Marie Trainer

Marie Trainer, born circa 1946 , is the former mayor of Haldimand County, Ontario, Canada after having been defeated on October, 25th 2010 by Mayor Elect Ken Hewitt. Hewitt finished with 6,984 votes, Trainer 5,748 and third place finisher Buck Sloat with 2,929 in unofficial final results. She took office after defeating the incumbent, Lorraine Bergstrand in the 2003 Ontario municipal elections. The residents of Haldimand County re elected Marie Trainer as mayor in the 2006 Ontario municipal elections. Trainer received national attention after making controversial comments while being interviewed by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation during the Caledonia land dispute.

Trainer was first elected to municipal office in 1985 as the councillor for the Hagersville Ward in the former Town of Haldimand In 1988, she was elected a councillor for the short lived Regional Municipality of Haldimand Norfolk .

In November 1991, through "a stunning upset" Trainer defeated incumbent Edith Fuller, in office since 1980, in the Town of Haldimand mayoralty race Trainer had campaigned with two main platform points: her opposition to "a proposed $500 million waste station to be located near Cayuga", and her opposition to a "$3.5 million recreation centre" called LeisurePlex, proposed for Caledonia – as councilor for Hagersville, she had withdrawn her support for the later "when it came time to award the building contract" Fuller "took no stand on Enviromax because she didn't believe she had all the information" and "supported the recreation centre" although the Haldimand chapter of the Ontario Taxpayers' Coalition was opposed to it. In the post election analysis, "fear of rising taxes" was considered one reason for Fuller's ouster; Trainer offered her opinion that "Fuller lost because, 'I think she forgot to listen to the people'"
Fuller "termed the race 'one of the most unpleasant campaigns I've ever been involved in' accused some of her opponents of spreading nasty rumors about her" and misleading "voters about the issues" Trainer:

"  denied running a dirty campaign, although she admitted she had heard rumors about the mayor. But, she said, she told her workers to ignore them and not to spread them. 'We didn't run anything like a dirty campaign at all,' said Mrs. Trainer."

The Township of Haldimand was a municipal entity that ceased to exist with the creation of the municipality of Haldimand County on 1 January 2001. Municipal elections were held in November 2000 to determine the mayor of the new county; there were two candidates and both were mayors of one of the county's constituent townships, Trainer (of Haldimand) and Lorraine Bergstrand (of Dunnville). Trainer announced her candidacy on March 28, 2000, and initially campaigned on "her record at the helm of 'one of the best run, financially stable municipalities in Ontario with no debt, more than $6 million in reserves and only one minor tax increase'" Trainer later adopted the slogan "The People's Mayor."

On October 31, 2000, Trainer wrote a letter to 55 church ministers within the new county boundaries which "was typed by municipal staff on the letterhead of the existing town of Haldimand, signed by Trainer as mayor of the existing town of Haldimand and mailed using the town's postage meter" The Hamilton Spectator was contacted anonymously by town staff who "said they were uncomfortable about the fact the letter was produced and sent by staff at election time" although "Gerry van der Wolf, Haldimand's chief administrative officer, said it's not up to individual employees to determine the appropriateness of work generated by the mayor's office"
In the letter, Trainer asked the church ministers "for prayers for 'governmental leadership with high moral standards'" and urged "ministers to encourage the 'churched people of our community' to get out to vote to ensure a 'Godly influence in our governments'"
reported that "several of the 55 ministers who received the letter say the implicit message is that a vote for Trainer is a 'Godly' vote" and quoted Rev. Jeff Veenstra of Dunnville's Knox Presbyterian Church:

"Although it's not explicit, it is implied that she (Trainer) is the Godly candidate, the right moral candidate, the candidate with the right values, I found the timing of this letter very opportunist." The Rev. Ian Kirby Smith of Grace United Church in Dunnvile also saw "the letter as an effort by Trainer to garner votes"
Trainer claimed the letter "was merely an effort to get people out to vote at a time when restructuring has caused confusion among municipal voters"
Trainer ultimately lost the election.

Between 2000 and 2003, Trainer "assisted in the family beef operation", sat on the "management boards of Cottonwood Mansion and Ruthven Park", and was a member of the "Haldimand Norfolk Brant Ontario Trillium Foundation review board" .

