CORNWALL Ontario – When you’re in the public eye you have to take the good and the bad. You can’t be thin skinned like Cornwall City Councilor Bernadette Clement. Either you take the hits and criticism or frankly you should quit.
Some though do the passive aggressive stuff behind the scenes. Today I witnessed some of that personally and frankly it’s uglier than the truth can ever be.
I was phoned and asked to support an event. There even would be an ad involved.
However after chatting a bit more; with someone with whom I’d broken bread with before and I thought was a friend a large mass of darkness and ugliness invaded the call.
The event is connected to people who have spent time in jail for their beliefs. At first I was excited, but the more I listened to the pitch the faster my excitement turned to frankly….hurt.
This group is putting Bernadette Clement and Hugo Rodrigues on their panel. I was a bit perplexed and asked why I myself had not been invited because a) I’m a film maker and this event is a film, and b) I’ve endured false imprisonment, even briefly and have essentially been forced to live in near house imprisonment for about 8 months since Bell telephone produced a production order showing that I never made the threatening phone calls as I was charged for. The Crown, and Attorney General’s auspices, which I believe to be politically motivated and connected to Ms Clement’s party have refused to drop the charges since the production order has been issues with a hot shot Ottawa Assistant Crown brought in.
As for Hugo, he’s a bright articulate fellow, but has also refused to cover the fact that the production order shows my clear innocence.
To have these two on a panel involving a film about someone who was tortured in an Iranian prison and has fought for people’s rights as I have here locally while snubbing me? That’s almost as weird as the group that after inviting me to speak to honour Holocaust victims and present special film footage I have pulling the invite over an accusation the group didn’t bother to verify.
This can be a really weird town.
The thing about thick skin is that it’s something that we in “the biz” have for the public, but when it’s someone that you’ve considered a friend it’s a different story.
Was I angry? Was I rejected. Not really. What I was is hurt by someone in whose home I shared and observed their faith on several occasions.
Humans are flawed. We really are. Nothing really surprises me anymore. And as much as I’d truly love to believe that this sort of hypocrisy and selective choosing of justice happens just in Cornwall it happens all over the world.
Mystically enough Gerry Conlon became a facebook friends several years ago. For some weird reason he requested to be facebook friends and I was stunned to find out he was the real Gerry Conlon.
While I’d never compare my experiences to his, he was extremely helpful in his special way during the peak of my travails last February. I, like many others never knew how sick he was and sadly he passed way, but his last words he typed to me will forever echo.
Not wanting to deal any further with this mess I passed it on to someone that helps in now and again at CFN and she spent about an hour talking with this gentleman who essentially wanted her to use her special gifts and talents to help his cause to use on other media.
As she put it best. This man is not your friend. I wish them the best with their event. Sometimes even doing a little bit of good while ignoring the bigger bad isn’t such a horrible thing. I just don’t wish to be a part of that kind of thinking.
(Comments and opinions of Editorials, Letters to the Editor, and comments from readers are purely their own and don’t necessarily reflect those of the owners of this site, their staff, or sponsors.)
Comment policy reminder
CFN has a new comment policy. You must use your real first and last name. As well if your email bounces we will terminate your posting privileges.
We value all input from our amazing CFN viewers and are always trying to improve the viewer experience which includes making this a safe, informative, and entertaining platform.
If you have any questions please email info@cornwallfreenews.com