I must admit I’m pretty highly tuned up when it comes to abuse of authority and I do see issues where others see “solutions” but the latest media release from Metro Toronto Police causes me to pause.

Seems statistics released by the police yesterday suggests that crime at schools that have a “school resource officer” has dropped 23.1% last year. The “statistic” was gleamed from replies to 12,000 surveys distributed in October 2008 and again in May filled out by students who reported feeling safer in their schools.

Let me put it to you this way: If we cut the hands off a student who was found guilty of widespread thefts from lockers would it be likely that students would report that theft from lockers was down 100 per cent and they felt safer?

Or put it another way: Erect a wall (Berlin? Israel? Mexico border?) and let’s keep the “others” out so we can feel safer. These initiatives simply don’t work and do nothing to improve safety but do support the “need” for more a larger police budget so we can all feel better.

So be careful when you use statistics in your speeches. Almost all use of statistics to “prove” anything are suspect and often are simply propaganda.

Today 60 police are interviewing everyone of the 1,800 students at Toronto’s Forest Hills Secondary School in an effort to discover more information about the case of Mariam Makhniashvili who was last seen at 8:30 a.m. on Sept. 14 when she just vanished at the doorway to her new school.

This mass interviewing of every student bothers me in some vague way.

Is it okay to subject students to this unusual, perhaps unprecedented, process? Can a student decide not to participate without drawing undue police attention to themselves? Doubtful in my opinion. Are parents being asked to give their approval first? Don’t think so. Is this an abuse of process? Of course, the case is a compelling one. A young girl has gone missing. Her family is distraught. She was last seen in the company of her brother. No doubt he’s been the subject of many an interview.

But what if the case was less compelling? What if police were asking every student whether or not they knew of anyone who had used drugs or sold drugs. Every interview would be recorded and every student’s statement would be subjected to review. What if a student decided they did not want to participate in the process. What if they told a lie which was subsequently discovered at a later date. Would they face obstruction of justice charges?

The mass interviewing of every student echos back to cases where all the men in a certain community were asked to submit DNA samples to allow police to eliminate them from suspicion.

I don’t like it. I don’t trust it. I want the mystery of this young woman’s disappearance to be solved hopefully in a happy way but this process is flawed. Would every person on Bay Street submit to a police inquiry about what did they know about illegal behaviour of staff in their companies leading to the stock market crash?

Leadership is an elusive quality possessed by few. But one person who rose to a potential disaster and adverted a panic was Mississauga Mayor Hazel McCallion. McCallion was the face of authority and calm during the Mississauga Train Derailment which happened 30 years ago. The derailment of Canadian Pacific Train 54 resulted in the emergency evacuation of more than 200,000 people. I know. I was there covering the event for my newspaper. It was one of the biggest stories of my career.

But why was it McCallion who was in front of the cameras instead of Roy McMurty, who was the provincial minister responsible for emergency planning? McMurty, much to his displeasure, was pushed aside by McCallion who is quoted in an article in today’s National Post as saying at the time: “I’ve got to appeal to my people as their leader.”

So what did McCallion do as a leader? She was the face of reason and calm. She put herself at the center of the action and was photographed at the scene of the accident early and often. She worked the telephones. She talked to “her people.” She allowed the provincial management team to work out the details and she allowed her police chief Doug Burrows and her fire chief Gord Bentley to run the day-to-day operations while she became the visible, energetic leader and official spokesperson.

She was smart enough to kept the media fed and was always available with a quick quote. She took on the federal government’s lack of emergency planning and made it clear that this was an opportunity for the feds to redeem themselves. And she did that in front of the cameras. But she was cagey in her promises.  If her officials said it would be 24 hours before there was some change she’d announce that it would be 48 hours. People trusted (and obeyed) McCallion so much that in hindsight it appears that many of “her orders” had no force of law behind them. She ignored governmental jurisdictional boundaries and rode roughshod over competing voices.  In other words, she was winging it.

And how has history treated McCallion? The people of Mississauga never forgot what she did for them and they have voted her into office for the last 31 years as a result. McCallion is a fine example of how to rise to the heights of leadership during a crisis.

Here’s a link to the story in today’s National Post.

