Departure of Peter Stursburg as English network chief will not change CBC

The head of CBC’s English language programming quit or was forced out depending on who you read. Senior management were quick to send out comfort memos to staff – nothing will change.

That’s good news for CBC Charlottetown were corruption and arrogance rule the day.  In a leaked memo from Inside the CBC, we learn that the “renewal of our journalistic policy book and how we do our journalism” will not be be effected.

That means CBC journalists will continue to be able to receive secret, low or no interest loans and grants from the government or major businesses they cover.    Read the rest of this entry »

Another term of mismanagement in City Hall is more than taxpayers can afford

Clifford Lee running for mayor

The Charlottetown Guardian is breathlessly printing the press release that Clifford Lee is running again for mayor. “Charlottetown does not need new leadership, it just needs the right leadership,’ Lee said during a press conference. “The right leadership is the leadership that delivers the team that knows how to do the job.’ Charlottetown Guardian

For once Clifford got it right. We need the right management but it’s not him. Clifford is PEI’s answer to the permanent political hack. Ostensibly working at the Liquor Commission for years, Clifford’s role was getting Elmer MacFadyen elected through political dirty tricks.

Lee doesn’t hold a job like most adults. He’s got some nebulous appointment from the Province that provides income with no responsibility.  He is street smart politically which makes him dangerous during elections. There are rumours he was handing out free joints during the Binns/Ghiz provincial election.

However, he needed Richard Brown’s help to get elected last time. It’s highly doubtful the Liberals and Brown will help Lee this time.  Philip Brown, Richard’s brother, has already started his campaign for the Mayor’s office. The only other question I can think of is will Tex MacDonald have another go at the Mayor’s job. Tex can often be heard to pine away for his old job when primed. Read the rest of this entry »

Montague’s deputy mayor casts lone vote against pay hike

Montague Councilor Peter Doucette, another Liberal politician with his hand in your pocket

By Charlotte MacAulay charlotte@peicanada.com Eastern Graphic

Montague deputy mayor David Mabon was the lone holdout on a motion to increase the amount paid to councillors and the mayor at Monday night’s town meeting.

A motion was put forward on April 26 by finance chair, John MacFarlane, to raise council’s remuneration $500 which would mean councillors would receive $4,500 each and the mayor would collect $6,000.

A second reading of the motion will be made at the next regular council meeting and a third reading at the June meeting.

Coun Mabon said a survey should have been done first to compare municipal remunerations in the smaller towns in PEI.

Councillors Peter Doucette, Marion Robertson, John MacFarlane, Peggy Whitlock and Janice MacBeth supported the motion.

The Graphic has learned that as of April 1, 2010, Montague’s remuneration for councillors was 60 per cent higher than in Souris, Georgetown, Alberton and Kensington.
Read the rest of this entry »

PEI Politicians at the trough again

Montague Councilor Peter Doucette, pay me more "oink"

Paul MacNeill, Eastern Graphic

Remember Al Pacino’s famous line from The Godfather: ‘Just when I thought I was out, they drag me back in’. Well, that is what popped to mind when Montague Town Council came out of hibernation and showed it has learned little from the embarrassment it forced the town to endure last year.

Apparently, Montague is flush with cash, odd considering Mayor Richard Collins has publicly mused about the level of debt taken on by the municipality. That aside, council is recommending a hefty raise for itself – 12.5 per cent for councillors, 9 nine per cent for the mayor. If passed councillors will be paid $4,500, the mayor $5,000.

According to Councillor Peter Doucette taxpayers should be thankful to receive such good value for money from elected officials. “The work we do is worth much more than we get paid,” Doucette claims.

Really? What ‘value’ does Doucette put on the fiasco of last year when Montague’s town council became a laughing stock and the butt of jokes from one end of the Island to the other? Council imploded just as volunteers (that means they are not paid, Peter) were trying to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars to finance the new wellness centre. The timing of council’s hissy fit could not have been worse.   Read the rest of this entry »

And to all the brave who work and volunteer to save our lives and property

Volunteer and paid firefighters are some of our bravest and noblest public servants. They risk life and limb for our lives and our physical property.

Six of Charlottetown’s finest are retiring Charlottetown fire department loses century of experience

“Six firefighters with more than 100 years of service to the city are leaving Charlottetown’s fire department.

