Some three years ago a Cornwall man had two unexpected visitors at his Eastern Ontario office. He held a management position in a large corporation.
They were police officers who quickly placed him under arrest, slap a pair of handcuffs on his wrists, read him his rights and walked him past his startled colleagues to an unmarked police car for the ride back to Cornwall.
He was charged with sexual assault of a minor that police said took place several years earlier.
He spent the next three days and nights in an Ottawa-Carleton Detention Centre cell, fearing that his fellow inmates would find out the charges. He lied. Said he beat up his wife’s lover.
Not only was he an accused sex offender, he was an unemployed accused sex offender. His long-time employer terminated him. A judge imposed restrictions that limited his freedom. Family and friends abandoned him. He spent thousands of dollars on legal fees that are driven up by a slow-moving legal system.
Finally, his trial date was set for earlier this month. It was to be a three-day trial. If convicted, he would be given jail time. Probably in a federal prison.
But the trial barely got started.
The judge was told that the Crown could not proceed because the alleged victim had not been truthful in statements to police three years earlier. The alleged sexual assault never took place.
So, after three years of living under a dark cloud, his life on hold, his career in ruins, the man was told by a judge he was free to go. The charges were withdrawn.
He was in the same position that a Ronald Reagan cabinet member found himself in after months of living under a dark cloud of suspicion after being charged with serious federal offences, only to have the case thrown out of court but his career ruined.
Outside the court room, he asked a mob of reporters, “Now, where do I go to get my reputation back?”
It is a good question. One without an answer.
****
A Northern Ontario health unit has discovered that there is a shortage of doctors qualified to serve as medical officers of health.
Ten months ago the Algoma Health Unit started a search to fill its vacant medical officer of health position.
Despite an ambitious cross-Canada search, not one person has expressed interest in the job. The health unit is operating with an acting MOH.
****
Fire chiefs don’t start fires. Not so in Sault Ste. Marie where a recommendation by the new chief has ignited a firestorm.
Chief Mike Figliola has recommended (to city council) that 20 front-line positions be cut over the next three years, all through attrition. The cuts represent 25% of front-line fire-fighting positions. In the last 12 months, five vacant fire suppression positions, created by retirements, have not been filled by the chief.
The Sault Fire Service, which serves a population of 75,200 and covers 223 square kilometres, has 88 front-line firefighters. It also has 34 full-time paramedics.
Earlier, the chief tossed out a list of pre-approved fire-fighting candidates, a long-standing way of saving time in filling vacant positions.
The union is fighting back. Sault residents have been warned that the cuts will cause fire insurance premium increases to skyrocket and will put lives in danger.
Root of the proposed front-line cutbacks is an arbitration ruling that gave firefighters a nine percent pay increase over three years, and 24-hour shifts.
TRIVIA This prime minister represented the riding of Glengarry.
TRIVIA ANSWER The Royals upset Peterborough Petes at the Ottawa Civic Centre on May 14, 1972 to win the first of three Memorial Cup championships the club would bring to Cornwall. Goaltender Richard Brodeur was named tournament MVP.
THIS AND THAT Wacky headline of the week (from the New York Daily News): “Boy, 3, takes over wheel of pick-up truck after drunken mom falls out of vehicle on busy highway”. … Reader said that when he penned a letter to a newspaper criticizing the Conservative government vis-a-vis pensions, he didn’t expect everyone to be in agreement. But he thinks a nasty telephone call, starting with “Are you so-and-so who wrote the letter in the paper”, from an obvious South Dundas Tory supporter was over the line. … Dumbest move by the Conservatives in the federal campaign was putting Rob Ford in the front row of a rally just days before Oct. 19. Rob Ford just didn’t fit the government’s law and order agenda. … Election of Liberal candidate Bill Blair, the Toronto police chief who was put to the curb by the Toronto Police Service Board earlier this year, proves there is life after death. With his police pension and MP paycheque, Blair will be pulling in around $250,000 a year. Certainly not part of Justin’s middle class.
IN THE REAR-VIEW MIRROR The time when some doctor waiting rooms not only had ashtrays, but the doctor may have one on his desk. And hospital patients could smoke in their rooms, the exception being if oxygen was being used. … Ash trays were given out as wedding, birthday and retirement gifts. … A kid could go to the corner store and buy a pack of smokes for his father or mother without any questions. … Cigarette companies had local representatives and sponsored events in the community. … Non-smokers didn’t dare complain about working in an office full of smokers. Non-smokers were the ones who went outside for a break. … The Camel ad that claimed “More doctors smoke Camels than any other cigarette.” The Lucky Strike ad that claimed “20,679 physicians say ‘Luckies’ are less irritating.” … Hollywood stars and pro athletes were featured in cigarette ads. Future president Ronald Reagan, Spencer Tracy, Gregory Peck, Bob Hope and Humphrey Bogart along with superstars Frank Gifford, Willie Mays, Paul Hornung, Hank Aaron and Bob Lemon hawked their favourite brands. Nothing was sacred. One tobacco company had a cigarette-puffing Santa promoting its brand.
