A story in today's Star reports that the Harper regime is cutting the budget for guided tours, ensuring some 20,000 fewer visitors will actually get a peek inside the majestic buildings housing the seat of Canada’s national government.
The cynic residing within me suggests that our overlords think it prudent that the masses be reminded as little as possible of what they have lost under this cabal.
Now frequently the new last refuge of the scoundrel, the passive voice is very popular with politicians far and wide, even if they don't hold elected office.
In response to a comprehensive report by retired judge John Morden on the police brutality and abuses of Charter Rights committed during the June 2010 G20 Summit in Toronto that cast the Police Services Board in a particularly bad light, Board chair Alok Mukherjee admitted “mistakes were made,” but stopped short of apologizing for the board’s inaction in G20 planning.
The other politician in this sad episode, Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair, acknowledged “lessons learned” from a new report criticizing the Toronto Police Services Board’s inaction on G20 summit planning, but denied a fundamental communication problem between police and the civilian body tasked with overseeing them.
What those lessons were, the good chief declined to say. And, of course, he refused to apologize for anything.
The reversal of the Rosseau Muskoka's decision to extort take 50% of its masseuses' tips, owing to the backlash sparked by The Star's earlier report, is but one of many reasons I am a proud subscriber to Canada's most widely-read newspaper.
The following is a brief excerpt from a comprehensive report by retired judge John Morden on the police brutality and abuses of Charter Rights committed during the June 2010 G20 Summit in Toronto. In it, he addresses the failure of the Toronto Police Services Board, headed by Alok Mukherjee:
“The board has limited its consultative mandate and has viewed it as improper to ask questions about, comment on, or make recommendations concerning operational matters,” said Morden.
“The board’s approach in this matter is wrong.”
In earlier times, of course, this magnitude of incompetence would have warranted resignations or dismissals.
Nowadays, sadly, it simply becomes a public relations challenge to overcome.
My understanding is that Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair will start the process of 'massaging' the report shortly with a news conference.
Perhaps a silly response, but tired of Nations being painted as evil when it is not the people but the clowns like Harper, McGuinty and others that purport to reflect values that certainly are not mine to the rest of the world..............
See if the following doesn't dispel some of your stereotypes about Russians. Amazing what we can learn when we remove the filters of government propaganda and media biases. Perhaps the Internet truly is the great leveler:
With all of the finger-pointing in the Star's latest installment on the Toronto District School Board's questionable relationship with Jimmy Hazel and his Maintenance and Construction Skilled Trades Council, I think it is safe to infer that all involved parties have truly entered the digital age.
