Keep the little brats off the streets until they're 17.

Keith Hobbs comes out of the gate quickly with the announcement that he will be pushing for a curfew for kids out past midnight. I am more than a little disappointed to hear this.

He argues that youth who are out will either be victims or accused. I would add "except those who aren't". Much like adults who are out at night will either be victims, or accused, or not. The Chronicle quotes him as saying that there is "no viable excuse, reasonable excuse" for youth to be on the streets at night. What viable excuse does an adult have to be out? What excuse more than "I want to be" should be necessary.

Thunder Bay has a crime problem, some of this crime is caused by youth. Restricting the movements of an entire demographic is a blunt tool to tackle this issue, like driving a nail with a bulldozer. It may be effective, but at what cost?

My formative years involved a lot of roaming the streets at all hours with my friends, talking, dreaming, and creating visions of the world we wanted to see happen. When the city sleeps there is an inspirational air, especially for kids.

At best, this will be a tool for police to shoo kids home who they see to be a problem. If someone is performing an illegal act, then let the police respond. If someone may potentially perform an illegal act, then we must as a society give them the benefit of the doubt. Demographic profiling is not an acceptable prevention strategy.

I strongly urge Mr. Hobbs to reconsider this strategy. I also encourage the rest of council to educate themselves on this issue before it comes to debate. Remember that many of those who are affected by this will be of voting age by the next municipal election, and this sort of insult will not be easily forgotten.

At the next council meeting, they will decide if they should live stream City Council meetings on the Internet.

I believe this is an essential element to the transparency and accountability. Not only can people watch the meetings, but will be able to search archived videos based upon subject, meaning that interested parties can view subjects of interest to them without having to sit through the entire (interminable) meeting.

If you support this, please take the time to contact your councillor and ask them to approve the initiative.

*EDIT*
The initiative was approved, I look forward to seeing it implemented.

City Committees

Though I am not siting on City Council, I am committed to getting more involved in the workings of the city which I feel are important.

Further to this, I am putting my name forward for the Public Library Board and the Earthwise Advisory Committee.

If you're interested in supporting my bid for these positions, you may send a letter of recommendation to:

The Office of the City Clerk
City of Thunder Bay
500 Donald St. E.
Thunder Bay, Ontario
P7E 5V3

Thank you again for your support.