Does every story have a scapegoat?
And another
Ohhh … The jokes on whom or who?
No joke … When something is broken you should expect to get your money back. Broken systems … might they be another GAI fund source?
Talking about GAI-funding, maybe there are a few dollars to be traded for favours somewhere else, like
There is another Department that seems to have a few wrinkles. Otherwise why did René Racine, Jacqueline Richard, Jean-Claude Turcotte, Renato Giuseppe Bosisio, Lucien Larré, Frank Chauvin, Camille Limoges and Bernard Norman Barwin all quit The Order of Canada
Then there was the other group … People whose names were announced in the Gazette … Not much of an explanation just a brief announcement attached to a name.
Alan Eagleson, David Ahenakew, T. Sher Singh, Stephen Fonyo Jr., Garth Drabinsky and Conrad Black. What about them?
And the latest! It is not certain to which group he belongs, whether booted out or voluntarily resigned but there are rumours about a friend of the New Brunswick Irvings. Rumours … News … Hard to know where to draw the line these days.
So … What they giveth … They can taketh away …
Unlike the Variety International Humanitarian Award.
And who are They?
Why were they given the medal? Who nominated them? Why were they stripped of their honours? Was history rewritten?
T. Sher Singh in 2002
David Ahenakew date unknown
Steve Fonyo date unknown, Steve Fonyo in 2010
If these guys were judged to be so bad that they were eligible for the public mockery that must have followed their losing the medals … Well one might wonder if the medals might just be flowing too freely in the first place.
Do you suppose we are just a little too desperate for heroes in Canada?
How can a person suddenly be a Canadian hero and just as quickly unheroed? Kind of makes you wonder, doesn’t it? What is a hero? Is a hero some super fund-raiser? Is it always about money and power? Ever wonder exactly what all those Order of Canada recipients did to become official Canadian heroes?
If you are a hero do you think maybe you need an agency to make certain that your hero-image never gets tarnished? Maybe what you do is create a non-profit foundation around your name and you’ll never have to worry because you have people like lawyers and accountants and maybe even a PR department to look after the details. That takes savvy and polish and you really cannot do it alone. You need a team working with you. Was that what happened to Steve Fonyo? Was he alone after his father died? Did this teenager not have a team to help him get through what must have been a really tough time? And what about the recipients of the millions of dollars he raised? Were they there when he needed help?
And where were all those other Order of Canada heroes when a few of their brothers ran into difficulties? Were any of these heroes there to lend an ear or a kind heart? Did any of them speak out publically in support of Steve Fonyo, Conrad Black, David Ahenakew, T. Sher Singh, Alan Eagleson, Garth Drabinsky or the lastest person to be stripped of his medal?
Did anyone speak for T. Sher Singh?
Did anyone speak for Steve Fonyo
?
Did anyone speak for Garth Drabinsky?
Again Granny asks the question … Did anyone speak for Garth Drabinsky?
Did anyone speak up for Conrad Black?
And again Granny asks whether anyone spoke up for Conrad Black …
“Convicted fraudster”? To some perhaps. Hmmm maybe CBC could use a wee bit of tightening up, huh? Best not say too much just yet … As I was saying … Convicted fraudster to CBC perhaps … Granny considers Lord Black a hero … Well all that he has endured is more than any sane man should be expected to tolerate.
Not Conrad Black again! Does this guy not know when to quit? Now that is what Granny really likes in a Canadian hero!
Lord Black is definitely Granny’s hero.
If they did not offer support then none of the other members of the Order of Canada are heroes to this Canadian Granny.
So what say we just shut down all Governmental Canadian admiration societies and free up the cash for the GAI-fund.
Oh and all those returned medals! How about an auction with proceeds going to the GAI-fund.
Hmm … Don’t see any fallen women named.
Then there are all the hidden cookie-jars. If the grannies could only work together and help find these cookie jars …
Guess what! Maybe there would be enough spare change to plump up our GAI-fund.
Granny doesn’t even pretend to understand all the fine points of collecting taxes needed to build the GAI-fund, you understand. She is happy to leave that to experts.
Granny just heard about the upcoming FatCat Conference! Toronto is one of her favourite cities. Suppose the new Premier of Ontario will be there? Maybe she would like Granny’s GAI-fund idea enough to … Well we’ll just see. Even a politician deserves a basic income … As does everyone else, Granny figures.
And in the end … Whether we spend our lives dodging taxes, amassing fortunes or struggling to survive a system we cannot understand … All that’s left is some hope that we reach that end with our dignity intact and at least a fair recognition for what we have done over a lifetime.
Heard there is an award being given for volunteers in Canadian communities … Thought about it … Thought long and hard … So who would I nominate in my community … Only one I could think of … An amazing woman … A veteran … Actually I have known … well perhaps not known well … but known of … maybe even met … or read about … or seen the significant actions they have performed in their community, holding themselves above the dirt most of us wallow through … so of quite a few amazing women veterans in Canada there is one I would have liked to nominate in my own community … But I will do no such thing. Why? Because the … Hmmmm … Is that what government calles rules of engagement do you suppose? … Make the rules so long and complicated that only those who never bother to read the rules will actually apply?
maggiequinn 