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Olymel ready to rebound: Vigneault
CRIME SCENE
GREG KIELEC greg.kielec@eap.on.ca
Marijuana seized A North Glengarry man has been charged after SD&G OPP discovered marijuana during a traffic stop on Main Street in Alexandria around 10:30 p.m. last Wednesday. The stop resulted in the seizure (small amount) of suspected marihuana. The 26-year-old driver, Corey Major of North Glengarry was arrested after police seized a small amount of marijuana. He is charged with possession schedule II cannabis marijuana He is scheduled to appear in Alexandria court on April 13. Teens charged Two teens face charges after SD&G OPP seized about 17 grams of marijuana during a traffic stop on County Road 2 in South Glengarry on Thursday. Steve Bell and Kevin Gent, both 18, of South Glengarry Township, face a charge of possession schedule II cannabis mari- juana They are both scheduled to appear in Alexandria court on May 13. The approxi- mate street value of the seized drugs is $170. Guard assaulted Brandon Jacobs, 18, of Cornwall was ar- rested on Thursday. It is alleged that on March 5, he assault- ed a 48-year-old male security guard. The victim was not injured. He was charged with assault and re- leased to appear in court on April 23. Girl hurt in assault A 14-year-old Cornwall youth was ar- rested on March 5 after it was alleged that on March 3, she and a 15-year-old girl were at her residence when they be- came involved in a physical altercation. The victim suffered minor injuries. Po- lice were contacted and an investigation followed. The youth was charged with assault and was released to an adult to appear in court on April 18. Her name is not be- ing released as per provisions under the Youth Criminal Justice Act. Caused disturbance Kelly Allen, 49 of Cornwall was arrested on March 5 after it was alleged he was causing a disturbance under the influ- ence of alcohol on Feb. 21. He was charged with causing a Distur- bance and two counts of failing to com- ply with recognizance. He was held in custody until court the following day. He was bound by a recognizance with the conditions to abstain from the con- sumption of alcohol absolutely or being found anyplace where alcohol is sold save restaurants and not to be away from my residence except with surety.
A bacon processor in Cornwall is hoping an expansion to diversify its product line, coupled with the anticipated renewal of its United States export licence, will help turn around the plant’s fortunes. The company laid off 75 workers within the past couple of weeks at its plant be- cause of a reduction of orders due to in- creased U.S. competition that has resulted from the high Canadian dollar. “Temporary layoffs are never a good thing,” said Richard Vigneault, spokesman for Olymel Canada. But he stressed a bright- er future could be in store for the plant once it gets the green light to resume U.S. exports and completes an expansion at the plant to diversify its product line. The company has been subject to “fierce competition from American products for two to three years” that is “flooding the Ca- nadian market” because of the high Cana- dian dollar, Vigneault said. The high dollar makes it cheaper for large grocery chains to import American bacon instead of buying the Canadian-made prod- uct. It has forcedOlymel to control costs and become more efficient to compete with the cheaper American products. “Still the Canadian dollar is very high… Cornwall Mayor Bob Kilger, in a highly unusual move, has issued a news release stating he is not in conflict of interest in a personnel matter being dealt with by city council. But despite being assured by a major le- gal firm that he is not in conflict, he recused himself from a portion of a Feb. 11 meeting a skipped a Feb. 19 meeting during which the matter is being discussed, he said. An Ottawa lawyer has weighed in on the a statement Kilger indicating he is not in con- flict of interest regarding one key personnel issue being dealt with by city council. Fay Brunning, who represents two city employees who filed for whistleblower pro- tection early last year, is taking issue with GREG KIELEC GREG.KIELEC@EAP.ON.CA
Photo - Greg Kielec
Workers sit outside the Olymel bacon processing plant in Cornwall in this August 2011 file photo from The Journal. The plant recently laid off 75 workers but is work- ing to turn its fortunes around.
it’s an obstacle to exportation most of the time,” said Vigneault, and not just to Olymel but all Canadian manufacturers. But Vigneault is hoping an expansion that will allow the plant to diversify with prod- ucts like smoke ham will help the company regain market share “so we can go back to full capacity.” “It’s a huge expansion,” Vigneault added, but did not have exact figures to provide The Journal . The work is expected to be completed by the end of the year. Some more good news – the anticipated renewal of the company’s export licence to Kilger’s statement. Brunning also represented Diane Shay in a case of whistleblower retaliation in 2011 in which the city became the first municipality ever to be convicted under the province’s whistleblower retaliation legislation. Kilger, in his statement, said he received independent legal advice from the national law firm of Blake, Cassels & Graydon indicat- ing he has not been in a conflict of interest situation with respect to the matters dis- cussed at the in-camera meetings. “While I accept my lawyer’s advice that there is no conflict of interest, I do not intend to participate in any of council’s future con- sideration of these specific matters because I would like Council to deal with thesematters with as few complications as possible.” Kilger issued the statement to explain his involvement in two in-camera sessions of would eventually hold a press conference explaining why he left his seat. The news release was originally planned for June, when an internal investigation of city hall by lawyer Judith Allen was due to be completed. But the investigation by Al- len was delayed due to unforeseen circum- stances. “I now believe it has been completed or is
the United States – should also boost the company’s fortunes, Vigneault said. The company lost its export licence and was shut down by the Canadian Food In- spection Agency in August 2011 after a tainted shipment of bacon was detected at the American border. The plant began re-opening gradually in January 2012 after extensive work to comply with CFIA criteria. The Industrial Drive plant had about 259 employees prior to the layoff. It is now working with 184 employees. Work on the expansion is expected to be completed by the end of the year, Vigneault said. city council in February. “There was an in camera meeting of city council on Feb. 19 regarding personnel matters. The same matters were also briefly discussed during a portion of an in-camera meeting on Feb. 11. I did not attend the Feb. 19 meeting and I recused myself from a por- tion of the Feb. 11 meeting while these mat- ters were discussed because I wanted to ob- tain independent legal advice as to whether I was in a conflict of interest,”Kilger said. “If I was in a conflict of interest situation with respect to the matters discussed at these meetings, the Municipal Conflict of In- terest Act states that, because I was absent from the one meeting, I must declare that conflict at the next regular meeting of coun- cil. Accordingly, I did not have a conflict of in- terest declaration to make at the city council meeting of Feb. 25,”he said. nearing completion,”O’Shaughnessy said in explaining the timing of the news release. O’Shaughnessy refuses to refer to the Allen investigation by name, describing it simply as “work” that was initiated “behind closed doors” after he left council. “Everyone knows what it is, but I am bound by the confidentiality of closed-door sessions,” he said.
Mayor says he’s not in conflict of interest in closed sessions
City councillor who resigned to issue press release detailing reasons GREG KIELEC GREG.KIELEC@EAP.ON.CA
A city councillor who walked away in frus- tration from city hall last year will issue a news release Monday explaining why he made the unprecedented move. Leslie O’Shaughnessy promised when he resigned from council in April 2012 that he
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