From The Editors

These Conservatives are different than those ones

Posted by Phil Andrews

 

We just received the following letter to the editor from Allan Boynton. He's the president of the Guelph branch of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada. Two things about his letter jumped out at me.

One was his assertion that local voters made an informed decision in the last municipal election. That strikes me as ironic becuase Boyton ran as a ward councillor candidate and was not elected in that campaign.

The other was his determination to note that the Ontario PCs are not the same party as the Conservative Party of Canada.

Here's the letter:

 

Dear editor,

 

As president of the Guelph Progressive Conservative Party branch, I can feel change in the air. Ontarians are joining and donating to the PC Party in record numbers. They have had enough of Dalton McGuinty and his tax increases, and they know that the upcoming election is the ideal opportunity to fix our provincial government.   

 

The fact of the matter is, our current situation can’t continue.We have poor leadership from our current premier and Guelph has soft representation at Queen’s Park with our current MPP. We need an MPP who doesn’t put down City Hall, as Liz Sandals has recently done, but does everything possible to see that the City of Guelph gets the support it needs and deserves from the Government of Ontario. Right now, Guelph is a have-not city in a have-not province, and that has to change. It’s time Guelph started reaping the benefits that surrounding areas have received for years.

 

The Oct. 6 provincial election is an important event that has been scheduled for four years. If anyone in Guelph isn’t aware of their voting options, now is the time to start finding out. Join other Ontarians who will make informed choices on election day and ensure they get the outcome they want, just as they did in the recent municipal and federal elections.

 

One piece of information that’s important to know is that the PC Party of Ontario and the federal Conservative Party are not the same thing.Our leader, the future premier of Ontario, is Tim Hudak. He represents the strong family values the people of Ontario connect with. He has a strong financial plan to get Ontario back on track so that we are no longer a have-not province. 

 

Tim will be back in town after the Guelph PCs nominate their candidate on July 18, at the Delta Guelph Hotel and Conference Centre. This is an open invitation to all residents to come and meet Tim the next time he’s here. It will be a great way to get informed about the PC Party.

 

Allan Boyton

 

Why T. Sher Singh and not Conrad?

Posted by Phil Andrews

Columnist Bob Hepburn raises and interesting question.

Why didn't the forces that saw Guelph's T. Sher Singh ousted from the Order of Canada seek to to the same with Conrad Black.

 

Here's the Hepburn column:

Last week, Governor General David Johnston announced 50 new appointments to the Order of Canada, our country’s highest civilian honour.

Strangely though, the advisory council that oversees the Order of Canada once again failed to strip former newspaper owner Conrad Black, who was originally convicted in the U.S. in 2007 of fraud, of his cherished award.

Indeed, there’s a bad odour surrounding the panel’s stubborn refusal to act against Black.

This inaction raises serious questions about the integrity of the council and diminishes the prestige of an honour that, as one newspaper letter writer said this week, “embraces and exalts convicted felons.”

Is this a case of blatant favouritism toward a high-profile member of Canada’s privileged business class — even a disgraced one who renounced his Canadian citizenship in disgust a decade ago?

Is the 11-member panel, comprised of federal officials and respected business and community leaders from across Canada, afraid of the knee-jerk outcry that will arise from Black’s supporters in the Conservative party or from fawning columnists in right-wing media outlets?

Since its inception in 1967, only four people — Alan Eagleson, David Ahenakew, T. Sher Singh and Steven Fonyo — have been stripped of the Order of Canada.

None were as feared or as high-profile as Black.

Black, who appealed his original convictions, was resentenced two weeks ago to 42 months for fraud, replacing the 2007 sentence of 78 months. He already has been in jail 29 months. He has until Friday to file yet another appeal. He must return to a U.S. prison in August.

A close look at each previous “termination” and the council’s formal, written policies on when a recipient should be stripped of the award provide clear evidence that action against Black is overdue.

Under its own rules, the council “shall consider the termination of a person’s appointment” if the person “has been convicted of a criminal offence” (Black qualifies on this point) or if the person’s conduct “is seen to undermine the credibility, integrity or relevance of the Order” (Black, who gave up his citizenship when he became a member of the British House of Lords, meets this criterion, too).

The termination procedure starts only after a formal request is received by the council. That happened in 2008.

In short, Black meets all the conditions for the council to take away his award.

But so did the four people who were stripped earlier of the honour.

Eagleson, the former NHL agent, was booted out of the Order of Canada in 1998 after being convicted of fraud. Eagleson had few, if any, friends in high places after he angered hockey fans across Canada with his misconduct.

