ALMOST CUSTOMARY

Out Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "THE WIND AT MY BACK": 

I've been down that road myself. There were lessons that I learned that to this day put a smile on my face every day, mainly due from the my incredible supportive friends and family. There were also lessons that were disheartening. Those lessons like to creep into my day to day life now and again. I've seen Karma do it's magic over the years, I just wish that our legal system can get the overhaul that is clearly needed. Backing away from a fight has never been something I have ever done, although...Would I do it again? You betcha! You Evelyn taught me that lesson. Thank you. :)  

Posted by Anonymous to  Our Town and Its Business at 21 March 2018 at 09:15

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My fascination with the rollicking  circus in the bouncy house south of us is in good part 

from familiarity. Like my friend above, I already know much of this story.  

In 2003 , I offered to serve again on Council because it broke my heart to see what  Aurora 

Council had become and I thought I could make a difference. 

 

I did. But I had no idea what it would cost or how long it would take. 

The details are tedious. They stretch over years.The challenge now is to capture the fiendish and the ridiculous without choking the story to death. I've never undertaken such a daunting task but I think 

It must be done. 

I lived a long time without this experience. Now I watch it repeated daily on the world stage. 

Last week, James McCabe,senior FBI official was fired by Attorney General Jeff Sessions for "lack of candour".  The AG himself is also at risk. The desperation is to discredit the  Mueller inquiry,shut it down and bury the findings forever . It doesn't matter whose or how many lives are destroyed in the process. 

As a further act of incredible spite ,McCabe's pension was confiscated as  penalty for daring to investigate the conduct of the lying,swindling, lecherous occupant of the Oval  Office.....his elected boss. 

As my head hit the pillow after the news that Friday night, the memory came flooding back of  the 

day the Aurora Integrity Commissioner delivered his decision to the Office of the  Clerk the similarities were uncanny. 

Delivery of the decision was the first and only part in accordance with law . But the hour was early...plenty of time in the day left for mayhem to evolve.  

THE ROAD DID NOT RISE TO GREET ME

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "THE WIND AT MY BACK": 

While it is true that "justice" comes with a price - and sometimes you have to be able to afford to buy that justice - the other thing that I always try to remember is that one person's idea of "what is right" may not be the same as everyone else. 

Your case in point, you felt that certain wrongs were perpetrated against you. The ones that "did it" obviously felt the opposite. Convincing the judge (or jury in other cases) is the job of the lawyers. I think in your case, the factor that weighed against you was past history. You have never been a team player and this behaviour created a situation where their actions were somewhat a response to past 

Posted by Anonymous to  Our Town and Its Business at 21 March 2018 at 08:43

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The above is only useful as an introduction.  I am not an author. I'm content  with journal entries and comments. Facebook has a spot  "What's on your Mind" .It suits me well. A discussion can be up and running with lots less effort than the blog. 

I do enjoy vigorous debate. The purpose of a Council is higher than a  team function.To my mind, the idea municipal politics is a game  is degrading  to legislative authority.

 It's an ill-suited reference. 

My involvement in municipal politics spanned half a century. Only half of that  in office. 

In the off yearsI wrote a weekly column,reported on Board of Education business and a neighbouring township's political business. I served a term on Y.R. Police Services Board in the nineties.  I travelled throughout the Province for nine years in the eighties, as a member of the Social Service Board of Ontario...a quasi-judicial Appeal Board. 

Judgement  is critical in each of those roles.The chance to improve my knowledge and skills was substantial and very much appreciated. The opportunity  did not come without potential. 

Individuality is not the essence of a team. On the other hand, in an election, in a community of 8, 10,18, 30 or 60 thousand people, mental cloning  within a nine people council is neither sensible, desirablenor  possible. 

I did not aspire to be a team member. Working together in the best interest of an entire community 

Is more complicated  when members have different ideas of what is best. The majority rules. The 

majority is not always right. 

I opposed proceeding  with the joint facility. 

Council made no effort to comprehend  the enormity of the project. No effort was made to examine the recommendation. Four years later it transpires ....I was right. Full extent of the mess is still unknown. 

I opposed changing every street light in one fell swoop, at a cost of millions. Today, a story in The Auroran indicates cost recovery was wildly exaggerated. Once more the knell has struck.Taxpayers   interest was betrayed.  

The stories are legion,my friends. 

My confidence in the Director of Environment and Infrastructure was at zero throughout his employment. Multi- Millions of dollars later ,he is no longer employed by the town.

Nothing in the resume of the former CAO ,or his in-service performance,rendered his recommendations sensible to me . A thirty year lease of a property ,needed for our own purposes,was  another sell-out of town interest.

In my judgement, Aurora's  interest is not served  by the contribution of the current Chief Financial Officer. Far from it. 

Circumstances of the  hire and how positions continued to be secure by the current Mayor lend 

nothing  to my confidence that my taxes are well spent. 

No ...you may not count me as a member of this or the previous two incompetent teams serving the Town worse than any other council in all its history.

I registered as a candidate for Council in 2003 . I had not held a  seat for fourteen years. I was not known to most incumbents.They were late arrivals to the town. 

