Posted by auroracitizen on October 24, 2011
The Aurora Spirit Walk 2011 is underway. New stories and a new route are highlighted.
Did you know Jack the Ripper may have walked Aurora in the 19th century.The Ripper was never found and a suspect had connections here.
No kidding….The tour times are
Tickets are available by calling 905-717-6647
Posted in Community Corner, For Fun, Recreation | 6 Comments »
Posted by auroracitizen on October 24, 2011
Christopher di Armani likes to share his opinions online.
He recently offered his thoughts on the lawsuit here in Aurora. You might find his comments interesting.
One that seemed to particularly summarized his position was;
She was a public official about whom the public has every right to comment. Discussing how competently or incompetently she does her job is precisely the sort of thing that Freedom of Speech is for. Public officials have no right NOT to be talked about.
We agree. As long as the comments are focused on performance of the duties that they were elected to execute, citizens have every right to comment. The good, the bad — and for some — the ugly.
You can read his entire post here.
Posted in Community Corner, Community Input, Leadership, Legal, Media, Politics | Leave a Comment »
Posted by auroracitizen on October 19, 2011
For those wondering what the statement to be released by Phyllis Morris will have to say — check out here.
Is a re-entry into politics in the wind?
Posted in Community Corner, Community Input, Politics | 10 Comments »
Posted by auroracitizen on July 23, 2011
Many folks have asked whether the AuroraCitizen has stopped publishing because of the lawsuit. In short — the answer is NO. Sort of.
The AuroraCitizen has not stopped because we are prevented from publishing because of the lawsuit — but because the time taken to deal with issues of the lawsuit needed to come from somewhere — and the options were time with family and the need to work and generate income. Family and work came ahead of writing a blog.
However, we did want to provide you with an update on the recent decision by Madame Justice Brown — which obviously we are all very pleased with.
Let us start from the end and work back.
First, the Judge ruled that “The Plaintiff has failed to establish a prima facie test and accordingly, I dismiss the motion.” This means that Phyllis Morris failed to convince the Judge that there was a basis for the complaint. The Judge’s decision is clear and unequivocal.
Secondly, Judge Brown ruled, “the public interest favouring disclosure clearly does not outweigh the legitimate interest in freedom of expression and the rights of privacy of the persons sought to be identified.” Canada still remains a democracy — even if Phyllis Morris has a different opinion.
Third, “The plaintiff in this defamation action has failed to set forth the specific words complained of as being defamatory. The jurisprudence clearly establishes that in actions of libel and slander, the precise words complained of are material and should be put forth in as much particularity as possible in the pleading itself, ideally verbatim or at a minimum, with sufficient particularity to allow the Defendant to respond“. She further adds, “it is not the role of the court to parse the impugned articles and blogs be it to attempt to determine by divination or divine inspiration, which statements it should asses in determining whether a prima facie case has been established.” For regular watchers of this case, you will recall that this same issue was raised in the motion by the Defendants in the Spence decision. In that motion, Morris argued that she didn’t have to be specific. Justice Spence left her some leeway on the particulars but did require her to crystallize the claim. Judge Brown, in the matter of Freedom of Expression, rightly held Morris to the full standard as established by law.
Judge Brown also noted that, “the Plaintiff did not provide evidence in support of this submission, nor did she provide any affidavit evidence in support of this motion.” Rather she left Town Solicitor Christopher Cooper to hold the dirty diaper on this motion — the same Christopher Cooper who is no longer employed by the Town.
Lastly, Judge Brown wrote, “I am cognizant, in the present case, that the alleged defamatory statements were made in the context of a hard-fought political campaign. They are clearly related to the mayoral position and governance of the Mayor, councillors and the municipal governance generally. With these very precise words the Judge clearly notes that at no time were any comments directed at staff — you may recall that this was the claimed basis that Morris used to ask the town (i.e residents and businesses of Aurora) to fund her lawsuit. The Judge obviously saw through this charade.
So what’s next? Is it over?
Well, as you may already know, the Banner reports that Phyllis Morris plans to appeal to a higher court for “leave to appeal”. Which should come as no surprise. Phyllis has a habit of appealing any decision that does not give her what she wants. One need only look to the Westhill debacle to understand her resistance to other opinions. We understand the date for that appeal will be in October.
