Haldimand "Lord's Prayer Petition"

The following petition is from MPP Toby Barrett. I usually get Toby's updates but they have been having some problems with their e-mail software.

I received this as an e-mail from Mayor Trainer and thought that many would be interested in this petition. Just as I was finished writing this blog and ready to post, I received another e-mail from Mayor Trainer that states this;

MAYOR TRAINER would like to recall the message "Lord's Prayer Petition".

I have no idea why Mayor Trainer has recalled this, all I know is that amongst many others that she had e-mailed this to, she e-mailed it to "all" of her Council. I am not even going to ask why!

Regardless I am still posting this information and if you are interested in a paper copy you can e-mail Toby Barrett at toby.barrett@pc.ola.org and they will send you a copy.

The following is the wording of the petition, you will need to download the entire document as the lines etc. are missing. For those that already have my e-mail address, I can send it to you, just let me know.


PETITION

DON’T REMOVE THE LORD’S PRAYER

TO the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

Whereas, the current McGuinty government is proposing to eliminate the Lord’s Prayer from its place at the beginning of daily proceedings in the Legislature, and;

Whereas, The Lord’s Prayer has been an integral part of parliamentary tradition since it was first established in 1793 under Lieutenant Governor John Graves Simcoe.

Whereas, the Lord’s Prayer’s message is one of forgiveness; of providing for those in need of their ‘daily bread’ and of preserving us from the evils we may fall into; it is a valuable guide and lesson for a chamber that is too often an arena of conflict, and;

Whereas, recognizing the diversity of the people of Ontario should be an inclusive process, not one which excludes traditions such as the Lord’s Prayer;

Therefore we the undersigned ask the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to preserve the daily recitation Lord’s Prayer by the Speaker in the Legislature.

Haldimand "Do you Value Your Privacy?"

Back in August of 2007, Council passed a resolution regarding "all" correspondence that comes through the Mayor's office. There were "3" days of Council Meetings regarding this issue. There were residents that took the time to attend "all" three meetings. There were residents that were "denied" the right to speak to Council. One resident wrote an excellent letter to the Mayor and Council, which at the first Council meeting was "received" as information, but by the time the last meeting rolled around, this letter was "stricken" from the records!

On Monday of this week I attended the Council in Committee meeting. One of the items I was looking for on the agenda was this resolution. In the resolution it stated that this would be reviewed by the CAO in "6" months. Council has gone well beyond the time frame once again.

The following is a letter that I sent to the CAO and "all" members of Council on February 21, 2008;

Mr. Boyle, I would request at this time that Resolution #863-07 be re-visited. As the Resolution states, the CAO will report back to Council within six months for an update, as this Resolution was passed on August 13th, 2007, we are presently over that time frame.

I would like to take this time to remind you of the "public" outcry of the the passing of this Resolution.

Many in the community have felt that their "personal" right to privacy has been invaded.

It is interesting that in the Recovery Package it mentions how residents of Haldimand and especially Caledonia have been directly affected by the ongoing Native Issues in Haldimand County. I would suggest to you that on a everyday basis, that taking away the "Privacy" of the residents to communicate with "Elected Officials" of Haldimand County are just as important.

There has been a lot of talk in Haldimand County regarding the "accountability and transparency" of our local government. Quashing this Resolution could help bring back some confidence in our "Elected Officials".

So I would urge you to help bring back some "Confidence" and Quash this bylaw.

Respectfully,
Donna Pitcher


I have received "no" return correspondence to this request.

During the lunch break on Monday I asked Mayor Trainer why this was not on the agenda, she had no answer for me, but she did write it down on a piece of paper.

Yesterday I called Marie on a few other issues and asked if at the afternoon session did she bring this item up for consideration. The answer was "NO". The excuse Mayor Trainer gave me was that she felt the CAO should have more time. I would like to know why the CAO needs more time.

