I am writing this on Canada Day, a day to celebrate a supposedly “glorious and free” country (even though in many quarters of the woke left it is increasingly frowned upon), where our elected officials from the highest level of the land, the Parliament of Canada, to the smallest villages and municipalities are expected to uphold our fundamental freedoms as spelled out in our Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the supreme law of the land. Which brings to mind the presentation on April 27th, now over two months ago, of a framed copy of Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms to Mayor Genung, as a gift to the Town of Cochrane and not a personal gift to him, with the expressed expectation that it will be mounted in the Council Chambers.
As reported in a previous blog, “Town of Cochrane Gifted a Framed Charter of Rights and Freedoms”, the mayor obligingly accepted the gift to the Town with a huge smile on his face (see photo in the previous blog post). However, since then the whereabouts of the framed Charter is not known as to where it has been stowed away. His office? A storage room?
Even more frustrating is the extreme silence from the mayor and the rest of the Town Council, when I have subsequently queried them as to the status of placing the framed Charter in the Council Chambers.
For example, on May 10, 2022, in an email, “Display the Charter”, I wrote the following to the Mayor and Council:
In the recent report, “Framed Charter of Rights presented to town”, by Cochrane Now about our gifting of a framed copy of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms to the Town of Cochrane, I was surprized and disappointed to learn that after nearly two weeks since we met with you in your office on April 27 that you haven’t “decided where the framed charter of rights will be displayed”.
Hopefully, the Mayer and Council will respect our wishes to have the framed Charter, placed in the Council Chambers preferentially below the photo of Queen Elizabeth II our head of state, as a reminder that the actions taken, where our entire Town Council is collected together, should be guided by the Charter, the supreme law of the land.
In response, crickets!
Having exhausted my patience (which is generally relatively short) waiting for a response from the Town Council I sent another email, “What Happened to the Framed Copy of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms Gifted to the Town?” to the mayor and town council on June 14th:
As reported at my blog site Dog With A Bone, on April 27th, now almost 2 months ago, Deborah Murphy and I had a brief meeting with Mayor Genung to present a framed-copy of Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedom as a gift to the Town of Cochrane, not a gift to the Mayor, with the expressed expectation that it will be mounted in the Council Chambers. As well the Mayor was given a letter addressed to Cochrane’s Mayor and Council, from the Right Honorable Brian Peckford, former Premier of Newfoundland and last surviving first minister involved in drafting the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the supreme law of the land.
According to a Cochrane Now May 8, 2022 report on our visit to your office at the Ranche House on April 27th, “As of yet, Mayor Genung says he hasn’t decided where the framed charter of rights will be displayed”. Incredible and I would suggest disrespectful that nearly two months have passed, and the Mayor and Council are still twiddling their thumbs on this matter. One can’t help but conclude how little importance you attach to this matter. In that regard, I had further confirmation of your apparent disinterest from listening to the Mayor’s Report at the conclusion of the two Town Council Meetings following our April 27th meeting with the Mayor, namely, on May 9, 2022 and May 24, 2022.
Telling and very disappointing Mayor Genung that there was no reference in your two Mayor’s reports as to the Town receiving a framed copy of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms as a gift and the Mayor and Council receiving a letter from the Right Honorable Brian Peckford. One would hope that the letter from the Right Honorable Brian Peckford would be part of the public record and accompany the minutes. Otherwise, will it be deposited in the Mayor’s waste basket given the way matters have unfolded? One wonders if the letter, addressed to the Mayor and Council, was even been distributed to the members of Council.
I last brought this matter to your attention in an email, “Display the Charter”, on May 10th in which I concluded, “Hopefully, the Mayor and Council will respect our expressed wishes to have the framed Charter, placed in the Council Chambers, preferentially below the photo of Queen Elizabeth II our head of state, as a reminder that the actions taken where our entire seven elected members of Town Council are collected together, should be guided by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the supreme law of the land”.
It would be appreciated not to have this matter continue to be ignored by the Mayor and Council and hopefully brought to a positive resolution.
Once more, my request to the mayor and Town council for an explanation as to the status of the framed Charter has fallen on deaf ears. This stonewalling and disrespectful behaviour on their part is especially disconcerting. It seems like around municipal election time they are more forthcoming. One is inclined to conclude that their shameful unwillingness to weigh in and declare themselves on this matter, speaks volumes about their regard for the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Meanwhile, after more than two months, still waiting.