{"id":4334,"date":"2020-05-15T13:59:05","date_gmt":"2020-05-15T16:59:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/?p=4334"},"modified":"2020-05-15T15:24:45","modified_gmt":"2020-05-15T18:24:45","slug":"thank-you-mr-wark-for-defending-free-speech-in-our-town","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/index.php\/2020\/05\/15\/thank-you-mr-wark-for-defending-free-speech-in-our-town\/","title":{"rendered":"Thank you, Mr. Wark, for defending free speech in our town"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/FreeSpeech.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4335\" width=\"299\" height=\"168\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/FreeSpeech.jpg 780w, https:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/FreeSpeech-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/FreeSpeech-768x432.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 299px) 85vw, 299px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>A recent clever <em>New Wark Times <\/em>article, entitled\n\u201c<em>experts warn Sackville town councils new code of conduct could shut down\ndissent<\/em>\u201d interviewed our own Dr. Geoff Martin, Dr. O\u2019 Byrne from UNB, and\nM. Murray, the NB Ombudsman about the new so-called \u201ccode of conduct\u201d. They provided\ninformative insights:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-link is-provider-embed\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<a href=\"https:\/\/warktimes.com\/2020\/05\/13\/experts-warn-sackville-town-councils-new-code-of-conduct-could-shut-down-dissent\/\">Experts warn Sackville Town Council&#8217;s new Code of Conduct could shut down&nbsp;dissent<\/a>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Related to this story, Bambi has strongly condemned the\nsilencing of Councillor Phinney earlier:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-wordpress wp-block-embed is-type-wp-embed is-provider-bambi-039-s-afkar\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"KSZ7rVdihV\"><a href=\"http:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/index.php\/2020\/05\/07\/let-councillor-phinney-do-his-job-do-not-silence-him\/\">Let Councillor Phinney do his job. Do not silence him!<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe title=\"&#8220;Let Councillor Phinney do his job. Do not silence him!&#8221; &#8212; Bambi&#039;s Afkar\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; clip: rect(1px, 1px, 1px, 1px);\" src=\"http:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/index.php\/2020\/05\/07\/let-councillor-phinney-do-his-job-do-not-silence-him\/embed\/#?secret=KSZ7rVdihV\" data-secret=\"KSZ7rVdihV\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Today, in reflecting about Mr. Wark\u2019s article, a few thoughts\ncrossed her mind: <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>First, how odd that an administrative creation of a\nprovince, the municipalities, cannot benefit from a clean-up by this \u201ccreator\u201d.\nIn other jurisdictions, we have seen municipalities being amalgamated with other\nsister municipalities. If we have created them, we can also dismantle them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In other jurisdictions, namely Qu\u00e9bec (i.e., with a\nreputation of corruption in our country), we EVEN hold mayors and town staff\naccountable. We do not hesitate to put them in jail. We even incarcerate ex-Qu\u00e9bec\nLieutenant Governors (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ctvnews.ca\/canada\/ex-quebec-lieutenant-governor-lise-thibault-in-jail-until-at-least-tuesday-1.2590880\">https:\/\/www.ctvnews.ca\/canada\/ex-quebec-lieutenant-governor-lise-thibault-in-jail-until-at-least-tuesday-1.2590880<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Well, at least, Qu\u00e9beckers do municipal cleaning up\nfrom time to time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Of course, by no means, Bambi is saying that we have the\nsame issues here in NB or to the same extent. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, who can deny that we have serious issues in\nour sweet little Sackville? Indeed, the culture of its governance seems to look\nlike a mini-authoritarian entity than a healthy democracy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Is this some older feudal region of Lebanon or is this\nCanada in 2020?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Second, and in trying to make sense of all this, Bambi\nchatted with her spouse, Louis (a lawyer in another jurisdiction of Canada)\nabout Mr. Wark\u2019s article. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The first words that came out of his mouth were: \u201c<em>The\nFirst Amendment\u2026 The Americans understood it all in the 1790s<\/em>\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>\u201cWhat is that about?\u201d<\/em>,\nBambi asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>\u201cWhy don\u2019t you google it first\u201d, <\/em>Louis\nreplied?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Bambi did so (she sometimes listens to her spouse ?)  and came across the following text:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>\u201cCongress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/FirstAmendment-1024x68.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4336\" width=\"640\" height=\"42\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/FirstAmendment-1024x68.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/FirstAmendment-300x20.jpg 300w, https:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/FirstAmendment-768x51.jpg 768w, https:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/FirstAmendment-1200x79.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/FirstAmendment.jpg 1999w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 709px) 85vw, (max-width: 909px) 67vw, (max-width: 984px) 61vw, (max-width: 1362px) 45vw, 600px\" \/><figcaption> A picture taken from Wikipedia showing the handwritten copy of the proposed Bill of Rights (USA, 1789). This text was later ratified as the First Amendment. <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Bambi returned to Louis for more insights. