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City cleared in closed meeting report
CRIME SCENE
Drug charges A 44-year-old Cornwall man faces charges after a drug raid by police at a Pitt Street residence on May 1. The raid was executed just before 7 p. m . b y m e m bers of the Cornwall Co m - m unit y Police Service Cri m inal Investiga- tion Branch, Street Cri m e Unit and E m er- genc y R esponse Tea m . Police seized a quantit y of what was believed to be H y dro m orphone and co- caine. The total a m ount of propert y and drug seized was esti m ated at $ 2 5 0 . Kenneth Youngs is charged with two counts of possession of a controlled substance. He was released to appear in court on June 20 . Robbed acquaintance A 20-year-old Cornwall man faces charg- es after he was accused of robbing and assaulting an 18-year-old acquaintance on April 24. Daniel Delage, 20 of Cornwall was ar- rested on April 30 and charged with rob- ber y and uttering death threats. The vic- ti m did not require m edical treat m ent. Delage was released to appear in court on June 4. Scamming grandma A 21-year-old Cornwall man is being ac- cused of cashing in at the expense of his 62-year-old grandmother. Cornwall police allege that on April 20 , he stole cheques fro m his grand m other and deposited several cheques fraudu- lentl y between April 22 and April 2 4 He is charged with theft under $5, 000 , breach of a probation order, atte m pting to co mm it fraud, two counts of fraud under $5, 000 and five counts of uttering forged docu m ents. He was arrested on April 29 and was re- leased to appear in court on June 4. His na m e was not released as it would iden- tif y the victi m . Real steal Two Cornwall men were arrested on April 29, after they were accused of stealing steel items from a Second Street West property. Michel Leblanc, 44, is charged with theft under $5, 000 . Jod y Burgess, 44, is charged with theft under $5, 000 and breach of a probation order The y were both released to appear in A South Dundas teen has been charged after he was accused of assaulting a fe- male on Thursday. SD&G OPP officers responded to a re- port of the assault on Shannette R oad in South Dundas around 5 p. m . The 18- y earr-old m ale was arrested and faces a charge of assault. He is scheduled to appear in Morrisburg court June 11. MORE CRIME NEWS ON PAGE 5 court on June 4 th , 20 1 3 . Teen charged
Whistleblower responds to report
GREG KIELEC greg.kielec@eap.on.ca
The following statement was issued by Cornwall whistleblower Diane Shay in re- sponse to the Fournier report. As the public are aware, the City was con- victed for illegal retaliation against me in October 2011 in relation to resident abuse at the Lodge. The Cit y Council was then investigating for answers as to wh y the three m e m bers of senior m anage m ent of the Cit y had par- ticipated in illegal retaliation, causing legal defence costs of $ 200 , 000 and pa ym ent of a fine. As Mr. Fournier’s report reveals, during the course of Council seeking answers, two whistleblower co m plaints (one of which was m ine) were filed directl y to Council. Ever y aspect of the whistleblower co m plaints was withheld fro m the public. Since the public were not noti- fied, the e m plo y ees of the Cit y were also not m ade aware. The decision of Cit y Council to not tell the public an y thing about the co m plaints, and to deal in ca m era with ever y thing about the co m plaints (including their existence) was entirel y discretionar y . Total secrec y was not m andator y , as Mr. Fournier has found. Cit y Council withheld all infor m ation fro m the public. Mr. Fournier has onl y li m ited powers of reco mm endation, but he reco mm ends that Council consider that the public had the right to know or at least receive so m e for m of notice about a whistleblower co m - watts per m onth will see its m onthl y invoice increase b y $ 2 .5 2 . Pescod attributed the increase to the long-ter m wholesale electricit y suppl y con- tracts with H y dro Quebec. “Like all other utilities in Ontario, the wholesale cost of electricit y in Cornwall is passed through to custo m ers.’ “The long ter m contracts with H y dro Que- bec provide securit y of suppl y and rate sta- bilit y to Dece m ber 20 1 9 ,” said Pescod. “Cornwall Electric rates continue to co m - ated with the low-level bridge project, the cit y is warning m otorists. Through traffic will be detoured via Cu m - berland Street and Second Street during the work period. The area will re m ain open to local traffic onl y for resident’s access to properties within the closure area, where construction activities per m it. The section of the recreational path near the bridge construction site is expected to re m ain open during this period, but could change subject to construction activities.
