A School Board of One

by J.J. Locke

I think there is a bad trend developing in Québec.

The Gouvernement du Québec seems to be ruling without wisdom.

First there was Bill 21, the Piss on Religions law. When the Québec government passed its ‘secularism law’ and invoked the notwithstanding clause it conveyed the message they don’t give a tourtiere for Québecers who are not of their stripe. They insisted, no visible signs of religion if you want a public service job.

And if the recent dialogue between Premier Legault and California Governor Gavin Newsom is any indication, it’s okay to be Catholic when the need arises. It was a sad sight.

With Québec’s passing of Bill 21 and the Government of Canada’s passing over of Bill 21, I don’t give the federal Charter of Rights and Freedoms much credence, especially when the federal government allows it to be trampled upon without raising an eyebrow. The Charter becomes useless hollow words when no one stands up for the noble rights it embraces. The Charter means nothing when governments cast it to the wind as if it were prairie dust in planting season.

Move ahead to Québec’s latest invasions upon the rights of citizens. What can be more important than electing the people of your choice to oversee the teaching of your children? I mean, electing school boards.

The future of our society depends on the well-meaning efforts of our elected school board officials.

When I witnessed and reported in 2015 that members of the English Montreal School Board(EMSB) were consuming wine at taxpayer expense during a meeting recess, I thought they ought be informed that this behaviour was unacceptable, and then they could move forward.

But alas, the current Government of Québec is using this example as one rationale for their latest foray into dictatorial governance: The suspension of the EMSB.

And rather than replace the board with an equal number of substitutes, they have replaced the entire board with one individual.

At present, the decisions and directives of the Board of One are nowhere to be seen. Though approval of contracts and other major determinations are made, at present no minutes or records are being publicly disclosed.

I am sure government administrator Marlene Jennings is a fine person. But there are clear signs that see is not the person I voted for. As she was anointed EMSB administrator, I know for a fact I did not vote for her.

On January 5, 2015, CBC radio morning man Mike Finnerty interviewed Jennings, a defeated Liberal Party member of parliament. Here is a portion of their discussion:

Finnerty: There was an article a few months ago that suggested you’d had a meeting with Francois Legault.
Jennings: I did. I had two….Francois Legault on his part was trying to convince me to run for his party, to stand for his party….
Finnerty: So, did he convince you?
Jennings: Um, pretty much…I’m seriously considering his offer.
Finnerty: So you might stand for the Coalition Avenir Québec?
Jennings: I might.

For reasons unknown, she did not run in the last provincial election. Politics, it is a game for some folks. It evidently raises its ugly head every time I turn my head. Premier Legault is a crafty politician, who, obviously knows how to pick his people. He has picked Madame Jennings to replace my representative on the EMSB. He could have picked Mother Theresa and I would still be upset that my small expression of opinion, my vote, has been cast aside so the CAQuistes can make a beachhead on the island of Montreal.

But the thing that bothers me most is something that Marlene Jennings thinks is unimportant.

In a recent Tweet, Jennings was responding to a journalist who did not receive a Christmas postcard from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his lovely family. Jennings offered her postcard to the journalist in consolation. But here is the kicker.

“I’m really not a big lover of kids,” wrote the sole English Montreal School Board administrator.

You just lost my vote of confidence Marlene.

Election Day Ode

When Justin don’t give a damn about my rights
And Andrew expounds from highest heighths
And Jagmeet says it’s pronounced Jug
And Elizabeth promises a pipeline plug
And Yves-François wears a separatist blanket
And sour lemonade—Maxime drank it
I’m left with despair on election day
As grim Maple Leaf is looking grey.

Star-Spangled Poem, or A July Fourth Poem To End Trade Wars

Shall I set a tariff on July Fourth

If our leaders can’t employ some common sense?

Let us be friends from this day forth.

 

I read that American rockets glare north

But let’s put down our sabers from this day hence

Shall I set a tariff on July Fourth?

 

Children know inherently war has no worth

But like trees, with age, we grow more dense

Let us be friends from this day forth.

 

Let’s build a wall to protect our common swarth

Or around our elected leaders with a fence

Shall I set a tariff on July Fourth?

 

A little Tit for Tat yields more Darth and Dearth

At a time we all seek more recompense

Let us be friends from this day forth.

 

A handshake ain’t enough to save the Earth

Let us make pretense forever past tense

Shall I set a tariff on July Fourth?

Let us be friends from this day forth.

Trudeau’s Apology Falls 10 Feet Short

– a Lockeblog exclusive –

Ayer’s Cliff mayor Alec van Zuiden poses an English question to the prime minister at a Liberal Party Jan 17 townhall meeting in Sherbrooke, Quebec. Justin Trudeau answered in French, and to date has offered no personal apology.

