Mississauga Musings

"MESSAGE TO ONTARIANS. BEWARE. BIG BROTHER IS A BULLY"

I know and I`m sick of it.

Hey there, Mac's Gang.

Me: "MESSAGE TO ONTARIANS. BEWARE. BIG BROTHER IS A BULLY"

You: "I know and I`m sick of it."

Well, then. You know what you/we have to do.

In fact, tonight (very soon), my husband and I are going to watch as much of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy as possible.

My favourite part is where Gandolf stands up to the Balrog. Remember that part?

"YOU SHALL NOT PASS!!"

And Gandolf meant it. Fought and stomped on the head of the Balrog all the way down until both were dashed to bits in the canyon.

Anyway... best get on with it. (Will be videotaping the good parts and YouTubing it as a lesson for At-Risk Youth on how to deal with their city hall Balrogs).

Investigators visit city to investigate meeting allegations

Sudbury Star (ON)
Tue 01 Apr 2008
Page: A4
Section: Greater Sudbury
Byline: Denis St. Pierre
Source: The Sudbury Star

Investigators from the Ontario ombudsman's office spent last weekend in Sudbury, gathering information on an alleged secret meeting held by city council in February.

"We sent up four investigators on the weekend and they came back (Sunday) night," Gareth Jones, director of the special ombudsman response team, said Monday from his Toronto office.

Provincial Ombudsman Andr Marin disclosed last week his office was investigating a complaint that city councillors and staff held an illegal closed-door meeting to discuss how to deal with the Elton John concert ticket controversy.

Marin has indicated the investigation should be done within 30 days, which means it should be completed before the end of this month, Jones said.

The ombudsman's office received a complaint that "city councillors met inappropriately behind closed doors to discuss the recent Elton John concert in the city," the ombudsman's office reported last week.

"This complaint involves allegations about a lack of transparency that we are taking very seriously," the ombudsman said at the time.

Under changes to the Municipal Act that came into effect Jan. 1, all meetings of municipal councils and committees must be open to the public, with a few exceptions, such as discussions over legal matters and some personnel and property issues.

Sources have told The Star there was an impromptu, closed-door meeting in February involving council members and city staff to discuss the concert ticket controversy. Two days after that alleged meeting, city councillors returned 71 of the 120 tickets they had purchased to the Elton John concert.

Mayor John Rodriguez and some city councillors have said no inappropriate meeting took place. However, the mayor previously said the decision to return the tickets was made following a council meeting in February - the same date that the alleged closed-door meeting is said to have occurred.

Another city official said last week that the provincial ombudsman was investigating "when city councillors met" - also in reference to the same date.

Investigators from the ombudsman's office interviewed all city council members and several municipal employees last weekend, Jones said.

"They conducted about 20 interviews, including all the councillors and municipal staff," he said, adding copies of documents and electronic communication also were obtained.

"We gathered a lot of information, a lot of documentation, including a ton of e-mails. We got good co-operation from the council and the investigation is progressing apace. We've got some clear-up interviews to do, but I think we're pretty close to getting the field work done."

Provincial legislation gives the ombudsman's office the power of entry and the power of subpoena to obtain information from municipalities. However, the ombudsman cannot impose penalties on a municipal council if it concludes an inappropriate closed-door meeting was held. But municipalities must publish the ombudsman's findings.

Municipal officials can be prosecuted if they are found to have obstructed an ombudsman's investigation.

"If there's any evidence of obstruction there are penalties," Jones said. "People can, technically, go to jail if they obstruct, but of course there's no suggestion that's happened in this case so far."

dstpierre@thesudburystar.com

Say!! What if the You-Know-Who Wankerton’s who blog in under phony made up names are Hazel-nuts security wanks demoted into dog catchers submitting inaccurate personnel documental and misleading information.

Like previously, correction of records that were never made to personnel records, gave councillor McCallion’s entrepreneurship consultants [Ed: Deleted. Cripes, Wayne, you trying for Don Barber's record or what?]the upper advantage while they were lurking in the voyeur of [Ed: Deleted. Cripes, Wayne, you trying for Don Barber's record or what?]

Even [Ed: Deleted. That was an entire sentence, Wayne. Hope it made you feel good typing that out though] Region had installed into its delivery systems

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNBMEn3ndz8

Ontario says no to low cost welder training for unemployed workers!

As an unemployed forestry worker in Thunder Bay Ontario, I have been unable to find fulltime work for nine (9) months. I applied for training, a ten week welding certification program at the local college. I applied, through the Ontario government. The job research showed excellent job opportunities in my district. I needed three letters of potential employment, before consideration, I received eight letters in two days.

The counselor handling the application was in favor of the training, recommending I get approved. I was denied, as was a coworker.

This morning I set out to find out what qualifiers I failed to meet. As it turned out the decision was not made here, but in the Sudbury district, a booming area. The person I talked to, felt I could find work with my skills easily. I asked if they meant in my district. It was admitted to me that they had limited knowledge of the situation in Thunder Bay, but in Sudbury I could go straight to work (good to know if you’re in Sudbury).

