Letter to the Editor – Gabriel Reid on The Glaude Commission Recommendations – December 17, 2009

Two days after Commissioner Glaude read his final report, I’m left feeling quite perplexed by the various reactions, especially by the media and our Mayor.
The big issue that is being reported is that no definite answer was provided as to whether or not there was a pedophile ring in this area.
I’m pretty sure that was not the inquiry’s mandate. The Inquiry was supposed to be about analyzing the mistakes for the past so we could improve our present institutions to better aid the children of the future.
But the most confusing comments were made by Professor Ed Ratushny, who criticized the inquiry for funding counseling services. This to me is abhorrent. He does make a good point that the funding could have come from somewhere else. However, in the end, wouldn’t it still come from the Government, and thus the taxpayer?

Does it really matter if it was filtered through the Inquiry or through some other program? At least the Inquiry allowed the services to be high-profile, so that the survivors who needed it were aware of the help they could receive.
These counseling services are an integral part of the healing process, which is something the Ontario Government obviously doesn’t understand, as they’ve cut off all of the funding, despite Commissioner Glaude’s recommendations.

Gabriel Reid

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3 Comments

  1. Gabriel Reid, part of your letter reads “These counseling services are an integral part of the healing process, which is something the Ontario Government obviously doesn’t understand, as they’ve cut off all of the funding, despite Commissioner Glaude’s recommendations”.
    Perhaps the HST might cover this….

  2. Ontarian,

    The Government has been funding counselling without the HST for the last few years. During that span it cost about 4-5 million. This is a small amount when taking into account the billions of dollars the government spends every year.

    Either way, the government has obviously not made a connection between the HST and funding counselling. Funding has been canceled, while the HST has not.

  3. I wonder if the Ontario government really knows what a cash-cow the HST will really be for them?

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