THE TIME IS ALWAYS RIGHT

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "OH.....HO..HO..HO....": 

Evelyn
Now that you are like the "rest of us" you are as in the dark as we are. It's fun to speculate. It's even more fun to let your imagination run wild. The truth is - as you well know - the speculation is usually just that.  

I don't live on Highland Gate.... I actually live closer to HighTor. To be honest, I really don't care about Highland, HighTor or Marvinac. My voice will never convince anyone at that table now, past or present, what is right so I will let them run with it.  

I pay my taxes. My garbage gets picked up. My street is plowed usually. I am sure a fire truck will come if needed. I don't use any other town service that is paid from my taxes. 

I am getting tired of fighting about it. Let me be. 

Posted by Anonymous to  Our Town and Its Business at 8 December 2015 at 15:13

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Thanks for the  comment. It is much  appreciated. It allows me to address what I consider to be the  most pernicious problem of our political system. 

I have been known to observe, for peace of mind, people  are better off not knowing what's going on.

But of course, that's not what I am about. 

I am  prepared to acknowledge only, if you choose to read what I write, you will be compelled to deal with my reality whatever way you choose. 

You may dismiss it as speculation and  wild imagination. 

You may snort derisively and declare "What nonsense"  or  angrily "lies...all lies I tell you"

You may sneer and reference " a bitter loser" 

Or the easiest  favourite by far, apparently acceptable in the most unlikely of places  " a senile old bag " 

I have long run the gauntlet of insults and paid a price. 

I am not likely to be diverted at this time in my life. 

So...if you want to be left  alone ..... sublime in your indifference....the remedy is in your hands. 

I'm going to keep writing what I know to be true. You must decide whether to keep reading. 

OH.....HO..HO..HO....

OH HO HO ...we have a flurry of comments about the difference in the Mavrinac purchase 

of the School site and buying the golf course. 

The Town has a master recreation plan. Parks are more than amply provided in that neighbourhood.

Never at any time did the town anticipate a need for the property. 

Since before homes were built the site was posted as a future school site.

Whatever a real estate salesman told a buyer about the future  of the site, the buyer was simply not paying attention to  evidence before his eyes. 

If he was lied to ,he was a willing dupe. 

Neighbours were using it as a dump. Dead  animals dumped over the fence in broad daylight. 

The contract claimed by the town was challenged by the developer. 

Then for reasons unknown to the rest of us, he cut his losses and got  out of Dodge.

The fact  remains the town has no use for  the site. 

Potential revenue and development charges to control taxes  are lost .

Legal fees have been expended. The  price was paid out of a reserve created from taking fees in lieu of parkland from commercial or industrial developers. 

Not all Councillors were initially in favour of buying the land although the one I re-call did not, needs  to speak up for himself. 

I've read the latest Auroran story on line. Some  things don't connect. Seems an extra meeting took place to allow the developer to offer to sell the land at a price. 

Sounds  like  the President of the Ratepayers' Association was speaking as purchaser. 

Could Council have surrendered  authority to the Ratepayers? 

 Is the matter now theirs  to decide?  

Or are they planning a purchase with their own resources?

Why then would  a closed meeting  be scheduled  for Council to discuss potential purchase of a golf course? 

Where are  financial feasibility reports from the Town's Chief Financial Advisor? 

Where would the funds come from? 

How much assessment revenue would be forfeit? How  many millions in development charges?

Is it a sin to think like a business? 

What impact of expanding parklands by so many acres?  Would Parks Department budget have to be doubled ? 

Would the residents  be O.K. with soccer tournaments, baseball diamonds ,tennis courts and high-powered lights to keep the fields in use until late evening. Maybe band concerts  with space enough to cope with  crowds at Rib Festivals.

Ah yes Rib Festivals.... Carnivale.... traffic...think of all the tourists the town could attract to swell 

the coffers of local business. 

To compensate for loss of the Jazz Festival. 

Oh Dear Me yes....the smells and  noise and the traffic of fun and frivolity. 

A Community  Centre could finally  be built at the south end of town with. a casino occasionally to raise funds to pay for  SPECIAL  events like a traveling circus perhaps.... with clowns and acrobats and trailer homes 

A Race course would be nice for those with a gambling bent and slot machines. 