In 2003, Trainer again campaigned as "The People's Mayor" , noting in interviews that "she always talks to people as equals" On commencing her run for office, Trainer's primary criticism of the incumbent council was that "council [was] not listening to the taxpayers It just seems it's a dictatorship" She also noted that in "her opinion, too much council business is kept from the people. 'There is an awful lot of P and C (private and confidential business),' Trainer said. 'I would have a more open council and not so much P and C and I would let the public speak when they wanted to'" During December 2004 February 2005, she would be criticised for her role in offering for sale, without first holding a public meeting, the municipal hydro utility, Haldimand County Hydro. Trainer also commented on concerns she had regarding a "bitter" Canadian Union of Public Employees contract negotiation with the Haldimand County council that occurred in 2002. Trainer "recalled contract settlements that were completed amicably in the former Town of Haldimand" although she did not explicate her role in these previous negotiations. "Trainer also relayed concerns about union and non union raises. Union wages were increased 2.5 per cent but non union wages went up a little more, she said, referring to information provided to her by union members" A significant pillar of her platform was her condemnation of a summer 2002 council approved "increase in councillor remuneration" at the time of the CUPE contract negotiation
Trainer received some criticism of her 1991–2000 tenure as mayor of the former Town of Haldimand, in particular with regard to "penny pinching" on infrastructure maintenance—mainly roads, which were, by 2003, in poor repair Trainer responded and:

"defended those caps. 'Yes there were zero increases but not less dollars,' she said. 'The additional tax base from new residents and businesses was used to finance additional budget items,' she said. Trainer also emphasized that the former town reviewed its roads and set a priority for maintenance"
Trainer "collected $13,190.44 in contributions compared to Bergstrand's $18,080" during the campaign and won by a 1111 vote margin, with 7303 votes cast for Trainer. noted that in "Caledonia, Bergstrand tripled Trainer's haul ($300) but Trainer more than doubled Bergstrand's donations ($1,250) in Hagersville" and that "Trainer secured most of her large donations from businesses with four from Dunnville. They are HydroVac Industrial, Silverthorne Refractories, 1276340 Ontario Inc, and Lundy Complex Inc. The former Cayuga IGA owner, Greg Potter, donated $750 as did former Dunnville MP Bud Bradley. Among smaller donations from area businesses and prominent citizens were $200 from former Dunnville Mayor Bob Blake and $200 from War Memorial Hospital CEO Paul Mailloux. CUPE Local 4700 put their money ($500) where there mouth was. After a bitter strike and angry words between Bergstrand and union workers in 2002, union leaders promised to see [Bergstrand] ousted."

In the November 10, 2003 municipal elections in Haldimand County "the council voter turn out exceeded the mayoral balloting in every ward" The strength of Trainer's mandate from the community was unclear and surveyed "county political observers", who offered the following "possibilities for the voting trend":

Dunnville Chamber of Commerce president Marg Clark suggested "there was a preconceived notion that there was not much to choose from in the slate of candidates running for mayor. 'I would not be surprised that (those with this opinion) chose not to vote,'  People were soliciting candidates to enter the mayoral race up to the nomination deadline and this is another indication of dissatisfaction with the options" Catherine Berry Stidsen surmised that voters noted "Trainer's personal approach and Bergstrand's business like approach and nobody could get a feel for Marlowe With all these factors in play, some people opted not to vote for mayor" Stidsen further commented that "[because] of the low voter turnout in this election and the past, she [felt] neither Bergstrand nor Trainer had a real mandate from the community" Dunnville farmer Merv Watkins noted that ward candidates can campaign at every home while it is "impossible" for the mayoral candidate to cover the county; he also observed that "people are generally uninformed. 'There are not a whole lot of people reading newspapers'" .

Mayor Marie Trainer and the Haldimand ward councilors elected in the 2003 Ontario municipal elections were inaugurated on December 1, 2003 (for three year terms).