“It is like a light shining in her.”

That’s what the Globe and Mail says of Bridgett Zehr Canada’s newest principal dancer. So what’s this got to do with speaking?

Well not much but I’m still feeling like crap (Day 6) after getting my H1Ni flu shot (no fever, no stuff dripping out of my head, so not likely the flu but glands up like walnuts) and I’m still not up to doing much more than read the newspaper and sip my morning coffee. So I’m finishing off the Globe when I come across this photo of this very beautiful but very muscular young woman and wouldn’t be a male of the species if I didn’t read further. (Used to read the articles in Playboy magazine too.)

Anyway like all dancers Ms Zehr has had her share of serious injuries. So during one recent recovery session she took the time to improve her health by reading Vancouver-based spiritual leader Echart Tolle. Tolle is very popular in the men’s groups I’ve been a part of and I highly recommend first reading The Power of Now and then follow it up with A New Earth.

So what’s this got to do with speaking? Well: Everything.

You see speaking is all about doing your best. It’s about having something to say. It’s also about practice, practice, practice until you’ve taken your craft to new heights. Since I don’t get to my Toastmasters International meeting (First Oakville Toastmasters) too often, when I do show up I get to hear the tremendous improvement that some of our members have accomplished over the months.

And what about Tolle? If you’re not sure where you’re going in life; If you’ve lost the focus and drive of Bridgett Zehr; If the light isn’t shining in you, then go spend some time with Tolle.

One of the great dangers facing any society is its ability to act freely and legally in defence of its members and their property. Free speech is based on this premise. We all have the right to say whatever it is we wish to say with the sole exceptions of inciting hatred or yelling “fire” in a crowded theatre.

Same goes for the defence of property. Case in point is the Toronto Chinatown storekeeper who upon seeing a person he believes to be a thief lawfully (IMHO) used appropriate force and detention and confinement for only so long as it took the police to arrive. And yet, this storekeeper found himself the subject of charges of kidnapping, forceable confinement and possession of a dangerous weapon (a box cutter which is standard equipment for store keepers). This is a travesty.

Canadians among other civilized nations have long recognized the ability of a citizen to  make an arrest in a situation where there is reasonable and probably grounds to believe someone has committed an indictable offence. (BTW according to new reports this entire sorry episode was captured on surveillance video. The suspect seems to have a previous record of such illegal behaviour.)

So what went wrong in this case? I believe the police and the crown attorney have made the simple mistake of believing they are above the law. Worse, and I hope this isn’t true, is they see themselves as a law unto themselves. In other words, if you need policing services you can’t act but must wait until the constabulary arrives. The problem, especially in Chinatown, is the police often don’t arrive at all.

The concept of citizen’s arrest goes back to medieval England when the sheriffs encourage citizens to make their own arrests. This is part of the concept of “community policing” which has been a buzz word in the policing community for the last decade. Seems it might need some dusting off in this case.

Sheela Basrur, who died last year from cancer, was Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health but her chief claim to fame came during the 2003 SARS outbreak. At that time Sheela was Toronto’s first medical officer of health for the newly amalgamated GTA. It was her voice we heard day after day on radio and TV. She was calm and knowledgeable and reassuring and the public listened to her every word.

This was in contrast to the official spokespeople who were speaking on behalf of the provincial government. Their messages were confused, contradictory and upsetting. It soon became apparent that it was Sheela Basrur who was if not officially at least tactically in charge of the medical response.

Sheela understood the basics of public speaking. She knew that it was her job to get out in front of the news. Sheela understood the basics of mass communications during a time a crisis which are tell the truth, tell it as often as possible, repeat the message, repeat the message, repeat the message. And do this without every succumbing to fatigue or frustration. Answer every stupid question that you’ve heard 100 times before as if it’s the first time you’ve heard it.

So have we learned these lessons? So far, during the current H1N1 outbreak I’m not so impressed.

Now I realize the deaths this week of two young healthy people has super-fueled the anxiety of families with young children. Line ups at health clinics are hours long. This morning some people began lining up as early as 4:30am for a 10am clinic. Yesterday clinics closed almost as soon as they opened as the lineups were so long. There’s talk of running out of the vaccine. Police have been dispatched to attempt crowd control. For the most part once you do arrive it seems most clinic setups are chaotic at best. And then you get to stand in huge crowds of upset parents, whiny children and old folks who can’t stand for hours in line.