Or would the neighbours , like  the  Mavrinac residents,  prefer to keep the space vacant for their own private enjoyment. 

Like High Tor Farm at the south end of town. 

So  many exciting alternatives to quiet  neighbourhood streets .

ONCE YOU START

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "SHARING IS GOOD.....I THINK": 

It was maddening to watch. The Town knew they would lose the OMB. They funded it anyway. I believe it cost $1 million + court costs. Who wants to bet council will fund  this? 

Posted by Anonymous to  Our Town and Its Business at 7 December 2015 at 21:32

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I wouldn't bet Council will accept the offer to purchase the golf course $98.1million. 

I understand however why  some residents surrounding the gold course think they should. 

Although it costs more ,it's actually  the same principle  to buying the school site on Mavrinac.

The town went to court to force the developer to sell that  land. There was no municipal need forthe land  but those neighbours didn't  want it to be developed either. 

Former Councillor John Gallo knocked on doors and told people it should be a park . That was all they needed. He organized the lobby, so to speak, and  one after the other, Councillors  jumped on the  bandwagon and made it happen. 

The town paid what it cost and were applauded for so doing.

Like the indoor tennis facility. Almost  a million a year buys culture from a self-appointed organization in a town-owned  and maintained facility. 

Why shouldn't tennis players, who may also come from all over the place have similar  

accommodation. 

A million dollar baseball field  was built because of desperate need. Turns out there aren't enough local ballplayers in town so the King club joins the Aurora Club to make it more viable and get free use of facilities paid for by Aurora taxpayers, not King.

It makes sense therefore... with an election in the offing and  some Councillors assuring residents of their willingness to acquire the golf club as a park, that is the direction it would go., 

The developer,seeing no resolve on Council's part to do otherwise, has brought the matter to a head and offered to sell at market value. Though it does appear the Ratepayers  may be the intended potential purchasers. Not likely but that's how the conversation was reported. 

The  town has the Mavrinac land, Hallmark Card land, the drill shed , the old library  the old firehall , serviced employment lands at the 404 ,debenture debt on the Stronach Centre and the Joint Works and Parks Facility which I hear  is millions over budget and Council  wants to slow down development for which development charges though not yet collected, have already been spent. 

We also have a ten million dollar property on the Industrial Parkway but we've tied that up in a thirty year lease with the Federal Department of National Defense. We don't even get the grant in lieu of taxes because we own the property. Same thing with the drill shed. Revenue forfeit. 

The question is, where would the money come from to buy the golf club for the surrounding residents who have the same right to be indulged as anyone else in town?

I mean, where does it all end? 

SHARING IS GOOD.....I THINK

PUniversity of Louisville, Kentucky Author Forum is a literary event on T.V. that I watch at 3a.m. Monday morning on PBS. 

Late Sunday night has  a succession of interesting programs. 

At eleven p.m. A  book program with authors and critic.

 Eleven -thirty, Theatre Talk. Playwrights,Directors,Actors and two critics of the New York Times. 

 Twelve ,midnight  Charlie Rose , a review of the week and coming week.

Then two half hours shows of Focus on Europe and Out if Ireland. Finally the best of all , at three a.m., Great Conversations.

Last night, still another interview show followed with Oliver Stone talking about his latest movie and 

What drives him. 

Like many  Americans,  he has serious concerns about the politics and control of the arms industry and gun lobby. 

When patriotism rises to a frenzy, he says , and Presidents have to war the country's flag in a lapel pin to prove they are loyal Americans, things are very dangerous.  He quoted Martin Luther King  in 1966 that America is responsible for the greatest level of  all the violence in the world .

He cited a figure of $587 billion for the Defense Budget having doubled in a few short years.

And how many of the country's problems could be solved with that money.

Last  week, General Wesley Clarke was the author on Great Conversations. He was in charge during the Bosnia and Kosovo conflict. He had some scathing things to say about the Pentagon. And that was before Donald  Rumsfeld's time there.

General Clarke was a Rhodes Scholar at West Point.  Not usual. His rose to the top in the military.

Still, his career came to an abrupt and peremptory end.

He was a candidate for presidential nomination but had to withdraw for lack of funding. 

