We live in a world that has become far too politicized. And I’m writing this in my election blog!
Early this week the OPPA decided to loudly get into the election fray by commissioning and buying advertising to run an attack ad against Tim Hudak.
Now most CFN viewers know I’m no fan of Mr. Hudak. Not because of his party; but of his views; but frankly a police force being that political frightened me.
It frightened me because I’m already personally experiencing the ramifications of what I believe in my opinion are members of our own CPS harassing me because of possible political/personal motivation.
I won’t go into the minutae of what’s going on right now; especially as it’s still in play; from my police charges for making threatening phone calls without my phone or records being viewed first, to the fact that the police have refused to charge people that have struck myself via my camera, and have been cyber bullying myself and frightening some of our advertisers.
When I endorsed (LINK) the idea of switching from the CPS to the OPP it was chiefly financial; but there was a feeling from some of the research that I’d done that our small town force was in fact serving their masters at the top of the food chain. Need bigger budgets; throw the man a bone. Want shinier cars; don’t charge city councilors that might vote for your budget.
But when a union as large as the OPP’s spends as much as they have to attack a political candidate because they are not “pro union” just doesn’t ring right. I’m not weighing into the legalities of the question; but police in my opinion should be here to protect and serve the public. All of us; not just the ones that sign their cheques and what’s scary about this OPPA action is the there’s a punitiveness of attack ads that should be left to politicians and pundits, and not in the hands of people we trust with tasers and fire arms who we would should never hesitate to call for assistance in times of trouble.
Also, how are the OPP supposed to investigate politicians that they might donate money to collectively? Or vice versa? We all have certain rights, but essential services like police should not be in uniform; standing next to their tax paid vehicles, telling the public who to vote for or against in my opinion.
I have a hunch my campaign can still find that 5% in four years to cut from the Cornwall budget, but I cannot support a change from the Cornwall Police Service to the OPP after this action by their Police Union.
Policing is not an easy job and most who do it are dedicated and deserve our respect and appreciation for their service. They deserve to be paid fairly and treated fairly; but they should not be crossing lines as the OPP Union has done this week.
PS! This is not an endorsement or slur of any political party or candidate.
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It’s called “eminent domain.” In most cases the value given is fairly near the market value if an agreement to sell cannot be reached with the landowner (& no I don’t want to get into another discussion on who “owns” the land.) Read about “eminent domain” here: http://realestate.findlaw.com/land-use-laws/how-the-government-takes-property.html.
What you previously referred to as the gov’t “owning” the land is referred to as “land tenure.” Info on it can be found here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_ownership_in_Canada