Later today a Supervisor called, to put the matter to rest. I could start work tomorrow in the Sudbury area (sound familiar). The supervisor was unable to answer some of my questions, admittedly do to a lack of knowledge of the Thunder Bay district. Then the person stated, there was poor job prospects for my millwright skills in this area, and added, a CWB welding certificate would not help. Suggesting my research was flawed.

I’ve paid income tax for 27 years. Total cost of training $4700 that the government would have paid back to itself anyway.

I would like to know then, why the government wasted tax payer’s money, setting up the same said training course, only to running it at partial capacity.
It seems to me the Ontario government feels the best thing for the economy is to charge industry the highest utilities, highest taxes, and to deny much needed training. I think of moving west just for the sake of no longer paying taxes to Ontario.

Paul Boric (face book)
Thunder Bay
Ontario a place to Grow

Hey there "Anonymous" and thanks for surfing the Net for Bill 130 "investigator" news articles.

I haven't had the time myself to follow events as I should. Something's come up right here in Mississauga.

To me, this whole "closed door" meeting thing is as Mr. Marin referred to it, an issue that is "esoteric and theoretical". Most people don't even know their councillor's name let alone the subtle nuances of "in-camera" meetings.

Now that I've seen the "records" that local governments are allowed to keep on citizens, I have but one goal.

This absolute lack of accountability in Municipal Government must stop. And NOW. We're at a pivotal point in this Places to Grow Ontario thingie.

Infrastructure, GTTA Transit, massive immigration in the next while. As one reader put it, we can't afford the planning mistakes of previous decades.

Such a pivital time.

And yet we're "represented" by such SMALL SMALL PEOPLE!

And the reality? Ontario are ruled by Municipal Staff. Staff. NOT Mayor and Councillors.

Closed-meeting investigations? Cripes, we need the Ontario Ombudsman looking into EVERYTHING-MUNICIPAL!

Hey there, Wayne,

You wrote:

"Say!! What if the You-Know-Who Wankerton’s who blog in under phony made up names are Hazel-nuts security wanks demoted into dog catchers submitting inaccurate personnel documental and misleading information."

One of my YouTube commenters was indeed a former "Enforcement" type who insisted Mississauga keeps excellent records. Told him I'd look into that but for now was focussing only on Security.

Another said if I was bugged about police-lookalikes, Mississauga bylaw is even worse. So I thanked the dude and am now investigating Mississauga By-Law Enforcement.

Put in a phone call which I recorded. When they saw "This call is being recorded for quality control purposes" I just grin.

Damn STRAIGHT it's being "recorded". I'll be YouTubing that Mississauga By-Law call when I have the chance.

(It's only audio and I have to put video to it).

I know I wrote that I would drop down a Freedom of Information on Animal Services but I really need to ponder on how to construct my queries...

Freedom of Information is like a game of Municipal Battleship and you've got to be extremely precise in aiming the very few "torpedoes" allowed per request.

Otherwise you blow 30 days...

Ya got to wonder how many upset dog and cat owners have come to the attention of ...Mississauga authorities too.

At this point, I'm convinced the only thing that will help is a full-spectrum investigation into municipal governance (because the problems are SYSTEMIC) by the Ontario Ombudsman just like he did with MPAC.

Hi Paul and welcome to MISSISSAUGAWATCH.

You wrote:

"I would like to know then, why the government wasted tax payer’s money, setting up the same said training course, only to running it at partial capacity.
It seems to me the Ontario government feels the best thing for the economy is to charge industry the highest utilities, highest taxes, and to deny much needed training. I think of moving west just for the sake of no longer paying taxes to Ontario."

The reason is simple. You are being betrayed by your government. They crow about "ACCOUNTABILITY" and "TRANSPARENCY" and deny citizens both.

You may not be aware that Ontario is "Deadlast" of all provinces for the investigative powers of the Ombudsman. For example, if you've been screwed over by your municipal government, you have no one to turn to. No one.

Schools, Universities, Hospitals here in Ontario also can't be investigated by the Ombudsman.

Municipalities, Schools, Universities, Hospitals all have "Zones of Immunity" and as a result, no accountablity mechanisms in place. Fact is, Ontario MPP's often bolster the protections of these entities FROM citizens.

The result is such a pandemic ROT that --well, what happened to you is of no surprise. Also. As a result of my own investigations, I've concluded that at least some of the "Help-the-People" programmes (and that includes your Training-Employment) programme are so poorly-designed that they are in essence only those employed running the Help programs benefit.

That is social programmes employ municipal/regional staff and contractors and there's considerable question whether people being "worked with" benefit.

Your story --or disgust-- comes as no surprise to me.

If I may. You leaving? THAT'S WHAT THEY WANT! Even your municipality. They WANT you to leave.

I ask that you, Paul, always please keep in mind that when dealing with Ontario governments (municipal and provincial) that what happened to you has happened to others and will continue to happen to others.

Signed,
The (I'm STAYING) Mississauga Muse.