Montague 22 : Hal MacGregor Writes

I read with dismay your remark about eating Shawn Carmichael's eggs, but that you would not break the law to protect him.

I felt two separate emotions when I read your remark: One of disbelief that you were implying Shawn had broken a law, and secondly that you were suggesting I was wrong in defending him, (since my campaign brochure stated I had done so, and I am proud of it).

If you knew Shawn Carmichael as I know him, you would never have made such an absurd statement.

Please let me enlighten you as to the legal aspects of his situation. In Canada, Federal laws have supremacy over any provincial laws - or Municipal bylaws.Article 2 in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, (which is the paramount law in Canada) states: Every Canadian has the right of association.

By definition, that includes the right of disassociation. In other words, every Canadian has the right not to be forced to belong to an association (or guild, or union, or any identifiable organized group). That right is further upheld in several Federal statutes governing labour unions, etc.
I contend that the Province of Ontario statute forcing all egg producers in Ontario with more than 99 chickens, to join the provincial egg marketing board is unconstitutional, and will be struck down if it is ever brought before a competent Canadian court.

No OLA members were charged with anything as a result of our defence of Shawn on that day, quite the contrary.

We later demonstrated at the Prescott Police station, and tried to go through normal lawful channels to lay charges against the Police for their cruel and inhumane suffocation of 800 chickens when they were packed too tightly. I, personally, later testified before an OPP Constable in Rideau Lakes as part of that effort to bring the guilty ones to justice. Of course, nothing came of it in the end.

Most area newpapers reported that event with objectivity, the one exception was the Ottawa Citizen, whose reporter on the scene talked only to policemen at the time. His original report was later corrected on page 15 or somewhere insignificant.

You may find it interesting that, at Shanly, calls were made to the OSPCA as the cruelty was happening, and they declined to become involved. So much for their objectivity and their mandate to prevent cruelty to animals.

You might also find it interesting, that at Shanly, when I was discussing the situation with some OPP friends, they advised me they were not happy with what they were being forced to do.
Also, as for you not being willing to "break the law" in defence of Shawn Carmichael, one must consider that standing on one's principles in the face of a perceived injustice is the only thing standing between an Orwellian nightmare and the democracy, with all its freedoms, we so cherish today in many parts of the world.

George Washington committed treason (which was a hanging offence) when he led a revolution against King George III, but he prevailed and became the greatest hero of the United States of America. His call for "No Taxation without Representation" will go down in history as one of the great milestones of democratic movements.

Here in Canada, we were taught as children that we owe our Canadian freedom of the Press to one man, Joseph Howe. Howe was the editor of a Halifax newspaper, and he wrote a column critical of some Nova Scotia government leaders of the day.

Although he was technically guilty of breaking a (bad) law that forbade such a thing, he argued his own case before a jury of his peers, and he successfully convinced them of his right to do so. He was found innocent and the law was struck down. Now, all Canadians enjoy the right to criticize our governments, thanks to one man who had the courage of his convictions. By the way, Howe went on to become Premier of Nova Scotia, and eventually joined a Federal cabinet in a government of "National Unity".

Thank God for such men.

As a footnote, a prophetic entry was found in a German concentration camp during the closing days of the Second World War. It had been written by one of the many victims of Nazi tyranny. Its author was among those "undesirables" executed and thrown into a common grave. What was most startling about the author was that he had been a submarine Commander in the German Navy during the First World War.

What was so remarkable about the scribbled note, was its stark message of the general compliance on behalf of the mass of German people, when faced with an intolerant authority. It read:

First, they came for the Jews, and nobody objected.
Then, they came for the Gypsies, and nobody objected.
Then, they came for the Gays, and nobody objected.
Then, they came for me.

Hal MacGregor/Candidate for Councillor

Montague 21 : Whither The Blog

This is a tough post to begin and to write. Up until last night's all candidates meeting, I'd only read about certain things in the media. Last night was my first chance to observe those things up close and personal and it's left me with very mixed feelings.

On the one hand, having started this whole blogging process, I would like to continue to set down what I saw and heard and my reaction to it. On the other, given some of what was on display last night and given the well documented happenings of the last few years in the Township, I have to admit to a certain apprehension for my personal safety and that of my family, should I actually write what's in my mind to write. I have a young family. I don't want to put them in a situation where they face unnecessary risks. I didn't sleep too well last night for thinking about these issues.

I'm not a journalist. For one thing, I've never slept with a senior member of the Liberal party. But I started blogging because there's a lot I wanted to say. I've worked hard at this so far and I've put a lot of sweat, heart and soul into it. Having started, I have found a voice and thus far I've been able to be entirely true to myself. With one exception, which I corrected within hours, I've never posted anything I wasn't entirely comfortable with. I've never compromised my values or beliefs. What I've written is who I am.

Some of what I saw last night disturbed me greatly. I'm still not sure whether to put my thoughts out there or not. I need to weigh being true to myself with being smart about any potential risks to myself and my family.

So, there will be an account of the evening at some point, when I've decided what to do. Until then, I'll post the first guest post from one of the candidates.

