Sparks fly: Council votes to remove Champlain monument from park
27Hopefully the councillors who voted to remove the statue will pay the price come election time, there is many Yays and Nays on the topic, but the SILENT majority will surely remember this idiotic decision of removing the statue yet again by the majority of councillors, talk about wasting money !
40- Grouchy
Sparks fly: Council votes to remove Champlain monument from park
32This is ridiculous. It's a piece of art. What next book burning because words hurt feelings... Leave the statue alone.
27- Kkdd
Sparks fly: Council votes to remove Champlain monument from park
39Silent majority, the MAGA buzzword they love to use. If the mayor hadn’t decided to “store” the statue in a park, he wouldn’t have been wasting your money doing something he knew or ought to have known was going to cause more divide. The right wing used to care about corruption. But I guess it’s fine because you want a statue.
15- Danny Galea
Sparks fly: Council votes to remove Champlain monument from park
46Remember councillors Whitney Smith and Ralph Cipolla's names come election time.
7- retired optimist
Sparks fly: Council votes to remove Champlain monument from park
42McIsaac decides unilaterally to return a statue to a park without any consultation at the city’s expense, refuses to talk with the local paper because he can’t handle the comments, goes against his own staff to replace their CAO choice with his own & you find it baffling?Why are every one of your posts decidedly anti-Durnford & pro-McIsaac? People hiding behind screen names just to target people & not have to deal with consequences.
10- Danny Galea
Sparks fly: Council votes to remove Champlain monument from park
40It's no longer about the statue. It's about the fact that the Mayor deliberately manipulated the democratic system for his own personal goals. Council specifically said they would defer it to the next council to decide. He purposefully went around council by word smithing "storing" the statue. This is no longer a statue issue.
9- IHaveSomethingToSay
Sparks fly: Council votes to remove Champlain monument from park
10It’s baffling that councillor Durnford has taken no action with the integrity commissioner. Empty words. No integrity! Shame!
38- Flax Seed
Sparks fly: Council votes to remove Champlain monument from park
39I hope they investigate the mayor breaking the democratic process and manipulating the motion to "store".
9- IHaveSomethingToSay
Sparks fly: Council votes to remove Champlain monument from park
42I appreciate the leadership of Durnford, Fallis, and Campbell in holding the Mayor accountable for his actions. We deserve to know the details and who if anyone else was involved. The Mayor has clearly lost the confidence of Council, not to mention many many residents. Not only for the statue but his ridiculous behaviour during Council meetings.
6- Mal Wright
Sparks fly: Council votes to remove Champlain monument from park
28Well done everyone involved in reinstituting democracy and process, and listening to Huron-Wendat and Rama First Nation
17- Peter Fyfe
Sparks fly: Council votes to remove Champlain monument from park
39They never voted to have the statue in the park in the first place. The Mayor is the one ignoring the democratic system, manipulating council, and wasting tax payer money.
5- IHaveSomethingToSay
Sparks fly: Council votes to remove Champlain monument from park
32There needs to be some ruling about being on city council just because they have a store & a “detective agency” in town. It has been at least a decade since Cipolla lived in city limits. Smith obviously doesn’t live here if she is using her little unit at the end of the all but forgotten Royce St to run for mayor. You should have to live within city limits to be mayor.
8- Danny Galea
Council holding special meeting Friday over fate of Champlain
19I do not understand nor agree with the local Indigenous population who demand and expect to have the overriding decision on which historical information is included in our Orillia mosaic. I believe my history is at least as important as the local Indigenous version. Suggest the monument be moved to the Art and Cultural center on Peter St as we the taxpayers are paying dearly to continue to support that institution. Surely Orillia can make some decisions that do not require the pre-approval of the local Indigenous people.
20- Tim 21
Sparks fly: Council votes to remove Champlain monument from park
28I would not have thought it was possible to have a worse Mayor than Ken McCann, but it appears I was wrong. ( Typo in my first comment)
10- Gerry C.
Sparks fly: Council votes to remove Champlain monument from park
33Love the fact that the "committee" is simply just the mayor and that the terms of reference for this committee was conveniently removed from the public website prior to this meeting. Very suspicious. What is quorum? Surely a minimum of 3 people are needed to have a valid committee.
5- IHaveSomethingToSay
Sparks fly: Council votes to remove Champlain monument from park
33You're upset with her, but not Don?
4- MJPA
Council holding special meeting Friday over fate of Champlain
21I vote for the statue to be in the park. Not more of the taxpayers money spent to move it over and over. It is a beautiful bronze sculpture that should be enjoyed by the people who love it and not looked at by the people who don't.
15- Polo
Council holding special meeting Friday over fate of Champlain
24The CAO and staff have offered what appears to be a mature and responsible strategy. Thank you very much. On the other hand, the fact that Mayor McIsaac 'will no longer accept calls from Orillia Matters due to its comments policy' is shocking. He has chosen to have no public voice and will communicate only with his followers on social media. Thank you to Orillia Matters for your policy that allow readers a choice: use our real names or a pseudonym. Those of us who choose to protect our privacy in this small city, many of whom are involved in public organizations, are grateful. Regarding the overall content policy, OM does a very good job keeping out bad language, bigotry, violence, etc. Could it be the volume of readers' comments against the Mayor's ever increasing missteps is upsetting to him, not the policy at all?
9- Magiccat
Sparks fly: Council votes to remove Champlain monument from park
26Grouchy, please note: the vote to remove Champlain from the park was 'yes' by 75% of the councillors, 6 out of 8 councillors who represent all 4 City wards.
7- Magiccat
Sparks fly: Council votes to remove Champlain monument from park
14The Mayor may not have handled the situation in the best way, but I do not believe the Champlain monument should have been removed a second time.Many residents and voters in Orillia would like to see the monument returned. Decisions regarding monuments in Orillia should ultimately reflect the wishes of the people who live and vote in Orillia. In the same way, Orillia residents would not expect to have a say in what monuments the community of Rama chooses to erect.People may have differing opinions on the monument, and those opinions should be respected. However, the voices of Orillia voters should be central to any decision about whether the Champlain monument is returned.
16- crazymom
