London’s Mayor Joe Fontana has said he will not take a leave of absence in light of have 3 criminal charges against him by the Crown/RCMP. The charges are as follows.
Breach of Trust by Public Officer, contrary to section 122 CC
Fraud Under $5000 contrary to section 380 (1)(b) CC
Uttering Forged Documents contrary to section 368 CC
These are serious allegations for anyone but for someone in public life and at the helm of an organization with a budget of 1 billion dollars it does give pause whether the Mayor still has the public’s trust in guiding the organization.
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Chip Martin of the London Free Press broke a story tonight about Mayor Joe Fontana using a federal cheque to pay for his son’s wedding back in 2005. If these allegations are true, it’s another scandal London City Council and the city as a whole does not need.
Many questions still need to be answered but in light of these allegations is it surprising people are cynical about politics? We will will wait and see what happens with this in the days and weeks ahead.
The Quebec election results were marred tonight by someone who shot two people (killing one) and setting a smoke bomb at the club where the leader of the PQ was speaking.
In the days and weeks ahead we will hear from many people talking about gun control, mental health and Anglo / French relations in Quebec. Let’s not forget someone died on a night when we should be celebrating the democratic process.
Based on some questions people have been asking me of late. I need to get this written out.
My beliefs in politicians (and of all people in general) is to be transparent, honest and acknowledge your mistakes. You will never get everyone in your riding or ward to agree with you 100% of the time, but people do value honesty and integrity.
I really get annoyed when politicians make a claim in a sound bite and then don’t follow up with details on it. The recent municipal elections involving a four year tax freeze is one example. Many people seem to make vague statements like finding inefficiencies and that no services will be cut. Post election we start hearing that no ‘core’ services will be cut.
When you run a campaign to get someone elected it should not be ‘at any cost’ As a voter and a citizen I’m insulted when a politician tries less then transparent means to get elected. Every other citizen should feel the same way in my humble opinion.
Glen Pearson blogged about The Myth of the Silent Majority and how many use that line to try and discourage engagement. Some people opposing some of these citizen groups have reasons to be concerned because it nullifies some of the tactics of fear and uncertainly that we have seen happening more and more in Canadian politics of all levels. It’s tactics I’ve seen in the last three elections and I’m insulted by it.
I realize that my vision of the city is not going to align 100% with other people but we have to give all citizens the true facts, without trying to mask things. In addition there is nothing wrong with coming out and admitting you were wrong. People can and will forgive if you do something wrong and try to make it right.
Question: Do you agree there needs to be more transparency in politics?
News, Politics, Rants | scadmin | 
November 23, 2012 5:57 am | 
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