Voicing Opinion on Scouts Canada Official Face Book Page

Including that $11 million that had been set aside for confidentiality agreements?

I would love to see your references for that statement please.

I heard the multi-million figure on the radio and am having a hard time finding it online. WE do know, however, that each disclosure settlement set Scouts Canada back about $200 000 http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2011/10/23/scouts-canada-settlements-secrecy.html

Sc has done nothing but hurt itself by being so secretive from the beginning. In terms of openess on public forums, I'm sure a browsing parent would be pleased to see that many leaders share their concerns.

A trustworthy source for any facts would be preferred. That is certainly not one there.

Didn't you state earlier that one should keep their political stance out of scouts? Your political stance has been a nonstop flurry of unproven accusatory rants against the CBC since the story broke.

Yes, I'm not happy with the way the CBC reported the story, but I hardly think they're lying. Simply lashing out at "the media" and adopting a garrison mentality won't solve any of the problems we now face, as unpalatable as they might be.

In terms of openess, the original point of this thread; if I were a browsing parent or prospective parent and came across nothing but "everything is fine" messages, I would honestly get a little worried. People like to know what the rank-and file think. A little disgareement makes things far more genuine.

I heard the multi-million figure on the radio and am having a hard time finding it online. WE do know, however, that each disclosure settlement set Scouts Canada back about $200 000 http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2011/10/23/scouts-canada-settlements-secrecy.html

Sc has done nothing but hurt itself by being so secretive from the beginning. In terms of openess on public forums, I'm sure a browsing parent would be pleased to see that many leaders share their concerns.

HOW do WE KNOW
Because the CBC say so; I don't think so. The CBC has babbled a lot of things, but ewxcept for old cows being dragged out of the ditches, nothing recent and NO FACTS about the money. So my Scouting Brother, stop perpetuating BULL SHIT unless YOU have the FACTS and can reference them.

John I wish you all the best in your extremely public event this afternoon. I hope it is an excellent fund-raiser to go with the awesome newspaper headline your group got last Monday.

But please... if some loony left-wing-nut pea-brain like "da blogger" shows up and starts filming you and hollering a bunch of all-encompassing accusations at you and our national organization.... please try to respond in a way that defends us.

As far as I can determine so far, the eleven million fund is our self insurance for just such cases. If i remember correctly we went with self insurance because the cost via an insurance company would have raised the cost of the insurance portion of our registration fee by a prohibitive amount. It is not a "shush" fund, but an insurance fund. Insurance company monies would have been subject to the same confidentiality clauses.

Was the CBC a bullshit source when it broke the sponsorship scandal?

The fact of the matter is that people are bound to communicate their discontent on facebook when they feel their concerns not being addressed. While I personally would not hop on SC's facebook page and make comments about their lack of openess, I can see why some do.

The best way to curb people being openly disgruntled is to be honest and hear out their concerns. The fact that this has not really happened indicates to me that we're being far more protective of the organisation than the ideas it represents. It was, I think a mistake to pursue confidentality agreements. A grievous wrong had been committed and this information should have been passed on to the police.

Hunkering down and building trenches will get us nowhere. While it might feel secure, we're asking for an envelopment. The fact that Sc has made great pains to have a high presence on social media sites such as facebook means that this sort of criticism cannot be simply wished away. A policy of open engagement with both members and the general public would have been the best way to contain much of the criticism.

Also, there's really no need to get worried about CBC commentors. Trolls will be trolls, and they come in all stripes. All are equally silly.

Rakelak, thanks, the Halloween Howl went very well, free of loonies from either end of the political spectrum. The trail was more of a scout activity, but the rovers assisted as well.

Glad it was a success John. A lot to compete with on a Saturday.... and you beat the bad weather curse too.