He cited his current career as an investment banker and other satisfactory aspects of his life.  Then he said; 

"I would put my uniformon to-morrow to serve my country." 

Oliver Stone ended his conversation with the comment;  " I love this country.  We have  great people living here "

The guest on Great Conversations last night was an Iranian woman Professor living in the States with her husband and two children . Her book is about the nuances of life in Iran under Ayatollah Khommeni.

On Monday morning ,my mind is always full of all everything I've heard on these great programs. 

I just thought I would share. 

HOW'S THIS FOR COLOSSAL ARROGANCE

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "SPEAKING ABOUT RESPECT FOR THE OFFICE": 

Small group? If you want to be upset with a "small group," 16:51, try directing your displeasure at the Aurora Historical Society. They walked away before the "heritage centre" project had reached fruition. They even requested a legal letter from the Town absolving them of any responsibility.

In retrospect, it was a wise, practical decision to give up on the concept. The group was/is indeed small, without the financial wherewithal to complete such a grand scheme, and with no prospect of ever being in a position to see a project of that scale through to completion. The reliance on a small, annual grant from the Town underlines the straits the AHS still finds itself.

Meanwhile, we have a vibrant, Town-owned facility that provides programming and events for a LARGE group - ALL 60,000  Aurorans.

Posted by Anonymous to  Our Town and Its Business at 6 December 2015 at 18:07

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From a group that did not exist before Church Street School was renovated. 

They are a board that meets, make decisions and selects members in secret.

The building they use is rent free with maintenance  and utilities provided. 

Their first mandate was to provide heritage and culture programming. They  have been relieved of

heritage responsibility and that's their excuse for demanding higher funding. 

Before  they bought the grand piano, they rented the museum space to a Regional Culture Organisation. That's the revenue they want the town to replace. 

They get Trilium grants. Solicit donations from local business . Fix their own fees with no thought for costs. 

Why should they?  They get all that free money from the town and more demanded every year. 

They have great ads. Costly. No expense spared. Why not? Who's checking? 

The Historical Society did decide the work load was too great for their small membership. They withdrew their commitment. The curator appointed, serving as resource person to the ad hoc committee did the same thing and took a job elsewhere.

Council  replaced her with the Mayor's friend and paid him while he continued to serve as committee

Member.

The Culture Centre Board didn't have a problem with workload. 

They hired  a complete staff complement. 

The Historical Society had a legal agrement with the town to protect their investment. The agreement had to be ended .Hence the legal reference in the comment.

The fact remains  there is nothing admirable or upright in a group  in a small community to  underhandedly manipulate and maneouver a facility prepared for a particular function to be diverted to their use. 

ANONYMOUSLY TELLING LIES IS NO MORE KOSHER

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "SPEAKING ABOUT RESPECT FOR THE OFFICE": 

11:24, I'm saying that is was located in a number of places before it was even in a PART of Church St. School.

It helps to know the history, to offset some of the revisionist history recently presented, as well as the outright misinformation. How the AHS abdicated responsibility for a "heritage centre" is a matter of public record, however much some don't want to face the facts of a metaphorical 'throwing the keys on the table.' 

Posted by Anonymous to  Our Town and Its Business at 6 December 2015 at 12:21

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When the Region was created and all municipal police departments were rolled into one, the Historical Society  moved into the waterworks building in Yonge Street after the police left. 

Before that they were allowed to use  a small room on the second floor of the old town hall.The collection  was started  at the same time and what there was of it,  stored in the little room.

York County Board of Education was created in 1969  and rented Chirch Street School from the town until 1976. I was Mayor when the Town and The Board moved into the new administrative centre on Wellington Street.

The town gave the entire second floor of Church Street school to the Historical Society and provided funding soon after for Jacqueline Stewart to be retained as curator. A full  program was provided. Teachers brought classes.  to the museum. Summer history camps were held in co-ordination with the recreation department, Jackie did  heritage research for the planning department. 

Special events like A Victorian Christmas Tea Party were held at the museum. 

Anyone who sought information about a family's history found Jackie ready, willing and competent to

provide it. Town history was front and foremost in the community. 

The building had been vacated for renovation when I came back to Council in 2003. A Fund-raising drive was underway. Society members had  gutted the interior ready for restoration. Thousands  of volunteer hours had been contributed, an architect retained  and plans prepared and paid for by the Historical  Society. Anumber of whom had been the last students in the school. 