By Jack Locke

Although Prime Minister Justin Trudeau apologized to one person he insulted at his January 17 Sherbrooke townhall meeting, he has neglected to apologize to the other 5 people he treated rudely.

In an exclusive interview with one of the forgotten five – Ayer’s Cliff mayor Alec Van Zuiden, who posed his question in English and was responded to in French – he makes it clear no apology was tendered.

“An apology? No. That said, I was not expecting one frankly,” say van Zuiden in an email, “No, he did not call nor send me a letter.”

The mayor had asked about his region’s dire need for support for small business, where a majority of businesses are made up of four persons or less.

A month following his crude public display, much publicity was made when the Prime Minister apologized to Judy Ross and to the Quebec Community Groups Network. But respect for the other 5 persons directly dissed by Prime Minister Trudeau was once again denied.

Although much of he country was offended by Trudeau’s insensitivity, the mayor remains philosophical.

        “…an affront to common civic decency…”
                                         – Mayor Alec van Zuiden

“Long story short – and as mayor, let alone just a human being – I well understand we can all make mistakes,” he says, “while there is no question his announced position at the Sherbrooke town hall was an affront to common civic decency – he has acknowledged the error; in the name of everything holy – let’s move on.”

In his email, the mayor speaks glowingly of his Liberal member of parliament, Marie-Claude Bibeau and her staff.

“They were, and continue to be, most helpful in various matters of concern not only to me as mayor but to the community as a whole. I have rarely seen such implication from an elected official at a grass roots level and the subsequent involvement of staff.”

Ever humble, van Zuiden notes how he might have proceeded.

“If I had prefaced my introduction the way I had planned, ‘Good evening Justin, my name is Alec the mayor of a bilingual status community so recognized by the province of Québec, as such I would welcome you to respond to my query in English if you would,’” writes van Zuiden.

“Alas, that whole line simply skipped my mind when I got up…”

A call to the Prime Minister’s office has not yet been returned.

 

 

 

 

Cartoon: Justin, listen to your Papa

Will Cyber-iceberg Sink The Liberal’s Ship?

Computer experts say Internet voting is “questionable”
by Jack Locke

As the Liberal Party of Canada floats into the uncharted waters of an Internet-based voting leadership contest, the party maintains their ship is sailing fine as a leading Canadian computer expert warns of a potential cyber-iceberg lurking in the dark.

“Online voting has significant security risks that makes its use in high stake elections, like a leadership race, questionable,” says Dr. Jeremy Clark, a scholar at Carleton University’s School of Computer Science.

Clark’s comments echo the warnings of Princeton University computer scholar, Andrew Appel, who says internet-voting is “laughably insecure.”

As the Liberal Party of Canada prepares to start their week-long leadership vote today, their spokesperson Sarah Bain says all is well. This is the first time the Liberals are using internet and telephone voting methods for their leadership election.

“We are confident that our registry and voting system will allow LPC(the Liberal Party of Canada) to conduct a fair and accurate leadership vote,” insists Bain. But her confidence is not shared by experts like Clark and Appel.

“Casting a ballot online with a typical internet voting system provides no assurance that the votes are counted correctly, without undue interference or programming mistakes,” says Clark.

The counting of votes can be interfered with at various points: during the sending of the vote, in its reception, and following its reception in the software program that does the counting.

“Further, the removal of the private voting booth opens the system to vote-selling and in-person coercion. Finally, internet voting requires voters to submit a secret ballot from a potentially malware-infected personal computer over a hostile network for storage on an internet-facing server susceptible to hacking attempts and denial of service attacks.”

In an exclusive story, Andrew Appel, chair of Princeton’s Department of Computer Science, said there are many known threats that can significantly alter proper voting results.

“Any known methods for public Internet voting are known to be very seriously flawed,” says Appel. “Although vendors talk about idealized security where (supposedly) all kinds of security measures are in place, in actual practice in real election administration these systems are laughably insecure.”

The Liberal’s voting systems, both internet and telephone, are being coordinated by Dominion Voting Systems, a company headquartered in Denver, Colorado.

“Dominion, contracted by LPC to conduct our voting procedure, along with LPC staff and hundreds of volunteers are extremely dedicated to ensuring the highest level of confidence and accuracy in our registry process and voting system,” says Bain.

About one hundred and one years ago, on April 15, 1912, Captain Edward John Smith was equally confident, that is, until his vessel the RMS Titanic struck an iceberg and sank in the Atlantic Ocean. One doubts that Justin Trudeau knows the words to “Nearer My God To Thee,” the last music played by the Titanic’s musical orchestra.