Montague 20 : Speechless For Now

Just got back from the second all-candidates evening. Now, in England, it's traditional to have fireworks on the 5th of November. Here in Montague, apparently, we like to do this on the 30th of October.

It's late, I'm tired and I'm enjoying a Bushmills Single Malt Irish Whiskey. I'll cover the meeting in a post tomorrow. Anyone else who was there, feel free to add a comment to this post.

Montague 19 : The Winds Of Change?

Looking at the opinion poll results as they stand tonight, it looks as though the winds of change are blowing through the township, at least for the readers of this blog. Now, the sample is very small (around 20ish) and the readers of this blog are perhaps overwhelmingly members of the MRA - or are you? Still, the incumbent councillors are trailing quite a way behind the challengers and even Reeve Doyle is struggling.

Make it more accurate; encourage your friends and neighbours to come along and click a few buttons, even if they don't read the whole blog.

One very interesting thing is that the race for Deputy Reeve is very one-sided; this says to me (so far) that Peter Kavanagh has the respect and confidence of people on both sides of the lawsuit issue. I think this can only be good for the township. Based on the one very short meeting I've had with Mr. Kavanagh, I think he's one person who really can bring everyone together and I think he will be a leader as we start putting old divisions behind the township and moving forward.

Political Paralysis

I haven't blogged much on the federal political scene in a while; partly out of fear at being picked up by CTV again, but mostly because what I have written in the last couple of weeks is pretty much a fair assessment of what Parliament has usefully achieved in the same timeframe, i.e. nothing.

I find it ironic that the Liberal Party allowed the government's top priorities to pass the House so easily earlier in the year - those things that they bitterly opposed, like the $1,200 childcare allowance, the GST cut, and so on. Then, when the government is working on things that should be a no-brainer, like increasing accountability and fixing a broken justice system, the Liberals delay, carp, hack and gut the legislation. Not only that, but they spend their entire time in the spotlight of Question Period whinging about alleged dog remarks.

Grow up, Mr. Graham and your crowd. You may not like Mr. Harper and you may have different views on where you want to take things. But you're elected to serve the people, just the same. And the people, whatever their political stripe, want you to take care of the nation's business, not go around scooping dog poop.

It's The Parents Who Need Their Heads Examined

Flipping through the very thin pages of newsprint that passes for a Sunday newspaper in Ottawa Citizen-land, I came across an article reprinted from the UK's Sunday Telegraph. The article is headlined Babies On The Couch and it describes what is, apparently, a growing phenomenon: larger and larger numbers of toddlers and babies are being taken to see psychiatrists.

The article describes the experiences of a couple in London, England. Dad is a hedge fund manager, which I believe has something to do with finances, not horticulture. Mom's a lawyer. Pretty smart folks then, we can assume

Toby began his therapy when he was just one month old, at Dr Acquarone's parent-infant clinic at the School of Infant Mental Health in Hampstead, north London. His parents are among an increasing number who believe that good mental health cannot be established early enough.

...

"Dr Acquarone's sessions utterly changed my relationship with my son," says Miss Mientakeivitch, a lawyer. "We have the loving bond I had hoped for and he is a happy, healthy baby. Her work is tremendous: she taught me so much about what Toby was feeling and how to interpret the messages he was sending me. Her observations of Toby taught me such a lot about him."

Later on, we learn as an example, that one of the insights of the Great Doctor was that Mom should take off her glasses to let Toby see her eyes more clearly. I seem to remember that this advice is (a) contained in many books on parenting and (b) common sense. Nice work at $200 an hour for Dr. Acquarone.

So here we have two highly educated, intelligent people, who feel that they are so incapable of parenting their son using their own abilities that they have spent thousands and thousands of dollars on consultations and having the baby 'interviewed' by Dr. Acquarone. If people such as these don't feel comfortable parenting by intuition, common sense and a little judicious use of Google, who does?

How did Western society, collectively, reach the point where we have lost all confidence in our abilities to parent? When did having a child start to reduce high-achieving, intelligent people to uncertain ghosts of themselves, paralyzed with fear? Parenting is the most natural and instinctive role human beings can have. These are people who wouldn't think twice about their ability to read a client or a business associate, understand their body language, assess and predict people's likely behaviour, spot when someone is telling the truth or lying, and so on. They're high-powered people, confident in their abilities at work. Being a parent uses all the same skills. It's not rocket science.

When the highly educated, the elite, feel this way, it's easy to see why the idea that Nanny State's Early Childhood Educators know best has so much traction. No wonder we have an ever increasing army of professionals telling mothers that they can't do the job of raising happy, healthy children themselves. No, now you need some chick with a PhD to tell you your child will see you better if you take your glasses off.

It's time to expose this nonsense and give it the challenge it deserves in public. It's time to encourage all parents and parents-to-be out there to believe that they can do it themselves and that where their own child is concerned, if they trust their instincts and they focus on the child, they will end up knowing best.

