“Train wreck: (noun) A total (expletive) disaster…the kind that just makes you shake your head.”
That definition, courtesy of our friends at urbandictionary.com, pretty much sums up the political career of Coun. Brock Frost, in a nutshell.
Frost, the new Clark W. Griswold of local politics, is readying for a vacation, touring the wilds of Eastern Europe with stops in all the holiday hot spots including Estonia, Lithuania, Belarus, Latvia and (my personal favourite) Ukraine – where they just happen to be rehearsing for World War III.
Why is this news, you might ask? Typically it’s not…but Mayor Leslie O’Shaughnessy made a small splash Monday night when, without being prompted, he explained to all of us in attendance (and those watching on TV) that the embattled councillor is on leave from council business until Oct. 27.
“Health issues” was the reason given, and it was said a doctor suggested the councillor who nearly quit his post this summer needs a break.
Fair enough…stress can be a terrible thing.
But, if I’m angling for a stress-releasing vacation I usually book something on a beach, or a ship, where I can unwind. The potential for dodging artillery in Ukraine doesn’t make my list but, hey, to each his own.
Days before the mayor’s announcement Frost let everyone know via Facebook that he had, apparently, booked a European vacation (cue the theme song in your head).
“There’s an old English proverb that says ‘When you’re physically and mentally exhausted from stress, stop everything you’re doing immediately and book a spontaneous flight to Estonia, rent a car, and then drive through Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus and into Ukraine,'” Frost said in a Facebook status update attributed to an account bearing his name dated Sept. 24. “I leave in nine days.”
A few days later he added stops in Russia and Finland and invited friends to join him for a drink.
Is any of this an outright assault upon the voters of Cornwall? Absolutely not…unless you’re ranking the work of the Brock Frost PR machine to date, which scores somewhere between “nul” and “nichego” (that’s Russian, folks…for “zero” and “nothing”).
Because of this and so many other things it’s painfully clear Frost needs a lesson in how a politician grapples with the kind of stigma we’ve attached to him. His track record to date includes a short-lived ownership of the Cornwall River Kings that blew up in his face, with many people suggesting it was a publicity stunt to get elected (note: I don’t buy it, but some do).
His time in office has included news that he is facing criminal charges in Quebec, followed by a resignation in June that milliseconds later was rescinded, and a Cogeco TV interview that he convened to avoid being misquoted by print media – where he promptly misquoted himself and misspoke to the point of suggesting he would plead guilty to those same police charges.
Oh yah…he also moved to Ottawa earlier this year, weeks after being sworn in as a city councillor.
Those are the lowlights, but you can see that Frost has storm clouds following him early in this term.
So when O’Shaughnessy got up at the city council meeting Monday to suggest Frost was dealing with health issues, only later for us to find out the good councillor was crowing about a much-needed European vacation days earlier…well, it just doesn’t look good – and that’s the problem with this latest chapter in the Brock Frost diatribe.
Frost can go on medical leave for as long as he wants – I wish him well. But perhaps it would have been a better idea to keep the Ukrainian jaunt on the down low. At the very least O’Shaughnessy probably should have avoided making such a public display Monday night.
O’Shaughnessy wished Frost a “speedy recovery” Monday night…words usually reserved for something on the serious side, like a medical affliction that could threaten one’s life. O’Shaughnessy, I’m told, knew about the Facebook posts and made his announcement anyway – another PR mistake.
To find out that Frost has booked weeks of gallivanting in Europe and is asking friends to join him for drinks on the shores of the Danube River…well, it makes O’Shaughnessy’s announcement and well wishes look foolish, despite the fact that they are undoubtedly heartfelt.
It’s the optics of this whole thing that’s troublesome…not the substance.
Councillors, following Monday’s meeting were laughing – literally laughing – at one of their own. It makes for good copy and some smart aleck comments by a newspaper hack, but does little for the image of a city council that needs more good stories than bad this early in its mandate.
I hope Frost enjoys his vacation and recharges his batteries in time for a successful return to municipal politics, but I’m not betting on one of those ‘Wish You Were Here’ postcards from the Estonian border.
