In yesterday's blog, I promised to contact various female politicians and give them a chance to sound off on the appropriateness of the C-word, the B-word, that W-word in describing a female politician in this day and age.
I have no doubt that if I took this survey to the corner of Riverwalk Commons and asked random strangers, that the responses would be automatic. The question isn't that difficult.
However, politicians are not like ordinary people. Politicians stumble sometimes on even the most simple, common sense type of issues - such as whether Councillor Chris Emanuel was wrong re: drinking and driving. (A year has passed and still only one Newmarket politician has condemned him for that. Thank goodness that the public is not that stupid).
Condemn and condone. Those are the two words before us and they have very different meanings. To condemn something means to express an unfavourable judgment. To condone something means to disregard or overlook something that is objectionable. (Look it up in the dictionary if you don't believe me). Ergo, politicians who say nothing about drinking and driving, or remain silent while people are using the C-word, B-word, and W-word around females, are indeed condoning that behaviour.
So yesterday I gave certain people an opportunity to condemn or condone the objectionable behaviour on Twitter and defend Councillor Di Muccio who was being called some very nasty names.
Here are their responses:
Minister of Municipal Affairs, Kathleen Wynne - she remained silent therefore she condones the use of the C-word, B-word, and W-word to describe female politicians. Minister Wynne is a big advocate for Equal Voice. I don't know how she justifies advocating for women in politics and yet says nothing on this issue?
Mayor Tony Van Bynen - Well of course he said nothing (did you expect otherwise)? In reality, there are two main culprits in this whole council misbehaviour imbroglio. The first culprit is the Mayor because he has been condoning a lot of bad behaviour. He portrays himslelf as the 'steady hand at the wheel' but in reality, he is very weak. He is too meek to stand up to council colleagues Taylor, Emanuel and Di Muccio and therefore he is the wrong person to be the Chair for this group of Councillors.
Regional Councillor John Taylor - Crickets. Chalk him up as condoning women being called the C-word, B-word and W-word. (Though I know his mother didn't raise him to be that way. She must be aghast. Maybe Regional Councillor Taylor is going through some type of rebellion phase).
MP Lois Brown - I expected her to say something to condemn drinking and driving. She didn't. I expected her to condemn the abuse that Councillor Di Muccio has been facing. She didn't. I think a lot of people are really disappointed in Lois. She doesn't seem to have the guts to act like a community leader. A community leader isn't afraid to ruffle some feathers when it comes to right and wrong. I can only imagine that Lois is waiting for a memo from the PMO to arrive before we'll know what she thinks.
MPP Frank Klees - I'll let MPP Klees off the hook a bit. He was working on the Ornge file yesterday. I will be disappointed if he ultimately says nothing.
The other Newmarket Councillors - Well, most of the block me on Twitter so they didn't respond either. Let's give them the benefit of the doubt and pretend they are not aware of the issue. Although I admit that Tom Vegh came very close to close to saying that the use of the C-word, B-word, W-word was bad, when he said his son requested @dunkie69er apologize. So by proxy of his son, lets say Councillor Vegh knows that calling females the C-word, B-word, W-word is a no-no. He missed a golden opportunity to apologize to Maddie Di Muccio, or even admit that the use of such language was regrettable.
What about some other female politicians in Newmarket?
OLP Candidate Christina Bisanz - she said nothing so she condones this objectionable behaviour
Green Party of Canada Candidate Vanessa Long - she too condones when females are called nasty names.
Municipal Candidate Lucille Abate - There can be no denying that Lucille Abate and Maddie Di Muccio are staunch rivals ever since they faced off in 2010. Therefore, it is with great admiration that Ms Abate is the only local politician to have the intestinal fortitude to actually condemn the abuse. Lucille has demonstrated more integrity for standing up for what is right than all the others combined. She doesn't like Councillor Di Muccio, but she did the right thing and supported her against the abusers. The MP, Mayor, and the rest could learn something here. Its called doing the right thing.
Media folk -
I contacted two members of the media, both of whom I expected to find the topic of female politicians being called the C-word, B-word, W-word very objectionable.
AM 640 Arelene Bynon - Interviewed Councillor Di Muccio and Councillor Vegh and presented a well balanced view point. The callers after the show seemed to overwhelmingly favour Maddie Di Muccio. This blogger even blushed a little when the blog was mentioned (although not by name. Next time please give your listeners the web address Arelene). Arelene proved again that she is one of the best in the business.
The Era Banner Editor Debora Kelly - Ms Kelly surprised me by being so much more focussed on my identity rather than the issue. Not only is Ms. Kelly a noted female business leader, but she is also a mother with a daughter. Yet there can be no doubt that she absolutely condones the use of such disgusting language. There is also the matter of arrogance from her (mainstream media) to denigrate bloggers like me. Remember the influence bloggers had on Aurora Mayor Phyllis Morris' career? We are new media and we have an opinion. And guess what? People are reading what we write too. Chris Watts, an Aurora blogger, refers to Debora Kelly's paper as the "Error Banner" and I am beginning to agree with his perspective.
The second culprit in these shenaningans is the Era Banner. Rarely (if ever) does the Era Banner provide balanced reporting of the issues. The fact that the Era Banner uncritically promotes the Van Bynen/Taylor platform is the sole reason why blogs like this one exist. Bloggers wouldn't be writing about municipal issues if the Era did its job of providing a critical analysis through columns and editorials. If you don't like people like me writing blogs, then you need to do a better job with your own paper. If the Era Banner was doing a better job (and not giving Van Bynen/Taylor a free ride), there would be less twitter fights, fewer bloggers, and more accountability for mis-behaving politicos. Advice to ponder, Ms. Kelly. Think about it.
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