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Protesters show presence again at city hall
Gareau raised a number of unanswered questions about the case of abuse at Glen Stor Dun Lodge and the resulting retalia- tion against her sister, including whether the City has policies and procedures per- taining to resident abuse, and if the policies did exist, why were they not implemented at the lodge at the time of incident. She also questioned whether the City has a policy that gives “assurance of protec- tion” to whistle-blowers in such cases, and if the City did, she asked why the person in charge at the time did not implement those policies and procedures. TRUTHWILL COME OUT “You know it has been way too many years where it has been darkened. I do be- lieve there are court documents that will truly unveil transparency as far as the whis- tle-blower case – what happened to my sis- ter Diane Shay,” Gareau said. She also said there is a role for the public to play in this case. “They should voice that they want transparency, that they want dis- closure – complete disclosure. Chris Cameron, one of the leaders of the protest, would not say if more protests are planned for city hall, but he said he would be keeping his eye on city council. “We’re making more people aware in the community. That’s the key factor.” about the Victoria Village in Barrie – that was big.” “It was big to get a letter from the hospi- tal board saying the timelines were going to be respected. But tonight was a big step forward and council clearly showed support for the project and we’re going to move for- ward in a positive fashion and try to secure our other conditions to the sale.” JoshWelsh, a local student activist who has been at MacDonald’s side throughout the whole community campaign, said “you’re never too young” to get involved in commu- nity activism. The Concerned Citizens Group campaign has piqued the 17-year-old’s interest so much in the local political process that he said he might run in the next municipal elec- tion in the fall of 2014.
GREG KIELEC greg.kielec@eap.on.ca
For an unprecedented second consecu- tive public meeting of Cornwall city coun- cil, there were sign-wielding protesters on the street in front of city hall last Monday demanding accountability and transpar- ency from their elected officials. About 25 protesters, many wearing the highly symbolic Guy Fawkes mask and anti- bullying T-shirts bearing a doctored picture of Councillor Syd Gardiner and one loudly calling out council actions on a mega- phone, walked the sidewalk in front of city hall demanding change at city hall. WHISTLE-BLOWER’S SISTER Among those on hand was Debbie Gareau, the sister of renowned Cornwall whistle-blower Diane Shay, who has been engaged in a lengthy five-year battle, ac- cording to Gareau, with the City over her initial complaint of resident abuse at Glen- Stor-Dun Lodge. Shay is believed to be one of two city managers who filed for whistle-blower pro- tection early last year. The other manager is believed to be the Cornwall Fire Depart- ment’s deputy fire chief, Robert Hickley. The Cornwall city council members have placed support behind a community proposal to convert the former Cornwall General Hos- pital into a multi-use, senior-focused facil- ity. Council members unanimously endorsed a request for city resources to help the group with its proposal at last Monday’s council meeting after a presentation by Mark Mac- Donald of the Concerned Citizens Coalition. “It’s probably the most important part of the whole process,” said MacDonald, who suggested work on the proposal could be led by a new seniors task force created by city council and dovetailed with a long-term task force proposed byMayor Bob Kilger that
Photo - Greg Kielec
Chris Cameron, one of about 25 protesters at city hall last Monday, holds out his sign to passing traffic prior to the regularly scheduled city council meeting.
City has not officially confirmed the names of the whistle-blowers or the nature of their complaints. Gareau said she still has questions about the City’s handling of Shay’s whistle-blower case, which has taken an enormous toll on her sister. The City was convicted and fined $15,000 plus a 25 per cent victim surcharge
inOctober 2011 for retaliating against Shay.. Shay has endured “a terrific amount of retaliation in the worst forms of bullying,” Gareau said, and “I know that she hopes also the whistle-blower policies and proce- dures are reviewed to prevent a repeat of what (she) has endured and was inflicted upon her.”
City council lends its support to community hospital proposal GREG KIELEC GREG.KIELEC@EAP.ON.CA
was approved at the same council meeting. The request was endorsed despite reser- vations from council members about how much the utilization administrative resourc-
would likely only be a small portion of the facility and would be paid for and oper- ated by a private company without fund- ing from the community. The remainder of
es would cost the city and the daunting potential cost of the proposed conversion of the Second Street hospital site. Councillor Syd Gar-
the facility would be a combination of se- niors housing, social housing and com- mercial space, much like a similar project dubbed Victoria Vil-
Tonight was a big night. There’s no question.
diner once again raised the figure of $72 mil- lion to convert the former hospital to a long- term care facility. But Mark MacDonald said Gardiner’s cost assessment is not accurate because it is based on the assumption the entire facility would be converted to long- term care. MacDonald said a long-term-care unit
lage in Barrie. “Tonight was a big night. There’s no ques- tion,” MacDonald said in an interview with The Journal after his presentation. “There have been a number of things that have helped move the issue along,” he said. “One of the things that really moved it along is when we found out from a Journal reporter
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