Their  emotions were very much a part of the special meeting held upstairs to mark the next stage of the renovation. 

On a motion, moved by myself and seconded by Councillor Ron Wallace ,the town agreed to provide 

resources needed to complete the restoration according to the plans. It was always intended to be shared.

Fire protection was installed, especially designed for a museum, paid for by the Historical  Society. 

A decision to provide funds for the restoration from the sale of  Aurora Hydro was made before the end of the term in 2006. 

A new curator was appointed by the Historical Society.  $750.000 was obtained from Heritage Ontario. 

A heat pumps system could have been installed with part of the grant. It was more expensive to install but it would have meant no untility bills ever again. No carbon footprint.

 It was rejected. 

No public statement was ever made  to indicate the museum would not be re-Instated in the building. 

The  question of timing was asked in Council . The Mayor respondedthe Treasurer would be submitting a report. It never happened. 

An Interim Board was  appointed. Their first purchase was a grand piano. 

Clearly there was an agenda that had nothing to do with Town history. 

So ...when the claim is made the museum occupied several locations prior to being given a home 

In Church Street School.......there is no accuracy to the statement.

It was  always intended  compatible cultural events would be held in the building. 

It was never publicly recommended  the museum should have its home stolen right out from under. 

The action was sly, devious, dishonest,underhanded and unworthy of a public agency committed to doing no harm. 

No amount of revisionism will ever alter that fact. 

MULTIPLE CHOICE

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "IT WASN'T FOR THE WANT OF TRYING": 


"Yet...when the debate had exhausted itself...the only thing left was to vote...there was a pause...the vote was not called...a motion obviously intended to be moved by Clr "H" was moved instead by Clr. "T", seconded by "H" to do exactly the opposite of how the debate had proceeded."

These councillors should not be let out after 5:00 pm and then only in the company of a parent or minder.

They are a disgrace to the position to which they have been elected and there doesn't appear to be a damn thing we can do about it until next voting day. Immediate and permanent recall must be made mandatory. 

Posted by Anonymous to  Our Town and Its Business at 6 December 2015 at 08:49

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**Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "IT WASN'T FOR THE WANT OF TRYING": 

Cllr Abel has never been the same. Three of those who has run on an undeclared slate with him let him have it in the back with absolutely no warning to either him or Cllr Pirri. Actually I think Pirri was damaged that night too. 

Posted by Anonymous to  Our Town and Its Business at 6 December 2015 

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There has been an election since that vote. 

Councillor Abel suffered no damage.  He has never been any different. 

He hops.... from one foot to the other...He pirouettes ...He leaps...He bends over and bows to the applause. 

He worships trees and bureaucrats. 

If he held out his rod the waters would part.  

He solves all problems and increases his vote every time.

Donald Trump could take lessons from Councillor Abel. 

The Culture crowd from here to Orillia, are be-dazzled. 

The Historical Crunch are in awe . 

The Sports lobby ecstatic

And Queen's York Rangers salute him in effigy. 

A trio of trees were almost saved for viewing pleasure while a million dollar basement could have flooded. 

A cell tower in another town was worth litigating out of existence.

A weapon of death and destruction belongs in a Garden of Remembrance

In solving problems, he is the Pied Piper.

He leaps,he soars.

In terms of votes, Councillor Abel strikes the hammer and rings the bell every time. 

He is the  preferred option. 

IT WASN'T FOR THE WANT OF TRYING

One of my favorite movies is "Ghost" .  During the last two terms of Council, there were umpteen times when I experienced exactly the  same frustration of Patrick Swayze, the ghost, before he found the Whoopi Goldberg character. 

The situation would be desperate.... as a ghost, he watched it coming ...but the woman he loved and wanted to protect could not hear his voice. He was a ghost.

I knew all too well how badly they were being steered but because it was incomprehensible to Councillors that people with such authority could  be so ill-equipped. my voice was simply not heard. c

Incredibly, though they could not be unaware of the determination for change that really had nothing to do with them, they had not understood. 

They hadn't seen previous staff replaced, how it was accomplished and the purpose of it. 

