Is Half A Story Better Than None

It appears now that Windsorites were NOT told everything that was known when the Mayor released the so-called damaging MoE memo that made the headlines in the Star:

• "Mayor Eddie Francis released a copy of the memo Monday.
  
  The memo was obtained by the city's border lawyer David Estrin."

However, the issue is not clear-cut about what the Mayor knew and when. That is why I called for an immediate investigation under Council's auspices in this matter the other day.

Please read this email that was sent to Councillors and other community stakeholders by an Ontario Government Official "to ensure they know 'the rest of the story.'" Note the emphasized portion of the email.

• "Subject: DRIC/ WStar story
  
  Today's story was disingenuous at best.
  
  DRIC learned of the MoE memo a few weeks ago and immediately contacted Moe to learn more about their concerns. It was immediately obvious that the majority of criticisms could be answered from any number of the 63 reports that comprise the DRIC submission, if only they had dug deeper. DRIC was also able to verify that there were no mistakes in their calculations nor were the models incorrect. I have attached the complete point by point response for your review.
  
  But this is the usual and normal process...they (M0E) ask questions and for clarifications, and DRIC responds. To be fair the entire document is more than 1300 pages and very complex.
  
  The disingenuous part is that the document obtained by Estrin was accompanied by our detailed response and rebuttal. To not acknowledge that point, or to release one document in the absence of the other, is inappropriate and misleading.
  
  I remain available for any further questions you may have."

Either the Mayor knew about the DRIC response or he did not. Whether he had an actual copy of the DRIC response is irrelevant

If the Mayor was aware of the DRIC response when he released the MoE memo, then the only conclusion I can arrive at is that he chose NOT to provide relevant information to the public. He wanted us NOT to have all relevant information so that we could not make an informed decision.

If that is the truth, then Council has no choice but to censure him! He may also want to consider whether he should apologize as well at the next Council meeting to his colleagues and to the public.

If he did not have this information, it could only be because the City's lawyer David Estrin did not provide this information to him. If he did not do so, then the question needs to be asked why not?

If he did not do so for whatever reason, our Mayor was made to look like a fool and made it appear as if he misled the public. More importantly, the public was led to believe an important fact that was not true.

Council has no choice in this situation but to consider whether he should continue to act for the City.

As I said before, the Mayor's so-called justification is ridiculous:

• "Mayor Eddie Francis said it is not the city's job to put forth DRIC's positions.
  
  "It's not the City of Windsor's job to do DRIC's job," said Francis."

No one asks the Mayor to do DRIC's work. We do expect however to be able to trust our Mayor to give us the truth and not only part of the story, the part that is advantageous to his position.

In case some have forgotten, there is a court oath about:

• "truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth"

In the Court of public opinion, the obligation is the same!

PS. As a paying Star subscriber and as a reader, I am still waiting to hear from the Star Publisher, Jim Venney, about the Star's role too.