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An election candidate in Orléans is under fire for “disruptive” behaviour at a community event at which organizers called city authorities to have her expelled.
The messy political spat has the Cardinal Creek Community Association accusing Ward 1 municipal candidate Jennifer Robitaille of attempting to hijack a Sept. 13 park-opening ceremony and community barbecue for a political rally.
The association’s board, in a letter published in the online and print editions of the Orléans Star, denounces Robitaille for poor judgment and asks for a public apology.
“She was not invited, nor was she a sponsor to the event,” says the letter. “She did not ask permission to hold a political rally during our family community event. We consider this to be a lack of judgment and respect for our community association from a prospective Ward 1 candidate
Robitaille is firing back on her campaign website. She says association organizers bullied her and her campaign team and that the episode soured some of her student campaigners on political involvement.
She concludes the intent was to keep her away from ward voters, part of a politically motivated ploy to boost the campaign of incumbent Bob Monette. The experience, she writes, “felt like dirty American politics.”
Robitaille did not respond Monday to an interview request.
The backdrop for the incident was the Sept. 13 grand opening of Cardinal Creek Park, Ottawa’s newest park.
Community association members spent nine months planning the event, including obtaining a city park permit, $2-million in liability insurance coverage and about $15,000 from local business sponsors to pay for the day, Sean Crossan, association vice-president, said Monday.
As many as 2,000 residents were expected to attend, but rain cut attendance to about 300 people. The crowd included local members of parliament and Queen’s Park, Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson, incumbent ward councillor Monette and ward candidate R. Gordon Jensen.
Crossan said the municipal candidates were welcome to attend provided they kept any campaigning low-key and one-on-one.
But Robitaille, he said, arrived with a group of about 12 to 15 campaign supporters, including a man Crossan identified as Robitaille’s husband.
He said the group was outfitted with black pompoms and leis and “Vote for Jennifer” signs.
“She thought she would take advantage of our fun family day and take it for her personal benefit. (They were) all yelling, ‘Vote for Jennifer!’ right in the middle of our barbecue area where people were lining up to be served with hotdogs.”
Crossan said he and another association board member approached the group.
“We said, ‘What are you guys doing here? There’s no political rally. We’ve got a park permit. You’re not allowed to be here. Please move. Ho out on the sidewalk.
“Her husband came up to me, nose to nose and said, ‘This is a democratic country. We can do whatever we want. We can be here’.
“I said, ‘No you can’t be here, we have exclusivity. We have a park permit. We have this park booked for the day. And then they didn’t leave.”
Crossan said another member of Robitallie’s group then “stuck an iPhone camera in front of my face and he tried to antagonize us. He wanted to start something.”
Throughout the confrontation, he said, Robitallie stood quietly off in the distance watching the drama unfold.
The organizers finally decided to telephone city bylaw officials to have an officer dispatched and order the group out of the park. It took Crossan about 15 minutes to get through.
“The minute we got through, they started to walk away. They went to the sidewalk (off of park property) and they yelled and screamed for 10 or 15 minutes and then it started to pour (with rain) and then they left.”
In the online defence of her actions, Robitaille says, “upon arrival, the team was greeted with open hostility from the association and were threatened with physical removal from the public space. “Now to be fair, the team mistakenly hand carried two bilingual signs, inviting people to ‘Meet the Candidate’ (I am in campaign mode after all). When the signs were promptly removed, the team was still threatened to be removed from the public park grounds.
“The reason given for the expulsion was that this event was a private event and that I was not invited. Not invited? Public signs had been posted for weeks leading up to the event, inviting residents to attend the grand opening.
“As a resident of Orléans I was shell-shocked that a community association would not welcome residents outside of their immediate community (she lives in neighbouring Fallingbrook) to celebrate their success.
“I suspect the reason was much more selfish in nature — was it simply that I am a competitor of the current sitting councillor and they wanted to restrict access to the voters.
“It is disheartening when students’ first foray into the political realm is faced with open hostility. When I hear comments about youth not getting involved in their community or a lack interest in elections, I can understand why when behaviour like this occurs. They did not enjoy the bullying and negativity that felt like dirty American politics. The youth left the event disillusioned about community involvement and politics in general.”
It’s left Crossan disillusioned, too.
“It kind of put a damper on the day,” he said. “We don’t want this to happen to any community association again. We decided that it was time for her to give a personal apology. Considering what went through that day, it was totally unacceptable and inappropriate. We never want this to happen again.”
