CAYUGA—Anyone who has driven through Cayuga or surrounding areas in recent months has likely seen resident Jesse Little, safety shirt on, holding up a sign with slogans such as “Haldimand County Ignores.”
On June 20, 2024, Haldimand County issued a public statement about Little, addressing his ongoing protests and attempting to set the record straight about staff’s interactions with him stemming from a misfiled set of conviction charges against Little in 2018.
The statement, which asserts it is an overview based on “legal advice as to what can be openly shared at this time,” notes that OPP issued two provincial offence notices against Little in the fall of 2018.
“Through a minor administrative error by municipal staff, Mr. Little was recorded as having been found guilty of a provincial offence when this was not true. County staff promptly had the electronic records corrected by a Justice of the Peace and communicated with the Ministry of Transportation immediately, in order to present an accurate account of what had occurred,” stated the release.
It asserts that Little was given a package of relevant documents, but “the forms indicating the correction were omitted.” Staff then sent a written apology and provided the missing documentation, with the release asserting the error had “no bearing on the outcome of the hearings” related to the charges.
Following the statement’s release, Little reached out to The Press to share his side. He submitted nearly 4,000 words on the topic. Below is a condensed review of those concerns.
Little alleges that the issuing of the conviction documents and the correction by the County was done incorrectly and therefore in breach of their duties. He subsequently alleges that the County has failed to properly “address this” and has denied him service in his repeated attempts to reach a satisfactory conclusion. Little called the misfiled convictions a breach of his Charter rights as he is “to be presumed innocent until proven guilty.” A Justice of the Peace later found Little guilty for one of the charges in 2019.
Countering Little’s narrative, the County statement said that staff have “communicated with Mr. Little, as required for municipal business, on an almost constant basis between October 2018 and the present. Staff have made considerable efforts to answer Mr. Little’s requests and concerns.”
In December 2019, Little was escorted out of the County administration building by Haldimand OPP following his attempt to obtain copies of documentation that he was seeking to provide his insurance provider.
The County statement says of the incident, “In December 2019 Mr. Little was charged with several Provincial Offences and Criminal Code offences. He entered into an undertaking with the Ontario Court of Justice to refrain from going to the County administration building until such time as the charges were heard in court.”
Little alleges he was forcibly removed from the property and that his vehicle was taken because of a suspended license, but he believes the documentation errors played a part in this issue. Little signed a release order to return home following that incident, which he now alleges was under duress because the alternative was to remain detained by the OPP. As mentioned from the County statement, the order restricted him from attending the County building for a time.
Little attempted to file for a hearing against the County in court, which was ultimately dismissed.
By January 2020, Little received emails from the County that staff would no longer be discussing this particular matter further, and following his continued requests, he received a letter in 2021 from a lawyer on behalf of the County formally stating that no County staff would discuss that matter further.
The recent County statement noted, “(Staff) have tried, without success, to arrange face-to-face meetings with Mr. Little to address his concerns, even offering to provide financial assistance for independent legal representation in an effort to ensure he fully understood his rights and the County’s position.”
Little agrees that Haldimand County did offer money for a lawyer to represent him in a face-to-face discussion, but asserted the amount “does not cover the cost of a lawyer.”
Little says he received the documents he was seeking in 2021, along with an emailed apology from County CAO Cathy Case for the delay, but alleges that “had I not continued my investigations” then the errors would have remained “without discovery by the public.”
Little has continued to be a presence protesting the situation around Haldimand, often conversing with other residents in pulled over vehicles or walking by, as well as running for Ward 4 in last year’s byelection.
Those who watch Council meetings may see Little in the gallery or as a delegate on other issues. Mayor Shelley Ann Bentley twice asked him to leave the chambers mid-meeting; once for brandishing a protest sign, and once for wearing a T-shirt reading ‘Fire Cathy.’ Little filed two complaints with the integrity commissioner related to his removal from those meetings, aimed at Bentley and Councillor Stewart Patterson, and both were dismissed.
The County statement classifies Little’s signage and public protesting as containing “false and inflammatory messages about the County, including some which are highly offensive to a named staff member.”
Since 2018, the County has continued communications with the OPP on their dealings with Little “from time to time,” with the statement noting they are presently consulting outside legal counsel about the ongoing issue.
“The County has an obligation pursuant to the provincial Occupational Health and Safety Act to maintain a safe and respectful workplace for staff, and it is wholly committed to ensuring this,” concluded the County statement.
Little maintains that the issue is not resolved, seeking a public apology: “My reputation has been tarnished publicly, my relationships have been negatively affected.”
