Oshawa sues over motorcycle ride
On the first Saturday in June two years ago, thousands of motorcycles trundled from CFB Trenton along the Highway of Heroes to the Col. R.S. McLaughlin Armoury in Oshawa, where they were met by thousands waiting in a downpour.
The Heroes Highway Ride and Rally was to show support for Canada’s troops and raise a little money for veterans’ organizations.
Though it was deemed a success at the time, nearly two years later it has descended into a bitter dispute between the event’s organizers and the City of Oshawa.
Oshawa is suing organizer Lou DeVuono to recoup $5,600 for in-kind services — things like garbage pickup — during the 2011 event. DeVuono is defiant.
“What they’re doing is wrong. It’s an insult to the Canadian Forces, it’s an insult to the Canadian people and I stand opposed to it,” said DeVuono. “I’m not going to pay the bill.”
Oshawa’s city solicitor told durhamregion.com the case was pending in small claims court but did not return phone calls or emails from the Star.
In January 2011, DeVuono asked the city to partner with the Heroes Highway Ride and Rally Association to have the rally in Oshawa, which included grant request for in-kind services valued at $19,300. The city’s Community Services Committee endorsed the event and referred the grant request to the budget process.
DeVuono said he told the committee he needed certainty to plan the event in Oshawa, or move it elsewhere. He said he was assured it would pass. But councillors voted against it and DeVuono said the city notified him by letter about two months before the event. “(They) said, ‘We’re not going to fund it, you’re on your own,’” he said. “And I basically couldn’t back out of it by then.” After the rally, DeVuono said the city invoiced him for $5,600. He also got a bill for $3,600 from Durham Region for barricades and signs. Durham hasn’t decided whether to pursue legal action, wrote communications manager Joanne Paquette in an email. Oshawa Mayor John Henry said the City of Oshawa has “tremendous respect” for its soldiers and veterans. He has a daughter in the Royal Canadian Navy, stationed in Kingston. “I do take offence to people questioning my loyalty to the Armed Forces when I’m sitting here worried about my family each and every day,” said Henry. Henry said DeVuono told the committee the event could still proceed without the grant. DeVuono has said he meant it would proceed, but not in Oshawa. “I think he was aware of what was going on,” said Henry, noting the organizer appeared before council shortly after the event to thank them. DeVuono, a 50-year-old construction worker, has organized the ride since 2009. Most costs are covered by donations of goods and services. No other municipality that has hosted the ride has charged for inkind services, he said. The ride is about showing support more than fundraising — it doesn’t charge a fee to riders — but collection jugs have gathered about $50,000 for organizations such as Wounded Warriors Canada and the Tony Stacey Centre for Veterans Care, he said. Regional and city councillor Amy England said that she thought council was clear about what it would offer and there isn’t enough money to go around.
“But I don’t know how comfortable I feel about suing a resident over raising money for veterans,” England said. “There must be another way to handle that.”
Fellow councillor Tito-Dante Marimpietri said he was shocked to hear of legal proceedings.
“For the life of me, I don’t understand how it got to this point and I would like to see it resolved.”
DeVuono wrote the city’s corporate services committee, requesting it cancel the fees.
His letter was sent back to legal services but he’s scheduled to appear before council, supporters in tow, on Monday.
“I might lose in court, but I won’t lose in the court of public opinion.”