Now I don't know about you but I value my "privacy" in corresponding with any of our "elected officials". Obviously Mayor Trainer does not feel the same way as I do.

Kudos to the residents that stood their ground on this issue.

Haldimand "Proclamation is Dead"

I went to the Council in Committee meeting yesterday to follow up on some "unfinished" Council business. Back on February 11th, 2008 Toby Barrett appeared as a delegate at Haldimand County's Council of the Whole meeting. At that meeting Toby presented Council with a document and a petition called the Haldimand Proclamation for Peace, Order and Good Government. Here is the Proclamation;

HALDIMAND PROCLAMATION FOR PEACE, ORDER AND GOOD GOVERNMENT

February 2008

WHEREAS, since February 28, 2006, people across Haldimand County and beyond have been subjected to arson, extortion, barricades, land seizures, occupations, militant protests, and related harassment, intimidation, mob violence and threats to public safety.

AND WHEREAS, the community safety, social and economic life, of Haldimand and neighbouring residents, has declined because of the climate of fear, chaos and uncertainty generated by various acts of lawlessness and related intimidation.

AND WHEREAS, there is a perception, and evidence, of two categories of law, of justice, of police protection, and government action based on one’s race and geographical location within Haldimand County and beyond.

AND WHEREAS, the lawlessness, and the less than adequate prevention and response on the part of police and other government authorities regarding these illegal acts appears to be tolerated, and perhaps condoned, by provincial and federal government policy.

AND WHEREAS, both the provincial and federal governments have legislative, regulatory, enforcement, decision-making and policy-making capability beyond the mandate and scope of Haldimand County.

NOW THEREFORE, BE IT HEREBY RESOLVED, that Haldimand County, in support of all of its residents, proclaim and request, with utmost urgency, that the following actions be taken where mandated at the provincial and federal level:

(1) Restore police patrol, response and enforcement as well as justice, order and the rule of law, including court injunctions, throughout Haldimand County regardless of one’s race or geographical location.

(2) Cease all land dispute negotiations and related actions until extortion, and illegal occupations and protests are terminated.

(3) Budget and publicly set timelines and deadlines to continue to resolve legitimate land disputes expeditiously within a climate of openness, mutual respect, and justice for all affected.

(4) Compensate individuals, businesses and the municipality for loss, insecurity, economic decline, and any other collateral damage stemming from provincial and federal decisions and policy, or lack thereof, that have eroded peace, order and good government in Haldimand County and beyond.

At the meeting in February Toby asked for Council's support and stated that if they wanted to make changes to the wording of the Proclamation that was fine, as this was a draft for Council to consider. Councillor Bartlett stated that he wanted to see some changes, but was not willing to talk about it at that time.

Councillor Boyko asked Toby to give them a week to look it over, well it has been "3" weeks and Council has indeed looked it over.

This item "did not" appear on the agenda so at the lunch break I asked Mayor Trainer why it wasn't on the agenda. She proceeded to write this on a piece of paper, didn't have an answer for me and went to lunch.

Well I called Mayor Trainer this morning to ask if she had mentioned this item to her Council in the afternoon session. Yes she did, and the answer that she gave me in my opinion was "unacceptable". You can judge for yourself.

Apparently as the Mayor and her council state "why bother he has already presented it to the world". "This is not going to happen" states Mayor Trainer. Council in fact wanted to change some of the wording, and I said to Mayor Trainer it is not too late.....she said....."not going to happen". So I guess that is a done deal! Maybe Council needs to learn to stick to what they say, Councillor Boyko said give us a week, and "3" weeks goes by and nothing! Well that in itself is the answer. I do believe if I had not gone to council and asked Mayor Trainer this question, this would have been filed under Haldimand's "unfinished business".

I was quite upset with Mayor Trainer and Council. I said Marie this was an excellent opportunity for our "Elected Officials" to work in "Partnership" with the "Residents". We had not proceeded with getting any signatures on the petition as we were waiting for Council's "Support". This could have been such a "powerful" tool, together we could have been successful in getting thousands of signatures, and in return, maybe some answers!

