A Pan Am Games Scandal Comes to Newmarket

At various times this blog talks about the concept of privilege.  And not to confuse the definition, we don't mean the "privilege to serve the community" or "I am not going to share privileged information."  The definition of privilege is a sense being given a special honour or standing in the community that others, more ordinary people, can't have.

We live in a democracy.  We are supposed to all believe in one-person-one-vote, all men are created equal, that hard work and merit mean more than who you know or who you are related to.

Yet everywhere I look in Newmarket, I see our government, and in particular our Town Council, rewarding those who haven't earned the honour.

Michael Croxon, owner of New Roads GM located on Yonge Street in East Gwillimbury, and resident of Hillsview Road in Aurora is your "Newmarket Pan Am Torchbearer".

Michael Croxon is a big-time election campaign donor too.

Not in Aurora, where he lives.  Not in East Gwillimbury, where he has a business.

He donates in Newmarket where donations to politicians go further.

After giving to John Taylor's campaign, Tony Van Bynen's campaign, and Kelly Broome Plumley's campaign, Michael Croxon and his New Roads business has been reaping in all sorts of privileges in Newmarket.

Not just the controversial title sponsor of the charity golf tournament controversially run from the Regional Councillor's office, you can find Michael Croxon and/or New Roads on all sorts of events.

Need a torchbearer?  Michael Croxon is the guy.

Need a sponsor for Winterpalooza held in a town owned property?  New Roads GM has its brand all over that.

How about an outdoor rink in a Town of Newmarket park?  Again, New Roads will toss in a couple of hundred of dollars in exchange for having signs erected on municipal property.

Never has it been so easy, and cheap, to advertise a business.  Just a few strategic election campaign donations and you can have pretty much free reign of advertising opportunities on public property.

Granted, not all the events listed above are "Town of Newmarket" events but they all have distinct ties to one or all of the politicians that Croxon donates to - either Tony Van Bynen, John Taylor or Kelly Broome Plumley.  It is easy to connect the dots.

How handy it must be for Michael Croxon, who is the employer of  ward 6 Councillor Kelly Broome Plumley, to ensure that his influence at Newmarket town hall is secure.

In most communities, it would not be acceptable for a business with such a close connection to Council to have such influence.  Remember the outcry when Rob Ford inquired about a pothole in the street in front of  Deco Labels?  But in Newmarket, such brazen cronyism is their modus operandorum.  "Everything is for sale," is the way business is done at 395 Mulock Ave.

And in Newmarket, donating money to the right politicians can buy you something like this:

Personally, I would rather have a youngster, who has merited this honour, not through a cheque book, but some action that is truly community building.  Or perhaps have a long term coach of a local sports team, someone who for years, through sunshine and rain, encouraged children to be their best.  

Because there are much better examples for our community than someone who "buys" privilege through connections with Tony Van Bynen, John Taylor and Kelly Broome Plumley.  That sort of privilege isn't in any way honourable.  It undermines community.  It debases Newmarket.  

At the Pan Am games, we don't give out Gold medals to the richest competitor.  We don't honour the athletes who give the biggest sums of cash to the Pan Am judges.  

The Pan Am Games are supposed to honour those who compete fairly, work the hardest, and achieve their personal best.  

It is hard to say how Michael Croxon's selection as the torchbearer lives up to the example of the Pan Am athletes but he certainly is the standard-bearer for the kind of Newmarket that Tony Van Bynen, John Taylor, and Kelly Broome Plumley are building.