Are flags flying at half-mast in your community?
They were in High Prairie in front of Town Hall last week. Why?
Well, without any ado, the Town office decided those who fought in The Battle of Vimy Ridge in World War I should be commemorated. The battle itself took place from April 9-12, in 1917. According to Wikipedia, 75,000 to 80,000 Canadians fought at the battle. The entire force involved in the battle was about 170,000 men, 97,184 of whom were Canadian. They achieved a “stunning victory” according to Wikipedia.
For those interested in knowing more, Wikipedia has an excellent article on the Battle. There are also other reports online from The Canadian Encyclopedia and others.
Do not forget (how could you?) the Peace River and High Prairie trade shows are both happening this coming weekend.
Both should be good shows. If the Edmonton Sportsman Show attendance is any indication, such shows are getting bigger and bigger as business recovers (still) from the impact of Covid and its restrictions a few years back.
Sports events are also big events in communities which hold them.
The huge Treaty 8 Hockey Tournament was held again in Slave Lake. This year, 39 teams from throughout the Treaty 8 region took part in the four-day event.
This pretty well makes the tournament the biggest sports event in Slave Lake and a great boost for local businesses there.
Across Canada, non-professional sports events like this bring tourist dollars to communities, which often take turns being hosts.
Nobody called in to report that geese and ducks are returning from their winter layovers in warmer climates.
The Page had to learn about the return by taking its usual walk. And lo and behold, there were two ducks happily splishing and splashing in the only quiet, open water we could see.
And just as the two ducks took off to get away from this intruder, we heard the honking of a dozen huge geese sitting on land a few hundred feet away. Well, gosh!
Are these guys early? Late? Or right on time?
Further to our editorial this week, and ongoing news reports, here is a sample of the kind of things that start so-called Code of Conduct investigations, or Integrity Commissioner reports as they are called in Ontario.
This one is quoted from a news report last year in a town in that province:
“I’m not sure even where to begin after that,” Fisher (the accused) said after listening to Swayze (the investigator) deliver his integrity commissioner’s report, for which he billed the township a little more than 109 hours of work, or approximately $30,000. “Mr. Swayze, I have to say, you have done a huge and costly disservice to this council and, in fact, I’m going to say, to myself.
“This entire report, although you say that no actual rule in the code (of conduct) has been contravened, I find this to be two-and-a-half pages of, I’ll call it slander against myself, and I think it’s full of falsehoods,” the councillor added. “To allow your office to be weaponized against a councillor like myself, doing my job, I’m amazed that you would do that.”
The news report on the matter also said Deputy Mayor George Cabral said the report lacked the substance he was expecting. He said the document was far short of what other integrity commissioner reports he’s read contained and he was concerned about the process Swayze took to reach his conclusion.
Cabral noted a previous township integrity commissioner investigated “a fairly minor, suggested code of conduct breach” and that report was voluminous, with details on the investigation, who was spoken to and what came of those discussions.
“I just find it a little bit lacking that, no offense, but 109.5 hours and it appears, if I look at this correctly, that you spoke with maybe three or four people,” Cabral said.
Cabral said Swayze did not contact him regarding the allegation against Coughlin, and that surprised him.
“There was no outreach, there was no verification of facts, there was no speaking to other people that were involved in those specific incidents, at least that I’m aware of Mr. Swayze,” Cabral said. “I do struggle with your report and, I would have to say, I struggle with your analysis of all of them and I do believe you do this council a disservice.”
According to the same news report, this whole thing started when Councillor Fisher claimed a fellow councillor attended a conference a day earlier than the conference, with his wife and billed the Town for expenses. Fisher says he had heard this from a “source” he refused to identify.
A demand for an apology from Fisher was refused by him. He said it was not framed as an apology, but as an admission he was deliberately and knowingly spreading rumours and attacking the fellow councillor.
Yup, we are all one happy family at each of our local councils for the most part. Until some of us aren’t. Then every kind of knife comes out.