I don't believe that this was a lot to ask of our Council, to stand up for the Residents, but I was wrong.

This Council sits "silent", while so many have unanswered questions.

Haldimand "Really People Should We Even Care?"

I finally had the time to view the Haldimand County Council Meeting of December 10th, 2007. I have got to say that as I was getting ready to post this article, it hit me. It seems that whenever Council makes a "decision" that is "directly" related to them a decision by council is almost always "immediate", with little or no debate. But it seems that more important issues regarding Haldimand County take months upon months, if not years. But of course, "You" be the "Judge" of that statement.

At this December 10th meeting Council passed Recommendation # 37 by staff to hire LAS to be the investigative body for closed-door sessions. I originally wrote about this issue in January 2007. Haldimand "Really People We have Nothing to Hide!"

Here is some information that I found out about LAS;

Local Authority Services Ltd. (LAS) LAS was created in 1992 by AMO to deliver programs and services that help municipalities reduce the cost of "common expenditures and increase revenues."

LAS has established a bulk electricity procurement program for all interested municipalities. This program is expected to realize substantial savings for municipalities for all electricity consumption, including street lighting accounts.

The Natural Gas Program currently purchases more than 10,000GJ of natural gas for over 2,200 physical locations within 175 municipalities and other public sector organizations. In 2006 the program provided members with 14% savings compared to utility gas rates.

The ONE Funds investment program, jointly operated with the CHUMS Financing Corp. offers a diversified way for municipalities to invest short-term and long-term surplus funds. Recently an Equity Fund was launched as a way for municipalities to leverage new investment powers provided by the Province.

Here is some information that I found out about the Ombudsman;

"The Ombudsman, whose services are free, has proven an effective watchdog that investigates government maladministration with honesty and integrity."

What I found very unusual about watching this meeting was that usually Recommendations are read "verbatim" and then discussed and voted on. At the least a recommendation is read "verbatim" before being voted on. Councillor Boyko did not read this recommendation verbatim; he touched on the "highlights" of this recommendation, leaving key information out.

There was very little discussion on this matter, in fact what council seemed to be more worried about was; can "anyone" just put in a complaint and it be investigated? The Ombudsman was never even mentioned, nor the fact that this could be a burden on the County’s finances.

What I really find strange is that Councillor Boyko is usually the one on Council that reads "every single report", and asks a lot of questions, but even he was vague, and didn’t seem to have any real concerns or was fully informed. It just doesn’t make sense to me that our entire Council voted in favour of a two year contract with LAS, in the 38 page "staff" report it states that the "Ombudsman" does not charge a fee of any kind to either the person putting forth a complaint, or the Municipality.

There was a "38" page report by staff "attached to the council agenda and yet Council seemed to have very little information on this issue, in fact this report was never even talked about, or referred to.

I can tell you that this is highly unusual. I would ask did they even read this report? I would really like to ask if in fact this was discussed behind closed doors, as that would make perfect sense to me why this was not really discussed and was passed so quickly. In fact as this short discussion was taking place, Councillor Delmonte made a reference to another issue, not even related to the issue that was on the table. The next thing you know they were voting and passing this recommendation unanimously 7-0. Boom Bang Done!

When I called Mayor Trainer at the beginning of January and asked why she did not vote this recommendation down, she didn’t seem to know what I was talking about. Once I explained to her what was in the report she really couldn’t answer why she didn’t know. I directly asked Mayor Trainer if in fact they had talked about this behind closed doors, she stated that she didn’t really remember discussing this issue at all.

Karen Best, a reporter from the Dunnville Chronicle wrote an excellent article in January 2007 regarding council’s decision. When Karen interviewed Councillor Boyko, he stated that he and most of Council did not know this information about the Ombudsman.

So I now I have a few more questions;

Do you think that Council should re-visit this issue?

