Yous Were Saying

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "A Ghost Of Council Past":

It is obvious that Councillor Gaertner does not possess the ability to read and understand.

"Heinous, grievous offence, punished severely."

We are talking about a medium-sized Ontario town, not a war crimes tribunal.

What is the councillor's problem?

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Well ,y'know , not to put too fine a point on it ... there was a  tribunal conducted behind closed doors that can never be disclosed  because of the need to protect the innocent.Quite the  conundrum because  the innocent  were treated like felons behind closed doors ,complete with selected evidence and one-sided  cross-examination by the lawyer who lent himself to the exercise.

The same lawyer was hired  to " investigate"   all of my public utterances, letters to the editor, comments  in council debates and blog posts and further  instructed to compile a report on his spin  on my intent, leading to construction of  a  much publicised complaint to an Integrity Commissioner  appointed and compensated  for the purpose of rubber-stamping the legal beagle's enterprise.

$70,000 of taxpayer's money was spent.  The complaint to the  Integrity Commissioner resulted in the Commissioner being  "stripped of his authority".... for calling it as he saw it.

We may not have been  engaged in adjudication of war crimes  but neither were we conducting  a children's choir or  any other  performance recognizable in a small , medium -sized, or large Ontario town .

Not a war zone exactly.

Certainly a twilight zone of unreality.

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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Bathurst Street Resident Says":

To: Not the same, et al

I the similarity is that councils spend our money fighting a cause - the turn lane in this case - only to give in later. It was only after a threat to take bat and ball and go home did they change their minds.

Add to that list the Petch house round and round. The CTC lights. The Town Hall address. And so on.

Councils waste money.

Before you chime in and say that was the old council with the evil leader.... not so fast there are examples of money wasting going back to the dawn of time.

A council - and it's members - will always think about their chances of getting re-elected. Any councillor that tells you different is a liar.

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Now take that last sentence: "any councillor  that tells you different is a liar"

No councillor would ever tell you that. But they might tell you  "I am not a politician"  as  though it's a shameful thing .  Even as they do it , they deny it.

I don't buy lottery tickets . I've never been to a casino. Even a raffle ticket provides not a shiver  of excitement.

But I  enjoy  the risk  in politics. I believe  the odds of being elected by being unscrupulously  honest and determined are exceptional .

I have spent almost fifty years of my life practising my formula.

Since the advent of the internet, the odds have increased commensurately.

I'm on a roll.