And then we have our provincial government official spokespeople who sound apprehensive, defensive and unsure of what’s going to happen next. Their on-the-air interviews on radio are less than impressive or helpful.

If I was the PR guy on this one I’d collect all of the radio interviews that Sheela Basrur did during the SARS crisis. I’d lock all of the official government spokespeople in a room and play these tapes over and over again until they figured out how she managed to avert a panic by the force of her simple words of reassurance and calm.

Upon the formation of the Ontario Agency for Health Protection and Promotion on March 8, 2008, it was named the Sheela Basrur Centre. The following month she was inducted into the Order of Ontario for public service. She died on June 2, 2008 and the province of Ontario is much the poorer for it.

So why did I call Deborah Bartucci an old dog? Well it’s  not my fault. That’s what she said about herself. Read all about it here on the First Oakville Toastmasters’ new blog posting put up by our own Deborah Bartucci who is one of the most seasoned Toastmasters around. Anyway I won’t spoil the suspense. Head on over to the First Oakville Toastmaster blog to see what Deborah has to say.

My friend Owen Williams is at it again. This time he’s helping out a group called BoystoMen program which helps mentor boys into their adult life. Wish somebody had done this for me when I was growing up in my alcoholic home. Of course if it wasn’t for Dad’s drinking and my reacting I’d never have gone to Al-Anon or joined the men’s program in Toronto or met Owen or sent this email So it all has meaning and purpose.

Owen is one of Canada’s best relationship coaches (and he runs one hell of men’s group too. I was blessed to have started my journey in men’s groups with Owen and recently I spend two years of Thursday nights sharing a men’s circle with him.

Now he’s donating the profits from his new book The Relationship Revolution (which I bought a copy) and can highly recommend to you all. And this goes especially to you folks who are struggling with your relationships. You know who you are and I’m urging you to do yourself a favour as well as Boys to Men and order Owen’s book today. It’s cheaper than two-yeas of counselling and quicker too.

Tell you what: Anyone who wants help with their relationship coaching can call me and we’ll donate my regular fees for four hours of coaching (at $75 an hour) directly to Owen this month (October). Just send me an e-mail at solutionfocus@gmail.com for details and we’ll arrange a free first consultation.

Mitch Joel, author of Six Degrees of Pixelation, is one of the social media gurus out there but that didn’t stop him from doing a great interview with The Globe and Mail today. I’m reading Six Degrees right now in preparation for a workshop I’m giving next week on social media to the United Way agencies of Oakville. Mitch has written an important book about social media. He’s kept it simple and writes very clearly. This is the book you want your clients to read as they consider whether or not to enter the world of social media. Congratulations Mitch and keep up the good work. (Too bad the G&M didn’t create a link to this article which is on page E5 Small Business.

I don’t recommend too many career coaches (aside from career coaching is similar to the type of coaching*) I do on occasion) but I can recommend Melissa Martin.

So why Melissa? First of all she’s one smart coach. Second: she’s one nice human being. Third: she’s had a lot of experience working with the military and civilians out in Kingston. Fourth: I spent a lot of time with Melissa as we both went to the Solution-Focus Counselling program at the University of Toronto and I grew to appreciate her deep insights into the art of coaching and her compassion for the wellbeing of her clients.

Now Melissa is just a telephone call away. Her new web site “Career Coaching by Phone” is a great place to check-out Melissa.

I’m a firm believer that we have to do it ourselves (get work for example) but you can’t do it alone. If you’re sitting at home wondering what to do next, why not give Melissa a call? That BTW is a solution-focus coaching tip. If what you’re doing isn’t working — then do something (anything will do) else.

* I still offer solution-focused coaching to selected clients who have tried everything else. Solution-focused coaching works regardless of circumstances and resources. There’s no trick to it. It’s hard work but it works every time with everyone who commits to making it work whether or not they even believe it possible. Solution-focus coaching builds on what is working right now and what is possible in the present moment. After all, right now is the only moment we truly have. So go call Melissa – right now