No Cabinet Minister

Was anyone really surprised (maybe besides Dave) when Premier McGuinty passed over appointing Dave Levac to Cabinet in the recent cabinet shuffle? McGuinty has avoided this area as if it were home to the plague. He doesn't want to have to deal with or even recognize that the are native land claims in this area. After the Liberals made much political hay at the expense of the Harris government due to the unfortunate death of a protester at the Ipperwash claim site, McGuinty has been afraid to take any action against protesters for fear that a similar result would damage his government as well. So his solution: bury his head in the sand and pretend that this part of southern Ontario doesn't exist. McGuinty never visited the Brantford area once during the last election campaign. In fact, I don't think he has ever been here since being elected premier. So appointing Levac to cabinet would mean that he might actually have to pay attention to what is happening in Brantford. Can't have that!

Reinventing

One of the things that happens, as we grow older, is that naps become more frequent. And it seems that I must have been napping when, as is claimed in a recent book, Brantford was reinvented. But, even awake now, I fail to see the results of this reinvention. Yes, there may be some old buildings in the downtown that have been restored (while many more have been destroyed or are about to be), and there may be more people in the form of students downtown but little else has changed due to the university being locate here, unless you count it's impact on our ever rising tax rate.

Justice Unseen

Lord Hewart said of justice that " (it) is of fundamental importance that justice should not only be done, but should manifestly and undoubtedly be seen to be done." While it mostly refers to the process as being viewed as being fair and equal to all parties, it also has to be an open system where the public can view the results and be satisfied that justice was indeed carried out. Such no longer seems to be the case in Brantford. While court proceeding for the most part are still open to the public, few are able to attend court themselves to view the process and therefore must rely on the public media to report the results. But, this no longer happens in Brantford. The local media no longer reports on the goings on in court unless it is a sensational trial like a murder case.

Are cases still being thrown out because of delays in coming to trial? Are criminals receiving sentences that reflect the mood of the public? Do serious crimes such as abuse, assault and drug trafficking receive stiff jail sentences or are they placed under house arrest or given just probation? Can sentences be a deterrent to crime if they are unknown? And how can someone be made an example of, as a warning to others, when that example goes unreported?

I would have thought that with the added pressure of a new weekly competitor the Expositor would have stepped up it's local coverage instead of relying more and more on Sun Media for content. And wouldn't this be a perfect opportunity for the Brant News to pick up the slack with a brief summary of convictions and sentences weekly?

I have heard that someone has been looking into posting such a summary online (maybe with a pay site or paid advertising they can make crime pay), but until this actually happens, if it ever does, justice may be done in Brantford but few outside of the courtroom will see the results.

New Year's Wish

Since 2010 is finally a civic election year (McGuinty should never have changed it from every two years to every four years). My wish is that the citizens of Brantford take an active part in the electing of candidates who will best represent them. I hope that a number of new candidates come forward who are interested in providing good government for the city with the emphasis on providing services for the people (isn't this what civic governments are supposed to) and not with dreams of mega-projects dancing in their heads. Leave the developments to developers and concentrate on making this city work and be a good place to live with a tax rate that is affordable to all. It's really not council's money no matter what they think! There may be a few on council worth keeping, but not many. A whole new council is what this city needs.

And I also wish that I actually had a say in electing the full council not just three of the eleven deciding this city's future (only one of those three even made it to council in the last election). The ward system is archaic and needs to be replaced.