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EDITORIAL

Declaring Toronto a corruption-free zone

February 10, 2003

Toronto Deputy Mayor Case Ootes was right to show more than 100 anti-war activists the door at City Hall.

Toronto police escorted the peace protesters out of city council chambers after a majority of councillors voted down the opportunity to debate a motion opposing Canadian military support of a U.S.-led war on Iraq.

The motion, the brainchild of Coun. Olivia Chow was defeated 22-16, after Ootes deemed the issue was outside the jurisdiction of city council.

Peacenik councillors, including Joe Mihevc and Joe Pantalone seized the opportunity to admonish opposing peers with anti-war lectures.

"A motion that calls for peace in Iraq is definitely in order. We are elected by citizens of Toronto and we have a right to say this is the (wish) of the people of Toronto," Chow said.

"There will be millions and billions of (federal) dollars that will go to fund that war, dollars that will not be available for municipal infrastructure," said Coun. Mihevc.

"It is quite appropriate for us to say, hey, we need attention here on our issues in the city, not to go fight in a war for oil in Iraq."

Mihevc seems oddly unaware that Bill Graham and company have yet to commit to Canadian support of a U.S. presence in Iraq, let alone a commitment to fund the war with "billions".

Coun. Joe Pantalone called the majority decision not to debate Chow’s motion "a cop-out".

"At the end of the day, there’s nothing more important than people’s lives." Pantalone said.

But commonsense Coun. Doug Holyday brought councillor peaceniks back down to earth.

"We can’t even buy computers or make a deal at Union Station, let alone handle the war in Iraq," Holyday reminded peers.

"I don’t think we even have the information or the knowledge to debate a matter like Iraq, I only hope our representatives in Ottawa do, and I’m quite willing to leave this issue up to them."

Other peace movement type councillors provided the drama, when some citizen protesters refused pointblank to be escorted out of the chamber by police.

The grandmotherly Eryl Court refused to budge. When officers told her they would issue her a citation and carry her out, it was Councillors Pam McConnell and Irene Jones to the rescue. Sworn pacifists, McConnell and Jones personally escorted Court from the chamber.

"I’m here because I feel so very strongly that the future of all the world’s children is at stake," Court said. "I feel very much that our city, which is a city that declared itself a nuclear weapons-free zone…is dedicated to peace."

The meeting proved good theatre for the recently resurrected local peace movement, and new NDP leader Jack Layton, who had Toronto declared a nuclear weapons-free zone in the first place, would have loved it.

But Ootes was right. The war in Iraq is outside the jurisdiction of Toronto city council.

Councillors Chow, Mihevc, Pantalone et al were elected to tend to our potholes and to take out the garbage.

Besides, lofty as having a full-scale debate on the war in Iraq is, some taxpayers would be more interested in having Toronto declared a corruption and crooked deals- free zone.