This is a story about a small town, bureaucratic foolishness, and Sir John A. Macdonald.
Sir John A. to start.
Canada’s first prime minister wasn’t born in Prince Edward County, but you’d never know it. Everywhere you look around the County, as it is called, there are tributes to Sir John A. Plaques commemorating him at the old courthouse in Picton; a handsome statue in front of the library (since relocated); and, in the hamlet of Hillier, the town hall, where — as a young man, trying out his hand at the law — he was known to visit.
(Also, full disclosure, John Macdonald sometimes collected his mail at the Hillier General Store — which this writer now makes his home.)
Being a father to an Indigenous girl, for reasons that don’t need to be dwelt on here, I’m not a big fan of the man. But here in the County — like in Ottawa (where he ruled for many years) and in Kingston (where he is buried) — Sir John. A. is mostly revered. Other people admire him, a lot.
TOWN HALL HAS HERITAGE DESIGNATION
The Hillier Town Hall, for example, was given a heritage designation, in part, because it is as old as Canada, and because Sir A. was known to frequent the place. The local municipality designated it as a heritage site in 1985, as did the province’s Ontario Heritage Foundation. It’s a charming old gray stone building, with a flag and plaque out front.
And, this is relevant for the purposes of the story: as a concession to modernity, it has Wi-Fi. That’s not all: right out front, too, Rogers has also installed a fat orange fiber Internet cable. For, you know, the Internet.
This is where the story gets a little odd. In the spring, without notice and without any consultation whatsoever, some fellows showed up to install a 60-foot-tall Internet tower slapped on the side of Hillier Town Hall. The fellows who were installing the base of the tower thought it was a ridiculous place for it, and said so. But install it they did. It looks really ugly.
Would you put up a 60' Internet tower on a historic site used by Sir John A. Macdonald - without consultation, without a permit, and without a reason (there's already Internet there, WiFi and Rogers fibre)? No, you wouldn't.@Shire_Hallin PEC did.#onpolipic.twitter.com/8VqyQ8yLrF
— Warren Kinsella (@kinsellawarren)October 17, 2025
This writer — being a lawyer, a resident, and sensing a column in the offing — knew that it is completely against the law to dramatically change the exterior of designated historical sites without permission, particularly ones where Canada’s first prime minister hung out. So, I wrote to County municipal apparatchiks to inquire as to why a building that they themselves had designated as a cherished heritage site was going to be vandalized by an Internet tower that was neither needed nor wanted. Because, they eventually said, the project was approved by the municipal council during a budget vote.
They wouldn’t say much else, so I made a very expensive freedom of information request. The “disclosure” that I received was as ugly as the half-tower. Entire pages are solid black, as if state secrets were being protected. It’s one of the worst examples of bureaucratic paranoia I’ve ever seen.
But that wasn’t even the worst part. The worst part was this: the municipality of Prince Edward County had decided to install the tower without getting a permit — from itself. Around here, as in most places, you’re not allowed to do anything without a permit. But the municipality, which even has a historical and cultural committee to advise it on such matters, just went ahead and did it.
And, as noted, it made no sense. The Internet was already installed in the building, which is occupied for only a few hours every week or so. And, as also noted, there was also that big fat orange Rogers fibre Internet cable. Right out front.
@Shire_Hallin Prince Edward County refused to answer questions about why they put up a 60' metal Internet tower on a heritage site frequented by Sir John A. So I had to do a FOI request. I got dozens of pages like these - completely blacked out.@fordnation@RobFlackEML#onpolipic.twitter.com/ZxoG1AnDza
— Warren Kinsella (@kinsellawarren)October 17, 2025
‘A COMEDY OF ERRORS’
In Sir John A.’s day, they might have called it “a comedy of errors.” And that certainly is an apt description for the very few disclosed pages that hadn’t been censored. As one of the smarter County bureaucrats put it: “A 60-foot tower installed directly behind the Hillier Town Hall without any communication … (and) we don’t know what it is and who decided where it goes?”
That pretty much sums up the tower fiasco: no communication, no idea what it is, and no idea where it should go. Good job, Team PEC!
Anyway. The Internet tower still sits, many months later, half built and an ugly defacement of a heritage building where Canada’s first prime minister spent time.
After this writer made his freedom of information request, and after sending questions to various players, I have now been told the tower is being taken down. The County adamantly refuses to give answers about who approved it, why, or the cost to taxpayers, however.
Some people might care about that, some might not. But next time, perhaps Prince Edward County won’t choose to break its own rules, and then try to cover it up.
Sir John A. Macdonald, for one, would be grateful.
