CORNWALL ONTARIO – Cornwall City Council finally agreed at a residential tax hike for this budget of just under 2%.
Much gnashing of teeth and rendering of garments as Councilor Elaine MacDonald and her pet monkey bemoaned the small increase after failing to bump it up to near 3%.
“We are looking at this the wrong way around, we have a community and society because we invest in it with taxes. We have this attitude that tax is bad. Tax is good.”
Tax is never good. Any politician that believes that, never mind states it shouldn’t be a politician. We have to tax because costs have gone up or we’ve failed to manage our money.
Here’s the short version of why we tax. We pool up all the fees, revenues, and monies we collect for the city each year. The extra we need we have to levy taxes for.
There’s always a reasonable amount expected to be paid in tax, but most people sincerely hope that it’s well spent and that our governments don’t abuse the process.
Ms MacDonald is a retired school teacher, chair of the Labour Council, and severely conflicted NDP leader locally who gives the party their cliched reputation.
Should she even be allowed to be a sitting councilor and on the Labour Council board? I mean, the woman that mops at City Hall isn’t allowed to run for council. How does this even happen? It’s alleged, that the Labour Council gave their nod in the last election to one candidate that didn’t even submit their questionnaire.
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You had the President of the Labour Council optically involved in pushing one of the largest voter blocks in directions that led to the unlikely election of her monkey Carolyne Hebert and Claude McIntosh. Crazy, huh?
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This in a city where so many police, fire, and teachers are on the Sunshine list when so many make less than $30K per year or are on fixed incomes.
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That cost of living of 2.5% for the Sunshine list crowd is over 10% for those who have to pay those salaries.
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That math doesn’t work. Eventually you’ve priced yourself out of the ability to pay.
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The problem in Cornwall is that too many voters don’t educate themselves and vote as though it’s a popularity contest. Those that can do a good job rarely run because the honorarium is so low and it can be a difficult path.
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There needs to be cuts to our overall budget, but not so much in services. It’s like telling a child you can’t afford cookies because mommie wanted a new a new car. Cornwall has a bloated leadership. What exactly does Mark Boileau do for his $150+ ? Why is our HR manager getting these bumps in cash? Why do we pay about $17 million per year for policing when the Counties pay about $11M with nearly 50% more population and far greater area to cover?
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Why do we keep bloating our fire services when so many of our fire team live outside of the city and seem quite content with volunteer fire services?
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Add in the cost of scandals, boycotting local newspapers, and you don’t need a degree to see where the money is going. It’s not about token services, and frankly it’s shameful to use that as a justification of the tax abuse that our councils have effected on us for the last twelve or so years. And many of those on this council have been a part of and voted for said increases.
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Recently this newspaper discovered that Guy Lauzon was hitting up each city councilor for a $500 donation from their expense accounts to his partisan Canada Day events run under the guise of a committee. The City also donates about $10K+ of in kind services.
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Loading ...The City also is now hiding some of the spending on outside groups under the Economic Development umbrella so it’s not as obvious where the cash is going. It also gives far too much power into one department.
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How about the donations given to some of the richest in our community by the city for a vanity university project at NAVCAN which isn’t even part of the Cornwall taxbase? Really, the Kanebs and Gerry Benson couldn’t afford to kick in that small bag of cash? And why at Navcan when we have so much freaking empty office and other space in Cornwall?
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All of these abuses of the tax purse add up.
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The utter disaster that is our Economic Development and now tourism office is another area of gross waste. How much does that city spend on Cornwall Living magazine which should be retitled, Friends and family of Bob Peters Magazine with some advertisers from the Seaway News”. $20K? $15K? More?
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The failings of City Hall run deeper than an inept and corrupt council collectively. It’s the large salaries given to managers and staff who are there through cronyism and nepotism, and simply don’t earn their keep.
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A recent example. I was walking at the Benson Centre and noticed that the rink boards were less than 25% filled. That’s embarrassing as the facility is supposed to be a showcase for Cornwall instead of just building two rinks.