Ahenakew, a Saskatchewan aboriginal leader, had his award revoked after being convicted in 2005 on hate crime charges. Canadian Jewish groups, outraged by Ahenakew’s comments that led to the conviction, campaigned hard to strip him of the award. The council acted quickly, not waiting as it has done in Black’s case for the outcome of any appeal. Ahenakew’s conviction was overturned on appeal, but his award was never restored.

Singh, an Indo-Canadian lawyer in Guelph, rightly lost his award in 2009 after he was disbarred for mismanaging his clients’ accounts.

Fonyo, the one-legged B.C. man who ran across Canada to raise money for cancer research, was stripped of his Order of Canada in 2009 after repeated convictions, including impaired driving, assault, fraud and possession of a stolen vehicle.

In an email, a spokesperson for the Governor General said Black’s case has been “brought to the attention of the advisory council.”

But she added that “in matters where the courts are involved, any discussion on possible revocation is deferred until the end of all legal proceedings.”

Curiously, she did not explain, despite several requests, why that didn’t happen in Ahenakew’s case.

If, as expected, Black declines to appeal his resentencing, there will be no reason why the council cannot act immediately. That’s because the case against him is overwhelming.

The belated decision to strip him of his Order of Canada should be easy — and swift.

Nearly a column about columnists

Posted by Phil Andrews

Some tinkering on our columnist front will be noticed by careful readers.

Frequent Mercury contributor Troy Bridgeman is moving into our Wednesday A2 column slot. Troy had been a monthly columnist on our opinion pages.

Our previous Wednesday columnist Greg Mercer is taking a break during the summer. I expect Greg's popular and award-winning The Mercer Retort column will return in September and appear in our Saturday edition on our opinion page.

On Thursdays, I expect we'll soon add Chris Seto as a page A2 column contributor. Chris joined the Mercury in May and is poised to bring a new-to-Guelph perspective to that role.

Drew Edwards is expected to return as an every-Saturday columnist next month.

Linamar to revive U.S. plant

Posted by Phil Andrews

My Google news alerts for Linamar have been yielding all sorts of his over the past week over and announcement that the Guelph firm is to start production in a North Carolina plant last operated by Volvo.

 

Taking no comment too far?

Posted by Phil Andrews

A municipality in B.C. has taken the stance that journalists looking to interview councillors will have to go through its civic communications staffers to do so.

It's tough to herd politicians without party discipline and a functionary such as a party whip to keep communications controlled. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

It has attracted attention and criticism from journalists.

 

Former Guelph lawyer makes headlines as judge

Posted by Phil Andrews

Justice Elliot Allen has recently added to his body of legal work that has generated media coverage.

Addicts in the Canadian Forces

Posted by Phil Andrews

Mercury reporter Drew Halfnight is exploring the experience of those with substance addictions within the Canadian Forces -- or those who had such addictions while within the armed forces and who are now civilians.

He's looking to speak to local people with connections to this subject.

If you can help him source this developing and compelling story, send him an email at dhalfnight@guelphmercury.com or call him at 519-823-6053.

A letter from Marty Burke, again

Posted by Phil Andrews

Marty Burke has submitted the following as a letter to the editor submission:

 

Re: Canada post open for business; local union, MP not impressed. June 28.

 

The parliamentary session was extended for one reason only- to pass the Canada Post back to work legislation. I suspect everyone in Canada knew this- except apparently Liberal MPs.

 

The Conservatives were there in full force: 158 out of 166 MPs- including Prime Minister Harper.

The NDP were also present and accounted for: 102 out of 103 MPs- including Opposition Leader Layton.

Clearly, these two parties take their job seriously.

 

The Liberals? Only 7 out of 34 bothered to do the job they are paid to do- vote on behalf of their constituents. This is job 1 for an MP- every other commitment is secondary and every party- except the Liberals- understands this . Truants included Liberal Leader Bob Rae and of course Frank Valeriote continued his habit, well established in the last parliament, of skipping vote after vote. His wretched excuses  are starting to wear thin- “he expected the vote to be held Monday or Tuesday” Really? Based on what? But don’t worry, he assures us that he would have shown up in Ottawa Monday evening but darn it, Parliament had already closed down.

 

I could speculate on root causes for the calamitous Liberal Party collapse over the past few years but won’t. However, one of the unfortunate symptoms of this collapse is a total lack of discipline in their parliamentary caucus. Shape up or ship out.

Who is John Galt?

Posted by Phil Andrews

I was not aware that the phrase 'Who is John Galt' apparently has become a turn of phrase with large meaning.

According to this National Post article apparently it's: "a catch-all reference to the civilizations’ fundamental powerlessness to halt a steady decline."

 

 

 

Filibusting Frank

Posted by Phil Andrews

Here was Frank Valeriote's Parliamentary address on the Canada Post back to work legislation.

http://openparliament.ca/hansards/2382/765/only/