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Thou Shalt Not Question the OPP

Posted by Joanne on 24 February 2010, 8:27 am

In Ontario Community Safety Minister Rick Bartolucci’s world, it would seem that loyalty to the OPP outweighs respect for the Canadian flag:

The Opposition should be “ashamed of themselves” for questioning why flying the Canadian flag near the site of a long-running aboriginal occupation in Caledonia is being treated as a criminal act by government agents, Community Safety Minister Rick Bartolucci said yesterday.

Bartolucci said he will always support the actions of the Ontario Provincial Police, as should all elected politicians….

Apparently it is a  criminal act to fly a Canadian flag under certain circumstances in Ontario.  But we are very bad people to be even questioning that.

Unfrickin’ believable!

How much longer are we going to put up with this, fellow Ontarians?

The only thing I’m ‘ashamed’ of is having Dalton McGuinty as my Premier.

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OPP

(Cartoon courtesy of MacKay -  May 31, 2006)

Filed under Caledonia, Dalton McGuinty, OPP, Ours to Recover, Premier Hudak in 2011, Spineless Ontario, Two-tiered justice, grassroots power.
14 Comments

The Caledonia trial balloon

Posted by Joanne on 22 February 2010, 6:43 pm

Rumour has it that the McGuinty Government may end up just handing over the Douglas Creek Estates to the Six Nations in Caledonia.

I have to agree with Ontario Progressive Conservative leader Tim Hudak on this one:

“This is going to reward lawbreaking, it’s going to reward an illegal occupation and it sends a complete wrong signal on how to deal with this situation,” he said.

Yes, that’s true.

And it further demoralizes the folks that play by the rules.

Is there any outrage out there?  Frankly,  I just give up.

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Update

Haldimand County : Barrett Adding-Up the Cost of the Aboriginal Occupation in Caledonia - 98.9 FM

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Tuesday Update

Bentley won’t rule out giving Caledonia land to Six Nations – Spectator:

…The simmering four-year land dispute, which has erupted in violent clashes between protesters and local residents, has cost taxpayers $64.3 million so far.

That doesn’t include about $16 million the province paid for the land, which was seized and occupied by protesters from the nearby Six Nations reserve on Feb. 28, 2006…

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Some Background:

A 2008 post that still rings true IMHO – How Ipperwash emasculated Ontario.

Anarchy in Caledonia – June 2006

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And yet another blast from the past (Sept 2007):

Remember Sam Gualtieri?

Filed under Appeasement never works, Caledonia, Dalton McGuinty, Native Issues, OPP, Spineless Ontario, Tim Hudak, Two-tiered justice, Your tax-dollars.
29 Comments

Were you really expecting anything else?

Posted by Joanne on 3 February 2010, 4:05 pm

The Crown has withdrawn charges against OPP Commissioner Julian Fantino (Tobi Cohen, Sun):

…The move by the Crown brought renewed calls from the Opposition for Premier Dalton McGuinty to appoint a prosecutor from another province to review the evidence.

“Bring in an outside prosecutor so people know there’s objectivity,” said Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak.

Attorney General Chris Bentley said the matter was dealt with in the “appropriate manner.”

Only in Ontario.

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Related:

Crown drops charges against top cop Fantino – Spectator

Crown withdraws charge against Fantino – Globe:

...Mr. McHale also reiterated his demand that an independent prosecutor be brought in to assess the merits of the charge.

In a brief interview, Tory justice critic Ted Chudleigh echoed that.

“We’ve always had the opinion that this should have had an outside prosecutor,” Mr. Chudleigh said.

“If the government influenced the Crown to drop the charge – that’s a big if – then that’s a huge concern.”

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Background:

OPP chief’s pursuit of activist laid bare in e-mails – Christie Blatchford, Globe

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Thursday Update

The ‘Fantino matter - Adam Radwanski:

To my slight surprise, this press release just landed in my inbox:

CHUDLEIGH CALLS FOR MCGUINTY TO EXPLAIN FANTINO MATTER

(Queen’s Park) – Today Ted Chudleigh, MPP (Halton) and PC Critic to the Attorney General, questioning how the Crown handled the charge against OPP Commissioner Julian Fantino and noting the failure of the Attorney General to assign an independent Crown Attorney, called on Dalton McGuinty to explain to Ontarians why the charge against Fantino was withdrawn.