They failed to appreciate  the thoughtful community gives new Councillors time to learn. Voters take personal satisfaction from watching it happen with people they chose to elect.    

Will we ever forget the night of the Abel/Pirri motion to give  a year's notice of termination to the Culture Centre Board as required by the agreement?

 The Mayor never  spoke so eloquently on any issue before or since. Yet....when the debate had exhausted itself ...the only thing left was to vote...there was a pause....the vote was not called  ...  a motion obviously intended to be moved by Councillor Humfryes was moved instead by Councillor Thompson, seconded by Humfryes to do exactly the opposite of how the debate had proceeded. 

So much more was lost that night.... early  in the 2010/14 council. 

VISION EXPANDED

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "SPEAKING ABOUT RESPECT FOR THE OFFICE": 

We are good customers for the military - the armoury was something we just had to have too. I am still waiting
for news about what it can be used for besides storage and a sometime home for the market. 

Posted by Anonymous to  Our Town and Its Business at 5 December 2015 at 12:02

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Staff reported....town needs to buy it otherwise the Feds will  sell it on the private market.

Meantime,some unknown insisted on a  "Heritage" designation before it was determined to be surplus. 

The town contrived the redundancy  by evicting the town parks department and archives from a valuable town-owned facility's do handing it over to the Rangers but not before spending a few hundred thousand dollars on it. We continue with  maintenance like a landlord must.  It's a lose-lose situation and the lease was extended to thirty years. It was a dead-give-away

The old drill shed had already been listed  as contaminated site by DND when we paid the Feds half a million dollars for it.

Councillors were informed of asbestos wrapped pipes and a figure required to remove it but 

nothing  about lead embedded in walls and other contaminants in soil. 

Without side yards ,rear yard, frontage or space for parking, landscaping or screening from neighbours, a Bylaw Amendment for a change of use was unlikely and private interest in the property even less. 

The musty-smelly, leaning structure had no potential use to any other party.

Save storage of mythical weapons of mass destruction such as  were not found in Iraq, a surplus of light disarmed vehicles and who knows what hoard of sundry military junk not worth piling into the polluted premises. 

A refugee from the land of milk and honey might  spot the listing on Internet and become interested in an off-site  bank with low wage labour within missile distance of a Trump White House.

A Missile loaded with counterfeit currency could possibly be launched to destroy the U.S. Economy.

Bring  the enemy to his knees and follow the money. 

We could have front row seats for capture of all intellectual property, centre of the information universe and  epicenter of world culture. 

Forget the Culture  Precint. We have it made in the shade. 

SPEAKING ABOUT RESPECT FOR THE OFFICE

I LRespect for the Office has left a new comment on your post "THE PURPOSE OF MONUMENT ?": 

"I re-call (sic) a recent photo of a small ,very round elderly woman, looking ridiculous in a uniform tailored to her excessively curvaceous form, too big at the neck, shoulders and sleeves. She confided she had to be persuaded to wear it. "

Do you mean Her Honour Elizabeth Dowdeswell, Lieutenant Governor of the Province of Ontario? 

Posted by Respect for the Office to  Our Town and Its Business at 4 December 2015 at 13:37

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i thought it was most likely the Lieutenant-Governor  of Ontario but  as noted I did not re-call her name 

and I did not want to be disrespectful of the Lieutenant  Governor. Especially  since she was obviously aware  the  uniform thing was a bad idea. Those  tunics are horrendously expensive .She would be conscious of that as well. 

The most spectacular photo of the Queen was in uniform riding side-saddle behind her father for 

Trooping of the Guard at  Whitehall, down the Mall from Buckingham Palace. The Queen  was in her early twenties then. Just a slip of a girl. 

She wore a red tunic , a hat with the brim upturned at the side and fastened with a cockade. Her  hair was chestnut- brown the same colour as Winston ,the horse she was riding. Her black riding  breeches and shiny boots were draped over with a  velvety black riding skirt. 

The Queen is also a very small lady but she never looked more magnificent than atop that huge beautiful horse. She also had a right to wear the uniform. She was a member of the Women's Armed Services  during the latter part of the war. She was photographed once wearing army coveralls messing about inside the engine of a geep. 

