A Collingwood, Ontario blogger by the name of Steve Berman is much more courageous than I am. Through his online blog, http://allbeingmaster.blogspot.ca/ , Steve is quite vocal about the shenanigans over at Collingwood's town hall. In fact, due to Steve's persistence he has been successful at garnering the attention of the CBC and finally the Ontario Provincial Police to check into some shady decisions made by local officials. One month ago there was a huge rally in front of Collingwood Town Hall with residents saying "Enough is Enough"
The reason I call Steve courageous is because he has had to put up with a lot of nonsense in his quest for transparency. Someone posted a video on line depicting Steve being dragged from his bed by Nazis and shot in the back. Here is the link to the CBC news story about that nasty business: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2013/03/07/sub-seglins-collingwood-blogger.html.
Steve chose to be identified in his writings. He filed Freedom of Information requests and received documents that exposed alleged conflict of interests and bid tampering incidents that appear to be rampant in Collingwood. For his efforts, Steve got rewarded with a non-to-subtle death threat.
I write anonymously because I don't want what Steve Berman experienced to happen to me. I think he is a hero and I hope that the residents of Collingwood think the same.
One of the advantages of being anonymous is that the reader can focus on the ideas of my editorials instead of the writer. I want to engage my readers in a discussion about thoughts, principles, and values that define Newmarket. It also gives me an opportunity to speak out about things that may be unpopular but never-the-less need to be said.
It is with great dismay that I read this article on the York Region Media Group's web site: http://www.yorkregion.com/news-story/2524184-who-is-behind-richmond-hill-watchdog-committee-/
I am dismayed because the YRMG seems to be doing the dirty work of a certain cabal of municipal politicians whereas their job is actually to be the the "Fourth Estate". When Edmund Burke conceived the idea of 3 estates within government prior to the French Revolution (including the clergy, the nobility, and the commoners), the "Fourth Estate" was referred to as the newspaper editors. The newspaper editors were considered the most important arm of politics because their newspapers kept everyone else in government honest by keeping ordinary folk outside of Parliament informed about what was taking place on the inside.
I have the following advice for the YRMG : If you are concerned about ad hoc "Watch Dog" groups, then step up and become the "Watch Dog" again. You have lost your way when you decided to become the "Attack Dog" of the municipal councils in York Region. That's not your job.
I recall having a twitter conversation with the editor of the YRMG last summer when I asked her to speak up in defense of a Newmarket Councillor who was being labelled with the c-word. The YRMG editor refused to condemn the c-word but she was pretty interested in learning who I was. Why? What did my blog have to do with the story? Was it that gossip was more interesting for her than the news?
That's my impression and that is why I write these editorials. I promised her I would stop blogging if she ever improved the quality of the reporting and commentary that her paper provides. Sadly I haven't seen that happen yet.
Thank goodness for brave people like Steve Berman and those involved with the Richmond Hill Watch Dogs. They are heroes and they deserve our praise.
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