by Judi McLeod
July 21, 2004
No pun intended, but in the socialist-crazed City known as Toronto, pigs fly.
Dwindling leaders of the Toronto Police Association, (Ontario’s largest police union) have collectively caved in to the left.
Getting rid of Police Chief Julian Fantino, says the association, is "the best way to restore public confidence in our police service."
Wrong. The best way to restore public confidence in our police service is for the police association to clean up its act.
"Chief Julian Fantino has lost the support of the Toronto police union," long time association nemesis the Toronto Star trumpeted in today’s story.
Wrong. The chief never really had the support of the association to lose.
For two months at the beginning of this year, Toronto Free Press, now Canada Free Press.com worked for the Toronto Police Association. We were asked to produce the Association’s 50-year-old house organ, Tour of Duty. We produced two issues of Tour of Duty and were replaced while we still thought we had the job by a telemarketing firm. Deciding that we’d been had, we submitted a bill that was never paid.
That being said, this story is not about any personal dispute with the association and its members, but what the association’s cave-in to the Toronto left will do to the rank and file.
As if the union’s making nice to Mayor David Miller-led leftist politics isn’t bad enough, it gets worse, much worse.
Word has it that anti-police activist Zanana Akande will replace Toronto police services board chair Al Heisey. The board is also taking on a new member in the person of "also-ran", failed Toronto mayoral candidate Barbara Hall.
Pressure from the anti-police left has become all but routine on the police forces of North American cities across the continent. If there is no left-wing agenda at work, then how is it that so many forces are being tarred with the same racial profiling brush?
But as far as Toronto politics and the police are concerned, you don’t have to go to Denmark to smell something fishy.
When association President Rick McIntosh, was criminally charged under the police act, stepped down, vice president Al Olsen seemed to disappear from association ranks. Andrew Clarke, who also recently stepped down (though not because of any charges), was association spokesperson.
Oddly, Olsen was never to be heard from again until he suddenly resurfaced yesterday.
"We’re convinced the vast majority of the people of Toronto agree with the decision made by the police services board to close the book on the Fantino era and move forward," Olsen said in yesterday’s written statement.
The vast majority of people in Toronto are pro Julian Fantino. Has Olsen fallen victim to polls by telemarketing?
"We also believe they are sick and tired of those who choose to `play politics’ with the lives of the men and women of the Toronto Police Service by trying to manufacture a `power struggle’ between the mayor and the chief of police when none exists," said big Al.
Hey, Al, the enemy here is the mayor not the chief, remember?
Fishy too, how the association announcement came just as what the Toronto Star calls "a coalition of right-wing councillors" was set to take their "Keep the Chief" campaign to city council later today. The group was to present a petition in favour of keeping Fantino in his job along with motions urging the services board to reverse its decision to fire Fantino.
The union’s dramatic turnabout won’t stop coalition leader Coun. George Mammoliti, who says Torontonians have made it clear that they feel safer with Fantino at the helm.
"I’m not surprised the association has taken this stand," Mammoliti said.
Truth is, no one who knows the association would be surprised.
Long before TFP’s ill-fated adventure on the Tour of Duty, I became a friend with a character called Craig Bromell, the association president replaced by McIntosh.
The association seems to have lost its moral compass dating from the day Bro left.
A diamond in the rough, Bro stood up to the Toronto Star, put the rank and file first, and never worried about losing any popularity contests, no matter how tough the going.
In and out of the police association building in those days, I noticed something. Every time association members, other than Bro, were sitting around in the restaurant serving the building, they were backbiting against the chief. They called him, "Julie" and there was no affection in their use of the nickname. As they were under pressure from the Star and anti-police councillors like Jack Layton, Olivia Chow and Pam McConnell even back then, I came away thinking that association types had never heard of the maxim "United we stand, divided we fall."
Toronto needs the straight shooting, hard-working Julian Fantino more than ever.
Coun. George Mammoliti is right and the only way you can help him is by adding your name to his Keep the Chief online petition, listed here.
As of yesterday, it was a pig’s fly kind of scenario for our socialist-driven city.
Meanwhile, it’s mysterious why the association suddenly caved in to take on a Brutus role. But there’s one thing for certain in this latest political ploy. It’s an unsolved mystery destined to be solved as soon as word of the political payoff starts to leak out.
Canada Free Press founding editor Most recent by Judi McLeod is an award-winning journalist with 30 years experience in the print media. Her work has appeared on Newsmax.com, Drudge Report, Foxnews.com, Glenn Beck. Judi can be reached at: judi@canadafreepress.com
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