The council of the corporation of Haldimand County discovered, "during [May] 2004 budget discussions", that Haldimand County Hydro would likely fail "to provide a forecast dividend of $280,000." Council met with the utility and "despite low profits due to a rate freeze, the utility did provide the original dividend amount"
However, according to statements made by Trainer to the Dunnville Chronicle in November 2004, "council felt it was getting a poor return, one per cent, for their $23 million investment" Haldimand County Hydro is the county's biggest asset; the utility's sole shareholder is the Haldimand County corporation, acting on behalf of the county taxpayers Trainer gave the value (after debts are deducted, the shareholder's interest) as $23 million while the chief administrative officer for the Haldimand County corporation, Bill Pearce, noted "Haldimand Hydro has 20,000 customers and the book value of the utility is $20 million. 'But we're hoping to get more than that thanks to competition,'" Trainer noted that "if that kind of money was in the bank, council could do more for residents. If the utility is sold, staff will recommend using the proceeds to finance hard assets like buildings, roads and equipment" Ward 3 (Caledonia) councilor Craig Ashbaugh later offered a third set of numbers and stated that "With $1.5 million interest on the $25 million sale proceeds, the county can install community center water system upgrades, purchase defibrillators, replace the Dunnville arena floor or construct a Cayuga ambulance base and a new Lowbanks fire hall" at which point another councillor, Lorne Boyko noted that "this is the first time he's heard this list and that there has been no direction from council about it"
The council's decision making before October 18, 2004, is not documented. When questioned at a meeting in January 2005, Bill Pearce "confirmed that minutes were not taken for hydro sale committee meetings" At an open council session in November 2004, former mayor "Lorraine Bergstrand criticized council for holding closed meetings for two months on the issue" Bergstrand noted that not "only did this deny citizens, who own the utility, the right to know what was being considered, but it excluded them from a public input process prior to a council decision to sell"
The first documented decision occurred on October 18, 2004, when "council approved $239,375 to hire the Miller Thomson firm for the job" of consulting on the "request for proposal and sale process for Haldimand Hydro" A public announcement of the intended sale was released on October 26 noted in a November 3 article for the Dunnville Chronicle that the "sale will be subject to Ontario Energy Board approval." "On [November] 17, requests for proposals (RFP) were released" and eleven "prospective buyers" emerged By the middle of November 2004, Trainer stated that it had "started to be controversial" and reported receiving over a dozen calls protesting the decision noted that Trainer had "voted in
favour of the sale." In December 2004 Bill Pearce offered a controversial reflection on the numerous interested buyers, noting that "the response shows that council's decision to look at divesture was probably the right course to follow. "There's definitely a market out there" Council considered the proposals and formulated a shortlist at a closed meeting on December 22, 2004, and announced that at an open meeting (later scheduled for January 17, 2005) they would "release terms of the proposed sale and accept public comments prior to making a final decision"
When Haldimand County Hydro was created in 2000, a board containing council members and citizens appointed by council was formed to represent taxpayers' interests to Hydro management. The chair of this board was, from 2001 March 2005, council appointed citizen Bernie Corbett. By December 29, Corbett was asking "if the county had analyzed the local impact of losing a business that had a $1.2 million payroll for 40 people and paid $60,000 in taxes

By January 5, Donna Pitcher (a former Ward 2 candidate) had collected 2000 signatures opposing the sale and stated that the petition "will be examined by the Ontario Energy Board (OEB) The petitions will go to the board if Haldimand County applies to sell the local utility, along with many letters protesting the sale" Pitcher also criticized Trainer, stating that "[by] supporting the search for a buyer Mayor Marie Trainer is not living up to her campaign motto, a People's mayor" Pitcher threatened: "'If [Trainer] keeps going as she has done, her career is over. She is done,'  Around election time in 2006, [Pitcher promised to] remind the public, through ads, what council has done with the hydro company, if they [decided] to sell"
By January 12, 2005, Best quoted Trainer urging people to register as delegations to the January 17 meeting (registration and comments summaries would be required to take the floor); Trainer stated: "We will stay here until they are all finished, We need to know what the public's saying.". On January 17, 2005, at "a jammed public meeting a dozen residents spoke against the move [to sell]. No one supported it" In the intervening two weeks, an additional 900 people had signed the petition opposing the sale:

"Donna Pitcher presented petitions with 2,967 names voicing opposition to the utility sale. She wondered why no economic impact study was done when, by using the county's own economic development impact formula, she calculated an annual $15 million blow to the county's economy if HCH was sold." Bernie Corbett stated at the meeting "the community is dumbfounded. They cannot understand why you continue to pursue a course of action contrary to their wishes. There would be no problem getting enough signatures if the public had the right to recall council members" Lorraine Bergstrand also "reminded Trainer about her election promises for open, accessible and responsible government for the people" and "criticized council for its quick decision to look for a buyer" At the meeting's close, Trainer addressed her fellow councilors and stated that she "hoped" the councilors "would take citizen comments under advisement and make sure they were addressed in purchase applications" which would be considered at the closed meeting scheduled for January 31, when Trainer and the other councilors would make their final decision
Marsha Cox, a Dunnville resident who registered and spoke at the meeting noted to that, in "her opinion, council members acted like school yard bullies who didn't care and who were acting in a parochial manner 'It's about control.'" On February 1, 2005 "council decided unanimously to stop the divesture process"
In a closed session on March 21, 2005, Trainer and four of the six councillors voted not to renew Bernie Corbett's term on the hydro board; the council returned the two other citizen members and appointed a councilor, Buck Sloat, to the now vacant chair position, thereby changing the citizen representation on the board Donna Pitcher commented: "There's something seriously wrong with this council," and suggested Council did not have expertise in electricity without Corbett
On April 13, 2005, Bill Pearce reported to County council that "[costs] for the request for proposal and sale process for Haldimand Hydro exceeded estimates The final bill came to $243,501.77. Legal fees amounted to $162,096.25, consultant fees were $80,738.69 and meeting expenses came to $666.83" noted that "Council is financing these costs from the contingency reserve, which is used to cover unexpected expenses and is a temporary fund for transition costs."

