Gordon Prentice at Large - Politics in Newmarket
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- Written by: Gordon Prentice
America is a mafia state.
No point beating about the bush.
The graphic posted on X on 3 January 2025 by Katie Miller, wife of the Don’s consigliere, Stephen Miller, makes it clear Trump wants Greenland sooner rather than later.
Marco Rubio is scheduled to meet the Danes/Greenlanders on Wednesday (14 January) to make them an offer they can’t refuse.
But what if they say no?
How will Rubio react?
Tyranny
It is as plain as a pikestaff they don’t want to sell. The Greenlanders are content with their centuries long association with Denmark. They probably like their free healthcare from cradle to grave and don’t want to swap it for the American alternative. And they don’t want to be absorbed by a state morphing into tyranny before our very eyes.
If they call Trump’s bluff he will be upset but he has a short attention span and will be distracted by any number of other issues on his plate. The ballroom perhaps.
Over the years the United States has gobbled up millions of acres of land once in the ownership of others. There was the Louisiana purchase from France in 1803; Florida from Spain in 1819; the Gadsden Purchase from Mexico in 1853; Alaska from Russia in 1867 and the Danish West Indies (now the US Virgin Islands) in 1917. And, of course, there was a bid to buy Greenland in 1946 but that went nowhere.
But the Danes and the Greenlanders are resolute. They don’t want to sell whatever the inducements.
Trump told the New York Times that ownership of Greenland was
“psychologically important for me”.
He says the increased presence of Chinese and Russian ships near Greenland prompted him to act. The Danish political daily Politiken says there is absolutely no evidence of this.
EU Membership
I am rather taken by the suggestion from the former Vice Chancellor of Germany, Robert Habeck, that the European Union should offer EU membership to Greenland. I am not entirely sure how that would work in practice but it would certainly send all the right signals to the White House.
I have been wondering what people of Danish origin here in Newmarket feel about this. Unfortunately I don’t know where they are so I can’t have a coffee with them.
Totalitarian
Ideally, they would organise a demonstration outside, say, the Old Town Hall which featured a few years back as a Gilead fertility clinic in the Handmaid’s Tale. That would be a suitable totalitarian backdrop. I’d join them.
The last census in 2021 tells me the Town had 380 people of Danish ethnic or cultural origin. 75 had a knowledge of Danish and 40 had Danish as their mother tongue.
In my head I can hear them say:
Grønland er ikke til salg
Greenland is not for sale.
Update on 14 January 2025 from Politiken: Greenland chooses Denmark, the EU and NATO
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- Written by: Gordon Prentice
The RCMP investigation into the Ford Government’s Greenbelt scandal is now well into its third year. Why on earth is it taking so long?
On 24 October 2025, the Toronto Star’s excellent Queen's Park reporter, Robert Benzie, told us:
“…former housing minister Steve Clark, former business minister Kaleed Rasheed, and Clark’s former chief of staff, Ryan Amato — have not been interviewed by police.” (click “read more” below to read the whole piece.)
This long delay in completing the investigation suggests it is very complex. Even so, can't they get a move on?
Fading memories
With the passage of time memories fade. Other things being equal, you want to capture recollections when they are still fresh in the mind. Important details can disappear.
I compiled a timeline of the local Greenbelt controversy beginning in 2019 and running through until 5 November 2024 – over a year ago. So things are getting fuzzy round the edges even for me. And I chronicled the saga in great detail.
I was blogging about the threat to the Greenbelt over seven years ago.
Steve Clark and his reprimand
Since then we’ve had Ford’s policy reversal, the Auditor General’s report and the report of the Integrity Commissioner which admonished the Housing Minister, Steve Clark.
The motion to reprimand Clark as recommended by the Integrity Commissioner sat there on the Order Paper, month after month.
The Ford Government never brought the Commissioner’s recommendation forward for debate and a vote.
The Second Southlake
Greenbelt land on our doorstep in the Municipality of King had been floated as the possible site of a second Southlake – which was planned to be an acute hospital.
Years on, Southlake is still heroically trying to find and finalize the second site it so desperately needs.
By messing around with the Greenbelt Doug Ford and his apologists like Dawn Gallagher Murphy put back the prospect of a much needed second Southlake by years.
Update on 29 December 2025: From the Toronto Star: For one plot of land the Greenbelt scandal rages on...
Click" read more" below for Robert Benzie's article in the Toronto Star.
Read more: Whatever happened to… the RCMP investigation into the Greenbelt scandal?
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- Written by: Gordon Prentice
I believe my deputation to the Library Board last night was only the third in 11 years. I told the Board that felt like a big deal to me.
It’s not something people do every day. And I only did it because I couldn’t get a meeting with the Library Chair, Darryl Gray, to discuss with him privately my concerns about library statistics. That was eight months ago. I tried again last month to talk to him one-to-one but my emails didn’t get through.
Broken Portal
The Portal in the Library Website (which is ostensibly for the public to contact the Board) was out of commission for over two months and nobody noticed.
On 30 September 2025 the Chief Executive assured me it had been fixed and it hadn’t. My emails just disappeared into the ether. That’s the background.
I spent a lot of time putting my deputation together. The material is posted here and here.
No Ambushes
When I met my Ward Councillor, Trevor Morrison, earlier this month I stressed I had no wish to ambush the Board or its Chief Executive. So I made sure they all had the paperwork well before the meeting.
So I found it very dispiriting and a bit disheartening that after I finished speaking and invited questions from the Board they all remained silent and expressionless, like Easter Island statues, except for the Board Chair, Darryl Gray.
This is how it went:
Library Chair Darryl Gray: “Any questions from the board to the deputant on what he presented this evening? We also have a staff report that we'll be tabling in a minute for any questions of staff.
Me: “But this is the only time the Board will hear from me…. I spent quite a long time on this, and I would appreciate if anyone has any questions to ask them, and I'll do my best to field them.
No pressure, of course, but this is my chance to respond to any questions you may have."
Darryl Gray: “I have one question. I just want to clarify something. So you attest that Tracy changed the provincial definition of a library card holder.”
Me: “Yes”
Darryl Gray: “She didn't actually change the provincial definition. We're reporting a specific way to the province. And my question is this, what was the provincial response to your email about that?”
Me: “Well, the provincial response is complete gobbledegook by the civil servant, Douglas Davey. He basically said - and this is in the report that the Chief Executive has tabled - he said:
Yes, you can satisfy the active cardholder definition by using your card once in two years, but if you don't use your card, that also satisfies the provincial definition.
Now it's in the report in front of you, and that is quixotic. It is bizarre, and I'm taking it up with the province because it's complete drivel.
But we don't know from the report that the Chief Executive has tabled what the question was that led to that risible answer. We don't know the date that the Chief Executive got in touch with Douglas Davey. We don't know the context.
We've just got this bizarre statement from the civil servant that you can satisfy the provincial definition by using your (library membership) card or not using your card. And as I said, that's just risible.”
Darryl Gray: “Any other questions of the deputant? We'll have the chance to talk about the report. Thank you.”
Newmarket Today covered the story this way.