This is in response to the VP of Ross Glen Elementary School facing pedophile charges. Like many of you I am a parent of young children, and the very thought of a predator or child abuser in our midst causes a very visceral reaction in me. Is there a more primal and innate instinct in people than to product your own children?

Yet I am challenged by these recent events to examine what I intellectually know to be right. I do not know Gregory Fritzke. I have never met him. I am not involved with his criminal investigation – all I know is the information that has been released to the public about the charges he faces.
I am concerned though that with this particular crime, much more so than even murder there is a stigma and punishment placed on the accused regardless of their guilt.

Consider the discussion going on facebook:

And not to single this individual out specifically – for there are many comments in our community who’s views can be summed up by this:

“Obviously they have enough evidence on a three month ongoing investigation to arrest him. What does that tell you. He is completely guilty. Its disgusting”

I understand where that thinking comes from – but as thinking and rational people I want to challenge us to consider the following.

The Police have screwed this up before: (CBC News)

In one recent example, Toronto police held a news conference as part of Operation Snowball, a Canada-wide investigation into child pornography on the internet. At the April 16, 2003 conference, they announced the arrest of five men accused of using their credit cards to buy child porn. A warrant had been issued for the arrest of a sixth suspect.

The names and ages of all the suspects were released to the media, who turned out in droves for the announcement.

For one of the men named that day, the arrest and public naming and shaming sent him into a tailspin. Although the charges against him were eventually withdrawn, he never recovered from the stigma of being associated with such a despicable crime.

He lost his job, his friends, his reputation – and eventually his will to live.

This particular case involved thousands of suspects from all over the world. Police investigators claimed to have a “smoking gun” to prove guilt. A website was selling child pornography and the police had seized the database with over 8000 credit card numbers.

They named names, they ruined careers and reputations.

Turns out most of those credit card numbers were stolen, and the accused were victims of identity theft. 34 of those accused who turned out to be innocent in the UK have committed suicide.
Being arrested and charged with a crime is MILES away from being proven guilty. In the case of pedophile charges especially the crime is so evil and disgusting that the stain of accusation can never wash off.

Nobody would defend pedophilia or the criminals who abuse children - yet this is exactly why we live by the rule of law. Why the accused are given their day in court. I don’t know if Greg Fritzke is guilty or innocent …All I know is that being charged doesn’t make him guilty, and as a community we should be mindful of the importance of due process. Without it our system of justice holds no justice at all.

But on April 16, 2003, Toronto police named James LeCraw as one of six men charged as a result of Operation Snowball, a Canada-wide investigation into child pornography on the internet. James was charged with using his credit card to download child pornography.

After further investigation, the charges against him were eventually withdrawn, as they were against two other men named that day. A fourth man named was never even charged.

James’s family believes the charges against him were withdrawn because he was completely innocent. But for James it was too late. He never recovered from the stigma of being associated with child porn.
In debt and depressed, 51-year-old James LeCraw killed himself on July 19, 2004.

His family holds the police accountable for his suicide. They considered filing a lawsuit, but decided against it because of the cost to the family - both emotionally and financially

That was the gist of the E&Y study recommendations that city hall spent $250,000 on. I have to say I agree with many of the points in the presentation. The E&Y presentation was actually well laid out in a logical series of conclusions….such as

Oil and Gas industry will be much riskier in the future than it has been in the past…

As we use up the gas supply that we own - it is non renewable, and the replacement costs to acquire more gas fields are not cheap and the production declines could be steep if not managed properly…

That the subsidy for utilities is very high and not easily transparent – which understates the overall value of the asset. (Interesting comment to explore another day …so I wrote it down)…

That the gas company in order to be successful must be managed better and be better technically as gas is harder to get…

The current management structure will not work to exploit the resource in the future – a change in governance is required – and they recommend something that medhatblog discussed in the last election – the formation of a proper utility board staffed with qualified people to run a gas company for the tax payers - instead of having the gas company report to council who change positions very frequently and often have no expertise in running and O&G company.

They also discussed the formation of a “Heritage Fund” type concept for the city.

So to summarize …keep the Utility, separate it from city departments and run it as a separate private company (Like ENMAX in Calgary) and have it governed by a committee, appointed by council, with qualified individuals.

Council did not debate the issue or comment on their views, instead they are waiting for public input on the decision before they bring the recommendations to council.

For my view this is the obvious best choice for how to manage the oil and gas heritage that we inherited from past generations – fixing the management problem seems like a no brainer and keeping the Gas advantage for the people and the local economy is just good business.

