Parking in a "Handy" Space

 

 

Phillip Hong
March 11, 2010

 

"He's sorry and he'll never do it again."

 

Toronto Star, Page GT4, March 11, 2010

 

Councillor Carella, you should be sorry. I expected a lot more out of you as a local official who hasn't gotten into trouble as of late, and it is really depressing to know that you would make such a silly and foolish mistake.

 

Vaughan council has been criticised for various blunders and scandal recently, and the sense of entitlement that citizens are entitled to suspect is not helping to raise the image of this once glorious city.

 

It seems that we haven't been humble enough, honest enough or selfless enough to escape recent nasty marks to our image:

 

1. A writer for Toronto Life magazine, blasted in an advertisement-laden local "magazine" for using his freedom of expression by making references of Italian crime syndicates in regards to this level of government. No matter how offended people are, he has full rights to call us anything he wants constructively and residents need to read beyond the sharpest vocabulary.

 

2. Taxpayer-burdened dinner bills piling up in the hundreds of dollars while homeowners deal with losing their jobs and relying on food banks - and we're supposed to be quite prosperous! When will public officials realise that we don't elect them to ingest alcohol or majestic meals at our expense?

 

3. Politician after politician, being accused or accusing others of various accusations and the general lack of a "fair go". Lawsuits related to our politicians, with hundreds of millions of dollars on the line in our courts. There's an air of selfishness that has to completely stop, no matter who did what.

 

4. A local government whose elections are practically funded by developers when it comes to campaign donations, or so I've heard in other mediums. If that's the case, where's the democracy in that?

 

Mr. Carella, you might not have committed the worst crime on this planet, but I certainly hope that you did not burden anyone who deserved to use that handicap parking space that mistaken day.

 

Here's an idea: Politicians should be treated the same way as the rest of us. Councillor Carella should be fined regardless of the circumstances.

 

I do hope that, with everything going on, someone could actually lead by example.

 

Phillip Hong, a resident within suburban Toronto, is a constant tourist. Check out the interesting experiences of his journeys on The Travelling Briefcase.