It's always nice when someone drops by unexpectedly at the lake. Just a couple guys, friends of Ron, checking to make sure they were heading in the right direction. Ron thought he was tucked out of the way of visitors behind the white pines and the bluffs; yet, even in the wilderness, the outdoorsmen type will drop by for a visit if he's in the general vicinity and generally you're happy to have the company.
These two fellows asked if I'd heard of any break-ins recently on this lake. I guess some folks who aren't in residence at camps on the bigger lakes have taken some tough losses when their backs were turned. What are you going to do? You can't keep a camp under guard 24/7, right? And camp insurance always costs a fortune or isn't even available if you don't meet stringent fire prevention standards. I can hear Shelley saying, "Grampa, you digress."
It actually turned out to be a serendipitous meeting, these two fellows showing up when they did. I was headed down to the dock to rinse my socks out after a hand washing, forgetting Shelley had lifted the indoor/outdoor carpet to give it a complete drying in the sun. Where the rug had been, the dock was all slippery. These two fellows saw me slip and catch myself and insisted on replacing the missing carpet before they headed out so I would have a sure footing. The outdoorsman is just naturally safety conscious to the point of watching out for whoever they meet along life's path. It's been a lovely weekend so far, despite my high blood pressure acting up. The prescription for my gout seems to be working just fine. I shudder to think of how crippled up I'd have been without it: especially, if I'd slipped on the dock with no one there to notice. Shelley would have had my hide!
What she doesn't know won't worry her, right? A good lie of omission: Is there such a thing?
Showing posts with label McGuinty. Show all posts
Showing posts with label McGuinty. Show all posts
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Dell on McGuinty, The Boys Club & Sacrificial Lambs
Premier Dalton McGuinty, " I don't believe you."
When you tell the Canadian press:
"Some confusion arose, and in hindsight I think that we could have, and probably should have, done something to make it perfectly clear to people," or that your government could have "done a better job" of informing people about the temporary, powers-granting regulations you were part of orchestrating.
Using the Ontario Public Works Protection Act, you were in on this from the beginning and made not a single clarification following that secretly changed legislation, back on June 2, 2010: notably, not even as Canadian citizens' rights were violated hundreds of times over during the Summits.
This change to Ontario law, done in secrecy, to perpetrate a lie of the supposed granting of "powers of arrest" was done, the public were told, at the behest of Toronto Chief of Police Blair, who similarly did nothing to clarify the "confusion" until after the Summit, and then, when asked if there had in fact been law permitting the unlawful searches and arrests, smiled and said, "No, but I was trying to keep the criminals out."
Blair's smug smile and clear disdain for acting within the law said it all, Premier McGuinty: this was a planned and co-ordinated effort to circumvent the law.
Sgt. Burrows in charge of G8 and G20 security needs to be relieved from his position immediately. If he simply believed he had new, sweeping powers of arrest and did not ask to see a written copy of that same new law, he's incompetent. If, having seen the written copy of the actual law, he went ahead with illegal search, seizures and arrests, Sgt.Burrows broke the law and should be fired. It's a lose/lose situation.
Ontario's solicitor general, Liberal MPP, Minister of Public Safety and Correction, Rick Bartolucci, knew as well.[see my earlier posts].
Toronto Police Chief Blair's smug admission of complicity was the undoing of all of you. The boys club attitude that says we're just going to do this it this way and later say it was a matter of "confusion" and misunderstanding, isn't going to wash this time.
Do you think the public haven't guessed that since your solicitor general, Rick Burrows, knew all about this, that your next move will be have the Crown Attorney drop the false charges in order to prevent a court challenge that would surely expose what you and your boys club have been up to?
No, I think all four of you should be thrown out on your rear ends. If there is an inquiry, I'd put money on it that this goes right to the top. There are no party lines...Conservative...Liberal...when there's money to be made, as Richard Fadden, head of CSIS revealed. The loop-holes that need closing in Canada's laws, to enforce accountability, have been there for too long and abused by the Liberals, too. Wasn't it the Liberals who brought in the flawed Whistleblowers Act (PSDPA) that sounds good but in reality provides no way to enforce accountability?
The only difference between the Liberals and Conservatives right now, is that Harper's government promised to close the loop-holes and end the gravy train with transparency in government affairs, but once elected, the Harper government bellied up to the trough, just as governments before have done.