It is interesting to note – that while the Medicine Hat Gas Utility lost 8 million dollars due to non payment of gas sold to a US based company back in August…that the study that clearly investigated current management practices was not charged with reporting on any billing or collection practices in light of the 8 million dollar loss. If it was unavoidable as the mayor reported to the people at the time …why wouldn’t you seek some legitimacy to that position through this study?

It is nice to see the council invite debate and discussion on such an important topic. We look forward to the full study to be made public in the near future.

Its all over the news right now.  What can I say but, sick!

Kim just sent me the Chat Video

[youtube]http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=sJjwO1aWjTE[/youtube]

From the Lounge:

Jan 19/09 - A disturbing twist in the case of a Medicine Hat man charged in a child pornography investigation.  Medicine Hat School District #76 Superintendent Linda Rossler confirms Gregory Fritzke was most recently the vice principal at Ross Glen Elementary School.  Fritzke, 43, is facing counts of accessing and distributing child pornography.  Rossler says Fritzke hasn’t been on the job in nearly two months.  Inspector Glen Motz says it appears no children from Medicine Hat were the subject of the images, but the investigation is continuing.  It was launched as part of a much larger sting based out of Ottawa and the United States.  Fritzke has been released on bail and a number of strict conditions, including having no computer or internet access and not being allowed to be in places where children under the age of 18 frequent, such as playgrounds among others.  He has also been forced to hand in his passport to authorities and will have to allow police search homes on request.  He’s due back in court February 12th.

Apparently Homeland Security was involved.  was he traveling?

More info and some blurry pictures at CTV Calgary
(Thanks Kim)

City Hall met in closed today to discuss the Oil and Natural Gas Review from consultants Ernst and Young. Kudo’s to the Lounge FM for having the first source of information I could find online for this topic early this morning…

12/09 - The fate of Medicine Hat’s hand in the natural gas industry could soon be before city council’s eyes. The highly-anticipated Ernst & Young report, which is expected to outline the path the city should take with its utility, is slated to go before a closed-door meeting Monday. Alderman Robert Dumanowski says it could mean staying the course or changing direction all-together. He calls it the “biggest report ever done on the city’s gas utility” as it could pave the way for how the city does business for years and generations to come. Dumanowski also says its not a matter of whether to stay in or to get out, as he says Ernst & Young will provide the details on a number of possibilities as well as their recommendations. He says it will be up to council at that point whether to support the recommendations or not.

This is a very big news item, and without a doubt the future management of Medicine Hat’s utility would be the most important civic issue to face our community since the 1930’s. Our city with just over 60,000 residents wont face many city issues that climb into the “billions of dollars” range

This city council was elected with much attention focused on the issue of transparency and good government. Thinking back to 2008 the events center committee was planning to meet in closed and then changed their minds 45 mins before the presentation and decided to allow the public access. This time the city made good on their intentions to meet in closed. In and of itself meeting in closed might well be appropriate. The city has an obligation to safeguard certain information if it is deemed private, and so long as no decisions are made in their closed meeting, and the information is presented to the public where full examination and debate can occur then we have democracy.

That said, it is important that a balance be maintained with regards to the public’s right to know. It is crucial for the citizens and media in a democracy to have access to the aspects of the study that makes recommendations regarding our city utility, and the supporting information that helped form those conclusions.

It is up to us citizens to read that information carefully, find out if all the concerns of the public were considered and analyzed.

Third party studies are not gospel, and they deserve serious scrutiny. Remember at one time the city paid good money for 2 separate studies on the feasibility of a new events center – neither one of those studies considered or recommended Box Springs Business Park or Landsdowne the final 2 sites considered by council… or the P3 funding model being investigated.

As citizens we deserve to know WHAT recommendations were made to council, and WHY those recommendations were made.

LATE BREAKING

City of Medicine Hat is promising a look at the Ernst and Young study in open council this Monday. I guess we will see on Monday the details and recommendations of the study - I am hopeful of some transparency on this very important issue.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
JANUARY 12, 2009

Council Presented With Review of Oil, Natural Gas Production

Medicine Hat – City Council today received a confidential strategic
review report on its oil and natural gas production business from
consultants Ernst & Young.

Council hired Ernst & Young in 2008 to address the following key
questions as part of an independent assessment:
What is the value of the oil and natural gas assets held by the
City?
● What strategic options are available to the City to maximize the
value of those assets?
● What are the risks – quantitative and qualitative – associated
with each strategic option?
● What are the implications associated with each strategic option –
for both ongoing management of the business and governance of the
business?
● What should the City do with respect to its oil and natural gas
business?

The report, which includes recommendations, will be presented to the
public at the Jan. 19 Open City Council meeting.

For further information, please contact:

Mayor Norm Boucher

City of Medicine Hat
403.529.8181

Jody Lamb
Corporate Communications Manager
City of Medicine Hat
403.502.8071