The gavel of oppression was pounded by taxman bernie bailey like a small minded child having a tantrum that soiled themselves in a desperate attempt to distract, at tonight’s council meeting.

Below is a transcript of what triggered bitch boy bailey to having another meltdown in public. All Councillors sat in stunned silence as bailey’s apparent med imbalance melted away what tiny bit of morality and common sense the unfortunate soul had left.

Transcript Of Speech:

I was asked by a councillor to be a delegation to address the municipality’s responsibility and liability regarding municipal infrastructure.

Early this year I started a work-to-rule strike much like town staff is doing. This was dubbed the “Boulevard Boycott” and later turned into the “Butterfly Boulevard” as this section became naturalized much like our community trail. I find it absurd that you expect private property owners to maintain municipal land to a higher standard than paid staff. I also find it insulting you don’t maintain our infrastructure to the same standards as you expect private landowners. There are taller weeds in our sidewalks and streets than the wildflowers that were on the boulevard.

I refused to cut the grass on municipal property adjacent to mine until council and staff agreed to clear all the sidewalks. Simply put, I will cut your grass when you agree to clear your sidewalks. This has always been an unwritten social contract, to which the municipality is in breach.

Every year it seems one less section of sidewalk was cleared. At one point an apathetic council gave in to staff and said they didn’t have to do all the sidewalks, but they had to do at least one sidewalk on every street. This led to clearing of one sidewalk, turning around at the end of the street and then driving by the other blocked sidewalk. This cleary saved no time or money.

One complaint of poor service on a section of street would result in the entire street being neglected out of spite. Now virtually no north-south streets are cleared and Josephine street is no longer fully cleared. Town staff refuse to clear both sides of Hanna Bridge forcing those on Bristol Terrace to cross the hwy just to get up town.

I won’t go into the benefits of allowing our community to be connected in the winter and releasing those with mobility issues from virtual house arrest in the Winter, or why you should stop forcing children to walk in traffic to get to school, as they seem too obvious to highlight.

Council has always claimed that they couldn’t clear the sidewalks because it would raise taxes. During my drive around town with former head of public works, Kelly Church he revealed that council had never asked what it cost to clear the sidewalks, nor did his predecessor Ralph Campbell leave any info. Kelly Church himself had no idea what it cost.

I have asked the previous reeve numerous times for the cost of clearing sidewalks, he never acquired or attempted to acquire that data.

Under threat of a freedom of information request I was able to get that information from staff, to see what it costs to clear our sidewalks.

According to Sean McGhee it takes 285 hours, at a cost $20,000 to clear the sidewalks. That figure does not include equipment depreciation. That works out to $70/hour. North Huron clearly has the manpower, as they have been caught on video clearing their own private property with town equipment while neglecting community safety zones meters away.

North Huron has a budget of about 12 million/year, another $20,000 to clear the remaining sidewalks is insignificant. If council can spend $15-20,000 on tv’s and installation you can afford to clear our sidewalks. If you have tv money you have sidewalk money.

If you have $35,000 for someone to spend a couple hours to refresh/rearrange North Huron’s website you have sidewalk money.

It is time for council to stand up to town staff and demand our infrastructure be fully maintained. Your role as councillor is to represent the public, and hold senior staff to account. This is not my opinion but law. Section 224 of the Municipal Act clearly states this.

As for the invoice sent to me for $135 for a contractor to spend 3 minutes cutting your grass on your boulevard, the notice clearly stated the owner would get the bill. Town staff clearly had time to cut the grass themselves as new video and photos prove.

I was not allowed to appeal or question this order, nor granted a meeting with my representative on council until after the order was executed. Council and staff were notified I was going to appeal the order, yet this did not trigger a stay and the order was immediately executed. These are the telltale signs of a dictatorship.

If council does not rescind this $135 invoice and clean yards bylaw, and agree to clear all sidewalks and trails in Wingham we will be going to court, where the genesis of this new “Absolute law” will be exposed and the historical pattern of abuse by town staff that led up to this will be exposed.

I am confident North Huron will lose in court and there would be great expense to everyone involved. However, I do like the idea of questioning each of you individually on the witness stand, along with the one who allegedly filed the complaint.

In Bongiardina Vs. the City of Vaughan it was ruled that a municipality can not transfer liability or responsibility for municipal property. This was upheld in the Ontario Court of Appeal. If you want to win, you will have to go the Supreme Court Of Canada to overrule that precedent.

If we go to court your position will be that town staff do not have to maintain our infrastructure, despite it being required by the Highway Traffic Act and the Municipal Act.

How much taxpayer money are you willing to spend so town staff don’t have to uphold the law and clear our sidewalks. I can guarantee you that it would be far cheaper to clear the sidewalks.

We all pay for the trackless machine, we should all reap the benefits of it, and no longer have to watch it drive by blocked sidewalks. You know you can’t pick and choose which roads to plow in the winter, why do you think you have the ability to pick and choose which sidewalks to maintain.

You can no longer allow town staff to tell you what to do, it must be the other way around.

Tonight I am asking council to accept responsibility for all our infrastructure by rescinding this invoice along with the clean yards bylaw, and commit to clearing all sidewalks in Wingham during winter.




North Huron council aka: “The Taxman” contact info:
Taxman Bernie Bailey:.
Phone 1: (519) 357-4668
Phone 2: (519) 357-8708
Town Hall: (519) 357-3550
Email: bbailley@northhuron.ca

Taxman Trevor Seip: 519-357-7759
Email: tseip@northhuron.ca

Taxman Paul Heffer: 519-357-3594
Email:pheffer@northhuron.ca

Taxman Anita Van Hittersum: 519-523-4492
Email: avanhittersum@northhuron.ca

Taxman Chris Palmer: 519-357-3385
Email: cpalmer@northhuron.ca

Taxman Kevin Falconer: 519-955-0301
Email: kfalconer@northhuron.ca

Taxman Ric McBurney: 519-441-7415
Email: rmcburney@northhuron.ca

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