Which means that the higher court will decide first if she has grounds for appeal, and then if they believe she does, they will set at a further date hear arguments on the motion again.
But nothing changes until the appeal is heard. Except the Defendants costs continue to rise. And Morris avoids having to pay the defendants their costs for the judgment.
Finally, whether the motion is dismissed again or not, the lawsuit is not over — just the Norwich Motion.
If, as expected, the appeal fails and the Norwich Motion is dismissed again, the leaking boat that is the Morris lawsuit will continued to plow forward. With yet another hole in her bow.
So regardless of the outcome of this motion there will still be more wasted time and wasted money — which aptly represents the legacy of the political career and contribution to politics in Aurora by Phyllis Morris.
Posted in Community Corner, Integrity, Leadership, Legal | 13 Comments »
Posted by auroracitizen on May 9, 2011
On Sunday May 29 at 7 pm David Heard will be hosting an incredible and historic episode about our great little Town.
The Aurora Spirit Walk will take you on a journey into Auroras past and share some creepy tales. Then everyone will head to the Filly and Firkin for food, drink and a live presentation and some essence of a silent movie (musically).
There you will watch the world premiere of a special episode of the highly popular TV Show “Rescue Mediums”. An episode that was filmed at the Firkin Pub in Aurora will be enjoyed for the first time by the good folks of Aurora about a month before the rest of the world.
Now that is history….. and the episode has historical significance.
Tickets are $20.00 (advance sales) and 100% goes to The Heart and Stroke and Crohns and Colitis Foundation.
You can purchase tickets from the Filly and Firkin Aurora or call 905 717 6647 for delivery arrangements.
Aurora has great spirit ….you will feel it on May 29.
Posted in Community Corner, Community Input | 1 Comment »
Posted by auroracitizen on May 1, 2011
If you are interested in a local perspective on tonight’s election coverage, Bill Hogg will be anchoring coverage on Rogers TV. He also recently moderated the all-candidate debates with for all 7 riding’s in York Region.
Working with him on the anchor desk is Jamie Young – former Mayor of East Gwillimbury.
As well, there will be a number of live local updates across the region and David Tsubouchi will be hosting a panel discussion.
Election night coverage starts at 9 pm.
Posted in Community Corner, Politics | 2 Comments »
Posted by auroracitizen on April 26, 2011
On Sept 9, 2010, we celebrated our 300th posting on the Aurora Citizen. At that time we have surpassed 4,700 comments and believed our total visits to be around 250,000.
To commemorate this milestone we published the following post
This is officially our 300th post. We have also surpassed 4,700 comments.
We’ve had in excess of 150,000 visits since moving to the new WordPress platform in October 2009, which together with the almost 100,000 visits on the original site, means we have had almost 250,000 visitors since we started in August 2008.
We’ve been threatened twice by the town lawyers, yet here we are, still offering citizens of this great town the opportunity to provide commentary on what is happening in their community.
Councillor MacEachern asked for more balanced commentary, so we offered both her and Mayor Morris the opportunity to contribute. So far nothing — at least nothing that they have added their name to :)
We’ve been blitzed by supporters from both sides of issues and have used our best judgement to encourage dialogue versus diatribe.
We have numerous people regularly writing articles for the blog — some like Richard Johnson publish under their own names, others, desiring anonymity, offer their opinions for debate under the Aurora Citizen banner.
We also have a number of volunteers share the role of moderator duties to ensure that the comments — while somewhat direct and pointed — do not degenerate into diatribe, allegations and foul language.
This forum has become a platform for communicating with fellow Aurora Citizens. It has far surpassed expectations. We are glad to be part of the discussion and look forward to contributing long into the future.
We thought it appropriate to celebrate another milestone.
On April 26 at 3:22 pm, on the post Majority vs. Minority, the Aurora Citizen surpassed 7,500 comments on the website, which reflects a diverse and vocal group of readers. We thank you for your participation.
We have also published 430 posts — received from a variety of sources — and we have welcomed 400,000 visitors since Oct 2009, which together with over 100,000 visitors on the original platform tops out at over 500,000 visitors since we launched in August 2008.
Who would have thought.
Additionally, the former Mayor has sued us, together with a number of named citizens and unnamed commentors.
As a result of this lawsuit, the Canadian Civil Liberties Association has intervened on behalf of all participants in online forums to protect their anonymity.
