Mayor's Levee, By Election Update and Naming & Shaming

Mayor's Levee

"It was a small but enthusiastic crowd."

This is the way a small number of people will remember last weekend's Mayor's New Years Levee.

The weather was decent. The event was organized. Yet hardly anyone showed.

With the Town of Newmarket struggling to stay within its fiscal means, it begs the question whether the annual Mayor's Levee should be continued. Certainly, the event cost some money but couldn't that money be put to better use?

Most telling is that many of our Council members didn't bother to show up either.


By Election Update

After weeks and weeks of delay, the Town of Newmarket finally decided to post the Candidate campaign expenses.

The public can view the filed expenses here.

No word from the Town of Newmarket if there is a deadline for a member of the public to request a campaign finance audit.

All in all, a very sloppy display of election transparency by the Town of Newmarket.and certainly not to the quality that we have been accustomed to in the past.

Naming and Shaming

I have been critical in the past of the Newmarket Era's decision to publish restaurant health violations and it dismayed me to see these stories listed among the most popular articles posted on the www.yorkregion.com web site.

Yet, it surprises me that the newspaper wouldn't be consistent here:

Of course those arrested for drinking and driving ought to be named and shamed.

We have an open and widespread epidemic of drivers flouting the law with their reckless impairment and lives and property are needlessly placed at risk. Arrest rates are at record levels in York Region but the tide of drivers willing to risk your life and property due to their irresponsible intoxication doesn't appear to be abating.

The politicians haven't come to the table with suitably harsh prison sentences.

So the newspaper has a very important obligation to step up and provide the necessary deterrent. Make people think twice before getting behind the wheel after drinking. Let them know their reputation within the community, with their employer, and others is at stake. If someone can't govern themselves to act responsibly around alcohol, then the rest of us should know how dangerous they really are.