This is what happened at Tuesday’s explosive meeting

by admin | May 30, 2024 | BAN on free speech, Open Government | 2 comments

Stratford Council’s meeting Tuesday night was abruptly cancelled by Mayor Ritsma, causing anger and frustration for the approximately 100 people in attendance. The public meeting was scheduled to consider the controversial application of Juliana Development, Inc. for...

This would be funny, if you didn’t care about democracy

by Sharon Collingwood | May 18, 2024 | BAN on free speech, Open Government, Respectful Workplace Policy | 2 comments

Sharon Collingwood: The latest on the City ban of residents You probably know a lot  of the story by now… our own Mike Sullivan has been banned from all City buildings in Stratford, and he can only communicate with City employees through the City’s lawyer in London....

All God’s children got a place in the choir

by admin | May 14, 2024 | BAN on free speech, Respectful Workplace Policy | 12 comments

Sharon Collingwood: We need all voices in a democratic society I met Mike Sullivan in the Fall of 2020.  I liked him right away; he’s a plain-spoken man, with a wry sense of humour, and has lots of interesting stories of his time as a member of Parliament in York...

The Krug project is HUGE.

by admin | May 10, 2024 | home page, Krug Factory Neighbourhood, Open Government, Uncategorized | 4 comments

On the positive side, this is a project that takes into account the cultural history of the Krug factory (Trinity Street). They have given serious consideration to how the project will conform to the architecture of Stratford. The developer intends to retrofit the...

Citizens of Stratford Unlawfully Barred from City Council

by admin | May 6, 2024 | BAN on free speech, Open Government, Respectful Workplace Policy | 0 comments

  Stratford, ON—‘Get Concerned Stratford’, the community group behind the fight against the secret Xinyi glass factory, has learned that the City of Stratford has unlawfully banned a number of residents from attending City Hall, going to any city building, like...

The Closed Meetings Investigations final report is here

by admin | Feb 25, 2024 | MZO, Open Government, Preserve farmland | 0 comments

Final tallies – 141 closed meetings between Sept 2018 and May 2023, 57 months. Almost 2.5 per month. At the 126 meetings with votes, there were 408 votes.  Of those, 276 (67.6%) were properly conducted, 132 (32.4%)  were illegal.  Council acted illegally nearly...