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By now, most readers will be aware of the resignation of the BIA's chair over the ongoing dispute between the organization and the town. That head butting stems from a disagreement over the terms and conditions in an agreement jointly signed by the town and BIA and the province.

I've written about some of this previously, but, of course not the contentious hissing and spitting that went on in three in camera meetings when the matter was raised with council. Council has not met with the BIA board, although the chair met with the mayor twice, once after the BIA's letter to the province had been sent, then again after the BIA's letter to its members was sent.

You can read about the resignation on the ...

Just before we went in camera, Monday, I asked Councillor Jeffrey if she had voted to pull the the BIA out of the contract it signed with the town. She said yes and indicated it was a unanimous vote (although it was not made clear who was at that meeting).

At that point, the mayor took over and shoved the rest of the discussion behind closed doors.

While some of that heated debate probably belonged there, how someone voted in a public meeting did not. I think that section should have been held in public. Instead we had an angry 90-plus minute "discussion" about it behind closed doors.

The public only knows, because I asked and she answered before we went in camera, that council's representative on the BIA - Kathy Jeffrey...

"Councillors closed the door on the patio issue, Wednesday, allowing downtown businesses another couple of weeks with temporary fencing for curbside patios." Enterprise-Bulletin, July 30, 2010.

Unfortunately, I was not able to attend the special meeting that the mayor called (oddly, nor could the mayor) to deal with the patios, but I don't consider the meeting to be about "closing doors." Rather it was held to deal with a minor issue about the fencing required for patios.

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Get over it. That's what Councillor Labelle wrote to me in an email when I recently suggested council might allow patios to open beside the buildings for the Elvis Festival, to let the restaurants capitalize on the crush of visitors this weekend.

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I was more than a little surprised on Monday to hear Councillor Jeffrey comment that, if restaurant owners put their application in right away, they were very likely to get liquor licences from the Alcohol and Gaming Commission (AGCO) in time for the Elvis Festival, next weekend. Assuming, that is, they wanted to move, or could afford the curbside patio (so far, none have done so).

Surprised because that festival was less than two weeks away from her announcement. AGCO licences usually take at least 30 days to process, usually much longer. Yet she made that announcement July 12, and she had received an email from the BIA, on July 7 that said in part:

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I was accused of taking my last pictures of an empty downtown on a weekday, when, of course, it would be quiet. So here are two photos taken Saturday, July 10, a few mintues after noon (just as the farmers' market was starting to wind down). Note the lack of patios and the lack of pedestrians - which means the lack of customers. The restaurants I looked into at this end were nearly empty. The stores, too.

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Test your skill! Look at the three pictures below and tell me what's wrong in each one:



Let's see. People enjoying themselves. Lots of room for people to pass the patios. No obstructions to pedestrians. Customers enjoying a meal or drink outdoors on this beautiful July 1 afternoon. The almost-complete downtown reconstruction is looking good. The sidewalk is wider than ever. The downtown is full of people. So what could possibly be wrong?

Hint: Today is July 5.

That's right: these patios are illegal as of today, thanks to Councillors Jeffrey, McNabb, Labelle, Foley and Sandberg. So enjoy the photos, because you won't see the patios back beside the buildings until next term.

I just learned that the traditional pancake breakfast will not be taking place downtown on Canada Day this year. Council wasn't informed of this change, nor was council even asked whether or not we wanted to participate. It was just cancelled.

I only found out because an email meant for Helena Guergis' office was misrouted to my inbox. Our MP had already sent out an information flyer about Canada Day events mentioning the pancake breakfast. She's wrong, but I can understand the confusion. For the past decade or two, it has been held here. And hundreds of residents and visitors have enjoyed a low-cost breakfast courtesy of the town. Helena usually joined us at the grill for an hour or two.

Now it isn't happening and I have...

None of those buskers would be allowed to play on Collingwood's streets, because they use amplification.

Neither would this busker who performs to large crowds in Sydney, Australia.

But we won't allow any of them - or tens of thousands like them - to play here because they use amplification. Just check YouTube to see dozens, maybe hundreds of other busking videos.

Collingwood: We license culture, we tax culture and we control culture. But we don't embrace it.

Check the comments for more examples.

I just returned from a few days in Toronto, attending the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) annual convention. Picked up a lot of good ideas (especially around open government and open data) and information, which I'll post at a later point. What I wanted to write about here is how the host city handles its downtown and its patios, buskers and sidewalk merchants.

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