Fourteen months ago, I launched this blog. It started with an entry on the start of the collective bargaining process with the Toronto Police Association.
I had no idea where this blogging adventure would take me.
Fourteen months later and I continue to be amazed by the feedback I get from regular readers and people who have recently come across it. I have heard from TPS members, members of other police services, former students from my time at York University and various other residents of this great city.
Overwhelmingly, the feedback has been positive, except for those – and you know who you are – who were worried about what I might write.
Here are a few facts that you might not know:
- I believe this is the first blog to be used by an employer during a collective bargaining process. Typically, employers stick to traditional method of communications. We opted for something less traditional and, dare I say, more effective.
- While this blog has been used to communicate collective bargaining issues and notable items regarding the TPS, its greatest use has been to raise awareness of the need for a handgun ban. The largest number of blog entries, unfortunately, relate to violence and the federal government’s continued refusal to bring forth a handgun ban.
- We were featured twice as the “Best of the Blogs” in the Toronto Sun.
With that in mind, I present to you my 5 favourite blogs so far…..
5. Random Acts of Kindness - A very inspiring story about one police officer's effort to build positive relations by his attention to the needs of one family in inner-city Toronto.
4. Diversity at the Toronto Police Service and Canada’s Best Diversity Employers. These two blogs highlight something that is so important to me and the entire TPSB – a diverse police service that reflects the diversity of the residents that it serves.
3. Welcoming Gen Y – Who knew that this next generation would provide so many challenges and opportunities for today’s employers?
2. Remembrance and RCMP Constable Douglas Scott – These blogs, while difficult to write, reminded me and (hopefully) the blog readers about the importance of remembering those men and women, here in Toronto, across Canada and around the world who serve.
1. Arbitration Order – This blog marked the end of a very long and very tiresome set of negotiations. I am thrilled to have it behind us so we can now focus all of our resources on providing the best policing services to the residents of Toronto.
You may wonder why none of the handgun ban blogs made it to the Top 5. It is because there are far too many to choose from. You can read all of them here. I will continue to use this blog to try and focus the attention of the federal government on this critical issue. In the meantime, one of the best things you can do is to go to the Mayor’s website and sign the petition.
Finally I’d like to give a shout out to everyone who suggested ideas, drew my attention to interesting stories, gently shot down my more off the wall pieces and gave me honest feedback. Thank you all!
Have a great New Year and I look forward to sharing more blogs with you in 2009.
Best,
Alok
