I gave a presentation to the Emergency & Community Services Committee at City Hall this afternoon, regarding the Citys Zero Tolerance for Violence policy for Recreation Centres. Some context: In February, a local journalist was assaulted by Councillor Lloyd Ferguson in a public area of City Hall. Two-and-a-half months have passed since the incident, and the City has taken no action whatsoever. I asked the committee whether they think this would be the case if the situation were reversed: if a citizen grabbed and pushed a councillor, would there be no consequences? If a staffer pushed a councillor, would they come back to work the next day as if nothing happened? I pointed out to councillors that in the Rec Centres they oversee, the consequences for this incident would be a minimum two-month suspension from recreation facilities, as well as a two year prohibition from holding positions within the Citys affiliated sport community. I asked them to consider one of two options- scrapping the Zero Tolerance policy altogether (following council’s best practices) or enacting a Zero Tolerance policy for council itself, so there’s a clear policy should another incident take place. If we expect this much from children, we can expect this much from councillors. The Committee decided to simply receive the presentation, and did not discuss either option. The takeaway: the current acting policy of the City of Hamilton is that Councillors may openly assault citizens and there will be no consequences whatsoever. Shame on Council for upholding this ridiculous double standard.
Posted on: Mon, 12 May 2014 18:45:26 +0000
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