On August 10, 2005, a special Haldimand County council meeting was convened to consider the June 28 report prepared by The Burke Group subsequent to the May 2005 complaint of harassment filed against Trainer. The "meeting began with Trainer praying for peace for everyone present" The meeting entered a closed session and Trainer retired to her office because her presence would constitute a conflict of interest during the council's deliberation on the investigation evidence. "For the first two hours of the closed session, two members of Prayer for Haldimand sat with Trainer in her office" Trainer returned to the council chamber once the council voted "that the mayor had harassed McLachlan" , an open session resumed and when "the meeting was finished, Trainer remained in the chamber for an interview and then approached two Prayer for Haldimand members. One embraced her" .

The Caledonia land dispute began on 28 February 2006 when a "small group of Six Nations protesters from the Grand River Territory reserve [moved] onto the Caledonia construction site" of Henco Industries residential development, known as Douglas Creek Estates , claiming they had not given up title to the land in 1841, contrary to the assertions of the Canadian federal government (then the British colonial government) who sold the land in the 1840s. The site is on the southwestern outskirts of Caledonia, an unincorporated town in Ward 3 of the regional municipality of Haldimand County, where Trainer was elected mayor in 2003. The conflict between the Six Nations protestors and Henco Industries continued throughout March 2006; Ontario court orders were obtained by Henco Industries to regain control of the development, but when the OPP attempted to enforce the orders, the conflict escalated and the provincial government appointed negotiators. By April 21, a rally of 500 people opposed to the Six Nations protestors (including Douglas Creek Estates homeowners) had occurred, police had conducted a nighttime raid on the site using "M16 rifles, tear gas, pepper spray and Tasers" (arresting 16 people), the protestors had reinforced their presence with hundreds of additional Six Nations members and barricades, and began stopping traffic on Highway 6, the main thoroughfare in Caledonia. A sympathetic protest at the Tyendinaga Mohawk reserve was occurring, in which CN tracks were blocked on the main rail corridor between Southern Ontario and eastern Canada On April 21, Sam George, brother of Dudley George, who was killed during the Ipperwash crisis, "[called] for calm"
By April 22, 18 hours of talks occurred between the provincial negotiators and the protestors. However, on April 24, 3000 residents of Caledonia demonstrated near the site, demanding that authorities remove the Six Nations members from the Douglas Creek Estates. The reported that one resident demonstrator stated:

"Our politicians are hiding, and it makes me sick." That evening, 500 of these demonstrators confronted the police and the Six Nations protestors, approached the barricades, smashed a police vehicle and caused "100 police officers [to] keep them away" (one person was arrested) .

On May 22, 2006, a truck was lit on fire and placed inside a hydro substation near Argyle Street in Caledonia, near the Caledonia land dispute Two transformers were damaged and residents in two counties – Haldimand and Norfolk – and the Six Nations reserve lost power, some for two days The Haldimand County council declared a state of emergency and "Hydro One officials" estimated "the cost of repairing the damage from the arson" at over "$1.5 million"
On May 23, 2006, Trainer told a reporter for the Hamilton Spectator that "I've had a lot of calls from people worried about how it happened," and that "[people] are very, very upset" The reported that "Trainer says natives vandalized a hydro transformer that blacked out power in Caledonia, Simcoe, Waterford and part of the Six Nations reserve. Trainer has no hard evidence Friday to back up her claim that natives set fire to the transformer." The offered the opinion that "Trainer as a veteran politician ought to have the sense not to point fingers without proof. It does no good to stir up animosity, just as progress is being made in settling the Caledonia standoff." As of June 2010, the standoff is in its fiftieth month.