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© 1 OPINION S WM EDITORIAL Milton Canadian Champion | Thursday, September 20, WILL WE WITHSTAND FORD'S NOTWITHSTANDING CLAUSE USE? Regardless of where you live and how you identify politically, Premier Doug Ford's decision to ram through his plan to slash Toronto council from 47 wards to 25 via section 33 of Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms should trouble you. While the so-called notwithstanding clause has been invoked by other provinces in the past -- twice by Saskatchewan and numerous times by Quebec -- it A . has never been used in Ontario. And that's not a bad - thing given that the purpose of section 33 is to allow Parliament or a provincial government to override certain sections of the charter, specifically sections 2 (fandamental freedoms) and 7 through 15 (legal and equality rights) inclusively, to further its legislative agenda. Since the ruling by Superior Court Justice Edward Belobaba that struck down Ford's council-cutting leg- islation, on the grounds it violated the rights to free- dom of expression for election candidates and voters under section 2b of the charter, the matter has become the subject of some debate. Former PC premier Bill Davis has come out against using the clause, as has former prime minister Brian . Mulroney, who happens to be the father of Ford's at- insidehalton.com torney general, York-Simcoe MPP Caroline Mulroney. The list of supporters of Ford using the clause include former Saskatchewan premier Brad Wall and former B.C. premier Christy Clark. That said, there's no disputing Ford has the legal right to use the notwithstanding clause, just as no one can argue the province doesn't have the authority to pass whatever laws it wants in relation to munici- palities. Belobaba himself acknowledges this in his ruling, but he also takes considerable issue with the fact the changes were imposed during an election campaign already underway. & By now, we know the premier is fond of throwing the word democracy around, but between suspending charter rights to get his way and the scene that un- folded in the public gallery at Queen's Park last week, where some protesters were led out in handcuffs, our nascent PC government looks an awful lot like some- thing else. . Ford also likes to imply he has carte blanche owing: to the fact that 2.3 million voters supported his party, and yet this ignores the fact over 3.3 million people voted for somebody else. Ultimately, what makes this whole episode so wor- rying is that Ford has indicated he would have no qualms with using the notwithstanding clause again. It begs the question: if he's willing tosignore some of our rights for the sake of a relatively trivial goal such as this, what's the next issue that will lead him to con- clude the charter is nothing more than an impediment to his belligerent will? 7 T0 LEARN HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR OWN CONTENT VISIT INSIDEHALTON.COM | CHAMPION TRACKS Sims family photo Julie Anne, Erica and Travis Sims take in the beauty that is Lake Louise, Alberta with a copy of their favourite community newspaper. Going away? Pack a copy of the Champion in your suitcase, snap a creative photo and email your Champion Tracks submission to " cohara@metroland.com. Please include everyone's name and destination information. LOOK, LISTEN, LEARN THERE ARE BASIC BUT ESSENTIAL STEPS TO PREVENT FIRE, SAYS CHIEF Pa DAVE PRATT Column IR Fire Prevention Week was established to com- memorate the Great Chi- cago Fire, the tragic and devastating fire in 1871 that killed more than 250 people, left 100,000 people homeless, destroyed more than 17,400 structures and burned more than 2,000 acres. The fire erupted on Oct. 8, but continued into Oct. 9,1871, which is when it did most of its damage. Devastating fires such as this are not unique to the United States. In July 1916, the Mathe- son Fire in Black River-Ir- oquois Falls, Ontario de- stroyed 49 towns, killed more than 244 people and burned more than 200,000 hectares of land. This tragedy also led to the cre- ation of legislation now called the Forest Fires Prevention Act. Most recently, the 2016 Fort McMurray wildfire forced more than 85,000 residents from their homes, representing the largest wildfire evacua- tion in Alberta and also the costliest disaster in Canadian history - to the tune of $4 billion. Fire Prevention Week is Oct. 7 to 13 and this year's theme is "Look. Lis- ten. Learn. Be aware. Fire can happen anywhere." History can teach us to . better understand fire and how to reduce the likeli- hood of one starting. I want to remind you of three basic but essential steps to prevent fire and howto escape safely in the event of one: 1. "Look" for places fire could start. Take a good look around your home. Identify potential fire haz- ards and take care of them. 2. "Listen" for the sound of the spoke alarm. You could have only min- utes to escape safely once the smoke alarm sounds. Go to your outside meet- ing place, which should be a safe distance from the home and where everyone should know to meet. 3. "Learn" two ways out of every room and make sure all doors and windows leading outside open easily and are free of clutter. The Milton Fire De- partment invites resi- dents to attend our open house on Saturday, Oct. 13 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. to learn about fire preven- tion and how our fire- fighters help the Town of Milton. There will also be live demonstrations, ap- paratus displays and sta- tion tours for the whole family. Dave Pratt is chief of the Milton Fire Depart- ment. ---- TOM Champion. | ABOUT US | This newspaper, published every Thursday, is a division of the Metroland Media Group Lid. a wholly-owned subsidiary of Torstar Corporation. The Metroland family of newspapers is comprised of more than 80 community publications across Ontario This newspaper is a member of the National NewsMedia Council. Complainants are urged to bring their concems to the attention of the news- paper and, if not satisfied, write The National News Media Council, Suite 200, 890 Yonge St., Toronto, ON M4W 2H2. Phone: 416-340-1981 Web: www.mediacouncil.ca nnc 2ocna ria Council editor@miltoncanadianchampion.com MiltonCanadianChampion @Milton_Champion WHO WE ARE VP, Regional Publisher Kelly Montague Regional Managing Editor Catherine O'Hara Reglonal Manager Digital Content Karen Miceli Director Distribution Charlene Hall Circulation Manager Kim Mossman Director of Proguction Mark Dills Regional Production Manager Manny Garcia Reglonal General Manager Steve Foreman a Halton Media General Manager Vicki Dillane Regional Director of Media Holly Chriss CONTACT US Milton Canadian Champion "901 Guelph Line Burlington, ON L7R 3N8 Phone: 289-293-0615 Classifieds: 1-800-263-6480 Digital/Flyer/ Retail: 289-293-0624 Letters to the editor All letters must be fewer than 200 words and include your name and telephone number . "for verification purposes. We reserve the right to edit, con- dense or reject letters. Delivery For all delivery inquiries, please e-mail kmossman@metroland.com or call 905-631-6095. 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