council civility

Alan Kan writes the #munipoli matters newsletter, focusing on the news and politics of municipalities not just here in the 905 but across the country as well.  Today we talk with him and ask him to share his take on what he predicts will be the more interesting municipal elections in the region.Read More …

As one Ontario election ends, it appears that immediately we look at the upcoming municipal election in the fall. Rumours abound about Andrea Horwath’s intentions in Hamilton. Larry Di Ianni is being Larry Di Ianni again. In Burlington, what Shawna Stolte asked for – a revised closed session protocol – has been delivered. It wouldn’t have happened without her insistence, so why are her council colleagues pretending it had nothing to do with her?Read More …

This is not going to be anybody’s election for the ages, unless something very unexpected happens on Thursday. W, as the the saying goes, TF? And talking of unbelievable, Councillor Terry Whitehead, Hamilton’s regular challenger in the crowded field of challengers for ’worst councillor in Ontario’, really went off on one last week, in a manner that rekindled concerns for his wellbeing. But in the current climate of political self-immolation, does being the living definition of a loose cannon actually harm Whitehead’s chances of re-election?Read More …

905 Round-up April 28th 2022

Coming off our coverage of the fall of Burlington City Council’s decision to reprimand Councillor Shawna Stolte we look at the very public and lengthy response to the situation from Mayor Marianne Meed-Ward. Then we examine the rising cases of COVID-19 in Hamilton as well as the province at large.  It seems that people are eager to ignore that a pandemic is still happening.  While lockdowns have grown to be unnecessary in the current wave, there have emerged other problems that are not being addressed.Read More …

Sticky
3 councilors

We look at the four complaints levelled against Burlington’s Shawna Stolte (two upheld by the Integrity Commissioner) and ask why two of Stolte’s colleagues would have used such extreme measures to resolve a matter with a colleague, and look at the wider context of the Integrity Commissioner’s role in Ontario.Read More …

Sticky
Shawna Stolte

Burlington’s Ward Four Councillor Shawna Stolte has today delivered a scathing response to the actions of two of her colleagues, Ward 1 Councillor Kelvin Galbraith and Ward 3 Councillor Rory Nisan, who made a secret complaint against her to Burlington’s Integrity Commissioner earlier this year. The report was published—or made available to Burlington City Hall—last Friday, but the was not forwarded to media until Councillor Stolte herself forwarded it today.Read More …