Recently a news source, REBEL NEWS, wrote a piece claiming censorship of the City of Pickering. This is a rebuttal of that “news story.”
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Is the City of Pickering located in the Dominion of Canada — or the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea?
It’s hard to tell these days, really.
Check out these examples of censorship measures adopted by this council claiming to being done in the name of regulation and efficiency:
- delegation times have been slashed from 10 minutes to five minutes;
- there is no longer a question-and-answer period;
- media outlets have to be “approved” by two-thirds of the council in order for the journalist to cover the meeting;
- recording meetings on cell phones is now prohibited;
- allegations that the live feed of council meetings is allegedly being manipulated and censored.
Durham Regional Police Service enforces the city council’s regulations.
The case of Councillor Lisa Robinson is an especially troubling case that is the background to this REBEL NEWS piece where it points out that the ‘regulation’ being imposed is an infringement of democracy and limitation of free speech.
This is not a case of a plea on behalf of Councillor Robinson. That is another matter, dealt with on this elsewhere on this website.
The City Council and Mayor Ashe need a better way to deal with the difficulties presented by Councillor Robinson, better ways than:
- cutting off her microphone at council meetings;
- docking her months salary;
This editorial was inspired by claims made by REBEL NEWS, a new news source which seems more interested in muckraking than in news publications. News is not opinion or commentary. Editorializing is the appropriate way to comment and express opinions about the news. A disturbing trend in today’s new publication seems to be news organization adhere to the philosophy that they are new sources. Therefore they can comment on the news. No, that is not news broadcasting.
In the old days, commentary was the purview of EDITORIALS and Letters to the Editor. Today, it has been modified to where it claims to be NEWS BROADCASTING. It is not news broadcasting. It is opinion and commentary. Opinion has no right to stake a claim on FACT. It is not! It is not news! It is opinion, subjective, personal, biased and prejudiced.
Rebel News writes about the threat to democracy with this Robinson story. Democracy is threatened when the majority is quashed, forbidden from discussion and not permitted to voice their views. Democracy also means that once all parties have been given a reasonable opportunity to express their views, there is a vote on the issue and the majority rules. Some may have issues with the outcome, but that is how democracies work. We have not found a better political system. A better system may not exist. But it is what we have, and if you believe in democracy, you abide by its outcomes, not denigrate it, reject it, or revolt against it as former US president T**** did on Jan 6th, 2020. He disagreed with the democratic outcome of an election and incited insurrection to overturn the peaceful turnover of power. “Kill Mike Pence!” was a rallying cry.
Mayor Ashe and the Council are not anti-democracy; they are pro-meeting efficiency. Robinson has had her opportunity to speak. More rebuttal on her part is not improving productivity, nor is it reasonable. It is recalcitrance and rebellion.
Let democracy, with its related freedoms, prevail. But remember, pragmatism and common sense must limit and regulate unbridled discussion and commentary. Lisa Robinson is now considering running for mayor in the next municipal election — she has that right. However, criticizing the City Council as dictatorial and censoring without an appropriate contextual explanation is wrong. That violates free speech and democratic principles.
Put all this to bed. Let’s move on with practical, proper municipal business.