The retirements include the department’s two staff members and members of the volunteer brigade.”

What can we say but thanks. And thanks to those who continue to serve.

UPEI President Wade MacLauchlan

Somewhere back in 2003, Wade MacLauchlan President of UPEI made a deal with Clifford Lee the Mayor of Charlottetown to build a swimming pool in Wade’s backyard. We are still paying the price.

“Clifford,” said the smart man “You need a protest free zone to build your swimming pool. Build it in my back yard and no one will be able to protest the zoning.”

“You think so?” said the Mayor. “No more public meetings or people complaining that a pool would ruin their otherwise miserable neighborhoods?”

“That’s right,” said MacLauchlan dreaming of a free building on his campus.

Read the rest of this entry »

UPEI President Wade MacLauchlan opposes access for disabled

Access-Ability Committee misguided attempt to force disabled into power wheelchairs

At Future Shop today I ran into a member of the UPEI accessibility committee who proceeded to berate me for attacking UPEI’s disability policies. A quad himself, he has a power wheel chair and parking distances greater than 50 meters are not an issue for him.

I asked him if he had verified the distances from the blue and non-accessible parking we published and he hadn’t. Asked why, he told me the National Building Code and the City of Charlottetown By-Laws did not apply to UPEI.

Read the rest of this entry »

Clifford Lee transformed himself into a racist mayor - what next

Must be time to get rid of this political hack

With story from Eastern Graphic

Hats off the the Eastern Graphic for being the first of the “old school” PEI media to call the opposition to the Mi’kmaq what it is – racism.Eastern Graphic City council panders on farm issue

The tug of war over the future of Charlottetown’s experimental farm is sadly following a very predictable script. Last week Charlottetown city council, which has shown an abysmal lack of leadership on the issue, threw its support behind a plan drafted by Friends of the Farm.

The support is not a surprise. Council is taking the easy way out, rather than the right way out. Frankly the whole exercise has ugly undercurrents. Read the rest of this entry »

Two recent news photos of Mayor Clifford Lee

Where does the Mayor work?

In a story last week, it was reported that Mayor Clifford Lee worked at ACOA. Coming soon – Transformers 4 Stop the Mi’kmaq

A sharp reader wrote

“Fact Checker says:
August 1, 2009 at 7:23 am (Edit)

Clifford Lee does not work for ACOA, and he never has. You’re repeating a lie first told by Tim Banks. And you accuse the Guardian of muddling the truth?”

A recent picture shows him by a bus. Is he a bus driver? Is he working for Culture Vulture Minister Bertram? Or is he still working on the movie.

If you’ve sighted Clifford working, or pretending to work, at your office, garage or other place of business, send us a line.

Read the rest of this entry »

Ckifford the Big Transformer standing on guard against the law

Clifford the Transformer – pre-release hot news

Stephen Pate, NJN Network, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada, August 5, 2009
Pre-release audience polling on Transformers 4 Stop the Mi’kmaq have been weak, sending the film’s director back to the cutting room to re-jig the story.

Charlottetown Mayor Clifford Lee, hopeful of another term of uninspired your Worshipfulness, has seen his popularity plummet on news of the film.

In one poll conducted by Tim Banks – why not eh? – 84% of the people said we needed a new mayor in Charlottetown.

In the past weak leaders have attacked minorities to gain popularity with the more ignorant and bigoted parts of their constituencies. Fear of the hun, the Commie’s, the Jews, the Muslims, etc. has helped weak politicians to leap over their more liberal foes.

Doesn’t seem to be working for Clifford Lee. Attacking Canada’s First Nation is backfiring.

Of course, Lee’s position as Mayor is essentially based on the fact that no one ran against him. He is truly a bad mayor. It shows all the time.

Mi’kmaq have lawyers

In a CBC story, Lee quotes our history of genocide and First Nation’s land theft when he brazenly says,

“The land, once declared by the Government of Canada to be surplus, will be offered to the province of P.E.I. If they refuse the land, then it will be offered to the municipal government,” said Lee.

“The Friends of the Farm plan includes selling off two parcels of land in order to pay for the development of a park.The Friends of the Farm plan includes selling off two parcels of land in order to pay for the development of a park.

“That’s the way it’s worked for a number of years in this country.“

Lee’s understanding of history and aboriginal land claims appears to come from John Wayne movies.