查看原文...
The messy political spat has the Cardinal Creek Community Association accusing Ward 1 municipal candidate Jennifer Robitaille of attempting to hijack a Sept. 13 park-opening ceremony and community barbecue for a political rally.
The association’s board, in a letter published in the online and print editions of the Orléans Star, denounces Robitaille for poor judgment and asks for a public apology.
“She was not invited, nor was she a sponsor to the event,” says the letter. “She did not ask permission to hold a political rally during our family community event. We consider this to be a lack of judgment and respect for our community association from a prospective Ward 1 candidate
Robitaille is firing back on her campaign website. She says association organizers bullied her and her campaign team and that the episode soured some of her student campaigners on political involvement.
She concludes the intent was to keep her away from ward voters, part of a politically motivated ploy to boost the campaign of incumbent Bob Monette. The experience, she writes, “felt like dirty American politics.”
Robitaille did not respond Monday to an interview request.
The backdrop for the incident was the Sept. 13 grand opening of Cardinal Creek Park, Ottawa’s newest park.
Community association members spent nine months planning the event, including obtaining a city park permit, $2-million in liability insurance coverage and about $15,000 from local business sponsors to pay for the day, Sean Crossan, association vice-president, said Monday.
As many as 2,000 residents were expected to attend, but rain cut attendance to about 300 people. The crowd included local members of parliament and Queen’s Park, Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson, incumbent ward councillor Monette and ward candidate R. Gordon Jensen.
Crossan said the municipal candidates were welcome to attend provided they kept any campaigning low-key and one-on-one.
But Robitaille, he said, arrived with a group of about 12 to 15 campaign supporters, including a man Crossan identified as Robitaille’s husband.
He said the group was outfitted with black pompoms and leis and “Vote for Jennifer” signs.
“She thought she would take advantage of our fun family day and take it for her personal benefit. (They were) all yelling, ‘Vote for Jennifer!’ right in the middle of our barbecue area where people were lining up to be served with hotdogs.”
Crossan said he and another association board member approached the group.
“We said, ‘What are you guys doing here? There’s no political rally. We’ve got a park permit. You’re not allowed to be here. Please move. Ho out on the sidewalk.
“Her husband came up to me, nose to nose and said, ‘This is a democratic country. We can do whatever we want. We can be here’.
“I said, ‘No you can’t be here, we have exclusivity. We have a park permit. We have this park booked for the day. And then they didn’t leave.”
Crossan said another member of Robitallie’s group then “stuck an iPhone camera in front of my face and he tried to antagonize us. He wanted to start something.”
Throughout the confrontation, he said, Robitallie stood quietly off in the distance watching the drama unfold.
The organizers finally decided to telephone city bylaw officials to have an officer dispatched and order the group out of the park. It took Crossan about 15 minutes to get through.
“The minute we got through, they started to walk away. They went to the sidewalk (off of park property) and they yelled and screamed for 10 or 15 minutes and then it started to pour (with rain) and then they left.”
In the online defence of her actions, Robitaille says, “upon arrival, the team was greeted with open hostility from the association and were threatened with physical removal from the public space. “Now to be fair, the team mistakenly hand carried two bilingual signs, inviting people to ‘Meet the Candidate’ (I am in campaign mode after all). When the signs were promptly removed, the team was still threatened to be removed from the public park grounds.
“The reason given for the expulsion was that this event was a private event and that I was not invited. Not invited? Public signs had been posted for weeks leading up to the event, inviting residents to attend the grand opening.
“As a resident of Orléans I was shell-shocked that a community association would not welcome residents outside of their immediate community (she lives in neighbouring Fallingbrook) to celebrate their success.
“I suspect the reason was much more selfish in nature — was it simply that I am a competitor of the current sitting councillor and they wanted to restrict access to the voters.
“It is disheartening when students’ first foray into the political realm is faced with open hostility. When I hear comments about youth not getting involved in their community or a lack interest in elections, I can understand why when behaviour like this occurs. They did not enjoy the bullying and negativity that felt like dirty American politics. The youth left the event disillusioned about community involvement and politics in general.”
It’s left Crossan disillusioned, too.
“It kind of put a damper on the day,” he said. “We don’t want this to happen to any community association again. We decided that it was time for her to give a personal apology. Considering what went through that day, it was totally unacceptable and inappropriate. We never want this to happen again.”
查看原文...
