The ridiculous fine of $28,870.50 levied against Nova Scotia resident Jeff Evely is a classic example of officialdom hard at work.
The Cambridge English Dictionary defines ‘officialdom’ as a noun referring to “the people who have a position of authority, especially in government, often when they are preventing or slowing you from doing something.”
In this case, officialdom is preventing people from taking a walk in the woods on their own property – revealing officialdom to be official dumb. Perusing a handful of on-line dictionaries, the word ‘dumb’ is described as: “lacking the power of speech; used of animals and inanimate objects; lacking intelligence or good judgment; stupid; dull-witted.”
All of these terms seem to apply to the likes of Newfoundland’s premier John Hogan and New Brunswick’s premier Tim Houston whose continually changing justifications for the draconian fines and penalties border on the insane:
“How would you like to be stuck in the woods while there’s a fire burning around you?”
“Be smart. Be human. Don’t vote for loopholes.”
“An out of control forest fire is a terrifying thing.”
“Wild fires like this were not contemplated when the legislation was drafted.”
“It is appropriate to increase fines a significant amount to punish individuals when they break regulations.”
It is simply not possible to apply any of these rationalizations as a legitimate reason to fine a private property owner for walking into the woods on his/her own property. To call this irrational is an understatement.
“These laws and penalties have several factors as to why they arrive at where they are,” announces officialdom. The irony in this statement is that it is those very ‘several factors’ that Canada’s officialdom is trying to “cover up” in the words of Jeff Evely.
Those factors can best be described in a single word: incompetence. The degree of incompetence and ineptness demonstrated by officialdom in its fire fighting responsibilities on crown lands is beyond comprehension.
Thanks to principled activists like Jeff Evely, these truths are being exposed, as are those in officialdom who should be held accountable for covering up their incompetence.
Jeff’s very disciplined act of civil disobedience has not only brought this issue to the world’s attention, he has given others an example of how to fight the tyranny in their own communities in a way that’s Just Right.
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