Councillor Evelina  McEachernhad already registered her candidacy but withdrew when she saw 

I was a candidate, She had better things to do with her time ,like spend it with her children,she

said.  It was a public statement evincing little in the way of team spirit. 

The editor of the Aurora Banner was also new to the town since last I served, ...hostile jabs emanated from that quarter as well. She regularly received Character Awards.we have heard little of that 

organisation since her employment with the newspaper ended. 

I was elected, forty-nine votes ahead of the runner-up. MacEachern urged the runner-up to request a recount. He declined. Her last action ,as an out-going Councillor,was to move for a recount. The  seconder to the motion, who had been re-elected, said he did not want to sit across the table for the next three years from  someone who had no right to be there. No team spirit intended there for sure. 

I had never worked with either Councillor. 

The recount was completed with no change to the vote but the pattern of harassment was established

from the beginning. 

I did have a right to be there. 

I won the seat fair and square.

THE WIND AT MY BACK

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "AN EYE FOR AN EYE....WELL THAT DEPENDS": 

We can start by understanding that we don't have a justice system. We have a legal system. I know you have been through the ringer with our legal system Evelyn, its pretty sad. Can't imagine going through a murder trial of a child and walking away thinking justice prevailed, regardless of the verdict. 

Posted by Anonymous to  Our Town and Its Business at 4 March 2018 at 21:27

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Nothing prepares for whatever happens, like a career in politics . I wrote little at the time of the decision in my litigation. I focussed on putting  it behind me. I calculated sufficient years of my life and more than my resources had  already been expended . 

The time wasn't lost. I did not resolve never to speak of it. Many  positive aspects had evolved.

Not least were the people who rallied to the cause and the stalwart support of my children. 

At the initial legal consult, the question was asked and answered... what do you hope to accomplish?

Me...This is Canada. Such  injustice can't be allowed to happen at the hands of elected officials. They have to  be stopped

They were . But without the support of the legal system.  

Newmarket Judge Mark Edward's conclusion that liberty could be freely abused by elected officials was not shared by Aurora's voters. The next election established that without ceremony or doubt

when the culprits were tossed. 

At the time of the Judge's decision, two years after he dismissed my jury on a trumped up excuse, my 

initial thought was to continue the fight . More than enough perverse logic and mis-representation lent itself to an appeal.

I filed intent .That action cost  another $20.000.Then I conferred with my family.

During the 13 years the process took support was strong. Whatever the decision,I knew that would continue. From the beginning, the fight was never mine alone. 

Judge Edwards notwithstanding, the principle of reason and fairness remained unassailable.

 On the other hand, access to justice proved to be twisted and evasive. No reason existed to 

anticipate anything better going further down that road. At the point of the pre-trial conference, 

I was persuaded to settle. The town's insurance was paying the bills for the other side so that 

did not happen. 

In legal circles there's a wise old saying  ...justice is available ....the question is can you afford to 

win? 

In a long political career, win or lose, I never backed away from a fight. 

I always held the law in respect and at a higher level . 

I had been proven wrong about that and concluded that throwing  good money after bad was not 

the best plan. 

I withdrew my intent to appeal .

I did not close the door.

It's a long road that doesn't have a turn.  

AN EYE FOR AN EYE....WELL THAT DEPENDS

CBC is still commenting on the murder of the fifteen year old child whose body was wrapped in a

duvet, weighted with stones and dropped into a river in Winnipeg. 

A fifty-six year old man used her for sex was charged,tried and acquitted of the murder by a jury.

The idigenous community was outraged. 

There's  talk of the need for changes in the justice system. Nothing specific though.Nothing  you can put your finger on. 

I've  only read  links on Facebooks posted by David Gonzalves. Listened to the odd newscast. 

The death of another indigenous child is not unusual. Complaints from the indigenous-community are also familiar. 

The child had a mother. But she didn't raise the child.  

She was raised by an aunt. But not really. 

At the time if her murder, she was in the care of Winnipeg Children's services.  But obviously not. 

Parts of the story were never referenced again after first mention. 

In the jury trial,the prosecuting attorney presented "circumstantial" evidence.

No defence was presented . The Defense attorney must have decided he didn't need  to bother. 

The Judge's instructions to the jury were not reported. A judge is supposed to instruct the jury on law. 

Guess whatever he said wasn't worth mentioning. 

In summation, a  fifteen year old child,cared for by no-one throughout her life was brutally murdered...an investigation of sorts happened. A probable suspect was charged and tried. The full paraphernalia of the law was engaged. 

No hard evidence  was presented to prove the charge. No defence was necessary and none was offered.

The judge's instructions to the jury were not reported. 

The jury did all they could in the circumstances. The case was not proven. The suspect was acquitted. 

The community went through the motions of outrage. 

Another child they didn't care enough about to protect had been murdered and little effort made

to bring justice to bear. 

The media skated over the surface of it all .

Tina Fontaine will not be the last child to be used, abused and tossed away. She wasn't the first. 

There's lots of noise and people are well-paid to prevent it. 

But no sign anything will change...or that anybody really cares. 

Or even recognize where the problem lies.