Mayor Trainer, why have you not re-visited this issue with council since our conversation in early January?

Councillor Boyko, why have you not re-visited this issue since your interview with Karen Best, when you admitted that you weren’t really informed about this issue?

Are staff members informing our current Council members of these important issues, or just giving them direction?

Has Council since read the "38" page report that was attached to their agendas?

Maybe I am in left field with my opinions on this issue, maybe the fact is that Senior Staff have in fact "not informed" our Council properly on this important issue. In this case I would say that Council has got some serious work on their hands. Now in saying that, Senior staff at "any" Council meeting only answer a question if they are "directly" asked by a Council member. In my personal opinion Staff "did" in fact do their job. What it does make me wonder about is how many other staff reports has this council "not read"!

We must not forget that "Staff’" inform our Council Members on important issues, "Staff" make "recommendations", not "decisions". "Council makes their "decisions" based on staff reports and "direct’s" Staff to "implement" their "decisions".

Haldimand "My Afternoon at the Courthouse"

An update on Resolution #863-07.

Before I get into my day at the Courthouse, The following are some comments that have been made in the past regarding this resolution;

I am really trying hard not to be too "hard" on certain council members, but if you look around "guys" there is a lot of serious issues in Haldimand County! This is not a "Priority" that needs to be passed in a week! "All" members of council and the "Clerks office" and "Karen General" do not have the "right" to scrutinize "ALL" correspondence that comes to the "Mayor Elects Office"! Stick to doing your own "JOBS".

AND WHERAS all e-mail, and hard copy correspondence that is sent to "all" members of "Council", should be in return sent to "all" other members of "council", and the "Mayor’s office", and such "e-mails" and hard copy correspondence be in return "sent" to "all" heads of staff, as this is "critical" to successfully conduct the business of the "Corporation".

I have been to enough council meetings that I can tell you, council was "not happy" that we had involved ourselves with their business. That was made perfectly clear just before lunch when "Mayor Trainer" advised her council that the residents here today were asking to speak to council regarding the resolution on the table. In particular she named Mike Parent, Merlyn Kinrade, and Dave Brown, all residents of Haldimand County.

Then one councilor called for "all of council and staff" to leave the council chambers and carry on their meeting in "another room", that’s right you heard me, they "left us" sitting in the council chambers! Now at this point I felt that the council members were very rude and disrespectful to us. Now one could say that we were defiant as we would not leave chambers and we were in the wrong, but really when I think of it, what was the worst thing that council could have done….well….they….did it……they wouldn’t allow us to speak! So we stood in defiance, and I am proud of what we did!

A lot has been said recently about our rights as citizens to hold our elected officials responsible for their actions. To quote George Orwell from his novel Animal Farm "All animals are created equal but some are more equal than others".

It is fundamentally important that we all remember at all times that our citizens' rights are only valid when the powers that be wish to recognize them as such because you see, without their approval and recognition these so called rights have no authority.

At the same time if I communicate with the Mayor it is because I want to interact with her and not you. The first time you become privy to an email or letter anyone sends privately to the Mayor, the County will be in a position to be sued for invasion of privacy.

I would like to "clarify" a statement that was made by Councillor Sloat to a local newspaper reporter, "he stated that we did not go through the "proper" channels to be heard"! The truth about this was that "council" didn't follow their own procedures here! There was no "motion" prior to this "resolution", the public was not privy to this, actually the Mayor was not even "privy" to what council and staff were up to! So is this how a Council Member tells the "truth" to the public?

Also at the Council in Committee meeting last Wednesday, council excepted Mike Parent’s letter as information. If you are not familiar with this letter, it is posted on my site as "Bold attack on Freedoms". Last night council defeated this vote, so there will be no "official" record of Mike’s letter. So in an essence, council is saying, we don’t "care" what you have to say, or what you think, and we "strike" your comments from the "record"! "Is this a government that is "accountable and transparent"?