I suspect the Honorable Elizabeth Dowdeswell will not allow herself to be persuaded against her better judgement again by some silly military man that she should wear a uniform. 

I also doubt the two veteran soldiers of the Afghan Campaign had any choice in whether they allowed themselves to be used by  Rangers' Honorary Colonel to support his senseless campaign to have a military weapon displayed at our Cenotaph. They would have their orders. 

The fact Honorary Colonel Kirk Corkery has never seen armed services does not excuse bad judgement for using soldiers that way.

Everything  I know about the Honorary Colonel,I read, like everyone else , in the local press. Nothing underhanded has been suggested about his appointment  in this space. 

The last comment reads too much into things. Furthermore, the determined attempt to get a war machine displayed  at Aurora Cenotaph against the wishes of many in the community does nothing to strengthen ties between community and  military. 

Added to the occupation of a multi-million dollar  town-owned property, needed by the town, at the expense of the town, with a thirty year lease that must be kept secret for the security of the nation,

Does nothing  at all to warm the cockles of this Auroran's heart let alone strengthen ties to the community. 

Should paying half a million for a property used by the federal government for a hundred and eighteen years and left as a contaminated site to be restored at town expense, even be mentioned in the context of ties to the municipality?

Would  it have  perhaps been wise for the Honorary Colonel to have been briefed beforehand on recent interaction between the community and the military before he sponsored the latest demand  from our vertically -challenged elected representatives?

i think...perhaps so. I also believe perception is the reality. 

So...be careful with the term "Ignorance"

THE PURPOSE OF MONUMENT ?

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "QUINTESSENTIAL PRODUCT OF MODERNITY II": 

"he should be placed on a charge"

What exactly charging him with? Come on, "Politics is a game"... The military plays it all the time.

Posted by Anonymous to  Our Town and Its Business at 4 December 2015 at 08:35

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Well no....the game played by the military  is not politics as we know it. 

I had read the Rangers named an Honorary Colonel who had never seen military service. The name escaped me butthe impression was wealth and circumstance were the criteria  because of fund- raising potential. 

It was all about the money.

I re-call  a recent photo of a small ,very round elderly woman, looking ridiculous in a uniform tailored to her excessively curvaceous form, too big at the neck, shoulders and sleeves. She confided she had to be persuaded to wear it. Probably the only time. It certainly could not have been easily re-fitted except for another small  and excessively curvaceous male or female. 

That name did not register either. Only the thought of how extravagant to construct such a uniform for an obviously solitary occasion. 

Think  of it. al the precision drills and military marching, magnificent uniforms, flashing medals and rows of coloured  ribbons,  curls and curlicues of gold  braid and ornamentation.....how meaningful is all that stuff ?

How much of it the quintessential product of modernity of the military for time immemorial? 

How much the irrepressible inclination of little boys to dress up to look the part, bedazzle friends and terrorize enemies? 

Cowboys with pistols .....Sherrif with a star on his chest and a long gun....Indians with bows and arrows,...pirates with swords ...young adult males with paint guns. 

In the film Braveheart, Mel Gibson painted his face blue and flapped up the front of his kilt to terrify the Prussians in the Butcher Duke of Cumberland's army. 

A Monty Python image presents at this point of a little soldier in pointy helmet, leaning over the parapet of a castle shouting  in tortured French  at  Richard the Lion Heart knocking on the door below , .

" I fart in your  g-e-n-e-r-a-l  direction "  along with  an endless stream of other maladictions.

BUT...to get back to the comment ....No ...the military do not play games like politicians.They have discipline ....punishable by law. 

To avoid charges of treason,desertion, being absent without leave and myriad others, the military have rules that must be followed without question.

Prohibition against political activity is the one.

Using the might of the military to accomplish political objective is insurrection, no matter where or how it happens.

It is not permitted. 

I think it's time for the ultimate sacrifice of young Canadians in Afghanistan to be channeled towards something more meaningful than  a battle over the display of a war machine in a place of sanctuary. 

Is that why they died ?  For a monument to war?

btw ... I am informed, the  web site of the Department of Veterans' Affairs  informs about  fundIng for maintenance of  War Memorials. Funding for display of war machines is not provided. 

The  web site for display of war machines refers to Department of Veterans' Affairs for a source of funding for display if war machines.