HANDCUFFS & LEG IRONS ARE STANDARD PROCEDURE IN ONTARIO

Well that certainly eases my mind to be advised that our society and civilization approve of handcuffs AND legirons for non violent prisoners being transported to and from court. The article in the Waterloo Region Record is titled "Del Maestro's leg irons standard procedure for all prisoners: OPP". Don't get me wrong, I believe that Del Maestro and his Conservative party/government are assholes extraordinaire. I also believe he is guilty as sin and a professional liar. All that said neither he nor 95% of prisoners should be in leg irons. That is typical judicial/police nonsense pretending how important and brave they are dealing with these Hannibal lector's of the election system. Puleaseee give me a break. Putting arrested but unconvicted persons in handcuffs much less legirons is middle ages crap and unworthy of a civilized society. Maybe the reality is that we are not nearly as civilized as we pretend to be.

SO ELECTION EXPENSE RULES CAN BE ENFORCED AFTERALL

Who would have thought it? A sitting member of our federal Parliament has been convicted and sentenced to jail for one month plus being put on house arrest for four more months. Today's Waterloo Region Record carrys the story titled "Del Maestro sent to jail for a month". Mr. Del Maestro may well be a wake up call for politicians at all tiers of government including here in Woolwich Township. While Councillor Bauman certainly found a cunning route around his failure four times in a row to file his election expense reports he is now on notice in the future. Plus his expense report for the 2014 election at least is on the Township's website where it should have been a long time ago.

Similarily Councillor Scott Hahn may be wishing that he had taken the election rules much more seriously and perhaps, it is absolutely unproven to date, he should have thought a little longer about producing a number of invoices/receipts that are challenging the smell test. Mayor Shantz will appear before the Municipal Election Compliance Audit Committee (MECAC) this Thursday at 11 am. in Woolwich Council Chambers. Her reports also indicate a number of contraventions of the Municipal Elections Act plus other possible discrepancies that an Audit hopefully will clarify.

DIRTY, ROTTEN, FILTHY, MUNICIPAL POLITICS

Woolwich Township are a microcosm of why the environment is going to hell in a handcart. They are also a microcosm of why democracy is so fragile. Their municipal Council are made up of both rookies with minimal ethics as well as experienced Councillors who are liars and bullies. Last evening they dissolved the Chemtura Public Advisory Committee after four members plus a supporter (moi) spoke strongly and factually in support of them. This Council also lied through their teeth while doing their dirty deed; claiming that some/majority of the current CPAC (until August 31/15) could be appointed to the two newly formed comittees called RAC and TAG. Meanwhile Uniroyal/Chemtura and their bed partner the Ministry of the Environment are rolling together in the mud, in delight.

This beyond idiot and into corrupt Council has given the green light to the complete destruction of public consultation here in Elmira, Ontario. Granted it was a badly flawed model to start with, with the Municipal Council doing all the appointing to CPAC. It is now nothing but a joke as the citizens are literally relegated to third class status while bureaucrats and politicians are the ones in control. The TAG (Technical Advisory Group) committee including citizens has zero authority or control whatsoever. They report to RAC (Remediation Advisory Committee) which reports directly to Woolwich Council. RAC have a total of five bureaucrats from the local Conservation Authority (GRCA), plus Region of Waterloo combined with the Woolwich Mayor and a Councillor along with the paid (professional?) Chair of TAG and then two alleged honest citizens. Fat chance of that with this set up.

The purpose of all this is to get myself and five honest citizens out of the hair of Chemtura Canada, formerly Uniroyal Chemical. They have destroyed the local water supply and poisoned the people and wildlife throughout the watershed. When even their bought and paid for consultants combined with a corrupt Ministry of Environmrnt could not stop the citizens group, they waited for a new municipal Council to do the job. Councillor Bauman and Mayor Shantz have led this corrupt charge.

AND YET ANOTHER CASE OF A MURDER CONVICTION WHEN THERE WAS NO CRIME

Today's Waterloo Region Record carrys this story titled "The 45-year battle to prove Ontario man didn't kill his common-law wife". When and what will it take to stop these needless criminal convictions? How can the police, the Crown, judges and the whole judicial system continue to get things so wrong?

Of all the screwups by the judicial system the ones that are most egregious are those whereby an innocent person is convicted of a murder that never happened. There was the self appointed expert (Dr. Charles Taylor?) who kept determining that this child and that child died via criminal assaults only to learn years later that shaken baby syndrome had been over diagnosed for decades. Then of course we had Milgard, Morin and D. Marshall all wrongly convicted.

In this particular case both husband and wife had been drinking and she had fallen. A fatal stroke ensued and he was convicted. Decades later four different nueropathologists have ruled the death as accidental including one hired by the Crown. It was however the Association In Defence of the Wrongly Convicted who once again have stepped in and righted another miscarriage of justice. How many more before citizens see a pattern? Is our judicial system nothing more than a huge machine grinding up lives for its' own glory and financial benefit? Rather than pride in our institutions I am learning to be ashamed of them.

