Cowards! Markham bylaw grinches run from questions over rink demolition

You may recall our report last month that after four years of drama, Markham, Ont., resident Martin Ross lost the battle to save his beloved backyard hockey rink.

To recap, there’s plenty of blame to go around.

For starters, the City of Markham, clearly has a personal vendetta against Martin.

Let’s begin with vindictive Markham city councillor Reid McAlpine.

Some Nosey Parker neighbours complained to McAlpine about the rink. Kids were having too much fun, you see. McAlpine allegedly told Martin that he did the math, and it came down to eight votes against the rink from the insufferable Karens versus one vote from Martin. Case closed.

Alas, a couple of those Karens, the Gagnons, live next-door to Martin. They are the ones who were allegedly the most vocal complainers. Coincidentally, they are financial donors to… Reid McAlpine! Funny how that works, eh?

Incidentally, the primary bone of contention regarding the City’s ire over the rink is that Martin lives in a heritage property which is not supposed to be altered. How odd that the Gagnons actually added an addition to their principal residence (also a heritage property, by the way) AND built a two-storey guesthouse in the backyard. Why the double standard? Oh, yeah, as previously stated, they grease McAlpine’s palms with fabulous moolah, thereby ensuring it is “one law for me, one law for thee.”

Calls to the Gagnons were not returned. Meanwhile, when we paid a personal visit to McAlpine at Markham City Hall last month, he refused to answer any questions and then enlisted a security guard to frog-march us out the council chambers (suddenly, the council meeting that day was declared “private.” Democracy in action yet again.)

More proof of Markham’s vendetta: the city informed Martin that if he did not remove the rink, they would do so and bill him $500,000, later revising this sum to “just” $352,000 (of note: the original cost of the rink was $300,000!) As well, when Martin sought a quote from a demolition company, he was told it would cost only $59,000 to tear down the rink. Incredible.

And there’s no accountability, either. The bully bureaucrat behind the legal threat letters is Graham Seaman. Not only will he not comment, but Seaman has since removed his name from threat letters. By the way, last year, the ever-diligent Seaman earned more than $192,000 in salary and claimed almost $10,000 in benefits. Must be nice.

When Martin was denied an injunction recently, he had no other choice but to demolish his rink or lose his house.

The netting and boards are already gone; Martin has until spring to remove the concrete pad.

But get this: bylaw informed Martin that they would be dropping by his house last Monday at precisely 10 a.m. to check on the demolition “progress”. And he better be there! Yes, that’s how vindictive they are.

But when bylaw agents saw that Rebel News and CTV News were on site to report their shakedown shenanigans, bylaw remotely informed Martin at 9:55 a.m. that the inspection was cancelled. Apparently, the bylaw Gestapo is afraid of… cameras and microphones?

In any event, more proof positive that at the end of the day, stripped of their power, bullies, are in reality, just so many snivelling cowards.

David Menzies

Mission Specialist

David “The Menzoid” Menzies is the Rebel News "Mission Specialist." The Menzoid is equal parts outrageous and irreverent as he dares to ask the type of questions those in the Media Party would rather not ponder.