People and Politics

L ast week I discussed some of the great things that a council can do to make a town a better place to live. However, there also needs to be a sense of realism about what a council cannot do.

T he Town of Pelham has a new Town Council. This is the time when members of council feel pride at having been elected, and hope for all the great achievements that a new council will accomplish.

W e just finished voting in the provincial election in June, and now we are facing municipal elections on October 24. It seems a bit early to be making the plea that people like me frequently do about “be sure to vote.

V oting is very important, but making the decision about who to vote for can be difficult. There is a great deal of information floating around out there and you seldom find a party or candidate whose views are exactly in line with your own.

EDITOR'S NOTE Earlier this month, the Voice invited a selection of elected officials, community members and our own writers to contribute their thoughts about yet another unparalleled year coming to a close.

A s the election campaign heats up, there are now many issues on the table. This is why I suggested earlier that you should choose an issue that was important to you and focus on that issue. It makes it easier to cut through all the verbiage.

I n my previous column, I suggested that you participate in the ongoing federal election campaign by choosing an issue that you feel is important and following how the parties are dealing with that issue.

H ow-to” books are now all the rage. When I read the book, How to Watch a Movie, it changed the way I did something that I had been doing without much thought for years.

P remier Ford has drawn a great deal of criticism and some support for invoking the seldom-used notwithstanding clause in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. This article discusses the issues at play in this controversy in two steps.

S ection 2 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms says that everyone has “freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression, including freedom of the press and other media of communication.