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GUEST COLUMN: West Orillia is not right place for the new hospital

OrilliaMatters

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Fantastic letter. If we keep talking about a "walkable" city then we have to build one and with the fact of Orillia's lower economic average income, more than half the homeless that Barrie has, teen moms; it needs to be downtown. Suburbia is built for the car, Westridge can drive to downtown. The old hospital building can become a new campus; and with other services; social work students can be at the "social work" campus, education students can be close to Harriet Todd, Lion's Oval, Orchard park, Monsignor Lee, OSS. As well it can become a "Heart Hub" as the province has promised but by that time we will have elected a caring provincial government and a new mayor to figure that all out faster and better than the cons can.

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McIsaac relinquishes hiring, firing authority, holds onto other strong mayor powers

OrilliaMatters

29

He's put it on Sidhu to 'fire' himself and step aside to Trevor Lee!?!Way to gaslight the whole situation and undermine our whole city. Unbelievable.

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'People need homes, not handcuffs': New bill panned by local advocate

OrilliaMatters

14

you ask Mcisaac for his comment? when during his regime has he cared about homeless? People illegally removed from behind giant Tiger and Peter st and even on Bay st. Legal obligation is to arrange for somewhere decent for people to move to; that includes staying in their choice city for supports, not separating couples, etc. Basic dignified human things that ford or ford supporters can't grasp.This is just reaping benefits for ford and investors in the prison system; costs taxpayers $200 a day to jail someone vs how much a month in decent benefits? MPPs get $2,000 monthly allowance to live in Toronto. Things are so out of whack now. The cons are really good at duping the public into believing this is sustainable. Don't fall for it!

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Tensions rise as Orillia mayor refuses to explain CAO hiring reversal

OrilliaMatters

29

Couldn't he be ousted earlier? Stuff happens in other cities? A councillor could take over the position and a ward could have an election.

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GUEST COLUMN: West Orillia is not right place for the new hospital

OrilliaMatters

19

And the old hospital rooms can become student housing and affordable housing; it's not rocket science, just as the letter says about the economic boost /thrust that repurposing or building on brownfields can be.

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'Frustrating experience': Special council meeting on strong mayor powers cut short

OrilliaMatters

19

The whole procedure she was asking about was to put procedure aside; which can be done if 2/3 agree.Jay Fallis has been a councillor before Durnford has been; if we want to talk about "family"/"entitlement" then look at mcisaac.

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Council to discuss strong mayor powers in closed session, again

OrilliaMatters

17

Yes, it will become what the election is all about next year. Either way, he talks both sides so half of what he says is a lie.

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COLUMN: Local commenters should not hide behind false names

OrilliaMatters

12

It still helps to be male, white, establishment in this town. That's why some of us like to use pseudonyms so that our comments might be considered on their own merits.

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Petition launched to reinstate Trevor Lee as Orillia's CAO

OrilliaMatters

18

if Sidhu was perfect for the job, why not hire him in the first place? how much is it going to cost the city to compensate Lee? how much money and time were spent hiring the guy? wasn’t he “welcomed” by the mayor in March? which time was the lie? then or now?

‘Slap in the face’: Legion launches petition against OSMH decision

OrilliaMatters

14

omg they cared for us, can't they be trusted to have a say/continue to care for us?

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'Calculated decision': City plugging in 8 new EV charging stations

OrilliaMatters

11

Could find a way to plug in some tiny homes...why are cars always more important than people!?!

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City councillors force special meeting to deal with McIsaac's use of strong mayor powers

OrilliaMatters

16

Sidhu would then earn the CAO salary and someone else would then get promoted in-house (would not risk hiring someone from outside again!) No money was saved, only time and money wasted on hiring process and now lawsuit/settlement process. mcIsaac was happy to hire him in March and unhappy now in April. Both these things can't be true.

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Did mayor blow the lid off CAO firing controversy with 'hypothetical' scenario?

OrilliaMatters

10

Why is McIsaac protecting a councillor? Unless it's "dunlopian" Whitney Smith.And what's the financial difference between settling a termination of employment vs. a human rights tribunal? More important to get any "isms" out in the open and deal with that publicly and learn and grow from that than to ruin another person's career.McIsaaac has effectively ruined his and Sidhu's career; the new mayor will be voted in on a promise to fire the CAO because of all the "unknowns".

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COLUMN: McIsaac's dismissal of new CAO is a 'shameful power grab'

OrilliaMatters

14

Our own tax dollars for housing should never be conditional on a mayor behaving like a ford or a trump. Housing is provincial jurisdiction. Look how council is jumping through hoops trying to figure out our own way to get more doctors in the area when it's the province's mandate. We are doing and paying municipally for what is the province's responsibility! We are letting the province off the hook and getting distracted by/paying for this local drama. Enough already!

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McIsaac relinquishes hiring, firing authority, holds onto other strong mayor powers

OrilliaMatters

15

Time to pivot petitions; here's the new one; asking Amanpreet Sidhu to step aside and allow Trevor Lee to be CAO. www.change.org/OrilliaCAOTrevorLee

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'Vindictive' ban by 'woke' local library follows book club remark

OrilliaMatters

15

Weird; there is nothing wrong with being a social justice warrior and there is nothing wrong in saying not all priests were pedophiles; these two statements can be true at the same time.

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'Unreasonable' parking restrictions hamper Orillia food bank patrons

OrilliaMatters

13

How hateful of the city; bylaw can use their discretion at every possible moment. They even have a toy drive now in exchange for parking tickets; imagine buying a toy in place of your ticket only to be at the receiving end of the toy drive later! Unbelievable!You can fill out a form at city hall to try and have your ticket excused on compassionate grounds; irony is that parking is free at city. 🙄

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McIsaac relinquishes hiring, firing authority, holds onto other strong mayor powers

OrilliaMatters

12

Agreed! Misbehave and ask for forgiveness later 🙄

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COLUMN: Strong mayor powers 'an affront to democracy'

OrilliaMatters

12

There is no intent to create/accelerate housing; this is the dangling carrot. It's all smoke and mirrors to prevent real scrutiny and divert accountability. It's the province's job to ensure housing, not the municipality. The cons don't want the public to notice it, so try to distract us with the municipal "drama".

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'Blatant abuse of power' by mayor sparks outrage from residents

OrilliaMatters

10

If Sidhu doesn't speak up, then he was put in place to keep the secrets. mcisaac has ruined Sidhu's career unless Sidhu redeems himself; don't take the increase in pay from deputy to CAO to save the city some money for Lee's settlement and fire some other staff that are involved with the following...(mcisaac gave him that power back) -People were removed illegally from behind Giant Tiger and Peter st. -That there was no legal fight against the development at Orchard Park even though Sidhu is a salaried lawyer (we pay him to be a lawyer whether he uses his legal prowess or not) https://www.orilliamatters.com/local-news/really-bad-decision-city-developer-ink-deal-on-orchard-point-condo-9064693-over $167,000 went to amend and develop private property as an unused city parking lot. The huge parking increases in 2023 funded that, at the expense of small business downtown.

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