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is what he said: <em>\u201cThe Canadian Charter of Rights\nand Freedoms does apply to municipalities and should be relevant to this type of\nsituation\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>\u201cHowever, this is meaningless. In reality,\nit is BS\u201d, <\/em>said Louis in all honesty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>\u201cWhat they were nailing me for was testifying\nbefore the Assessment and Planning Appeal Board. I will even note that no one\nchallenged the veracity of the testimony. These are the kinds of anti-democratic\nmethods so popular in this town and province apparently. These are all just\nexcuses to shut down dissenters. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>In a real democracy, the courts would be a\nbrake on this kind of excess via an application of the likes of the Charter,\nbut around here, many judges are no more than politicians by another name. In\nfact, it\u2019s shocking how many are retired politicians.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Phinney, whether you like him or not, was\nelected by the people of this town. But what I\u2019d like to know if, if \u2018they\u2019\njust decide not to let him in to the Council chamber any more or otherwise interfere\nwith him, who is going to stop them? That\u2019s a question that everyone should be\nasking themselves. Because around here, the answer is far from obvious.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sadly, Louis is right, all this is truly meaningless\u2026\nif we recall the legal saga between him and the Town of Sackville that went all\nthe way to the Supreme Court of Canada.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, what should we do as a society? Shut up and not express\nany dissent. In other terms, resign to that unfair reality? Pretend that life\nis good and hide in our intellectual or moral bubble.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As Louis commented on this blog earlier (see the link\nabove):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u00a0\u201c<em>At the very least, this should be a reminder that we should all vote for Phinney at the upcoming election, if the minions allow us to. He\u2019s the only player in there we can all be sure isn\u2019t in on any of the games.<\/em>&#8220;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In addition to Louis\u2019 comments, Bambi will allow herself to cite at the end of this post the own words of Sackville prominent citizens, as published in the <em>New Wark Times<\/em>: Ms. Sharon Hicks, Mr. Shawn Meshau (the citizen in him, not the Councillor), and earlier comments to a related article by Ms. Azi, Mr. Joel B, Mr. Norman Cole, Mr. Percy Best, and Mr. Harold (in the earlier post reported above, we an read Ms. Sharon Higgs\u2019 wise words). &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To conclude this post now, Bambi would like to thank Mr. Wark again for his rigorous journalism and for giving voices to citizens and experts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In addition, MANY thanks to Mr. Percy Best and Ms. Sharon Hicks for having been our eyes, ears, and mouth in all town council meetings over the last four years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Ms. Sharon Higgs<\/span><\/strong>: <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>\u201cAs Professor Geoff Martin points out, while there are some good points\nabout Sackville\u2019s new Code of Conduct for Members of Council, the ultimate\neffect is to basically shut down any \u2018real\u2019 open discussion between our elected\nrepresentatives who sit on Council. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Professor Martin alluded to the fact that Councillors are elected by\ncitizens, and they need to maintain autonomy \u2013 in other words they need to be\nable to speak up on behalf of the constituents who put their trust in them. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>He also points out that Councillors are not \u201ctown staff\u2019, yet this Code\nof Conduct would seem to place than at that level, or actually below that\nlevel, as he points out that it places them under the \u201csupervision of the\ncouncil majority and the staff\u201d. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>My understanding of how the dynamics of a municipal governing body\nfunctions has always been that the Mayor and Council are there to \u2018direct\u2019\nstaff to work on projects for the betterment of the Town, and that part of the\nMayor\u2019s role is to only relay the wishes of Council to the staff, via the Town\nManager (called the chief Administrative Officer [CAO] here in Sackville). <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>For those of us who follow local Town Council meetings and activities on\na regular basis, what we see has become the total opposite, especially over the\npast four years under our current Mayor. How did this model become so\ncompletely turned around? <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>The experts consulted for this article have made the point that the\nwording and intent of this new Code of Conduct sets up an \u2018invitation\u2019 for an\nongoing litany of petty complaints, which would end up with councillors\nbasically \u2018fighting amongst themselves\u2019. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>It could be seen as a convenient \u2018tool\u2019 with which to \u2018divide and\nconquer\u2019 Councillors, with the resulting in-fighting distracting their focus\nand attention away from more important issues, allowing free reign by the mayor\nand town management. