Cornwall it wouldn’t be because of the clique or the bad guys, but because the “good people” simply didn’t step up and honestly that’s what I’ve seen.

Whether out of fear for the jobs, or simply fear of being abused by the bullies I’ve seen many good people shrink away from issues like our waterfront, fighting taxes, and simply fighting to make this a better community.   I’ve seen too many leave Cornwall behind them.   Right now I’m seeing seniors giving up on Cornwall and that says a lot.

So I made my choice.   Yes Virginia, it’s way more fun to be Kingmaker than King.   And with 32 council candidates and four for mayor in Cornwall I’ll be busy this election season as we head towards the tenth anniversary of this newspaper in February.

If you want to see extra coverage during the election, and judging from the calls, emails, and messages I’m getting you do,  please hit the donate button and please send a message with your donation sharing who you want coverage of and why.

Nobody moves to Cornwall Ontario to seek attention and sometimes you can do more good not being an elected official than being one.

Remember, we get the government we deserve.  It’s your call Cornwall.

j