As for the parents who feel the need of a $58,000 course of Dr. Acquarone's treatment, to them I say: You should have taken some time to practise a little first. Maybe start out with a Betta fish. Spend a few months learning to read fin-language and then move gently up the evolutionary ladder before attempting procreation. Either that, or spend that $58,000 more wisely and get your own heads fixed.

Montague 18 : Guests Are Invited

I have sent an invitation to all candidates to submit a guest post in the week following the final all-candidates meeting. Watch this space.

I plan on taking the opinion polls down several days before voting day so as to avoid any inappropriate influence. Note that they are very unscientifc; there's no way to check whether someone is really from the area, although they do only permit one vote per browser as far as technology allows. Still, I thought it might be useful to put them up.

The Doggerel Coalition for Best Childcare

The Ontario Coalition for Better Childcare is sending the following resolution to all Ontario municipalities:

Resolution

Whereas thirty five years of research confirms the benefits of high quality child care for young children’s intellectual, emotional, social and physical development and later life outcomes; and

Whereas child care promotes the well-being of children and responds to the needs of parents, child care workers and the broader community by supporting quality of life so that citizens can fully participate in and contribute to the economic and social life of their community; and

Whereas recent studies clearly show trained and knowledgeable Early Childhood Educators and child care workers are the most important element in quality child care, and further that good wages and working conditions are associated with higher job satisfaction and morale, lower staff turnover all of which predict higher quality care

Therefore Be It Resolved that October 25, 2006 be designated the 6th annual “Child Care Worker & Early Childhood Educator Appreciation Day” in recognition of the influence, dedication and commitment of child care workers to children, their families and quality of life of the community.

The Doggerel Coalition for Best Childcare is proposing an alternative resolution:

Resolution

Whereas for thousands of years children have been raised by their parents in their own caves, mud huts, castles, semi-detacheds, bungalows, condos, yachts, and various other places; and

Whereas instutionalising children and taking them away from their parents, for example to the workhouse, used to be seen as undesirable; and

Whereas history shows that Victorian children were more numerate and literate at 10 years of age than are today's high-school graduates; and

Whereas thirty-five years of one-sided 'research' into the impact of institutional childcare cannot outweigh thousands of years of human history; and

Whereas human families and their children have enjoyed the company of canis domesticus as friend, companion, protector, nanny, playmate, teacher and student; and

Whereas Welsh Corgis are exceptional examples of canis domesticus

Therefore Be It Resolved that October 25, 2006 be designated the 1st annual “Welsh Corgis in Childcare Appreciation Day” in recognition of the influence, dedication and commitment of Welsh Corgis to children, their families and quality of life of the community.

Montague 17 : A New(ish) Candidate

One candidate for council who's been pretty quiet (at least from my vantage point) is Bonnie Burson. In the last couple of days her flyer has arrived in my mailbox. Bonnie was pretty quiet at the all candidates meeting, but I have to say I like some of what's in the flyer. Since she hasn't had all the exposure of some of the other candidates, and certainly she's had a lot less than the incumbents, today's post shines a spotlight on Bonnie Burson.

Ms. Burson's big selling point is her business background. She thinks her experience managing a successful small business through difficult times is directly applicable to running the township, and there is some truth in that - being a councillor is first and foremost about managing the finances of the township.

Ms. Burson is also an 'independent' in the so-called divided township; not an incumbent, or a member of the MRA. This is played up in her flyer; no 'hidden agenda,' she claims. This could be a big plus, although it could also indicate indecision. Nowhere do we find out her views on the lawsuit itself. I'd like to know her views, even if she is non-aligned. Being the cynic that I am, I could read into her flyer that she actually supports the incumbent council - there are no references to the existing council, only veiled references to the MRA.

She says she'd listen to facts, not gossip; again a positive statement. I just hope that she would have enough realism to recognize that sometimes facts can be manipulated; the truth can be spun to the extent that it is as harmful as gossip.

Bonnie has a plan for Fairness and Equality in council, which seems to involve specific question periods with clear rules of engagement. The tone of this section of the flyer is clearly anti-MRA - 'ensure that special interest groups do not monopolize our limited resources'. This is all very well. However, it's not too difficult to imagine a situation in which rules about how and when people can present to council can be used to disadvantage certain people or groups. Controlling access to council allows someone to control the agenda and control which points of view get to be heard. If it's done fairly, this could be all right, but it's open to abuse.

In the end, then, it's Bonnie Burson's financial acumen that remains her big selling point. How far her other suggestions would go would depend on the makeup of the rest of council. My impression is of someone who has something to offer, but will need to speak more and speak louder at the next all candidates meeting. I'd like to hear more and I'd like to feel just a little more comfortable that Bonnie would still respect the presence of a Ratepayers Association in our community, as such organizations have a valuable place in any democratic system.

For The Conservative Canine In Your Life

With a very large tip o' the hat and wag of the tail to Neo, who writes more sense in a couple of paragraphs than the entire Liberal Party has done in all their Red Books combined, here's a must for all readers who, like us, are blessed with true-blue conservative canine companions:

http://www.thoseshirts.com/dogshirts.html