plaint being under investigation. The infor m ation that is revealed within Mr. Fournier’s report could have been m ade available to the public, as it was hap- pening. As the reports verif y , both whis- tleblowers asked Cit y Council on Jul y 30 , 20 1 2 to a m end the whistleblower polic y to notif y the e m plo y ees about the inves- tigation and appoint m ent of investigators, and to put witness protection protocols into place, along with staff training. Also
The city was right to conduct discussions about two whistleblower cases behind closed doors, the city’s closed meeting in- vestigator has ruled. Stephen Fournier m ade the ruling in a re- port to be presented during a special public m eeting of cit y council on Ma y 7 . “It is the investigator’s opinion that council’s actions to preserve the confidentialit y of the pro- cess were warranted in this case.” But Fournier also ruled that the cit y was too vague in its description of the issue is used to warrant discussing the whistle- blower issues in closed session. “In the opinion of the investigator, the ter m “personnel m atters” it is so broad that it lacks the general degree of specific- it y conte m plated under the procedural re- quire m ents of Section 239 of the Act .” He suggests future agendas of closed sessions dealing with whistleblower co m - plaints actuall y note that council note in its resolution that it is m ove in-ca m era to discuss a “confidential report relating to the city’s whistleblower policy.” “The confidential report/discussion was often referred to as a Confidential (Report)- Personnel Matter(s) in the resolutions of the open council m eeting to m ove in camera . “The m atters that were discussed in the closed sessions fro m June11, 20 1 2 to Febru- ar y 1 9 , 20 1 3 , and the grounds cited for do- ing so were appropriate under Section 239 of the Act ,” wrote Fournier in the conclusion of his report.
in Jul y both Whistleblowers waived the need to keep their identit y anon ym ous so that e m plo y ees could be notified. It would have enhanced the investigation process, if the public were aware of the ex- istence of investigations and could supervise Council’s ac- tions. The public could have questioned the powers (or lack thereof) of the investigators,
Diane Shay
and could have m onitored to ensure there were no m ore allegations of retaliation against these or other e m plo y ees of the Cit y . If there had been public notification, Cit y e m plo y ees would have felt the pro- tection of Cit y Council and the public for the purposes of giving their evidence in such difficult circu m stances. This is the second report of Mr. Fournier in relation to closed m eetings of Council following the conviction of the Cit y for il- legal retaliation in October 20 11. Answers pertaining to that conviction have still not been provided to the public b y Cit y Council. pare favorabl y to surrounding electrical utilities,” he added One silver lining in the rate increase is that eligible Cornwall Electric residential and s m all business custo m ers will continue to receive the Ontario Clean Energ y Ben- efit that will save custo m ers 1 0 per cent on electricit y costs. Pescod also is re m inding custo m ers that Cornwall Electric custo m ers are not subject to the debt retire m ent charge that users of Ontario H y dro m ust pa y .
Cornwall Electric rates increasing 2.56% in July GREG KIELEC GREG.KIELEC@EAP.ON.CA
Just weeks after city residents learned their taxes are going up 2.88 per cent this year, Cornwall Electric has announced their electricity rates will be increasing as well. R ates will increase 2 .56% on Jul y 1, ac- cording to Michael Pescod, regional m an- ager of Cornwall Electric. A residential custo m er using 8 00 kilo-
Brookdale south to Water Street closed for four months GREG KIELEC GREG.KIELEC@EAP.ON.CA
Motorists accustomed to taking that long curve connecting Water Street and Brook- dale Avenue will have to find an alternate route beginning Monday. A section of Brookdale Avenue south of Second Street and Water Street west of Cu m berland Street will be closed to through traffic for approxi m atel y four m onths be- ginning Monda y , to co m plete work associ-
The above graphic provided by the City shows the summer detour at the south end of Brookdale to Water Street.
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