The third part of the series in Collingwood Today asked members of council what “surprises they’ve experienced so far in their terms.” As a former councillor, I appreciate how stepping into the role for the first time is a bit of a shock; it takes a while to learn everything,
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Scripturient: Council’s First Year, Part Two
Part two of the series in Collingwood Today about our council’s first year asked “how councillors felt this council has set itself apart from previous Collingwood councils.” As with the previous piece, the article brought more face-palming moments as some of the council tried to justify their place at the
Continue readingScripturient: Council’s First Year Considered
I did a few facepalms while reading CollingwoodToday’s four-part piece on Collingwood Council’s first year in office. CwoodToday approached each of them with questions “about their accomplishments so far, to how this council feels they’ve set themselves apart, and to surprises they’ve experienced so far as elected officials.” No similar
Continue readingScripturient: An Odium of Politicians
The proper collective noun for a group of politicians is “an odium,” at least according to James Lipton in his delightful book, An Exaltation of Larks (Ultimate Edition, Penguin Books, 1993). I was thinking of how appropriate that term is, this week, when I read the odious comments from our
Continue readingScripturient: Hypocritical Candidate Wants to Return to Council
Two more of our local “basket-of-deplorables” incumbent councillors (aka quidnuncs) have filed their papers for re-election: Steve Berman and Kathy “Me! Me! Me!” Jeffrey. So has former councillor Cam “Sleepy” Ecclestone, who announced he was running in the provincial election for the fringe “Consensus Party” then never appeared on the
Continue readingScripturient: Don’t Forget Who Blocked the Hospital Redevelopment
Among those incumbents running for re-election, are (so far), three who were part of the cabal on the 2014-18 council that actively and aggressively tried to block the Collingwood General & Marine Hospital’s redevelopment. Their efforts did cost the hospital money and time, and set the redevelopment back at least
Continue readingScripturient: Council’s Inappropriate Pay-Raise Decision
Late last month — less than three months before the next municipal election — council made significant decisions about their own pay and the role of the mayor. Given that four of them have filed to run again (and a fifth is pending), and two of those are vying for
Continue readingScripturient: Grovel, Snivel & Fawn
Grovel, Snivel & Fawn. You might think it’s the name of a law firm, but it’s the art of political sycophancy practiced by our own council.* It’s how our council behaved when the former, and much-disliked mayor, Brian Saunderson, took his leave from sucking on the municipal tit last week
Continue readingScripturient: Signs, Signs, Everywhere There’s Signs
The Town of Collingwood’s Facebook page has a post that shows photos of our council members grinning at the camera while holding a piece of paper with a word handwritten above a printed text. I am not aware that this bit of self-promotion has been covered in any local media
Continue readingScripturient: Utterly Corrupt and Contemptible
Last night, our council contemptuously appointed a replacement for former councillor Tina Comi, who had been bullied out of office by the Gang of Six of the seven currently at the table. The man they chose was former mayor, Chris Carrier, who also: Is a registered lobbyist in Collingwood for
Continue readingScripturient: Brian’s Hypocrisy on Display. Again.
This week, the Town of Collingwood again raised the pink flag to show its support against bullying. It’s an initiative that local resident Trevor Henson has been promoting for the past 16 years. How ironic that Mayor Saunderson was there to hoist it. And look, there were councillors Doherty and
Continue readingScripturient: Council Gives a Bad Name to Train Wrecks
In his latest post, fellow blogger Chris Potts opines on our council’s misogynistic bullying of former councillor Tina Comi that resulted in her resignation from the toxic environment in local politics. Potts calls our council a train wreck, noting: …my true opinion of this council and the only thing that
Continue readingScripturient: Comi-gate Continues to Plague Council
Mayor Saunderson and his gang of bullies continue to take flack for their hostile, childish behaviour towards the former Councillor Tina Comi, who resigned her seat late last month. The week after she resigned, the town’s integrity commissioner (IC) revealed a complaint against Comi filled by the Gang of Six
Continue readingScripturient: More Misogyny at Council
At Monday night’s council (Jan. 31), there was yet one more example of the misogyny male members of council exhibit towards their female peers. And, as you might have expected, it involved Councillor Madigan, our mayor’s most loyal lapdog supporter who never seems to be called out for his puerile
Continue readingScripturient: The Bullying Will Continue Until We’re Satisfied
Which of the following words or phrases do you feel best describe Collingwood Council (you may choose more than one): Petty Vindictive Puritanical Hypocritical Vicious Punitive Jealous Envious Mean-spirited Puerile Slavishly loyal to their Great Leader Self-righteous All of the above Imagine this (cue the Twilight Zone soundtrack…): a council
Continue readingScripturient: Morally and Ethically Bankrupt
It’s official: our council is morally and ethically bankrupt. You may have felt that from their past behaviour, but Monday night they confirmed it for everyone. There is not a shred of decency left to share among them. At the Jan. 24 meeting of council, they voted unanimously to revoke
Continue readingScripturient: A Bullied Councillor Resigns
On Friday, Jan. 21, Councillor Tina Comi resigned from council. I am deeply disappointed and troubled. She was the only one at the table not among the slate of slavish sycophants who serve The Great Leader. Her departure leaves us with a dysfunctional council devoid of wisdom, devoid of community
Continue readingScripturient: Saunderson’s Groundhog Day
Mayor Brian Saunderon’s two petty, vindictive, and very personal motions are on the agenda for Monday, Jan. 24. You can read the agenda here, and read my comments on our mayor’s obsessive, Stalinist cancel-culture program here, and the background machinations that led to his motion here. This is nothing more
Continue readingScripturient: Socrates and Saunderson
In Plato’s dialogue Gorgias, Socrates debates with three sophists — Gorgias the rhetorician and his pupils Polus, and Callicles — about justice, power, morality, and virtue. Socrates also questions the value of oratory and rhetoric — the crafts of the sophists — in contemporary politics and whether they do good
Continue readingScripturient: The Dark History Behind Saunderson’s Cancel-Culture Motion
Without any fanfare or media coverage (no surprises there!), last September Collingwood Council approved a significant change to the policy regarding the Order of Collingwood that would pave the way for Mayor Brian Saunderson to launch his cancel-culture attack on someone he despises for hurting his feelings. But the real
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