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Who would that benefit? Certainly not the Councillors. And certainly not\nthe residents of Sackville<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>Mr. Norman Cole<\/strong><\/span>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>\u201cI think this comment is well thought out and maybe the other councillors might want to [revist] their thoughts as to why they were elected and what their mission should really be. There seems to not be enough Accountability as to the way decisions are made on some really important issues. You are all elected and expected to have the whole town\u2019s best interest as top priority.<\/em>&#8220;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>Mr. Shawn Meshau<\/strong><\/span><strong>:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>\u201c**The following comment I am making is not the views of council.<br>\nThese are my personal views only.**<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>I want to thank Mr. Wark for playing a very important role in our\ncommunity of bringing information to the forefront so we can garner\nperspectives around many important issues our community is subject to.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>It was reassuring to see that some of the concerns raised in the article\nby these experts were in line with what I raised during council\u2019s opportunity\nto deliberate the code of conduct as presented.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>I believe a code of conduct is important to ensure councillors and the\nMayor conduct themselves professionally and respectfully.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>It was my hope that the code implemented by council would be a work in\nprogress and amended as required based on what we learned from its existence.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>If it creates barriers for a councillor to be able to uphold the Local\nGovernance Act which indicates a councillor must consider the welfare and\ninterests of the entire community, the opportunity does exist to amend the\ncode.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Where the code is mandated by the Local Governance Act, I believe\nmunicipalities should be provided guidance from the Department of Local\nGovernment in producing an effective code in the spirit of good governance.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>In fact not all municipalities have the ability to afford legal advice in\nformulating a code of conduct, so why wouldn\u2019t this department not strive to\nensure each municipality utilizes a standard means to govern its elected\nofficials\u2019 conduct.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>We must not forget our purpose as elected officials or let policy\ndetermine who we are as an individual councillor. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Bureaucracy\/policy, although required to deliver services, can be cold and calculating and we forget that it takes the empathy of council and administrators to ensure it is developed in a manner that best represents democracy.<\/em>&#8220;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;<em>Thank you<br> Shawn Mesheau\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And from earlier posts\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>Ms. Azi<\/strong><\/span><strong>:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>\u201cIn my experience, Mr. Phiney is a very\nreliable, honest, and responsible councilor. This kind of action by some other\ncouncilors\/mayor makes me have even more respect for him.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>Mr. Joel B<\/strong><\/span><strong>:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Bruce Phinney is one of the best councillors Sackville\nhas ever had and something doesn\u2019t sit well with me here .<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>Percy Best<\/strong><\/span><strong>:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>\u201cIf Councillor Phinney said something at a meeting, and that portion of\nthe meeting has never been revealed to the public, then how the heck can he be\nsubjected to a bylaw infraction that says that any councillor cannot reveal to\nthe public something that was told in confidence. It does make one wonder WHO\nactually owes WHO an apology here. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>If the Mayor reveals to the citizens of Sackvile, the 37 seconds of audio\nthat the Town is hiding, then they possibly have a beef with Councillor Phinney\nnot abiding by this bylaw, but that will<\/em> <em>not be the case until we all\nhear the audio.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>Mr. Harold<\/strong><\/span><strong>:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>\u201cIt is rather confusing \u2014 perhaps\nintentional \u2014 to refer to \u201celected officials\u201d as \u201cpublic servants\u201d. It implies\nthat they serve at the pleasure of the Town, not the will of the electorate. I\nwonder why all the other councillors accepted this? Do they think they are Town\nemployees?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A recent clever New Wark Times article, entitled \u201cexperts warn Sackville town councils new code of conduct could shut down dissent\u201d interviewed our own Dr. Geoff Martin, Dr. O\u2019 Byrne from UNB, and M. Murray, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4334"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4334"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4334\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4345,"href":"https:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4334\/revisions\/4345"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4334"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4334"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4334"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}