The Problem With The Police Starts At The Top

Leadership is a word that evokes many associations; strength, vision, determination and resolve are a few of the positive ones. Selfishness, careerism, expediency and cowardice are but a few of many negative associations. In my own working life, I had perhaps three administrators I looked up to, the ones who put the good of education above personal ambition, pettiness and self-centreness. They were people I would have done anything for.

The rest I merely endured because I had no choice.

As I have often written in this blog, I see Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair as a failed leader, one who must bear a large portion of the responsibility for the democratic debacle of the 2010 G20 Summit in Toronto and its aftermath, which saw virtually no consequences for the massive and widespread police abuse of charter rights. In my view, Blair should have been fired afterwards. Sadly, the effects of his failed leadership, like poison dropped in a reservoir, continues to ripple outward, affecting those he 'commands'.

An exceptionally well-crafted letter in today's Toronto Star by Rick Owens of Toronto explains why:

Re: SIU head blasts Toronto police chief for co-operation failures, Aug. 29

That Toronto police Chief Bill Blair is not directly accountable to the SIU is clear in law. But that is not the issue. What is at issue here is whether the chief ought to have the courtesy to respond directly to a legally mandated body that investigates matters involving the consequences of the use of force by his staff. Courtesy or rather the problem with discourtesy is the issue here.

I can recall no time in the last 40 years when regard for the police in Toronto was this low and widespread. Whether it’s the G20 fiasco, the series of charges and allegations about dishonesty in court or outrageous misjudgments such as the Sammy Yatim shooting, some police in Toronto have done much to undermine the credibility of and trust in the Toronto Police Service. And it is the sort of defiance and fundamental discourtesy that the chief demonstrated in this matter that seem to be the common theme across the past decade.

That Blair feels no need to be even remotely courteous to Ian Scott is akin to the disregard by some police to the rights of citizens or their own responsibility to abide by the law. One recent example of this disregard is the officer who parked his personal car illegally while on a paid duty assignment. All he had to do was put a police vest on his dash and he was exempt from paying the fees that every other private vehicle is required to pay. That was his expectation; it’s not the law. This is at best a discourtesy to those of us who abide by the law and pay the penalties when we don’t. At its worst, it is quite simply corruption. But why should that officer think he’s accountable to the rest of us if his chief doesn’t think he is?

The chief sets both the tone and example for the thousands of women and men in his (our) employ, and his response to Scott was most certainly the wrong one. The police service has a lot of work ahead of it in repairing its image and relationships with the people it serves and to whom it is accountable. This was a step back. It is my (admittedly distant) hope that the Police Services Board will hold him to account on this matter.

A 'Sign' Of Our Debased Democracy

If you are under the impression that our Charter of Rights and Freedoms allows for freedom of expression, please be aware there are apparently severe restrictions on that freedom should you try to express yourself on public property in the vicinity of Prime Minister's residence; perhaps Mr. Harper invoked the notwithstanding clause?


Women told they need a permit for their sign



H/t Occupy Canada

A Stinging Indictment Of Joe Oliver And The Harper Mentality

It would seem that Chad Beharriell of Windsor has Natural Resource Minister Joe Oliver's number:

Make transition to a green economy

Like a dinosaur that can see the comet coming, Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver is now reaching for the public relations panic button as he sees growing resistance across the globe to unchecked fossil fuel development.

Oliver, a former investment banker who leads the Conservative charge to monetize everything in the ground regardless of environmental and health costs, realizes that Canadians, North Americans and the world-at-large are waking up to the very real effects of climate change and global warming brought on by continued fossil fuel consumption.

The world’s atmosphere now contains 400 parts-per-million of carbon dioxide — the last time carbon dioxide was in such high amounts was approximately four million years ago when the planet was very different and humans did not exist. Humans are recreating a climate that normally wouldn’t exist within the natural cycles of the planet.

The current Canadian government and Oliver are lazy. Rather than take on the adventure to transition to clean energy and a green economy that will create thousands of jobs during that transition, Oliver and company wilfully damage the atmosphere and life-sources of water to squeeze black money from the tar sands.

Oliver recently said that Canadians, in terms of expanded fossil fuel development, must act quickly to “decide whether to take that opportunity or let it pass us by.” Oliver, your time has passed; the coming generations want a different planet.

What Do Mark Twain And Charles Darwin Have In Common?

If you thought their commonality lay in their capacity for observation, thought, and contribution to the general good, guess again.

First, Mr. Twain's shocking 'truth':



Next, the real story about the depraved Mr. Darwin:




I'm certainly glad that he didn't resort to any hyperbole in his litany of their 'sins,' but sadly, doesn't Pastor Swanson make everyone with any kind of religious belief look a tad dim?

Ignorance Is Bliss (For Some)

George Carlin left us far too soon.

Watch as he offers his trenchant views on what the corporate agenda wants and demands from us.

WARNING: SOME PROFANITY AHEAD:

This Is The Best They've Got?

Many Ontario residents of a certain age will be aware of the fact that the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party ruled the province for forty-two years, from 1943 to 1985, a time during which the term 'progressive conservative' did not constitute an oxymoron.

That was then. This is now. A headline in today's Star reads: Tim Hudak best leader for Ontario PC party, poll shows.

How the mighty have fallen.

The Struggle For Dignity

All of us have a right to respect and dignity. Many of us do not receive it. Having been 'educated' in the Catholic system at a time when the application of both verbal and physical abuse was regarded as proper corrective methodology, I experienced many times in my younger life situations where respect and dignity were denied. I suspect it was one of those foundational experiences that has made me so acutely aware of various forms of injustice as an adult.

Countless people around the world are denied dignity, many of them within North America, the most prosperous part of our planet. Particularly vulnerable to debasement are minimum wage workers, many of whom toil in the fast food industry about which I have written previous posts.

Yesterday, thousands of fast-food workers in nearly 60 cities across the United States staged strikes to protest poor wages as they call for a doubling of the minimum wage from an average of $7.25 to $15 per hour.

Organizers of the action, Low Pay Is Not Ok, are also calling for the right to unionize without fear of retalaiation; one of the obstacles to unionization is the fact that many work in 'right-to-work-states' that make it optional to join unions and pay dues, even in unionized environments. It is a law that Ontario's would-be premier, the young Tim Hudak, salivates over and promises for those foolish enough to consider voting for him.

I encourage people to educate themselves on this issue, striking as it does at the very heart of respect, dignity, and the capacity to live a life at the very least slightly above the poverty line. Perhaps statistics put into perspective the denialism that is the reflexive reaction of the corporate world whenever there is any discussion of improving the wages of those who make possible their massive profits:

Workers want their hourly pay more than doubled from the minimum wage of $7.25 an hour to a more livable $15 an hour. Organizers of the rally say the top eight fast-food chains — McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Burger King, Taco Bell, KFC, Pizza Hut, Domino’s and Papa John’s — made $7.35 billion in profit last year, yet most of their employees didn’t make more than $11,200.

Seems doable to me and I imagine just about everyone else who believes in a little justice and equity for humanity.


* On a personal note, we are taking our Cuban friends to see Niagara Falls today, after which we will visit my sister-in-law in Niagara-On-The-Lake. If you post comments here, they will not appear until later today, when I have computer access at her place. I hope everyone enjoys the long weekend.