Roses and Thorns: Of service and expenses
It is not a choice to be called a refugee, but it’s our choice to be a productive person and to choose a good path to move forward.
ROSE: To late NRP officer William George (Sandi) Harrison, who died suddenly last week. Harrison was a Ridgeway resident who began his policing career with the City of Welland police service on Nov. 21, 1968, and then joined the Niagara Regional Police. “As you know, Sandi was in his 50th year of policing, having served as a Niagara Regional Police officer with pride. We will miss his fearless dedication and his commitment to the community,” said NRP Chief Bryan MacCulloch. Harrison, who was 70 at the time of his death and had continued serving at the Welland courthouse, entered policing because he wanted to make a difference. Harrison did that in Niagara and the region’s residents have been the beneficiaries of his dedication.
THORN: Grimsby Regional Coun. Tony Quirk, for apparently lacking a sense of irony. At the March 1 meeting of regional council, Quirk, during a discussion about the Region’s proposed media policy, described council as the wronged party in the Dec. 7 incident in which Standard reporter Bill Sawchuk’s laptop computer and notes were seized. Quirk twice said councillors shouldn’t prejudge the case until an investigation by the Ontario Ombudsman’s office is completed. He then went on to render judgment by saying the Region did nothing wrong during the incident. Hmmm …
ROSE: To Rana Bshara, who was named international woman of the year by the Welland Heritage Council and Multcultural Centre during its 14th annual International Women’s Day event this past week. Bshara, her husband Antoun Maalouf and their two children came to Niagara in 2016, fleeing from their wartorn home in Syria. Since arriving in Canada, she has learned English and within two months of moving to Welland, got a job as an assistant educator at a Frenchlanguage daycare. “Women are women everywhere,” said Bshara during the award ceremony. “It is not a choice to be called a refugee, but it’s our choice to be a productive person and to choose a good path to move forward.”
THORN: To St. Catharines Regional Coun. Andy Petrowski, for the dubious honour of having incurred the largest expense claim among regional councillors in 2017. Petrowski’s expenses totalled a whopping $72,449.31, a rather incredible figure which leaves one even more incredulous when considering Petrowski also was on leave from his council duties for close to three months and has yet to return from a leave he began on Dec. 7, 2017. With his remuneration as a councillor added in, he cost taxpayers over $122,000 last year. Of the expense claims, $3,508.86 was for mileage, leaving $66,297.22 in a category listed as “other.” Petrowski’s expense claim begs the question: What did taxpayers get for their money?
ROSE: The St. Catharines fire department and its firefighters, who are stepping up to the front line in the opioid crisis. Members of all four firefighting platoons received training this week on how to administer naloxone, a drug that has the potential to save the lives of hundreds, if not thousands, of Niagara residents from overdosing on substances such as fentanyl. Niagara EMS Chief Kevin Smith reports paramedics were called to 185 overdoses in St. Catharines last year. The city’s fire department responds to, on average, 70 overdose calls per year. “There’s a feeling of helplessness if you’re on the front line and you’re responding and you know there’s something that’s available but you don’t have access to it and that may have been able to make a difference,” said acting Fire Chief Jeff McCormick.