Nov. 11, 2005
Councillor Rick Chiarelli
Anti-hypocrisy's biggest hypocrisy?
By Mike Christie
Councillor Peggy Feltmate should not feel "awful" for voting against a phoney plebiscite. The 11 councillors who voted against a ban on cosmetic use of pesticides are the ones who should feel awful for failing to protect our children's health.
A municipal plebiscite or referendum is only valid if 50 per cent of the eligible voters actually vote. When was the last time that happened in Ottawa? Those most affected -- the unborn, the children and the pets -- can't vote in a referendum. A pesticide referendum is nothing more than a political copout by phoney councillors.
Councillor Rick Chiarelli's failed pitch for a pesticide referendum might have succeeded if he added an anti-hypocrisy clause, similar to the one he proposed in November, 2004. (background: here)
The anti-hypocrisy clause would expose councillors who agreed in 2002 to adopt a pesticide bylaw in 2005 if reduction targets were not met but reneged on their promise. An anti-hypocrisy clause would also expose councillors who claim they care about our children, but rejected CHEO's call for a pesticide bylaw. Rick Chiarelli consistantly failed to protect our children by not voting for a pesticide bylaw on Oct. 26 and Nov. 9, 2005.
Additional information:
Who are the hypocrisy councillors? To find out, click here 
.
What is a plebiscite?
In Wikipedia (the free online encyclopedia) they state that a plebiscite is often used to describe a direct vote held by a dictator or an undemocratic regime! Thankfully, council sensibly shot down Rick's plebiscite motion.
Wikipedia's Definition of "Plebiscite":
The terms referendum and plebiscite are often used interchangeably but the term plebiscite is usually preferred in circumstance in which a decision is being made on fundamental issues of sovereignty, such as in determining national borders or adopting a new constitution.
Plebiscite is also often the term used to describe a direct vote held by a dictator or an undemocratic regime, in circumstances in which a free and fair vote is impossible. Plebiscites held by undemocratic governments may request approval for a radical governmental decree, or of the general policies of the government. The term referendum is usually preferred to describe routine votes held in liberal democracies. Thus the direct vote that adopted the constitution of the modern Republic of Ireland is referred to as a 'plebiscite' while every subsequent such direct vote has been described as a 'referendum'.
Referendums and referenda are both commonly used as plurals of referendum. However the use of referenda is deprecated by the Oxford English Dictionary which advises that:
Referendums is logically preferable as a plural form meaning ballots on one issue (as a Latin gerund, referendum has no plural).
The Latin plural gerundive referenda, meaning things to be referred, necessarily connotes a plurality of issues.
Source: Wikipedia
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