Sir: There are several sad aspects to this recent debacle caused by the thoughtless outburst in the legislature by our MPP, Rick Nicholls, but space will compel me to focus on only one. Mr. Nicholls has obviously lost track of his sense of place and purpose.
Whilst in the legislature and in his public pronouncements, he is the representative of all the constituents of Chatham-Kent Essex and not representing his personal interests. The forum in which to display his ignorance and repudiation of the science of the millennia is in the private company of his friends, or from the pulpit of his church. In the legislature, he is to speak with our voice and not his own, and he seems to have willfully forgotten this basic principle underlying our democratic structure.
In a time when we struggle to attract fresh, educated, young talent to our community, it is embarrassing and disheartening to have our elected representative expose himself in all his medieval absolutism. We didn’t need this kind of press. Since Mr. Nicholls has displayed an inability to separate his public and personal personas, I feel that it is incumbent on him to step aside as our MPP. He has done us a great disservice, so I must ask him to please go and shame us no more.
Geoff Hall
Chatham
