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Cork alone - Bury won’t help distribute latest letter |
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At its regular monthly council meeting Monday night, the municipality of Bury was again forced to distance itself from an open letter councillor James Cork has written to residents, now the second of its kind. 
After Canada Post refused to distribute the new letter — unless envelopes were sealed and individually addressed — Cork used the council meeting to announce that residents could leave their contact information for him at the municipal office, and he would send them a copy.That declaration sent an angry titter through the audience, prompting several comments during question period.“I strongly request this council, for its own security, pass a resolution that you will not take part in the circulation of Mr. Cork’s letter,” resident Leona Hodge addressed council.“Is that a physical threat?” demanded Cork.When more audiences members complained about Cork using the municipality to distribute his letter, a resolution was passed assuring the town would not facilitate the distribution of his letter. But Bury’s director general, Daniel St. Onge, said that they could not stop Cork from writing letters, whatever their content. In January, The Record ran excerpts from Cork’s second letter, titled Bury Chimpanzees’ Association Propaganda Sheet. The latest publication is written as though from the pen of the local group the Bury Citizens’ Association.The letter reads as a sarcastic account of why certain acts of vandalism have taken place in the community, calling them “random coincidences.”“As we all know,” it reads, “Bury lies in the heart of Magicland where people do not set houses on fire, houses set themselves on fire....”That comment refers to the suspicious circumstances surrounding a fire on municipal councillor Nicole Fortier’s property some time ago.Cork penned his first controversial letter last November, accusing a faction of the town’s residents of being menaces to the municipal process. He distributed the letters to “household occupants” through Canada Post.Town council then published a note to citizens, disassociating itself from the dispatch and clarifying that the letter was a personal initiative of Cork’s. In that first letter, Cork refers to a group of residents as “a cult of hate-filled anti-French lowbrows.”Canada Post has refused to distribute Cork’s second letter, saying it contains prejudiced statements against identifiable Bury residents. Spokeswoman Christiane Ouimet says that mass mail-outs to “household occupants” are reserved for commercial distributions, and sending Cork’s first letter was an error on the part of the Crown corporation.Now, Canada Post says it has sent Cork something explaining why the second letter cannot be mailed out, unless envelopes are sealed and individually addressed to each recipient.Cork said he will confirm through a lawyer that both the municipality and Canada Post have the right to refuse to circulate his letter.Based on the disgruntled audience response Monday evening, Cork’s second letter may not enjoy the wide readership the first one did. As of Monday, only some media and town councillors had seen the second letter.Cork is already under fire, having received two legal notices, one from the Bury Citizens’ Association and another from one of its members, Leona Hodge. Both parties were reacting to being targeted in Cork’s first letter; while the association is asking Cork not to publish any more material it characterizes as offensive and harmful, Hodge is seeking $8,000 in alleged damages. The municipality’s insurance company is in the process of reviewing the legal notices to determine if insurance could cover Cork’s legal costs.St. Onge said he does not know how probable this is, but assured residents that the town’s lawyer was not representing Cork.“She is aware of the file, but she is not working for Mr. Cork,” St. Onge said. “He will pay his legal fees from his own pocket.”St. Onge, who leaves his post as Bury’s director general for another position in Ascot Corner later this month, hopes to see an end to Cork’s letter writing campaign.“It has to stop, it makes no sense,” he told The Record. “The majority of council is not in support of this.”Bury Mayor Marc Jacques Gosselin missed the action Monday night; the mayor has taken a sick leave from both the municipality and his full-time job at the provincial environment ministry.By Sarah RogersFeb. 6, 2008 |
Montreal Canadiens