The new Council has declared they do not feel that the AuroraCitizen is a threat to the town of Aurora and has discontinued its support of the lawsuit. Further, the Town is amending their procedures to prevent future politicians from attacking citizens without transparency of their actions.
We thank you all for your unwavering support.
Posted in Community Corner, Community Input | 4 Comments »
Posted by auroracitizen on April 26, 2011
April 23, 2011
To: The Auroran & the Aurora Citizen (www.auroracitizen.ca)
Re: Conflict of Interest and Phyllis Morris v. Johnson et al.
Furthermore to my letter earlier this month, entitled “Please help me understand how litigation against three Aurora citizens was approved”, I would like to add the following information in regards to the defamation action of Phyllis Morris v. Johnson et al.
I reference the Ontario Municipal Conflict of Interest Act. (R.S.0. 1990, Chapter M.50) found at www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/html/statutes/english/elaws_statutes_90m50_e.htm .
The Act helps control the actions of our elected officials who hold the public trust. Its main purpose is to prevent them from benefiting financially from a decision in which they were involved in the process. The Act generally states that if there is a matter that comes before Council that would touch on a member of Council’s direct or indirect pecuniary (of or related to money) interest then it is the duty of that member not to participate in the decision-making process for that matter and to declare this conflict of interest.
I would draw your attention to the following sections taken from the above online reference:
Duty of Member
When present at meeting at which matter considered
5. (1) Where a member, either on his or her own behalf or while acting for, by, with or through another, has any pecuniary interest, direct or indirect, in any matter and is present at a meeting of the council or local board at which the matter is the subject of consideration, the member,
(a) shall, prior to any consideration of the matter at the meeting, disclose the interest and the general nature thereof;
(b) shall not take part in the discussion of, or vote on any question in respect of the matter; and
(c) shall not attempt in any way whether before, during or after the meeting to influence the voting on any such question. R.S.O. 1990, c. M.50, s. 5 (1).
Where member to leave closed meeting
(2) Where the meeting referred to in subsection (1) is not open to the public, in addition to complying with the requirements of that subsection, the member shall forthwith leave the meeting or the part of the meeting during which the matter is under consideration. R.S.O. 1990, c. M.50, s. 5 (2).
Record of Disclosure
Disclosure to be recorded in minutes
6. (1) Every declaration of interest and the general nature thereof made under section 5 shall, where the meeting is open to the public, be recorded in the minutes of the meeting by the clerk of the municipality or secretary of the committee or local board, as the case may be. R.S.O. 1990, c. M.50, s. 6 (1).
Idem
(2) Every declaration of interest made under section 5, but not the general nature of that interest, shall, where the meeting is not open to the public, be recorded in the minutes of the next meeting that is open to the public. R.S.O. 1990, c. M.50, s. 6 (2).
As referenced by the minutes of the Aurora Town Council meeting of September 14, 2010, then Mayor Morris participated in the closed session portion of the meeting that subsequently resulted in the motion “THAT the Town Solicitor be directed to retain external legal counsel and to take any and all actions to bring resolution to this matter”. She participated in the closed meeting but did not vote on this motion as she left once coming out of closed portion of the evening. It is this motion that eventually led to the litigation against Johnson et al.
The first agenda item of a Council Meeting is the “Declarations of Pecuniary Interest”. For the September 14 meeting Councillor Collins-Mrakas had a declaration on another matter but there were no other declarations in the minutes.
I will allow the reader to formulate their own perspective, but from one side it could be interpreted that ex-Mayor Morris may have violated the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act. She may have done so by not declaring a conflict of interest and through her subsequent participation in the closed session meeting concerning the Town’s direction that lead to the litigation against Johnson et al. In this litigation she would be the sole beneficiary and not the Town. She could be seen as having a pecuniary interest and that she failed to declare a conflict of interest.
As taken from George Rust-D’Eye’s Executive Summary: “The retainer letter signed by the Mayor and the Town on October 6, 2010 leads to the conclusion that both are jointly and severally liable for paying the legal expenses incurred for the defamation action.”