Chudleigh would not comment on the allegations against Fantino; however, he noted, “The PC Party called on the Attorney General to assign a Crown Attorney from outside the Province to this case. This would have been consistent with the Attorney General’s decision with Michael Bryant’s file. It would have helped to ensure public trust in our justice system.”

With allegations concerning a conflict of interest within the Ministry of the Attorney General and in light of the Crown’s handling of this matter public confidence in, and respect for, our justice system has been threatened…

Check out the whole thing and Radwanski’s comments at the end. Some of you will feel vindicated regarding your criticism about the Progressive Conservatives on this file.

Fantino’s dropped charge raises ire – Sun:

A decision by an Ontario Crown attorney to withdraw a charge against OPP Commissioner Julian Fantino is being questioned after the province ignored requests for an out-of-province prosecutor.

PC Leader Tim Hudak said the province’s Crowns first argued that the charge should not be laid, and when contradicted by a judge, took over the prosecution and then dropped the charge.

An independent prosecutor from outside Ontario should have been brought in to go over the case, he said.
“Otherwise, quite frankly, we’re going to wonder why he’s had Crown attorneys arguing on both sides of this case,” Hudak said. “We need objectivity.”

Filed under Caledonia, Dalton McGuinty, OPP, Ours to Recover, Premier Hudak in 2011, Two-tiered justice.
12 Comments

Down the rabbit hole

Posted by Joanne on 16 January 2010, 5:18 pm

Nothing to see here folks – literally.

Hard to know if we got our money’s worth since we’ll never know how much we the taxpayers paid for the settlement.

Christie Blatchford muses (at the end of the column):

…As part of the settlement, ownership of the house, which is bordered on two sides by the occupied site, was transferred to the province, which took possession of it on Thursday. For “safety and security reasons,” according to a release from the Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure, it was immediately demolished.

Spokesman Sylvia Kovesfalvi said the razing “will avoid potential hazards associated with an unoccupied building.

I’m sure it  had nothing to do with this week’s Turtle Island News, an independent paper published on the Six Nations reserve. On Page 7, a story reports that at last week’s Six Nations’ elected council meeting, in a general discussion about council “taking” land as opposed to buying it, Councillor Melba Thomas said, “Shouldn’t we do that, too, with the house that’s been vacated? At DCE?”

Oh how cynical of you Christie!

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Related:

Angelo Persichilli has a strange way of defending his friend Julian Fantino:

…The fact is that no native, resident or officer was hurt, and that was the mandate of the Ontario Provincial Police...

Ah yes. But locking us all up in rubber rooms would accomplish the same thing.

Unfortunately, in a situation where law is absent and politicians are hiding, the only person facing charges under the Criminal Code is the one who stood up and did something.

No Angelo. The law is still there. The problem is that no one is enforcing it.

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Inside the demolition of the Brown Chatwell house – Caledonia WakeUpCall

Filed under Appeasement never works, Caledonia, Crime, Dalton McGuinty, Just trust Dalton, Native Issues, OPP, Ontario government, Ours to Recover, Two-tiered justice, Victims rights?, Your tax-dollars.
32 Comments

Dalton flies under the radar

Posted by Joanne on 8 January 2010, 7:22 am

I wonder if my Jan. 6 post had anything to do with Christina Blizzard’s column this morning – Grits put out the trash.

Blizzard is following a similar theme of chastising Dalton McGuinty for apparently taking full advantage of the Prorogation smokescreen to attend to some nasty business (and the public and media for giving him a free pass), but she also wonders if the publicly-preoccupied Christmas period had anything to do with the timing:

While Prime Minister Stephen Harper was being soundly berated by critics as weighty as The Economist for “proroguing” — or ending the parliamentary session — just what was Premier Dalton McGuinty up to?

Funny you should ask.

While everyone was telling Harper he was a naughty boy, McGuinty was being far more sneaky — and getting away with it…

She then goes on to detail his mischievous antics:

- Dec. 22 – axing of the fall report card.
- Christmas Eve – former head of the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp Kelly McDougald, gets a settlement almost $750,000.
- Undisclosed settlement with terrorized Caledonia family just before New Year’s.

But of course Dalton gets a pass because he is a Liberal, right?

