MUNICIPAL ELECTION ACT (MEA) - JUDICIAL SYSTEM

So the question is whether the judicial system simply are biased in favour of politicians or have the politicians, in this case provincial ones, written legislation (MEA) with intentional loopholes for them to wriggle out of? Councillor Mark Bauman has failed to file expense reports in four of his five campaigns because he was acclaimed during four of them. His excuse was the excuse of inadvertence/ignorance. Funny how most of us have heard the old adage that ignorance of the law is no excuse. Well apparently it is if it's an election expenses law.

The automatic penalty for failing to file an expense report by the deadline is forfeiture of office plus you can't run in the next election. That is definitely, one would think, quite the incentive to file one's expenses. Apparently not in Mark's case in Woolwich Township. He is of course hiding behind the Municipal Clerk who says she knew no better and failed to send Councillor Bauman his Notice to file his expense report.

The judge seems to feel that inadvertence is O.K. whereas indifference is not. This begs the question as to who would admit to the judge that they knew the requirement but simply expected no one to call them on it? Talk about a very subjective law giving a lot of leeway to the judge based upon how good of a liar the offending politician is? Something is very wrong with this kind of legislation.

CARDING - NOT JUST A VIOLATION OF CIVIL LIBERTIES- IT'S GODDAMNED ILLEGAL

Today's Waterloo Region Record carrys an Opinion article by Luisa D'Amato titled "leave innocent people alone". It's in regards to the apparently fairly common tactic of carding engaged in by Toronto police. While we all know that the police can pretty much demand identification, driver's licence, insurance and car ownership from an automobile driver they are not permitted to demand identification of pedestrians. The fact that it happens regularily in Toronto, Peel, DurhamOttawa and hamilton actually makes it all the more repugnant. Is it becoming obvious to folks that they are more likely to be harassed or assaulted by police officers than by criminals yet? What a country.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME? A TWO MONTH POLICE DEMOTION ONLY FOR CHOKING & ASSAULTING

Saturday's Waterloo Region Record carried this story titled "Lying G20 police officer demoted to constable". Back on May 27/15 I posted here about the hearing regarding this officer's illegal conduct at the June 2010 G20 Summit in Toronto. The officer assaulted, choked and handcuffed a student who simply talked back to the officer when he was told to move along. This article indicates that the Judge found the officer's credibility and testimony wanting but didn't want to overpenalize him by demoting him for a year. Good God. Here in Waterloo Region we fire a group of officers for being rude and mocking some disadvantaged individuals who had phoned for police assistance. In Toronto serious assaults rate a two month demotion. Disgusting!

TWO PEAS FROM THE SAME POD

Today's Waterloo Region Record carrys two Editorials from the Record titled "Investigate hospital's errors" and secondly "Another view: Residential schools shamed Canada". Got news for you folks. This isn't news, this is standard operating procedure for political appointees, politicians and other assorted authority figures. SOP that is for all those groups who are for all intents and purposes unaccountable. I mean really just look at the handwringing and whining going on here in Woolwich Township regrading municipal councillors getting their knuckles wrapped for failure to obey the laws of the land.

Has everybody already forgotten the recent court ordered financial compensation to be paid to developmentally challenged individuals and their families who resided in provincial institutions in Ontario? How about our CSC (Corrections Service Canada) and the choking death of the nineteen year old girl in custody while guards watched here in Kitchener, Ontario. Seriously folks if you are just now getting around to realizing what a sham and scam our government services are; you are way behind the eight ball.

WATERLOO REGIONAL POLICE: HERE WE GO AGAIN

Actually on second thought this is quite a bit different bad behaviour. As per today's Waterloo Region Record titled "Officer suspended over charges"; a local veteran police officer is charged with not picking on the general public but with having an unlicensed firearm and with uttering threats against two former colleagues. Oh my! It is a domestic situation involving a current female officer and a former Waterloo Regional Police male officer as well.

This behaviour kind of brings into focus the three suspended and then fired Regional officers who behaved badly regarding citizens requiring assistance when they used their Blackberry messenger service to make fun of them. Yes the comments and jibes were immature and unprofessional but while discipline and greater supervision were required, instead they were fired and the firing upheld earlier this week.

Something is definitely wrong with our Waterloo Regional Police and the problem is at the top. Most likely it is nothing more than a knowledge that serious civilian accountability and scrutiny simply don't exist. Our Police Board are a joke both via the old boys appointment network and secondly by the authority over the Police that they don't have but should have.

BOTH SCHOOL BOARDS IN WATERLOO REGION ARE SCREWING UP

Today's Waterloo Region Record carrys Luisa D'Amato's Opinion article titled "It doesn't add up: the "math education experts" have failed our children". The Record's Jeff Outhit did an analysis of Grade 3 and Grade 6 math scores from the EQAO (Education Quality and Accountability Office) which show not only falling math scores across Ontario but show that Waterloo Region are leading the drop. This includes both our Catholic and Public school Boards although the Catholic Board started off in a better place than the public board.

Jeff Outhit's statistics are all in yesterday's Record and Luisa gives her analysis in today's paper. In a nutshell the so called "discovery based" teaching methods seem to be intellectually challenged. In parent talk that means they are a crock. "Direct Instruction" puts the students through their paces and insists on a serious grounding in the basics of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. This grounding means memorizing times tables and the like and it works.

GOVERNMENTS, SCHOOL BOARDS AND THE MOUNTIES

Yes when it comes to truly nasty, disrespectful or just plain illegal behaviour our Canadian institutions are second to none. Yesterday's Waterloo Region Record has carried two stories in the last couple of days namely "RCMP women pursue lawsuit" and "RCMP Toxic to Women, says lawyer for class-action". The former article indicates a small amount of the blatant harassment and gender discrimination. Basically these male dominated institutions are rife with this kind of neandrathal thinking and behaviour and all the puffery in the world about "All RCMP members and employees should feel safe and respected amongst their colleagues and superiors" is just that ie. puffery.

I worked for the City of Waterloo Public Works department back in the 90s and it was exactly the same kind of shit then as nowat the RCMP. A bunch of petty, immature and insecure males' noses are out of joint that women can do the same job as them as well or worse yet sometimes better.