This week in The Leader – September 4, 2019 edition

Mark MacDonald and Jim McDonell have agreed to join The Social Development Council of Cornwall & area to raise awareness and get a taste first-hand what it feels like to make the impossible choice between rent and food every day by participating in Cornwall’s 2nd “do the math” challenge (DTM2)!

DTM2 is a five day challenge of surviving only on the contents of a food bank hamper where thousands of Ontarians participated throughout the year since last fall and came together to bring awareness around poverty and the existence of widespread food insecurity and chronic illness related to poor nutrition.

This year, the Social Development Council of Cornwall and area’s local “do the math” team will be launching its 2nd challenge on Wednesday September 28th, 2011 starting at 9 a.m. at the Agape Centre where the participants will start the challenge with an actual appointment with the food bank to pick up their challenge hamper.

“With last year’s overwhelming response and overall empowering experience, and with the support earlier this summer from Cornwall City Council’s municipal resolution to support the Put Food in the Budget’s call for the $100 per month Healthy Food Supplement, we felt it necessary to launch DTM2 again this fall,” says campaign leader Michelle Gratton.

The community is once again invited to participate in this five day long hands-on awareness piece with their friends and family.  

Followers and supporters will be able to support the participants, leave comments and hear about the entire experience by following along on the SDC’s Community Blog site at 4sdcblogging.wordpress.com.

Initially launched in August 2009, this campaign features an interactive website where visitors are asked to add up the monthly expenses they think necessary for a single person on social assistance.

This budgetary exercise vividly illustrates that, after housing, clothing and transportation, most people have no money left over for food and must rely on food banks and drop-in meals to survive.   

For more information on the campaign or to find out how you can participate, please contact the Social Development Council at 613.930.0211 or mgratton@sdccornwall.ca.

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Press Release – October 4, 2011

The Director of the Special Investigations Unit (SIU), Ian Scott, has concluded that there are no reasonable grounds to charge an officer of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) with a criminal offence in regards to the death of 52-year-old Judith Fleury in a collision in Morrisburg in July of this year.

The SIU assigned four SIU investigators and two SIU forensic investigators (FI) to probe this incident. SIU FI investigators videotaped and photographed the scene and forensically mapped the collision site and the surrounding environment. 

The Crash Retrieval modules from both vehicles were also collected and examined. 

Pertinent information was also requested and received from the OPP. One officer was designated as a subject officer and six officers were designated as witness officers. The SIU also located and interviewed six civilian witnesses.

The SIU investigation determined that in the early hours of July 31, 2011, the subject officer was driving alone westbound on Hwy 401 in a marked black OPP Suburban SUV canine vehicle with a police dog in the back. The SUV was equipped with emergency lights in its grill as well as a siren. The officer was responding to a call to assist other OPP units regarding a suspect apprehension pursuit of an alleged impaired driver who was traveling northbound on County Road 31 just north of the town of Morrisburg. 

The officer activated his emergency equipment, turned onto County Road 31 and began accelerating. County Road 31 has a posted speed of 80 km/h. Ahead of him were two other OPP vehicles with their emergency equipment activated and involved in a suspect apprehension pursuit.

Ms. Fleury was driving a white Chevrolet Equinox van northbound on County Road 31. She had three passengers in the back seat of her vehicle that she had agreed to pick up from a social event being held on the shores of the St. Lawrence River in Morrisburg. 

She saw the first two OPP vehicles involved in the pursuit and pulled her van over to the side of the road to let them pass. She then continued in a northerly direction on County Road 31. 

The subject officer saw Ms. Fleury’s vehicle in the distance and moved over to the southbound lane in an attempt to pass it. 

It appears that Ms. Fleury decided to make a left turn across County Road 31. According to the accident reconstruction report, at a speed of approximately 17 km/h, she turned directly in front of the Suburban driven by the subject officer at the driveway of 5120 County Road 31. 

The front of the Suburban collided with the two left side doors of the Equinox with one second of pre-collision braking on the southbound side of the road. Just before braking the speed of the Suburban was in excess of the posted speed limit. 

Both vehicles were pushed approximately 105 metres northbound into the west ditch of the county road. The right front corner of the Equinox struck a pole and came to rest immediately to the west of that pole.

The collision caused the death of the Ms. Fleury, and significant injuries to the two male passengers, while the third, a female passenger suffered minor injuries. As well, the subject officer sustained minor head injuries.

Director Scott concluded that, “While the subject officer was driving significantly over the speed limit seconds before the collision, pursuant to s. 128(13)(a) of the Highway Traffic Act, compliance with the speed limits does not apply to police officers in the lawful performance of their duties. 

Here, the subject officer’s assistance in a suspect apprehension pursuit was a lawful execution of his duties and accordingly his speed alone cannot be considered to be unlawful. 

Further, by all accounts, he had his emergency equipment activated. He could have reasonably concluded that Ms. Fleury would have seen the emergency lights and would not turn into the southbound lane. 

Unfortunately, she turned directly into his path and the collision caused her death and significant injuries to two of her three passengers. 

While this incident is a great tragedy, I have no grounds to believe the subject officer committed a criminal offence because he was in the lawful execution of his duties as he was attempting to pass Ms. Fleury’s vehicle.

[…]

“Completion of the Campbell Street extension is imminent,” reported South Dundas chief administrative officer Stephen McDonald, at the December 16 council meeting.

“We have received our permit. We can now cut down a butternut tree.”

One endangered butternut tree located right in the centre of the Campbell Street extension put a stop to the work taking place to open up land in the Morrisburg business park.

The work was stopped back in 2013, and could not proceed until the Municipality was granted this permit through a lengthy process.

Work will proceed as soon as the contractor is available to complete the project.

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