Laying blame where it belongs

It’s important to remember who starts the violence

Let’s be clear: We’re not necessarily saying it’s a good idea to point fingers and blame others for things. But sometimes as a society we’re so concerned about being fair that we don’t place responsibility where it belongs. And in the case of women who are abused by a man who is supposed to love and care for them, that responsibility is too often misplaced.

Kawartha Lakes mayor Andy Letham got it right in a recent statement to national media. He was talking about the terrible events in November 2020 that resulted in the death of a one-year-old boy, and, later, his father after shots were fired in a confrontation between police and the man on Pigeon Lake Road northeast of Lindsay.

Who is responsible for the baby’s death? As Letham pointed out, the tragedy started with the boy’s father. The child lost his life as a “direct result of decisions his father made that day,” Letham told CP24 and The Globe and Mail.

The little boy was with his mother, who lived in Trent Lakes near Bobcaygeon. The father abducted the child and drove off, leaving the mother to take another child to safety at a neighbour’s house.

Had the father not wrenched the child from his home, had he not felt it was his right to take the child, none of what followed would have happened. There would be no devastated mother and family, no small coffin.

That’s not to say that the police investigation isn’t important, and that the OPP’s Special Investigations Unit shouldn’t establish what happened in order to help the police learn from it. But Mayor Letham was right. We need to remember who started this horrific chain of events, and why he felt he had the right to do what he did, no matter who it hurt.

Our heartfelt condolences are with the little boy’s family.

By Nancy Payne