Even if for argument’s sake Ms. Morris sought $0 damages, the fact that the Town was liable for expenses in her legal matters could possibly still show pecuniary interest as there could be either a reduced or no out of pocket expense for her in proceeding with this private action. It is noted that although this action started with the plaintiff as Mayor Phyllis Morris it was later changed to a plaintiff of Phyllis Morris to express that it was a personal matter and not one for the Town of Aurora. Also please note that the Town as per its March 29, 2011 council meeting minutes passed the motion to “pay the legal accounts of Aird & Berlis LLP for the services up to and including December 15, 2010 and for additional outside counsel, Paterson MacDougall for services rendered up until December 21, 2010.”
I note from Mr. Rust-D’Eye’s Executive Summary: “at the same time, Phyllis Morris appeared to have a pecuniary interest in the matter under consideration by the Council, in view of the fact that the debate involved a proposal that the Town provide or pay for legal services for her defamation action against third parties, at that time without any undertaking on her part to repay the Town, whether she was successful or not – the Town appeared to assume the entire financial risk, with the Mayor standing to obtain a personal benefit from success in the proceedings”.
For some it may be thought that her participation in the closed session meeting and the failure to declare a conflict of interest was perhaps committed through any oversight or by reason of an error in judgement. But for others they may ask whether this would be the mistake of a politician with numerous years of experience. As taken from her own website (www.phyllismorris.net) Phyllis Morris had 6 years as a Councillor, 3 years as Deputy Mayor and 4 years as the Mayor with this incident occurring at the end of her mayoral term. Sampling a review of council meeting minutes in recent years, councillors and the mayor for a variety of reasons express a conflict of interest at the start of the meeting. Ms. Morris had in the past (Town of Aurora, Council Meeting Minutes No. 08-22, Tuesday August 12, 2008) declared a conflict on a particular matter. But with this incident at the September 14th meeting she did not declare a conflict of interest nor did she do so at any subsequent meeting in regards to her attendance to the closed session meeting that started the action against Johnson et al.
I allow the reader to interpret the information to their own accord and I stand open to correction on any of the information that I have presented.
Paul Sesto
(289) 221-1450
Posted in Code of Ethics, Community Corner, Community Input, Guest Post, Legal, Politics | 1 Comment »
Posted by auroracitizen on April 6, 2011
Great Sport, Great Weather, Great People ….. that’s what the ALBC has to offer you.
Located in the heart of beautiful downtown Aurora, we have a gorgeous place to gather with friends, play a fun and exciting sport, and spend the summer having a great time!
Whether you are brand new to the game, or a seasoned veteran the ALBC would love to have you join our existing club members for this coming spring/summer and early fall.
Our season begins in May, and runs through to October (weather dependent).
We supply all the equipment, and lessons you may need.
We play two nights a week and every Sunday afternoon, and you get to choose when you want to play and when you don’t.
We have a beautiful clubhouse that is private to members only and when you sit out on the deck and watch over the greens you feel like you are up at the cottage!
It is a ton of fun, and you get to meet some wonderful people who are part of our community!
For more information please contact Kelli Collins at kelli5572@hotmail.com or 416-886-4733.
Kelli M. Collins
Posted in Community Corner, For Fun, Recreation | Leave a Comment »
Posted by auroracitizen on April 2, 2011
Friday was the memorial service for Vic, who passed away unexpectedly on Tuesday.
Aurora lost a great citizen.
If you knew him — no more needs be said.He will be universally missed.
If you didn’t, you missed one of the things that made Aurora such a special place to live.
In an article from the national Post (June 5 2008), they acknowledged his role in Aurora on the event of his retirement.
A comforting smell of leather fills Vic’s Shoe Repair, where used skates and soccer cleats, arranged by size, line the shelves.
More comforting still is Vic Paraninfo himself, a fixture of downtown Aurora since 1972, with his winning smile, easy banter and hands gnarled from decades of stitching shoes and massaging skates (after having warmed them with a hair dryer) to fit on customers’ feet.
But Mr. Paraninfo, 71, is quitting. On Friday he will hang up his plyers and his French hammer, and turn the shop over to a new owner.
“I’m sad,” he says. “Half my life was spent here. You meet all kinds of people. But I’m happy. It’s time to move ahead, stay home with my wife. She needs me. And spend more time with my grandkids and do some volunteer work.”
Tributes and condolences to the family may be made at www.thompsonfh-aurora.com
Our thoughts and prayers go out to Sheila and family for their loss.
Posted in Community Corner, Local Business | 4 Comments »