The greed, deceit, arrogance and indifference of Harper's government is without precedent in this country, because they promised change and have sold out both Canada's security and future wealth, for the money they could make in the moment.
I am reminded of the Marcos regime of the Phillipines: and how many shoes does the lady have?
Premier McGuinty said he doesn't feel he owes the public an apology for the illegal actions of police and politicians during the G8 and G20 summits.
Save your apology, sir, I am offended enough already.
It would appear you four are to be sacrificial lambs on PM Harper's continuing altar of greed.
Honesty, Premier McGuinty, would have impressed me at this point: An apology? Not even close.
When you tell the Canadian press:
"Some confusion arose, and in hindsight I think that we could have, and probably should have, done something to make it perfectly clear to people," or that your government could have "done a better job" of informing people about the temporary, powers-granting regulations you were part of orchestrating.
Using the Ontario Public Works Protection Act, you were in on this from the beginning and made not a single clarification following that secretly changed legislation, back on June 2, 2010: notably, not even as Canadian citizens' rights were violated hundreds of times over during the Summits.
This change to Ontario law, done in secrecy, to perpetrate a lie of the supposed granting of "powers of arrest" was done, the public were told, at the behest of Toronto Chief of Police Blair, who similarly did nothing to clarify the "confusion" until after the Summit, and then, when asked if there had in fact been law permitting the unlawful searches and arrests, smiled and said, "No, but I was trying to keep the criminals out."
Blair's smug smile and clear disdain for acting within the law said it all, Premier McGuinty: this was a planned and co-ordinated effort to circumvent the law.
Sgt. Burrows in charge of G8 and G20 security needs to be relieved from his position immediately. If he simply believed he had new, sweeping powers of arrest and did not ask to see a written copy of that same new law, he's incompetent. If, having seen the written copy of the actual law, he went ahead with illegal search, seizures and arrests, Sgt.Burrows broke the law and should be fired. It's a lose/lose situation.
Ontario's solicitor general, Liberal MPP, Minister of Public Safety and Correction, Rick Bartolucci, knew as well.[see my earlier posts].
Toronto Police Chief Blair's smug admission of complicity was the undoing of all of you. The boys club attitude that says we're just going to do this it this way and later say it was a matter of "confusion" and misunderstanding, isn't going to wash this time.
Do you think the public haven't guessed that since your solicitor general, Rick Burrows, knew all about this, that your next move will be have the Crown Attorney drop the false charges in order to prevent a court challenge that would surely expose what you and your boys club have been up to?
No, I think all four of you should be thrown out on your rear ends. If there is an inquiry, I'd put money on it that this goes right to the top. There are no party lines...Conservative...Liberal...when there's money to be made, as Richard Fadden, head of CSIS revealed. The loop-holes that need closing in Canada's laws, to enforce accountability, have been there for too long and abused by the Liberals, too. Wasn't it the Liberals who brought in the flawed Whistleblowers Act (PSDPA) that sounds good but in reality provides no way to enforce accountability?
The only difference between the Liberals and Conservatives right now, is that Harper's government promised to close the loop-holes and end the gravy train with transparency in government affairs, but once elected, the Harper government bellied up to the trough, just as governments before have done.
The greed, deceit, arrogance and indifference of Harper's government is without precedent in this country, because they promised change and have sold out both Canada's security and future wealth, for the money they could make in the moment.
I am reminded of the Marcos regime of the Phillipines: and how many shoes does the lady have?
Premier McGuinty said he doesn't feel he owes the public an apology for the illegal actions of police and politicians during the G8 and G20 summits.
Save your apology, sir, I am offended enough already.
It would appear you four are to be sacrificial lambs on PM Harper's continuing altar of greed.
Honesty, Premier McGuinty, would have impressed me at this point: An apology? Not even close.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Dell on Lies of Omission & Toronto's G20 Security
I took a jaunt to town yesterday, with Ron driving. We went to the walk-in clinic for the doctor's opinion on my sore feet. Gout: just what I thought, but best to have it checked out, and I picked up the prescription while I was in town. Afterward, we stopped at the coffee shop. Perfect timing: the usual suspects were all there. I questioned them on the various issues emerging following Toronto's G20 Summit and want to share with you some of the feedback generated.