Blizzard blames McSlimey for using the Christmas season to do his dirty work:

…Meanwhile, the government managed to send out press releases trumpeting their Jan. 1 tax break. But no release on Caledonia.

Look, McGuinty isn’t the first politician to dump unpopular news when he hopes no one is looking. He won’t be the last. Journalists call it putting out the trash.

And you always put it out when no one’s looking: Late Friday afternoon. Christmas Eve. New Year.

Meanwhile, we’re all over Harper. Why? Because he used a legitimate procedural instrument that governments use all the time. I expect the Liberals will prorogue this session at Queen’s Park soon — and no one will blink. Nor should they.

What’s galling is when governments try to bury important issues. It’s like looking for the dime in the Christmas pudding. You have to watch carefully, or it will choke you...

So not only do we apparently have two-tier policing in Ontario but it also seems that most of the Canadian media and many virulent activists also have a double-standard when it comes to holding politicians to account.

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Related:

Just a reminder to please sign up on this Facebook group in support of Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

And if anyone knows of any Facebook groups trying to hold Dalton McGuinty to account, I would very much appreciate that information.   Thanks.

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Saturday Update:

Ontario Liberals narrow lead over PCs: poll – Ottawa Citizen

OPP chief Fantino to face criminal charge - Citizen

Filed under Caledonia, Dalton McGuinty, Harper best PM ever, Lemmings love Fiberals, MSM bias, Media Watch, OPP, Ours to Recover, Spineless Ontario, Stephen Harper, Two-tiered justice, Your tax-dollars, hypocrisy.
68 Comments

While you were busy hating Harper…

Posted by Joanne on 6 January 2010, 4:43 pm

Dalton McGuinty’s been busy pulling some fast ones.

And Kelly McParland is trying to wake us up – – Sleepland Ontario. Why buy a government anywhere else?.

Or should voters only be roused from their ‘apathy’ when it involves a Conservative government?

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Thursday Update:

Kelly McParland: The high cost of Dalton McGuinty native terror:

…$64 million? Not including the original payment to the developers, and whatever the government eventually paid to Chatwell and Brown.

Well done, Dalton McGuinty. A responsible use of taxpayers’ money, no question at all.

Would you like some HST with that?

Filed under Caledonia, Dalton McGuinty, HST, Liberal arrogance, Ontario economy, Ontario government, Ours to Recover, grassroots power.
21 Comments

A Happy New Year in store for Caledonia couple

Posted by Joanne on 30 December 2009, 6:24 pm

An out-of-court settlement has suddenly been reached for Dana Chatwell and David Brown.

Regulars to this blog know that I have been following this story for quite a while. I’m very happy for this couple and their son Dax. They can now leave this nightmarish situation.

However I wonder what the final taxpayers’ tab will be when the Caledonia issue is eventually resolved – if it ever is.

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January 2, 2010 Update

Enforce the law – National Post:

...We weren’t going to get that satisfaction from the civil suit, of course, but a humiliating finding against the government and in Mr. Brown’s and Ms. Chatwell’s favour would have been gratifying. Now we won’t get it. And we won’t hear allegedly damning testimony from OPP officers that they had indeed been given orders to stand back and let events unfold as they may. That testimony, which was to be heard next week, is the best explanation available as to why the government suddenly decided to settle.

Less clear — baffling, in fact — is why it chose to defend this indefensible case so fearsomely in the first place. It was halfway to sweeping the whole mess under the rug when it bought out the developers of the disputed land for $12-million in 2006. For some fraction of that amount, it could have finished the job and bought out Mr. Brown and Ms. Chatwell. Instead it spent untold heaps of taxpayer money putting them through the wringer, all the while shining a blinding spotlight on its own spineless ineptitude, and then cut Mr. Brown and Ms. Chatwell a cheque.

The problem is not that the Ontario Liberals’ spineless ineptitude has been exposed. In fact, that’s one of the few upsides. The problem is that future governments may learn from the Liberals’ mistake–if native protesters occupy some land, they may just buy out its rightful owners and let them have it. Better that than another Ipperwash, right? That’s no way to run a province. Men and women who lack the stomach to enforce the law, always and equitably, have no business holding public office. That’s the real lesson of Caledonia.

Filed under Appeasement never works, Caledonia, Dalton McGuinty, OPP, Spineless Ontario, Two-tiered justice, Your tax-dollars.
23 Comments
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