Monday, April 26, 2010

The plot sickens.

Daniel Dale of the Toronto Star has done a marvellous job ferreting out the connections of the "Save the THS" slate that has appeared out of thin air.

You'd think the big-time, big-bux Sussex Strategy Group could have been original with its slate's name instead of piggybacking on the existing Save The Toronto Humane Society group.

I poked around the Sussex Strategy Group website and was hugely amused by the title of one founder's blog entry: "If you can't dazzle them with brains, baffle them with...". Geez, now why does that seem familiar?

What exactly did Sussex Strategy Group do for THS, and how many donor dollars did that cost?

What's the animal care/animal welfare background of these "Save the THS" candidates? Have any of these people cleaned a cat cage at THS, or walked a shelter dog?

Even worse, it's reported that Bob Hambley of the current THS board (facing charges for animal cruelty) and long time THS lawyer Pell Capone have been attending the Save the THS Slate meetings.

You might want to review Mr. Hambley's behaviour at the last members' meeting, when he was the Secretary and Treasurer. Remind yourself that the current board, due to vacate office on May 30th, have not been transparent about whether Mr. Hambley continues as Secretary and Treasurer in addition to being President.

Hey, did Mr. Capone return that $400K to the THS that he was supposed to return March 5th? More mystery and fog surrounding THS activities....

Read the history of dysfunction at Toronto Humane here and here. See which names keep appearing.

Why is Bob Hambley running for the board again? He's been on the board for decades, through several scandals.

Is it true that the Brenda C. Grant on the list of candidates is actually Brenda Hind from the current THS board running under another name? Would Brenda C. Grant like to clarify?

Is it true that Margaret Johnson on the list of candidates is related to Alan Johnson, a current and long-time THS board member (since 1979, through several scandals)? Would Margaret Johnson like to clarify?

The current management of THS is STILL not allowing information on how to be a member on its website. Even the site map has been disabled. Gee, I wonder why.

If you want the THS to change, please take this list of the Faces of CHANGE candidates to the May 30th election with you, and vote for them. (N.B. Updated list to reflect the union of Faces of CHANGE and RAIN).

-   Dr. Hanna Booth - Veterinarian
- Michael Downey - President & CEO, Tennis Canada
- Kim Cohen - CEO, Brown & Cohen Communications
- Jennifer Downe - Bank Manager & THS Volunteer
- Judi King - Senior Law Clerk & ART Co-founder
- Marcie Laking - Animal Welfare Advocate
- Linda MacKinnon - Paralegal & ART Co-founder
- Dr. Karen Nasir - Veterinarian
- Peter Newell - Senior Partner, Ogilvy Renault
- Garnet Pratt Siddall - Financial Professional
- Ferne Sinkins - President, Toronto Cat Rescue
- Tom Ungar - President & CEO, MTU Investments
- Ian Wintrip - Director, Wintrip Wolkoff Shin
- Wendy Strickland - Urban Forester, THS volunteer
- Crystal Tomusiak - Criminal Lawyer, THS volunteer