October 12 Documents update

Public Meetings  Update

These meetings were  supposed to be an opportunity to determine election issues and a chance to hold current Councillors accountable for their performance as a member of Council.

Important questions of current Council in relation to their proscribed duties as defined by the Ontario Municipal Act. sec 224 Link . Including section 224(d.1) "to ensure the accountability and transparency of the operations of the municipality, including the activities of the senior management of the municipality; of accountability of Staff" Link

Refusal to enforce TVT Employee Code of Conduct. Link

Approval of Staff that fabricate legislation to justify their tampering in an election. Link

Covering up abuse of residents by Deputy Reeve Dobbie in Council chambers. Link

Approval of false Council meeting minutes of which they were fully aware were false.Link

Approval of Staff false reports and not demanding correction. Link

Approval of Staff efforts to conceal Committee findings from Council.Link

Approval of Procedural Bylaw Amendment to forbid recording of Live Streaming.Link

Two “ Meet the Candidate” meetings were held. Both were originally proposed and organized by the Canadian Federation of University Women (CUFW). 

The CFUW has previously organized similar meetings in the past elections.

Meeting 1, September 30 2026

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The first public meeting was held on Wednesday September 30, 2026 at 7 PM and held at the. BVM Hall, 844 Stanley Road, Perth ON.

There were many requests from residents to candidates if the meeting would be “Live streamed” for those who could not attend. Approximately 50% of TVT property owners are seasonal and out of town. Many seniors are uncomfortable travelling at night.

Frank Johnson, a candidate, offered to help with live streaming setup and he would provide or train an operator.

The CFUW rejected the possibility out of hand citing possible bias and infringement of privacy. This was a public meeting involving candidates for public office. How do “Privacy” laws affect this in any manner? The CFUW stated that a simple unedited broadcast of the meeting without commentary must be performed by a “Neutral” unbiased operator. Does such a person exist? Who judges the bias? Apparently TVT and the CFUW are the only judges of bias. It is difficult to believe that live streaming would be disallowed in 2026 and not included in the meeting protocol. 

TVT Council and Staff ensure that TVT is the only municipality in Ontario to entrench a prohibition of recording of Council Live Streaming in Procedural Bylaws. CFUW adheres to exactly the same policy.

The September 30 meeting was convened in a very strict and confining format. Candidates for office were posed three questions composed from a “Panel” of undisclosed individuals. Of the approximately 150 attendees, only three previously submitted written questions were proposed to candidates. Who held the questions prior to their selection.

The format was decided by the CFUW. After initial candidate statements, three questions were posed to Councillor candidates (Composed by an undisclosed panel) followed by three questions submitted by attendees drawn from a hat. The similar format was followed for candidates for Reeve and Deputy Reeve. None of the questions posed dealt with accountability of and past performance of Council and Staff and skirted many of the real issues. There was no possibility for questions from the floor. There was no mention of current Councillor voting records or support of Staff misconduct.

Meeting 2, October 7, 2026

Two days before the Oct 7, ABC Hall meeting the CFUW and moderator Susan Freeman withdrew after the citing bullying and harassment from candidate Frank Johnson regarding inclusion ofLive Streaming. Susan Freeman is no longer a resident of TVT and is a known supporter of TVT Reeve Rob Rainer. Efforts by Reeve Rob Rainer were made to compel the ABC Hall to ban Candidate Johnson from attendance at the meeting if live streaming occurred.

Volunteers stepped in at the last minute to provide seating, sound and refreshments at the ABC Hall. A new moderator was found. The format was changed. All candidates were allowed a 3 minute opening statement. Then questions were then entertained from the floor. Attendance was over Hall capacity (150?).The meeting was live streamed by over 100 viewers. Live streamers were able to submit questions and have them answered. Approximately 30 questions were posed to candidates. 

Council Candidates seeking reelection that had previously agreed to attend the meeting refused to attend; citing the live streaming and bias as the reason. Candidate for Reeve Marilyn Thomas, candidate for Deputy Reeve Greg Hallam , candidate for Councillor Angela Pierman. Current Councillor Keith Kerr was a surprise attendee, having previously declined. Candidate Fred Dobbie had previously declined to attend.

The link to the posted unedited recording of the Oct 7 “Meet the Candidate” meeting at ABC Hall.

Here is the link to the video:

https://youtu.be/oKKoA9kqJgU

The meeting itself starts at 55:20 on the live stream.  It will not be edited in any fashion.

It would appear that some current serving Councillors with the aid of Reeve Rainer, TVT communications, the CFUW and Susan Freeman wish to control the narrative and limit the exposure of the current Council conduct in their past term which 

Important questions of current Council in relation to their proscribed duties as defined by the Ontario Municipal Act. Link . Including section 224(d.1) to ensure the accountability and transparency of the operations of the municipality, including the activities of the senior management of the municipality; of accountability of Staff Link

Refusal to enforce TVT Employee Code of Conduct. Link

Approval of Staff that fabricate legislation to justify their tampering in an election. Link

Covering up abuse of residents by Deputy Reeve Dobbie in Council chambers. Link

Approval of false Council meeting minutes of which they were fully aware were false.Link

Approval of Staff false reports and not demanding correction. Link

Approval of Staff efforts to conceal Committee findings from Council.Link

Approval of Procedural Bylaw Amendment to forbid recording of Live Streaming.Link

TVT sent out the following release presented by MyFM 88.1 news director Bob Perreault prior to the meeting: https://lanarkleedstoday.ca/2026/10/07/three-tay-valley-candidates-withdraw-from-abc-hall-all-candidates-event-over-impartiality-concerns/

The ABC Hall, who only volunteered the venue for the meeting, were subject to bullying and intimidating behaviour from Reeve Rob Rainer, Susan Freeman, the CFUW and local media in an attempt to cancel the meeting. Volunteers on a ad hoc basis, not the ABC Hall,  stepped in to ensure the meeting was not cancelled.

Criticism and exposure of Staff misbehaviour, misconduct and issuing of false informationis not bullying or harassment. It is accountability. 

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