There are just simply too many things that have happened in the past week that have dissed me off to list in just one column here, but I'll do my best to list some of worst offenders.
After much thought, I want to share with you the fact that a few years back I buried my beloved brother Richard, a young, (40s), good hearted and intelligent man who suffered the ravages of many years of alcohol and drug abuse. He probably spent the equivalent of a couple of year's time in rehab centers trying to kick his demons with ultimately no success.
Over the past decade, I have traveled with George Chuvalo as he delivers his powerful message against drug abuse to the kids and teenagers across Canada. No one knows the tragedy of drug abuse better than George, who lost his three sons to heroin addiction and his wife Lynn to suicide, two days after the funeral of their second son, George Lee in 1993. It is with this experience in hand that I hold city of Toronto officials responsible for their misguided initiative called The Works, which is run by the Toronto Public Health Dept where the city supplies safer crack kits to street level addicts.
Much of street level crime originates in drug use and the police have publicly stated that the running of such a program, which began in 2005, has not shown any reduction of usage and or crime from such.
Even the United Nations Drug Review Board has condemned this initiative and called on Toronto to end the practice. It’s time to get real help for these poor people not slap on a band-aid solution that does not really solve either theirs or the taxpayer's problems.
The bottom line is that even though they are attempting to deal with this serious problem with the best of intentions, the workers that supply these safe kits to addicts are almost just as responsible for their tragic situations as the scumbag dealers that sell them the drugs.
How dumb are Toronto Mayor David Miller and his Council cohorts that are demanding an apology from Etobicoke Councilman Rob Ford for a statement he made at a meeting about the hard working ethics of Oriental people in the Toronto area? Could you imagine the stupidity of these local leaders of the politically correct that are putting down Ford for literally stating a fact that the Asian people are among the hardest working in the world today. You would be extremely hard pressed to find any on the welfare rolls and they take incredible pride on their self-sufficiency and work ethic. My advice to those sadly misguided morons taking offense to Ford’s statements: Why don't you listen to the Oriental community’s reaction to the controversy and their positive support of the situation and give your heads a shake and go back to your difficult responsibility on how to further destroy our once world class city with your wasteful spending and brain numbing politics? Way to go Rob Ford, we need a lot more of your type to keep these idiots on their toes and thumbs up to the truly hard working Oriental people, whose work ethics, success and benevolent social programs should be a blueprint for all ethnic groups living in this diverse city.
Shame on the Toronto Catholic School Board for even suggesting spending almost two hundred thousand dollars for a special by-election to replace pink slipped, disgraced Christine Nunziata who was shown the door only last month for "missing four board meetings".
Forget about the new election, appoint someone until the next one from the pool of those who ran and use the money for its true purpose, to help the school kids who attend the Catholic schools and not wasting it on your own political mess. One suggestion if an investigation does confirm the allegations of rampant misuse of spending by Nunziata, what steps will the Board take in retrieving the funds from such? I, for one, will keep a sharp eye on the situation and am awaiting any recommendations that would come from such an investigation of such blatant and shameful spending practices. As a practicing Catholic who spent most of his youth in the Separate School system, I am ashamed by the completely ugly mess and urge the board to do the right thing, and not let it happen again.
Spent a great day last Thursday with my pal George Chuvalo at West View Collegiate while the entire day was filmed by a crack ESPN crew for an upcoming documentary on the tragic but triumphant life of the long time Canadian boxing legend. The anti-drug presentation by Chuvalo was inspiring to all there and I wanted to thank George and the crew for inviting me to be part of the amazing day. Speaking of Chuvalo, just a little note to Prime Minister Harper or Ontario Premier McGuinty, open your eyes and look at the incredible benefits that appointing George as the official Canadian Ambassador against drugs would bring all of the country, and especially the youth in these troubled times when drug use and the related crime rates of such are at a record high. It really is a no-brainer and a perfect fit for all.
