Councillor: Which Story You Sticking To? WAFFLE WATCH
The Bulldog has created a new feature to go along with the likes of Whopper Watch and Quotable.
It’s called Waffle Watch in which we find people … well … waffling. Equivocating or being unclear or saying two things exactly opposite to each other. Playing both sides of the fence.
And the first recipient of the inaugural Waffle Watch is West Carleton-March Councillor Clarke Kelly.
Here we go:
“I did not at any time enter the chambers where the camp was doing crafts. I did not yell at staff or threaten that the camp has to go. I did not use vulgar language or names toward staff or children,”
And then in the same statement:
“I should have taken time to collect myself before going to speak with (a worker at a summer camp). My failure to do so does not excuse my use of profanities when speaking with her,”
Your agent is not exactly a saint when it comes to profanities. In fact my lifetime swear jar had I kept it would be roughly the value of Berkshire Hathaway today. Too many years in newsrooms, methinks where the language was salty, to say the least. A character flaw to be sure.
That said, I am a stickler when it comes to swearing on the esteemed pixels of The Bulldog … much to the dismay of contributors and commenters alike who like to let loose now and then and believe me to be a prude.
Anyway, what will it be councillor? Did you do it or not? Your answer makes Mackenzie King look decisive.
Perhaps you could explain this to your peers at council. And the public. You are supposed to be an example for us all in your deportment as a councillor. So explain it. Or better, perhaps the integrity commissioner could ask for an explanation … if the police don’t first.
Maybe one of your explanations is right.
As for me and my blaspheming, I am not an example for us all and my judgment day approaches.
Ken Gray
For You:
City’s Corrupt, Incompetent, Autocratic, Dysfunctional: QUOTABLE
How The City Works In A Nutshell
First Fix City Council, Then Staff: BENN
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This is disgraceful behaviour. Maybe he should try to emulate more closely his West Carleton predecessors, Eli El Chantiry, Dwight Eastman and Roly Armitage, all of whom were gentlemen.
It seems the children he’s complaining about were probably better behaved than he was. In his statement, he apologizes to the parents of the day care children that they had to read the information put out by the day care owner. Yes, that would be the lady he swore at. Someone needs to point out the irony in that.
He claims he is a father but appears not to know that children make noise when they play. Although he claims to have been trying to resolve them for two years, his problems with the behaviour of the children and the way the centre is managed must be very recent. I say this because, until this incident, his daughter was on the waiting list for a space to attend the offending day care centre. So which was it? It’s either a terrible child care centre or one that’s so good, you want your child to attend it? More waffling!
He’s certainly not a role model to be held up to those or any other children.
He certainly did not graduate from the Doug Thompson school of ethics. Doug Thompson was the greatest at, and still is, at handling difficult situations and his foot was never put in his mouth but always remained attached to the end of his leg
Was it the owner he spoke to or a camp leader? I ask because camp councillors are often young people on the edge of adulthood. (The councilor’s behaviour is not okay either way.)
Bob:
You’re right. I think it CFRA I debated Doug Thompson on. I think he was a surprise winner of the debate because just kept talking and talking and talking so I couldn’t get a word in.
Good debating, I guess. Lousy radio.
cheers
kgray
I’m guessing Clarke’s episode with OSTA was not a one off.
If the children are so disturbing to the counsellor, he should just find another office space rather expecting kids to be anything other than kids. Doesn’t seem like rocket science to me. The daycare is providing a much needed service and, in my humble opinion, is more of a priority than his office location.
I don’t believe that counsellor for one minute. First of all where ever he was doing the yelling if he was inside or out, his yelling was loud enough for the kids to hear it no matter where they were. I watched the so-called interview of him on CTV Ottawa and just look at his face and expression. It looked as if he was trying not to smile during the interview. Those kids have every right to play there and laugh and scream all they like. I believe this counsellor doesn’t even like children. I suggest this counsellor be relieved of his position immediately. Then when a new councellor is elected it may be a good idea to move that office to another area where no one will hear the kids having a good time.
Hmmm, interesting about the noise issue. Someone should let Counsellor Brockington know that having a Daycare beside a seniors village is not a good idea. He seemed to feel that mixing old people who like to nap with young children who are loud is a good combination. Too bad that Ottawa does not have a recall motion on Counsellors and Mayor. It might make them all become accountable to the people that they are supposed to be representing. Citizens of Ottawa have a short memory and seem to forget at election time.
@Marilyn MacPherson, you make great points. The councilor has a child the same age, should we be worried?
I lie A.E.’s point on a recall. Sort of like a mulligan on election results; we didn’t like those results so let’s take another shot at it.
Sisco,
My worry there is that we could end up with the person winning a recall vote or, if they lose, we could still end up with someone else just as bad or even worse. Then we’ve gone through the turmoil and expense of a recall process only to end up in the same place or worse.
It also concerns me that people could use a recall process to re-fight the previous election if they lost or to continue to rehash things that have been decided and they were not on the victorious side. You would have to build very strong safeguards into the process.
I sometimes wonder if the people we end up with on City Council are there because they are incompetent or because we, the people who elect them, are incompetent. It’s more than likely some combination of the two but neither speaks well for the electoral process which I understand some people laud as “democratic”.
Many people vote without any clue who the people are that they’re voting for or what they stand for. Of course, many, many people don’t vote at all. I firmly believe there should be some kind of mandatory course for prospective voters with a good, tough test at the end. If you don’t pass, you can’t vote. Then you also need to provide incentives for people to vote which would require you to have successfully taken the course. Maybe something like a tax credit would do the trick.
There has to also be some kind of screening process for candidates for political office at all levels. They should, at the very least, understand the role they are pursuing as well as have some knowledge of the level of government they aspire to. Political office shouldn’t be a learn-on-the-job position. Unfortunately, it has been just that for too many politicians of late.