Well today I went to the Courthouse in Cayuga, what an experience that was! To put it in a nutshell “I was in the wrong place” to even deal with the issue of this resolution that council passed in August of 2007. I don’t know what I was thinking, when I assumed that all I needed to do was go to see a Justice of the Peace. There is a lesson to be learned here. So make a coffee and enjoy my story if you have the time.

Back in August of 2007, Haldimand County Council passed resolution #863-07; this resolution takes away your right to contact the Mayor of Haldimand County in a private and confidential manner, whether through the means of e-mail or Canada Post. Basically this resolution in my opinion is a direct violation of my privacy rights and maybe even yours.

So according to the Municipal Act, if you believe a bylaw has been passed that is contrary to any other laws you just need to request through the Superior Court of Justice to have the said bylaw quashed. Well much easier said then done.

Here is the section of the Municipal Act that relates to this issue;

Quashing By-laws

272. A by-law passed in good faith under any Act shall not be quashed or open to review in whole or in part by any court because of the unreasonableness or supposed unreasonableness of the by-law. 2001, c. 25, s. 272.

Application to quash by-law

273. (1) Upon the application of any person, the Superior Court of Justice may quash a by-law of a municipality in whole or in part for illegality. 2001, c. 25, s. 273 (1).

Definition

(2) In this section,
“By-law” includes an order or resolution. 2001, c. 25, s. 273 (2).

Inquiry

(3) If an application to quash alleges a contravention of subsection 90 (3) of the Municipal Elections Act, 1996, the Superior Court of Justice may direct an inquiry into the alleged contravention to be held before an official examiner or a judge of the court, and the evidence of the witnesses in the inquiry shall be given under oath and shall form part of the evidence in the application to quash. 2001, c. 25, s. 273 (3).

Other cases

(4) The court may direct that nothing shall be done under the by-law until the application is disposed of. 2001, c. 25, s. 273 (4).
Timing

(5) An application to quash a by-law in whole or in part, subject to section 415, shall be made within one year after the passing of the by-law. 2001, c. 25, s. 273 (5).
Judicial Investigation

As the Justice of the Peace is only available on Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons, I finally had the time to put my paperwork in order and do what I had said I would do. Try and start the process to have this bylaw investigated and possibly quashed.

Well I was wrong, not surprised I guess, but very disappointed.

It seems that in order to follow through on this you need to fill out an “Application” to the “Superior Court of Justice”. Now this “Application” is a piece of paper that has a “blue” backing, you may wonder why I even mention this, well it seems that you “cannot” get this “Application” from the Courthouse. This type of paperwork comes from a “Lawyer”.

So here is the process, an application is made, this application costs $181.00, now I don’t know if this is $181.00 x 5 Council Members that voted in favour, or just one charge of $181.00. Of course in order for me to get this information, I need to see a “Lawyer”. Then of course there is the cost of acquiring a Lawyer, getting his/her advice, and paying the Lawyer to proceed on your behalf. Then this application goes to the court and is heard by a Judge. Then I am sure that there are costs in relation to going to court, the calling of witnesses etc………

Now unless someone knows a lawyer that will give advise freely, or someone who has an abundance of extra cash on hand that would like to share, this issue is a dead issue! I cannot do this alone, and there is a time frame of one year to do this through the Court.

So do you think that Haldimand County Councillors already knew this? Do you think that Haldimand County Council believed that this bylaw would be challenged?

So what can we do? Appeal to the Mayor? Appeal to Haldimand County Councillors? Appeal to Municipal Affairs? Well I believe that the answer to all of the above is, well we have already tried that avenue.

It is not often that I am discouraged, in fact I constantly say to people that if you “do nothing”, “nothing” will happen, and yes you do make a difference.