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I asked Janice Robinson who’s in charge how much it is to rent a sign. No response. I emailed again ten days later, but this time cc’d a few folk and got an immediate answer.
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I offered to give the City $2500 in ads to help fill those signs in exchange for a single space. $700.00. In other words, the largest newspaper in the city offered over three times the value for something that was probably over valued to start with to help promote a facility with less than 25% fill rate.
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She refused. Again how did she get her managerial position in the first place? How did she go from Farmboy to running a city department?
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Was is simply because she was married to ED poobah Bob Peters, and was given the job when he allegedly had to resign over his abuse of City Credit cards at a European Bordello before being brought back for the Kilger election campaign and then given his job as a thank you when Bob the Non Builder was elected? How much cash has Mr. Peter’s spent of city money supporting friends via the ED file?
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Is it any wonder that out of town lawyers are vulturing out city now looking for clients who too want their MPAC evaluations reduced, something that has and will cost the city eventually millions in lost revenues?
Of course the only way to get those dollars back is to improve values and that can only happen if people are attracted to Cornwall.
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It’s a vicious circle and cycle.
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So Elaine we don’t need more taxes. We actually don’t need you or your monkeys. We do need good people to step up next election and run with a clear position that they will chop taxes and drain the swamp at City Hall like the City of Brampton did when it dumped over 20 managers.
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At the end of the day there simply is no rational or honest reason to raise taxes in Cornwall this year. There is no rational or honest reason to cut services. There is it seems, an utter lack of backbone of the Mayor and Council to tackle runaway labour costs and deal with ineffective management.
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What do you think dear CFN viewers? You can post your comments below if you have enough money left after this latest tax hike to cover your internet service.
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Comments and editorials are not the opinion of our advertisers or anyone affiliated with CFN other than their authors.
And did you see who voted for the larger tax increase? Elaine MacDonald and her cronies: Bernadette Clement, Carilyne Hebert, and Mayor O’Shaughnessy.
Are you surprised? Pensions, cronyism, and a job owed to CFN viewers. These are not people who create wealth, but parasite it.
When people want to go to a place to make their business they do a search all about the place and the people and if the place is not to their liking and have high taxes and nothing to offer they do not settle in a place like that. Cornwall is a turn off for everything. Cornwall has turned down many businesses and we found that out from neighbors. The clique turned everything away.
All you have to do is to look at the hell that Jamie is going through and went through after his time in Cornwall. When Jamie went to Cornwall we got the hell out of Cornwall in a big snowstorm. Hubby cursed and we laughed and were so happy to leave. Hubby asked the movers if they went to London Ontario or Windsor or anywhere to leave and everyone laughed and said yes we do. LOL LOL. ROLF!
it is at the point we can’t afford government, contract arbitration is really hurting the tax base
Different political approaches greatly impact our taxation policies. Liberalism embraces more influence over our lives and drives taxes up while conservatism advocates less intervention. We have spiralling debt and taxation as a direct result of the manner in which we vote. Most residents are okay with that, apparently.
Simply put, the blind are leading the blind.
On another political note just wondering if others were aware that we now have three systems of law in Canada thanks to an Ontario courts decision…civil law, common law and well, If you have been following societies progression you can fill in the third. Personally I am afraid for women and people with gender identity issues amongst other groups.
Remember when a raise was something you deserved based on merit. Arbitration has elimated that concept altogether.
Judging by the turn-out heat map for the 2014 municipal election, everyone in municipal politics seems pretty damn unpopular.
Still, I’d take Elaine MacDonald over the likes of Justin Trudeau or Donald Trump, but at this point I’m basically damning with faint praise here.
The queen of misinterpreting conflict of interest, Elaine MacDonald, needs to be shown the door. In other words not being reelected. She has no concept of what it takes to be a servant of the people.
The name JustinTrudeau just made me sick. I like Donald Trump and my husband got to like him as well. I can’t wait for the day that Justin Trudeau leaves entirely and never tobe heard from ever again. Cornwall has to make huge changes in administration since this one is very laughable and to the rediculous.