Pubdate: Thu, 17 Jan 2002
Source: Beacon Herald, The (CN ON)
Copyright: 2002 Beacon Herald
Contact:  http://www.stratfordbeaconherald.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1459

MAYOR MEL DOES IT AGAIN

Well, Mayor Mel's at it again.

Rarely does he make headlines for something innovative or worthwhile he's 
doing for the City of Toronto. Mostly it is because of some gaffe he's made 
on the public stage.

The welcoming hand Mayor Mel Lastman extended last weekend to a Hells 
Angels biker at a downtown Toronto hotel was at the same time a slap in the 
face to his constituents and a sucker punch to the city's police force.

Would a principal invite a drug dealer into his schoolyard with open arms? 
Even if the drug dealer promised to buy new playground equipment? No.

So the bikers came to Toronto on their best behaviour for a weekend. What 
about the other 363 days of the year.

Drugs. Prostitution. Extortion. Murder. That's their business. The Hells 
Angels is one of the most notorious organized crime operations in the 
country. They're to be feared and reviled.

But in Toronto they're given instant legitimacy, made to seem like nice 
guys, by the mayor as he mugs for the media. What a public relations coup, 
and all it cost the Angels was a T-shirt.

Even more galling is Mr. Lastman's failure to admit he made a mistake. In 
his backpedalling, he claims he was "naive" and didn't fully understand the 
Angels' involvement in the drug trade.

"I don't know who the hell the Hells Angels are, but evidently they know 
me, or know of me," the mayor said after a meeting Monday with frustrated 
Toronto police Chief Julian Fantino.

Come on Mel. Who over the age of 10 doesn't know what the Hells Angels are 
all about?

Pitifully simple or callously arrogant, we wonder what Toronto voters were 
thinking electing him to a second term. One of the largest cities in North 
America deserves better and should demand it.
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MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart