{"id":22430,"date":"2018-12-08T16:41:40","date_gmt":"2018-12-08T21:41:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=22430"},"modified":"2018-12-08T16:41:40","modified_gmt":"2018-12-08T21:41:40","slug":"brocks-banter-deeds-indeed-speak","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/brocks-banter-deeds-indeed-speak\/","title":{"rendered":"BROCK’S BANTER: Deeds Indeed Speak"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Brock Weir<\/strong><\/p>\n

It was a strange request, but we had to roll with it.
\nLittle over a year ago, I received a frantic phone call from a gentleman regarding an item that appeared in a Dufferin County newspaper I happened to be editing at the time, in addition to this one.
\nBoth the person who initially picked up the phone and I could tell immediately he was quite upset about the blurb. The only problem was I didn\u2019t personally remember putting it in the paper.
\nHe was getting married, he explained, and his in-laws-to-be were evidently doing their due diligence in learning everything they could about the gentleman their daughter or son was marrying. In the process, they apparently found something that didn\u2019t quite pass mustard and were kicking up quite a fuss about it.
\nAfter a bit of digging, we finally figured out what it was: our caller was charged with impaired driving two or three years previously and his shame was out there for all to see, particularly relatives or relatives-to-be who had the most basic understanding of how to Google a name.
\nThe fact that his name and his \u201cshame\u201d was part of the permanent record was something he had to live with \u2013 but it was a fact he only had to live with once his prospective in-laws got wind of it.
\nHe was charged with his offence while whizzing through a relatively small town on his way back to the big city where he lived, hardly paying a second thought to the ramifications of his actions in the community of just over 8,000 people.
\nHe requested that his name and offence be removed from the online edition of the newspaper; his argument being that he had paid his penance, as it were, and, in the intervening years, his lessons had been learned.
\nHe was a new man, he claimed!
\nWhether or not he was a new man was a matter between him, his spouse-to-be, and the police department of his place of residence.
\nBut if he was blowing the proverbial smoke on his change of behaviour at the time, it seemed from talking to the gentleman that he was sufficiently shaken enough by his misdeeds being online that he would think thrice about getting behind the wheel of any vehicle after having a drink.
\n\u201cNaming and shaming\u201d these impaired drivers was the standard operating procedure for this community\u2019s police department for as long was
\nI was with the paper, before migrating to another publication just to the east. In a community as small as it was, it was not universally supported. After all, chances were in a community of 8,000 people, one name of a local charged with impaired driving is likely to be known firsthand by any reader, or someone in their family at the very least. Impact was invariably swift: word spread and, before long, a transgression was the talk of the town.
\nFor people in the orbit of the offender, this was, of course, seen as a negative, but those on the outside looking in thought it had an overall positive impact on the community.
\nSo, I personally welcomed the news Monday that York Regional Police was going to follow the lead of other smaller police departments and begin naming and shaming individuals who still have not heeded the message that impaired driving might just be dangerous to themselves and those around them.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s clear that something has to change,\u201d said York Regional Police Chief Eric Jolliffe in his announcement. \u201cEffective immediately, York Regional Police will name all of the drivers charged with impaired-related criminal driving offences to further make impaired driving socially unacceptable and so that members of our community can assist with notifying police if these offenders choose to drive while under suspension. Innocent lives are put at risk every day by this irresponsible and criminal behaviour. We are not giving up.\u201d
\nThe final straw, it seems, came over the weekend when the YRP grappled with 16 individual drivers across the Region who racked up 27 individual impaired-related criminal driving charges related to alcohol and drugs.
\nTheir new policy will see them list the names of offenders every Monday, beginning with this past Monday, and the first go-round resulted in the public shaming of drivers from Aurora, East Gwillimbury, Toronto, Vaughan, Milton, Ajax, Ancaster, Georgina, Markham, Richmond Hill, and Newmarket.
\nThe fact that Chief Jolliffe had to imply in his statement that impaired driving is, in some quarters and crowds, deemed socially acceptable is disturbing in and of itself, and the surest sign that this policy is a step in the right direction. Time will tell if it ultimately proves effective in curbing the sheer volume of impaired driving charges, but it is an experiment that both long overdue and well worth having.
\nI am curious what you think about this bold approach by York Regional Police. Please send your views to brock@auroran.com.<\/p>\n

WELCOME ABOARD<\/strong>
\nAs I write this on Tuesday, the Council of 2018 \u2013 2022 is just hours away from formally taking their oath of office. This is always an exciting time for Aurora \u2013 at least for those who have a modicum of interest in civic life \u2013 as new and returning leaders set out their goals and objectives for the next four years.
\nAurora has a new Mayor in Tom Mrakas, a new Councillor in Rachel Gilliland, and a familiar returning face in John Gallo, with the balance returning incumbents.
\nIt is, in my view, an interesting mix in that the majority of Council members, given their platforms on the campaign trail seem to be largely on the same page about many of the key issues facing this town in the not-too-distant future, whether they are big ticket items like the development of Library Square and the renovations of the Aurora Armoury.
\nThat being said, however, it is clear that there will be some pockets of opposition, which is healthy in any democracy. Opposition will serve to provide varied \u2013 and vital \u2013 viewpoints around the table that should, if exercised correctly, lead to stronger, better-thought-out positions at the finish line.
\nOne can only hope that this Council does not fall into the trap that other incoming Councils here and elsewhere have fallen into: losing the momentum given to them by residents to undue decisions made by the previous administration.
\nI wish all our new representatives the best in exercising the responsibility given to them by the people of Aurora.<\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Brock Weir It was a strange request, but we had to roll with it. Little over a year ago, I received a frantic phone call from a gentleman regarding an item that appeared in a Dufferin County newspaper I happened to be editing at the time, in addition to this one. Both the person […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[29,28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22430","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-columns","category-opinion"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-5PM","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-18 10:00:25","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22430","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22430"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22430\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22430"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22430"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22430"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}