02.06.2013 04:27 PM

Canada needs more mayors like this one

Mayor Raye-Anne Briscoe, take a bow.  I think you’re amazing.

She, like me and not a few others, think the Queen’s Jubilee medals are a joke, and have about as much value as a concession stand token. I said as much on Wei Chen’s CBC Radio show this morning.

Mayor Briscoe sent hers back a few days ago.

Boy oh boy, I wish Toronto had a mayor like this one (the letter’s a bit hard to read, but worth the trouble):

13 Comments

  1. Michael S says:

    That’s a nice part of the world. Beautiful rolling countryside and villages and good people.

  2. Sean says:

    Well done!

  3. G. Babbitt says:

    I heard you with Wei Chen this morning, but I think even you underestimate the squalor of this award. When Wei brought up London giving to a criminal, I think you thought she was referring to the mayor who is only charged, but the charged Mayor nominated a person convicted of paying bribes to city councillors. I realize it is difficult to identify the levels of the shit when you are surrounded by it if you delve into these sham awards.

  4. Tim says:

    I don’t think the medals are a joke at all. It’s the disrespect for them that appalls me. My friend received a medal for his outstanding community service for both the 50th and 60th Jubilees. He was nominated by two different worthy organizations where he’s made big contributions for many years. He was a proud and worthy recipient both times. People who abuse the spirit of the Jubilee medals are the problem, not the medals nor the intention for which they were struck.

    • AmandaM says:

      I agree – my organization has the honour of giving 30 of these medals to VERY worthy members of our community. The unwavering commitment they have to arthritis and the arthritis community is commendable, and as such we are commending them and their outstanding achievements. I am very much looking forward to seeing the members of the arthritis community who have contributed so much receive honours they deserve. I’m wondering what other honours would be appropriate to recognize these people, outside of the Order of Ontario/Order of Canada. What I love about the DJMs is that they are bestowed not by the government, rather by organizations like mine in the name of the Queen.

      The Queen has a long history of honouring worthy volunteers and recognizing and promoting volunteerism and community-building achievements. I just think it’s so unfortunate that some medal recipients are given honours for political reasons or without taking into account the underbelly of their lives. For me, it’s akin to cheaters and plagiarists in universities that debase the value of the honest work of fellow scholars and their degrees.

  5. Pat Smith says:

    Google/images : “mugabe queen”

    … this kind of thing has a real long history …

    Youtube: “Prince Philip Movement” ; browse around; this is the underlying pschosocial mechanics.

    SNAFU
    Roger that.

  6. KP says:

    When someone like Maurice Vellacott can give out Jubilee medals (go ahead and look up who he gave some of his to), they may as well be melted down into pop cans.

  7. Alain Boucher says:

    Glen Pearson’s spot on AIH was also interesting to listen to (at around the 9 minute mark): http://www.cbc.ca/player/Radio/As+It+Happens/ID/2332659565/

  8. Pipes says:

    I have a fair bit of expereince with the Provincial Honours and Awards system. In fact I served as the Chair for 6 years of one of the two highest awards given to Ontarians for service to their communities. I can tell you, that under my leadership ( for what thats worth), every Medal was earned by the recipients and I spend hours and hours and hours reading nominations. As many as 400 of them contained in 6 full binders. The essence of these honours is supposed to be altruistic, its the application that is the issue. I can tell you that in several cases I found committee members to be unfairly judgemental and dismissive and subjective and at times rather discriminatory but I did my best to correct that.

    My wife received a Jubilee Medal last night at Roy Thompson Hall and I can attest to the fact that she earned every ounce and thread of the award. I do believe that the process should be reviewed and I would suggest looking into the Order of Canada and the Order of Ontario processes first. As far as the Jubilee Medal is concerned, I do know a few people who received the medal and I know their service and I do wonder how some actually received the honour, but most earned it the hard way-elbow grease and sweat on the front lines. Warren you know me and you know my record, and as much as I do agree with you, I don’t think you can “throw out the baby with the bath water”. It’s one of those bad apples in a barrel deal-there may always be one, bt most are sweat and crunchy and deserving of our admiration, even if it is only a few minutes of fame. After that, they return to the wheel and their labour. So for you to say these medals are a ‘joke’ and have no or little value, I think is unfair. As always- respectully and sincerely-Pipes.

  9. GPAlta says:

    I agree that the whole process has been corrupt and disgusting, and that it was obvious that it would be from the very announcement of the program, but there are 60,000 recipients, and I would guess at at least 50,000 of them are wonderful community builders who have rarely had any form of recognition in their lives for their hard work and sacrifice. I’m not giving mine back, nor am I telling any of those good people that they should be ashamed to have received it. The ones who should be ashamed know who they are, and they are the kind of greedy bastards that corrupt every single aspect of society. Harper should be ashamed, Vellacott should be ashamed, but volunteers, fire fighters, and artists should not be ashamed.

    I’m also not giving away my ballot even though Harper has made the government of Canada itself into a corrupt and malicious kickback mechanism that is sustained only by lies and suppression of facts.

    I’m much more alarmed by the fact that the conservative party is so expert in push polls. They have brazenly deployed them twice already, spreading false information under false pretenses to Canadians about Irwin Cotler and about the Saskatchewan electoral boundaries issue, and that they are willing to stand up publicly and say that the although the calls presented lies under false pretenses as truth, that it is a fair way to influence public opinion. When the Prime Minister says it is ok to lie to Canadians to get what you want, we are in more trouble than when they reward their friends with medals (which, lets face it, always happens).

  10. Pipes says:

    I completely agree with your first paragraph.

    The rest of your posting, I simply don’t have enough information on the alleged ‘corruption’ to form an opinion.

    One thing I do note however is-I did not notice this type of “corupted” activity with the Queen’s Bi Centennial Medal or her Golden Jubilee Medal.

    Anyway, those who received the medal know that they either deserved it or not. The people who know the recipients also know if the recipient deserves it and it is the shame of those who accept and wear the medal who have done little to earn it.

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