But I must admit that today I am having a hard time believing my own words. I had even thought of deleting my Blog. I can’t help thinking what the hell am I accomplishing here? But at the same time I am not willing to give up. Well maybe my focus should just be…simply…..Informing the public. After all there is an election in 2010, and an informed public is a good voting public!

Haldimand "Judy Laszlo and David Crombie"

Wednesday night’s Public meeting with David Crombie was well attended by residents that came from across the County, it was good to see. Don Boyle CAO of Haldimand County also did a presentation on the County’s Recovery Package that was submitted to upper levels of Government in December of 2007.

The entire meeting is available to view at http://www.numberswatchdog.com/a-cal%20Crombie%20videos.htm

A special thanks to Numberswatchdog!

I would like to focus on a few people today, Judy Laszlo, a resident of Caledonia, and David Crombie.

I met Judy back in the fall of 2007 and have written about her website, Have Your Say Caledonia. If you haven’t checked this website out yet please go to; http://haveyoursaycaledonia.com/forum

Judy has attended every "public meeting", every "not so public" meeting, has met personally with David Crombie, has met on a number of occasions with Mr. Maclean from the OPP, has met with the Mayor and Council members, she has stood on street corners with signs, organized an excellent protest on Domtar Hill, etc…… Judy is passionate and caring, and is truly an amazing woman. I can only say that this County needs more people like Judy!

Wednesday night Judy asked Haldimand County CAO Don Boyle about a comment in the County Recovery Package regarding residents acting inappropriately; the following is (verbatim) from the County’s report;

Context:

As compared to development activity that occurred between 2001 and 2005 the on-going land claims issues are having a significant economic and social impact on Haldimand County as evidenced by lost know development proposals, impacts on existing assessment and impacts to the image of the county in terms of future investment.

Indicators of these impacts include;

*A significant reduction of construction value from pre-land claims activity.*Significant direct loss of permit revenues.
*Loss of Development Charge revenue.
*Lost annual taxation revenue from reduced assessment.
*On-going social tensions in the County that is causing significant stress for the local population and inappropriate behaviour on the part of some residents.
*Loss of "brand image" for the County as a place for private investment.

Judy was never given a direct answer, basically Don Boyle’s statement was I don’t believe that the report says that. Judy made it very clear to Haldimand County Council and CAO Don Boyle that it is time that this County supports and backs up its residents.

All members of Haldimand County Council were at this meeting as well, and not one of them spoke up on this question. Actually not one member of Council spoke at all. I do believe that most of us would agree with the concerns that Judy has regarding this statement. This was uncalled for!

I personally met and spoke with Mr. Crombie after the first public meeting back in the fall of 2007. My first impression of Mr. Crombie was that he was rather "harsh", and he was certainly "brutally honest". I do believe that some of the residents at the public meeting thought that he was rude and confrontational. But by the end of the first meeting I realized that he is a very sincere hard working individual.

One of the things that came to me on Wednesday night at the second public meeting was that Mr. Crombie is the "only person" that has had the "balls" to stand in front of the "residents" of Haldimand County.

Mr. Crombie is not the "decision maker" he cannot personally solve our problems, he can only take our concerns and direct them to the proper authorities, and in return, inform the public.

I think that one of the problems that some have with Mr. Crombie is that he is very honest, and although residents have asked for honest and open relations, we are not quite used to getting what we ask for.

So to you Mr. Crombie, from me personally, Thanks for your honesty, your passion and your involvement, keep pushing for answers on our behalf! P.S. next meeting you really need to try and bring a representative from the OPP, if they do not want to attend, be honest and let us know!

I believe that the main problem is a lack of "communication". We have members of Council that are at a side table and we never seem to hear anything from them. Our own Council has never had a public meeting, in fact according to them some residents are acting inappropriately.

As Judy said on Wednesday night, when is this County going to back up the residents. We should all be demanding this from our elected officials!

