Rhino's Ramblings - Ready Or Not

By Robert Thomas Opinion/Commentary

“Why didn’t you stay in the hospital?” it’s a question I have heard the past week from friends not just in Moose Jaw but literally half a world away.

It’s a very hard but at the same time simple question to answer.

In reality I had to go home to look after Katie the Wondercat as I never thought they would want to keep me for a few days.

The hospital is all jammed up due to COVID – 19 restrictions and in reality I had no idea they would be admitting anyone unless you are literally on death's doorstep.

So with that said I returned home as I have things to do.

And yes it is true I have a specialist telling me to stay out of stress and take life easy until probably August. Shut down and write again in a few months. Sort of a Sapient Minnow way of doing things.

Sorry it is something not likely to happen.

I am likely to slow down what I do cover over the next little while but at the same time with the election coming I’m also planning to slowly ramp up.

It’s like I told a friend back in late March, at a time when we had no idea where COVID – 19 was going, immunocompromised or not I am going out and that’s final.

You could see it all developing when I sent the message to my friend Nataly on March 21st, 2020.

I have been around far too long not to be able to predict where things were heading even a couple of weeks ahead of time.

And no I do not have a death wish but in many ways I owe it to my classmates.

Classmates who do their best to get the truth out while more often than not literally knowing some day they will start their car, be coming home late or out working and they won’t be coming home. The former Soviet Union can be a very rough place.

As I told my friends abroad way back in March if I didn’t go out there are those down at the corner of Fairford and Main who would love nothing more than to push the over-inquisitive media or let’s just say democracy aside.

Believe it or not there are in my opinion more than a few with the mentality of get things done without any “whining” from the media and the public. Move forward without being held accountable.

This for me is not democracy.

In many ways it has already happened.

They can use whatever excuse they chose to do so - whether it be the pandemic, the good of the City or my favourite it is nobody's business – to accomplish their goals.

Rat's Ass Comments

In my opinion this is probably the most arrogant comment I have personally heard in a long time and it comes from Councillor Dawn Luhning.

In documents obtained by MJ Independent through a Freedom of Information request it is in my opinion fairly obvious Councillor Luhning has lost sight of what the media's role is in a democracy.

The “I could give a rat's ass…” comment about the MJ Express in my opinion is just one of the latest outrageous outbursts from Councillor Luhning when it comes to the media. See the email below.

Another outburst which I can say for more than a few around town makes the entire Council look like they all ride to work on the same Belarusian turnip tractor.

It is for many in this community downright embarrassing.

If you are looking for irony in any of it take a look at the motto below Councillor Luhning's emails - “Service Above Self.”

But the sad thing is this is not the first time Councillor Luhning has taken a run at the local media.

She did it to some extent when it came to revelations of the improprieties going on at the Moose Jaw Cultural Centre.

Revelations this media source partially dug out through the use of FOIs.

To quickly paraphrase what happened at the Moose Jaw Cultural Centre is the former manager wrote off over $30,000 in Rubarb Productions debt without board approval.

Additionally a long time tenant owed rent virtually from day one which was hidden in the books. Debt which led to a lien against the said artist's home by the Moose Jaw Cultural Centre.

Once the board discovered what had occurred they terminated the former manager and his assistant who, due to their age, used a legal clause to obtain approximately $80,000 in severance pay.

When the public was told about the “different direction” the Cultural Centre was taking of course none of this became public and RuBarb simply secured a lease where they seemingly took over every nook and cranny of the Cultural Centre.

In the end, if you read the public filing RuBarb made to the Canada Revenue Agency, it’s pretty obvious in my opinion by not saying the truth upfront there is an additional bill of $22,336 owing to the Cultural Centre.

So if you want to add it all together the Moose Jaw Cultural Centre is out about $140,000 all on Councillor Luhning's watch.

The response from Councillor Luhning was let’s get rid of the on-line bloggers as they are a nuisance.

The said Councillor, along with Mayor Fraser Tolmie, not only tried to reign in “the bloggers” through a restrictive City of Moose Jaw media policy but also went so far as to bring it all up behind closed doors with the then called Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association.

A further probe through FOIs by this publication found out Mayor Tolmie shut down an investigative probe by the now defunct Moose Jaw Times-Herald into criminal allegations made in Germany against the main director of Canadian Protein Innovation (CPI).

You remember CPI and their proposed $80 million pea protein plant which in the end cost the taxpayers of Moose Jaw an unknown sum plus years of lost opportunity.

Something a media probe by the Moose Jaw Times-Herald may have very well nipped in the bud.

A similar situation occurred when former Times-Herald staffer Jane Gerster wanted to proceed with but was shut down with a sexual harassment story involving a former City staffer at the Kinsmen Sports Plex.

The story was never written, shut down only to re-appear years later as the Mosaic Place Scandal. Easily swept under the rug and seemingly forgotten.

A scandal in my opinion if the Times-Herald had been able to proceed never had to occur. Another issue nipped in the bud.

How do I know this? Because I have the Times-Hearld's reporters' notes and files on all sorts of issues. I’ve had them for a long time.

So if you really want to be adventurous take a look at the time line and then ask yourself what really happened at Mosaic Place? And how could someone in the City allow it to happen? Or better yet has it happened before or even again?

You might not like the answers you find.

Behind Closed Doors Debates

Executive Committee is where Council meets and discusses and hashes out the issues.

The votes in Executive Committee are, unlike Council votes, not binding.

In order for the votes to be binding they must come from Executive Committee to Council for ratification.

The space between the two meetings – Executive Committee to Council – is usually two weeks.

More than enough time for any opposition or concerns to the proposal to be heard now isn’t it? Or is it?

But here is the problem with the system.

With the transmission from SHAW cut after the Council meeting, if Executive Committee more often than not goes in-camera, nobody knows what has come out of camera and then is “publicly” voted on.

There is a note in the minutes about it, but minutes which are not publicly distributed until the Thursday or Friday just prior to the Monday evening Council meeting.

So how does a person raise their concerns on an issue if they do not know about it?

How does the media know about it if they are not allowed to be present at Council or at least the feed returns for the “public” vote?

Or what about someone who is opposed or has concerns?

They have no way to be present before Council as they are too late to get on the agenda, they cannot access the Council chambers due to COVID – 19 restrictions or they have two days (on a weekend) to summon any opposition.

This is why they need the media at all of their Council and Executive Meetings. More so during the COVID - 19 pandemic. It is not whining on the media's part - far from it.

Now here is the kicker when they go to the Committee of the Whole they ask if there are any Council members who want to bring forth any issue arising from the previous Executive Committee minutes.

If no Council member raises the issue then the issue is approved and life goes on.

Residents are none the wiser until the decision impacts them.

If you watch Council you will often hear when issues do arise and are brought back from the Executive Committee minutes the comment is “We have already discussed this.”

The statement is true but perhaps those who oppose an issue being “re-debated” at a televised Council meeting need to more correctly state “We have already debated and discussed this in-camera or behind closed doors.”

If you are going to make a public statement all I ask members of Council to at least please be accurate.

There - more often than not - has not been any public debate or discussion. It’s all been done behind closed doors.

The Way Forward

So as I told my classmates I owe this to them.

If I cannot go out and do my writing here how can I expect them to do it where the threat of violence is daily and real?

Certainly I have congestive heart failure, it’s a new normal I have to adapt to, but life goes on.

On Monday evening - unless something goes south - I plan to once again hobble back to Council.

I promise to do my best and what I can.

In the meantime I encourage people to tune in on Shaw Cable 10 or the City's web-site this coming Monday evening at 5:30 pm and help keep your local city government accountable.

Please stand by….