Keep in mind that in this neck of the woods, Ontario's solicitor general, Rick Bartolucci, is the Liberal MPP for the riding of Sudbury, as well as the Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services.
You are considered more or less a neighbour if you are within a five hour drive of someone in northern Ontario, so these folks know who Bartolucci is, compared to most Canadians.
You need to understand, too, that Bartolucci isn't particularly popular in these parts having chosen to remain neutral in October 2009, avoiding voting on NDP's Peter Kormos' private member's bill to bann the use of replacement workers during the Vale Inco strike in Sudbury.
Having chosen not to speak up on the strike issue, no one was surprised that Bartolucci didn't speak up and reveal the truth regarding the secret June 2 change to the Ontario Public Works Protection Act. [The regulatory amendment was approved through an order-in-council by the cabinet; no debate in the Legislature: then quietly posted June 16 at the government’s e-laws website.]
The NDP's Justice Critic, Peter Kormos has now been quoted as saying "McGuinty's solicitor general [Bartolucci] misled the people of Ontario and the police into believing that police had the authority to demand identification and to search people without warrants," entering the Red Zone area designated around the Summit meeting in Toronto.
Who else was in on this lie of omission?
Certainly, Sgt. Tim Burrows of the G8/G20 Integrated Security Unit knew. He had said, "The public has nothing to fear with this legislation and the way the police will use this legislation, It really comes down to a case of common sense and officer discretion. If you're approaching that fence line, we want to know why."
Burrows was also quoted as saying that the police, at their discretion, could deny access to the area and "use whatever force is necessary" to keep people out. Anyone who refused to identify themselves or refused to provide a reason for their visit, were told they could be fined up to $500 and face up to two months in jail.
You should have heard the hoots of derision when I mentioned that this Ontario Public Works Protection Act regulation states that if someone has a dispute with an officer and it goes to court "the police officer's statement under oath is considered conclusive evidence under the act."
You have to understand, these folks had heard Toronto Chief of Police Blair's notion of what consitutes a lie. When asked on Tuesday, after the Summit, if the "five meter rule existed," Blair smilingly replied, "No, but I was trying to keep the criminals out."
"Liar, liar, pants on fire!"
Praising the police, Bartolucci referred to the "thugs" protesting the G20 as proof such measures were justified.
The end justifies the means? Lie by omission? Deny citizens' their rights? Who are the "thugs" now?
These politicians and senior police officers lied, not only to the public, they lied to all the decent, dedicated police officers called to serve security in Toronto, who believed they were acting within the law, only to learn after the Summit that they had been hood-winked into breaking the law they were sworn to uphold.
If this deception doesn't anger police forces across Canada, they're missing a golden opportunity to regain credibility with the Canadian public by demanding the resignation of Blair, Burrows and any other police personnel found to have participated in the deception.
Bartolucci has been quoted: "Will there be armchair quarterbacks? There's going to be armchair quarterbacks, there always are," as recently as Sunday.
This was Tuesday: Does Bartolucci consider Liberal public safety critic, Mark Holland, an armchair quarterback?
Holland says the National Security Committee will be seeking answers to questions "over the coming weeks". In my opinion, Holland will likely have the support of opposition parties, and the House of Commons committee will be convened over the summer. There were dissenters at the coffee shop, sure no politician would want to spend a summer that way.
Mark Holland has asked Conservative MP and Public Safety Minister, Vic Toews, the former Minister of Justice for the Government of Canada, to provide answers to his questions and I don't think he's prepared to wait.
Here's a few questions from regular citizens: How high up did this deception go? Did others holding public office know and similarly believe Canadians find the lie of omission any less offensive than an outright lie? Who are the guilty parties who took the law into their own hands?
By four o'clock we were headed back to the lake and Ron left me to my thoughts while he drove. As I reflected on our friends' opinions I suddenly realized I had been totally wrong; my concern that Canadians would mostly be angry about the billion dollars spent, rather than the civil liberties issues, had been an unnecessary worry. The general consensus was that it was money well spent if the ongoing erosion of Canadian citizens' rights ceases.
And that reminds me, my next post is on CSIS, Fadden, Harper's promised transparency in government and a flawed piece of Liberal legislation: the Whistleblower's Act.
