ACCOUNTABILITY, TRANSPARENCY & AUTHORITARIANISM

Last Wednesday July 27/16 the Waterloo Region Record carried this story titled "Abuse of young detainees alleged in Australia's north". It is a shocking story with an equally shocking phoyograph of a teenaged boy, hooded and strapped at the wrists and ankles to a chair. Furthermore his hooded head also appears to be strapped to the chair as well. This is I remind you is from a juvenile detention centre in Darwin, Australia. The Prime Minister of Australia has promised a public inquiry into the abuses.

Professional liars and politicians like to pretend that there are no conspiracies in politics and governance anymore. Allegedly people are both intrinsically better behaved plus there is more oversight than ever before. Both of those suggestions are mere puffery and spin. There is no where near enough oversight, transparency and accountability of persons in positions of authority. Simply put the greater the authority the greater the abuses of it and this of course especially includes in correctional services around the world. Simply look down the road in Kitchener with the Grand Valley Institute for Women. Two high risk (to themselves) inmates have died in that institution in recent years whether from suicide or authorized negligence. Shame on all those who make the rules, those who break them and those who look the other way.