Haldimand "John Tory Speaks Out"

The following is a speach by John Tory;

I’m here today with MPP Toby Barrett to talk about the breakdown in the rule of law in Ontario.
The economy is getting a lot of attention these days and for good reason. But a growing trend of unchecked lawlessness around Ontario seems to be slipping under the radar. Stopping it is definitely not on Dalton McGuinty’s priority list.

So we’re here today to start a campaign to draw attention to what Mr. McGuinty is allowing to happen and to bring about an end to this kind of lawlessness in Ontario.

When the House returns later this month (whether it’s in the morning or afternoon) our Party will once again stand up for the rule of law. Dalton McGuinty’s Liberals are letting respect for the law, the backbone of our entire system, crumble and we just can’t stand by and let it happen.

We live in Ontario, not the O.K. Corral. It’s time the actions of Ontario’s Premier and his government reflect that.

To date, the PC Party has been the only Party in Ontario standing up for the rule of law.

The reason we’re here today is because two weeks from now is an important but very sad anniversary – two years of an illegal occupation in Caledonia. That’s 730 days where people have been subjected to extortion, barricades, occupations, destruction of private and public property and a whole host of other unlawful activity.

Dalton McGuinty’s response to this has been to look the other way. That’s a disgrace, it’s an abdication of leadership and our Party won’t stand for it because the people of Ontario don’t accept it, nor should they.

The lawlessness we’ve seen in Caledonia is not the only example but it’s the worst one of a growing trend of disrespect for the law. Here are some of the other examples:

Developers on the Grand River have been hit with “development fees” which are essentially extortion. No one does anything about it while these law abiding businesspeople are harassed and ripped off;

The illegal cigarette industry is booming. Other than the media, no one says a word while the law is broken and taxpayers are ripped off for billions, probably by organized crime;

Other occupations and blockades crop up regularly as people decide we should resolve disputes just the way it’s being done in Caledonia;

There was a mixed martial arts championship card on Six Nations territory last weekend, despite the fact it is illegal in Ontario;

Serious charges are dropped due to incompetence or worse in the Attorney General’s department and chaos in the court system. But after a couple of days of investigating himself and his own department, the Attorney General says we don’t need an independent investigation;

Thousands of provincial offence charges are dropped across the province due to a shortage of JPs and closed courtrooms.

These are just a few examples. We’re seeing more every day.

People in Ontario simply cannot go on seeing double standards, governments looking the other way while laws are broken and there are hamstrung police officers who may be reluctant to enforce the law within the climate created by the McGuinty government.

If I set up a gate at the entrance to Queen’s Park claiming I owned the land, and tried to charge a hefty admission fee, I would be asked to leave and if I refused, I would be arrested – and rightly so.

If I sold contraband no tax cigarettes out of the back of my car in the parking lot, I would be arrested and brought to justice, and rightly so.

We need to see consistency, one standard for all, some real leadership from Mr. McGuinty based on principle, and while politicians do not and must not tell the police what to do, they must be seen actively enforcing the law.

Our campaign to stop this will take a number of forms. We are going to push the government in the Legislature. I will be visiting affected areas and sitting down with affected groups. And we will use every means at our disposal to try to get this government to end the lawlessness.

We want to see four things from the McGuinty government:

A clear, unqualified statement that there is one rule of law for everyone in Ontario and that will be upheld always.

2. A policy that the government will not negotiate on the substance of any legal dispute with any person or group involved in an illegal occupation or any other illegal activity. Stop the lawbreaking first, then we will negotiate.

3. A commitment to use the courts to ensure one rule of law and a commitment to not stand in the way of police enforcing the law.

4. A commitment to an independent examination of the chaos presently enveloping our justice system and eroding public confidence daily as charges are dropped and outrageous deals are agreed to. What does the government have to hide and if the answer is nothing, why not commit to the inquiry now?

Through these things – a strong message, clear policy and action to back that up – we can stop lawlessness in Ontario.

We are heading down a slippery slope. That needs to stop and it’s up to Dalton McGuinty to show the leadership to get that done.