“Jeff Brant, director of socio-economic development for the Mi’kmaq Confederacy, said Lee’s understanding of the process is wrong. When a piece of federal land is deemed surplus, he said, First Nations people have to be consulted before the land is unloaded, and he doesn’t mean simply a token consultation.

“It’s really about the spirit of what that means,” said Brant.

“It’s sitting down and trying to come up with a way that really works out to the best interests of all parties, to create a win-win for everybody.”

“Brant said the Confederacy is disappointed the city is backing a rival proposal from the Friends of the Farm, and the city needs to pay more attention to the Confederacy’s proposals for the land.

“Just because things have been done a certain way in the past doesn’t mean that we should be doing them the same way going forward,” he said.

We’re not sure how they will end this movie. The law seems to be on the side of the Mi’kmaq as First Nations.

Related stories

• Friends of the Farm should drop racism and work with Mi’kmaq
• Fascist Friends of the Farm
• CBC and Guardian report racism but won’t use the word
• First public meeting of Charlottetown Racial Bigotry Society last night
• The cowboys and the indians are at war

Except where otherwise noted, this work is licensed under a Creative Commons License - NJN Network Inc.

Mayor Clifford Lee in the title role saving Charlottetown from the Natives

Mayor Clifford Lee in the starring role as Transformer Fire Station Man – stop them at Sherwood Road

We are excited to bring news about the new blockbuster movie that got its blue carpet premiere yesterday in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. Transformers 4 – Stop the Mi’kmaq. Coming soon to a movie theatre near you!

Gasp as the super hero Mayor circles the wagons to fend off an attack by marauding Indians. Fort Charlottetown is threatened by land developing Mi’kmaqs waving a federal treaty which they claim gives them first rights to get back land that was stolen from them in the first place. Strong men weep, women scream, children shiver in terror.

Mayor Lee – during the day a timid Tory hack currently holding down an ACOA sinecure – becomes superhero Transformer 4 when he waves his magic gavel – a mighty fire truck capable of quelling multiple Tweel attacks and simultaneously able to spare the blushes of dozens of old ladies by smothering the smutty stories of John Joe Sark. And able to stifle press conference invitations with the stroke of a pen.  Read the rest of this entry »

File under: your tax dollars at work – The councilor with zero credentials on the environment is representing Charlottetown at an international conference on global warming.

Stephen Pate, NJN Network, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada, July 27 2009 with story from Charlottetown Guardian

The City of Charlottetown pulls one of it’s worst boners in allowing Mitch Tweel to represent Charlottetown at United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen prep conference in Calgary in September.

Give your heads a shake down there at City Hall. Are you trying to get Mitch out of town before the election?

This is the least capable of all municipal politicians. He is the man who organized the recent racial bigotry meeting to keep the native Canadians off the Farm Centre. First public meeting of Charlottetown Racial Bigotry Society last night and Lebanese immigrant’s grandson leads charge against the natives

He is also the councillor who told me, based on his doctorate, masters, bachelors or junior chemistry set experience that it was safe for PEI children to play on the toxic waste site cum school play ground.

I suppose we’re stating the obvious. Tim Banks just threw his hands in the air with the comment “Seriously… what can I say… I’m at a true loss for words…”

Is this why the City wanted to increase the debt load 25% this year, so Mitch and his buddies can make trips via the public purse.

I suppose it’s no worse than sending him to the ECMA’s February 2009 for a frolic weekend with his squeeze from the City tourism department and Richard Brown on a wild weekend in Fredericton, New Brunswick.

Will any City staff be accompanying Mitch the wonder boy? Will City residents get a tax rebate for this stupid waste of city resources?

Look out. They say he wants to be Mayor and really make a botch of it.

Except where otherwise noted, this work is licensed under a Creative Commons License - NJN Network Inc.

For now, Greg Clayton at UPEI is giving them more attention than the disabled

Stephen Pate, NJN Network, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada, May 15 2009 with story from CBC Charlottetown

Greg Clayton, director of facilities management, is obviously a horse lover. He is going to great lengths to make sure the new horse barns at UPEI are just right for the horses. We wish he had more time for the disabled. Last summer, Clayton gave us the old heave-ho off the inner campus. Read the rest of this entry »