ENOUGH ALREADY. OUR GOVERNMENTS CONTINUE TO ASSAULT CITIZENS & IGNORE THEIR OWN LAWS

Today's Waterloo Region Record carrys this story titled "Ontario accused of segregation violation". A female inmate took the Ontario Ministry of Community Safety & Correctional Services to the Human Rights Commission. They settled at the first day of the hearing with conditions including that all inmates receive a handbook advising them of their legal rights in regards to segregation ie. solitary confinement. Christina Jahn was sufferring from both cancer and mental illness when the Ontario Ministry put her in solitary confinemnt for more than 200 days. As a result she did not receive necessary treatment for either condition. Her cancer is now terminal partly due to her lack of treatment at a crucial time. Meanwhile a number of Ontario jails continue to ignore the ruling by the Human Rights Commission which has resulted in enforcement action being requested of them. All of this is ridiculous based upon world wide studies of the use and abuse of solitary confinement. Here in Kitchener a nineteen year old girl with a history of mental illness and extensive time in solitary confinement took her own life while in custody. The Public Inquiry was damning of the local authorities as well as of the federal Correctional Services.

LACK OF TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY LEADS TO MUNICIPAL CORRUPTION

Woolwich Township are starting to get a name for themselves and it's not the name they want. For decades they were known for their annual Maple Syrup Festival. Then they were known for the destruction of their drinking water by Uniroyal Chemical. Recently they're becoming known for their politicians being under scrutiny for violations of various laws. The former Mayor while still in office was being investigated for Fraud and Breech of Trust. Charges have since been laid. Then it was (and is) Councillor Scott Hahn who is being both audited and investigated for badly mishandling his election expenses. After him Councillor Mark Bauman was briefly ousted as a Councillor due to his complete failure to file any election expense report at all, contrary to the Municipal Election Act.

Last (we hope) but not least is Mayor Sandy Shantz who also has failed to fill in her election expenses correctly. Amazing how people who pretend to be informed and superior during election campaigns really just aren't that smart afterall. She failed to recognize that her total Contributions exceeded $10,000 which automatically was to trigger an Audit at her expense. Instead the Municipality may well be on the hook to do the Audit if the Municipal Election Compliance Audit Committee (MECAC) so rules after a hearing at 11 am. on July 2, 2015 in Council Chambers.

PART-TIME, LOW WAGE WORK - THE NEW ONTARIO

And a roaring thank you to all the little people at the top who have made it possible. M.P.s, M.P.P.s, corporations and even municipal politicians. Monday's Waterloo Region Record carrys this story titled "Huge shift to low-wage work needs changes, says study". The following statistic is scary : "the share of Ontario workers now earning minimum wage is now five times higher than in 1997.". Equally concerning "almost a third of all employees in the province are now making within $4 of the minimum wage, compared with less than 20 percent othe workforce in 1997.".

Yes absolutely all rightwingers, Conservatives , business types and those born with a silver spoon in their mouths can rejoice. Your filthy policies disguised by governments as good for the economy have accomplished so much. Our society is being sucessfully reduced to the haves and the have nots.

COURTS SLAP FEDERAL CONSERVATIVES YET AGAIN

You wonder when our idiot Federal government will get the message. Their stupid party platforms are not the law. Most recently the Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that medical marijuana can be consumed in a variety of products including cookies, brownies and teas. The Waterloo Region Record carrys this story titled "Medical marijuana cookies are legal now". Are the Conservatives simply stupid or is there some upside financially to somebody in keeping marijuana more restricted, even to those in medical need?

The Supreme Court's ruling takes effect immediately and there are a number of examples given in the article of Canadians who's lives will be improved via this ruling. The written Decision stated that "The prohibition of non-dried forms of medical marijuana limits liberty and security of the person in a manner that is arbitrary and hence is not in accord with the principles of fundamental justice". Well done Supreme Court.

BETTER BUT STILL LACKING

Today's Waterloo Region Record are still beating about the bush but at least they have published the Ontario Human Rights Commission's advice to Toronto Police Services including requiring "officers to tell people they have the right to leave and not answer questions". This is in regards to the issue of either "carding" or "street checks" both of which are illegal in this country and appropriately so. Exactly when did it become more likely that Canadian citizens would be confronted and or assaulted by police officers than by criminals?

Along with carding is the issue of racial profiling in Toronto. A legal challenge was launched last Wednesday by a black law student in Toronto. He has been stopped thirty times by Toronto police and is fed up to the point that he has launched a Charter of Rights and Freedoms legal challenge to the practice.

"STREET CHECKS" VERSUS "CARDING" ie. BULLSHIT VERSUS HORSE MANURE

Carding in Toronto is no more illegal than street checks here in Waterloo Region. According to Toronto that is. Similarily here in Waterloo Region our Police Chief assures us that "street checks" simply aren't the same as "carding" in Toronto. What is the similarity between our Police Chief and the Toronto spokesperson? Simple, they are both bullshiters. Motor vehicle operators by law must provide identification including driver's licences, proof of insurance and motor vehicle ownership papers. Pedestrians on the other hand can and do tell the police to go fuck themselves when the police demand identification. Do police resent being told to go fuck themselves? Does a bear like honey?

Today's Waterloo Region Record carrys this story titled "Police do "street checks" when they suspect suspicious behaviour". I sincerely hope that someone at the Record will publish a followup story to the serious crap that was published today allegedly giving police rights they do not have here in Canada. Russia yes, Canada no.

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.