Keep in mind that in this neck of the woods, Ontario's solicitor general, Rick Bartolucci, is the Liberal MPP for the riding of Sudbury, as well as the Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services.
You are considered more or less a neighbour if you are within a five hour drive of someone in northern Ontario, so these folks know who Bartolucci is, compared to most Canadians.
You need to understand, too, that Bartolucci isn't particularly popular in these parts having chosen to remain neutral in October 2009, avoiding voting on NDP's Peter Kormos' private member's bill to bann the use of replacement workers during the Vale Inco strike in Sudbury.
Having chosen not to speak up on the strike issue, no one was surprised that Bartolucci didn't speak up and reveal the truth regarding the secret June 2 change to the Ontario Public Works Protection Act. [The regulatory amendment was approved through an order-in-council by the cabinet; no debate in the Legislature: then quietly posted June 16 at the government’s e-laws website.]
The NDP's Justice Critic, Peter Kormos has now been quoted as saying "McGuinty's solicitor general [Bartolucci] misled the people of Ontario and the police into believing that police had the authority to demand identification and to search people without warrants," entering the Red Zone area designated around the Summit meeting in Toronto.
Who else was in on this lie of omission?
Certainly, Sgt. Tim Burrows of the G8/G20 Integrated Security Unit knew. He had said, "The public has nothing to fear with this legislation and the way the police will use this legislation, It really comes down to a case of common sense and officer discretion. If you're approaching that fence line, we want to know why."
Burrows was also quoted as saying that the police, at their discretion, could deny access to the area and "use whatever force is necessary" to keep people out. Anyone who refused to identify themselves or refused to provide a reason for their visit, were told they could be fined up to $500 and face up to two months in jail.
You should have heard the hoots of derision when I mentioned that this Ontario Public Works Protection Act regulation states that if someone has a dispute with an officer and it goes to court "the police officer's statement under oath is considered conclusive evidence under the act."
You have to understand, these folks had heard Toronto Chief of Police Blair's notion of what consitutes a lie. When asked on Tuesday, after the Summit, if the "five meter rule existed," Blair smilingly replied, "No, but I was trying to keep the criminals out."
"Liar, liar, pants on fire!"
Praising the police, Bartolucci referred to the "thugs" protesting the G20 as proof such measures were justified.
The end justifies the means? Lie by omission? Deny citizens' their rights? Who are the "thugs" now?
These politicians and senior police officers lied, not only to the public, they lied to all the decent, dedicated police officers called to serve security in Toronto, who believed they were acting within the law, only to learn after the Summit that they had been hood-winked into breaking the law they were sworn to uphold.
If this deception doesn't anger police forces across Canada, they're missing a golden opportunity to regain credibility with the Canadian public by demanding the resignation of Blair, Burrows and any other police personnel found to have participated in the deception.
Bartolucci has been quoted: "Will there be armchair quarterbacks? There's going to be armchair quarterbacks, there always are," as recently as Sunday.
This was Tuesday: Does Bartolucci consider Liberal public safety critic, Mark Holland, an armchair quarterback?
Holland says the National Security Committee will be seeking answers to questions "over the coming weeks". In my opinion, Holland will likely have the support of opposition parties, and the House of Commons committee will be convened over the summer. There were dissenters at the coffee shop, sure no politician would want to spend a summer that way.
Mark Holland has asked Conservative MP and Public Safety Minister, Vic Toews, the former Minister of Justice for the Government of Canada, to provide answers to his questions and I don't think he's prepared to wait.
Here's a few questions from regular citizens: How high up did this deception go? Did others holding public office know and similarly believe Canadians find the lie of omission any less offensive than an outright lie? Who are the guilty parties who took the law into their own hands?
By four o'clock we were headed back to the lake and Ron left me to my thoughts while he drove. As I reflected on our friends' opinions I suddenly realized I had been totally wrong; my concern that Canadians would mostly be angry about the billion dollars spent, rather than the civil liberties issues, had been an unnecessary worry. The general consensus was that it was money well spent if the ongoing erosion of Canadian citizens' rights ceases.
And that reminds me, my next post is on CSIS, Fadden, Harper's promised transparency in government and a flawed piece of Liberal legislation: the Whistleblower's Act.
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