There are no upcoming events right now.
Why not post one?
Recent Articles
- Justice for Indigenous Peoples is Long Overdueby Ryan McGreal, published June 30, 2021 in Commentary
(0 comments)
- Third-Party Election Advertising Ban About Silencing Workersby Chantal Mancini, published June 29, 2021 in Politics
(0 comments)
- Did Doug Ford Test the 'Great Barrington Declaration' on Ontarians?by Ryan McGreal, published June 29, 2021 in Special Report: COVID-19
(1 comment)
- An Update on Raise the Hammerby Ryan McGreal, published June 28, 2021 in Site Notes
(0 comments)
- Nestlé Selling North American Water Bottling to an Private Equity Firmby Doreen Nicoll, published February 23, 2021 in Healing Gaia
(0 comments)
- Jolley Old Sam Lawrenceby Sean Burak, published February 19, 2021 in Special Report: Cycling
(0 comments)
- Right-Wing Extremism is a Driving Force in Modern Conservatismby Ryan McGreal, published February 18, 2021 in Special Report: Extremism
(0 comments)
- Municipalities Need to Unite against Ford's Firehose of Land Use Changesby Michelle Silverton, published February 16, 2021 in Special Report
(0 comments)
- Challenging Doug Ford's Pandemic Narrativeby Ryan McGreal, published January 25, 2021 in Special Report: COVID-19
(1 comment)
- The Year 2020 Has Been a Wakeup Callby Michael Nabert, published December 31, 2020 in Special Report: COVID-19
(0 comments)
- The COVID-19 Marshmallow Experimentby Ryan McGreal, published December 22, 2020 in Special Report: COVID-19
(0 comments)
- All I Want for Christmas, 2020by Kevin Somers, published December 21, 2020 in Entertainment and Sports
(1 comment)
- Hamilton Shelters Remarkably COVID-19 Free Thanks to Innovative Testing Programby Jason Allen, published December 21, 2020 in Special Report: COVID-19
(0 comments)
- Province Rams Through Glass Factory in Stratfordby Doreen Nicoll, published December 21, 2020 in Healing Gaia
(0 comments)
- We Can Prevent Traffic Deaths if We Make Safety a Real Priorityby Ryan McGreal, published December 08, 2020 in Special Report: Walkable Streets
(5 comments)
- These Aren't 'Accidents', These Are Resultsby Tom Flood, published December 04, 2020 in Special Report: Walkable Streets
(1 comment)
- Conservation Conundrumby Paul Weinberg, published December 04, 2020 in Special Report
(0 comments)
- Defund Police Protest Threatens Fragile Ruling Classby Cameron Kroetsch, published December 03, 2020 in Special Report: Anti-Racism
(2 comments)
- Measuring the Potential of Biogas to Reduce GHG Emissionsby John Loukidelis and Thomas Cassidy, published November 23, 2020 in Special Report: Climate Change
(0 comments)
- Ontario Squanders Early Pandemic Sacrificeby Ryan McGreal, published November 18, 2020 in Special Report: COVID-19
(0 comments)
Article Archives
Blog Archives
Site Tools
Feeds
By -Hammer- (registered) | Posted March 03, 2015 at 00:34:12
K, here is the story. Coleman accepted the apology which to me says he doesn't want to press charges, and no physical harm was done here. This is a summary assault at best carrying up to a $5,000 fine and 6 months of jail time that no Judge is going to lay down on a well known, public figure who is active in the community and does countless charity events. More then likely result in a absolute discharge, so the entire criminal charges angle is nothing but a media exercise. Frankly, this kind of thing doesn't belong in the courts. It's the kind of crap, that's on par with weed possession that clogs our court system and lets real criminals get away because of a lack of speedy trial.
Now, I'm not saying Merulla is wholly in the wrong here, as if council won't act on this like it should, he's using the only other tool at his disposal to see Ferguson pay somewhat for his actions. It's just he's using an auger to dig out a weed on the lawn of our city. Do I think Ferguson should be punished in some form? Yes. Does the rest of the city agree? I'd like to think so, yes. Why council doesn't? Well that's what happens when you have career councillors, they start up their own old boys club. Frankly city council should have codified punishments for violating said code of conduct with mandatory minimum fines for violations, not just "punish at council's discretion" so Merulla doesn't have to use the nuclear option here. It doesn't, that's a problem, but that's another can of worms.
The real story here is the Integrity Commissioner's abject failure in his position and complete lack of objectivity. The purpose of the Integrity Commissioner is to advise memebers of council and the city bureaucracy the specifics of the code of conduct and to investigate at the direction of council or citizens of the city both members of council and the city bureaucracy for violations of their codes of conduct in an objective manner. It is also their job report their findings to council & the pubic, and recommend punishments for violations of the code of conduct to council. So from the get go, the position is toothless. The most it can do is say "This guy was wrong, council, you should punish him" and leave it to council to decide, which is a joke. Council should not be allowed to dictate punishments or lack thereof on their own, but moving on that the position is toothless to being with.
So given the Integrity Commissioner's role, toothless by design, what's the point of keeping Basse on the payroll? He has proven by his joke of a report that 1) He's incapable of investigating incidents, as much of his report relies on media accounts over ACTUAL accounts of witnesses from both sides. 2) Is incapable of being independent, as his report fails to even interview the victim in this case and indeed has a tone of blame towards to victim, citing emails after the fact in an attempt to discredit the victim who is making a fair request for the videos in question. 3) Is incapable of making any kind of recommendations for punishment on what is a clear violation of the code of conduct that even his poorly constructed report HAS to acknowledge occurred. 4) Seems incapable of advising council of city policy as he seems to lack the integrity himself to be objective in his own investigations, or lacks the basic understanding on how to do his job. IE: He's a waste of space and taxpayer dollars.
Comment edited by -Hammer- on 2015-03-03 00:38:55
Still waiting for the Randle Reef mess to get cleaned up, but hopefully not much longer!
http://www.cbc.ca/hamilton/news/story/2012/12/18/hamilton-randle-reef-announcement.html
Permalink | Context