Dear Editor,
The decision by Ford (since his proposed jail seems to be close enough to his heart, as it were, that he would have been involved with this decision, if not the instigator of the attack) to attack the CAPP and JOG groups with a $15,000 bill is purely spiteful, as was his decision to reduce the size of Toronto’s council size when he was first elected Premier. It’s just mean and vindictive. This calls for our Mayor and Council to take action – which has been woefully lacking – and show some support for these groups. And they are not just groups; they are residents of our community – Victor Lachance and Kirk Albert. Here’s a shout-out to Victor and Kirk!
These two gentlemen are fighting on our behalf for something they believe in and which, I would surmise, most citizens of North Grenville believe in, that a jail should not be built here. It is obvious that the Mayor and Council are doing their best to not provoke our very own MPP (the one who facilitated the jail debacle rather than stand up for his constituents!, and whose name I won’t even mention).
What can the Mayor and Council do? First, they should challenge Ford on this outrageous act and urge him to rescind it – as he has had to do for numerous other projects of his. (Interjection: Ford’s freeze on wages of public servants, such as the nurses we desperately need, has been found by the Appeals Court to be unconstitutional! That’s just the way he rolls.) If that is unsuccessful, our Municipality should pay the $15,000 bill. Truly! I would love to see part of my taxes go to this end. The Municipality should write a cheque on a large piece of paper and take it to Toronto to present to Ford himself, telling him he can’t treat our individual residents in the manner he has done. They could even invite our MPP to attend with them so he wouldn’t feel bypassed (I’m sure he would not accept such an offer).
And what assurance has the Municipality received that the Province will not saddle us with the additional policing costs, which will be huge?! I presume that they have received nothing, because the Province intends for us to pick up this tab. So there goes some of the “economic benefits” of having a jail here. Why not insist that the Province contract directly with the OPP, just as we do??
The Mayor and Council have done a lot of good things for our municipality. They should add to the list by defending our individual residents, Victor and Kirk.
Sincerely,
John Brooks, a long-time resident of the Municipality
