Canadian Politics and then some!

Ontario - What happened????

2010-09-15T20:46:00.004-04:00

Everyday I am more amazed as to what is happening in Ontario politics. More and more I cannot believe that my hard earned money (as in taxes) is being spent on such idiotic governments. I think if I was not Canadian I would be protesting in the streets.

What a mess we are in. I have been engaged in politics for a couple of decades and it has just been getting worse every year. How can anyone possibly think the existing Ontario Provincial government is functional? I must admit I never liked McGuinty when he became premier and he pissed me off by lying about raising taxes and the day after he was elected did the exact opposite and imposed a health tax. But OMG! The shit just keeps on piling up. If this guy actually gets re-elected I will lose total faith in the Canadian democratic system.

Since he has been in office I have witnessed with great financial pain the following:
- new health tax but still mediocre health care
- excessive job losses to all other provinces
- implementation of a consumption tax (HST) which not only do I pay more but as a business owner I have to charge more
- ban on cell phones in cars (ever watch the other drivers on the 401 eating a burg or putting on makeup while driving?)
- scandal after scandal: eHealth/eScam, OLG, Hydro One and the list just continues to grow....
- daddy and mommy daycare at school this year (um lets see, pay for daycare or send your 3 year old to school for free???)
- implement a plant pay alternative energy suppliers to supply the grid and than roll it back?
- EAOQ (need I say more)
- the latest is let your kids use there smartphone in class

What does it take to get Ontarions to actually get mad and get rid of this bum?

Guelph Municipal Election 2010

2010-04-25T13:03:00.004-04:00

Sunday April 25, 2010

Found out the other day that David Birtwistle is actually running for mayor.
OMG! Who in there right mind would vote for him?

Remember this is the same councillor who was part of the previous group whose sole economic strategy was to build more houses. And unless voters have an exceptional short term memory the previous council under Quate Quarry increased taxes significantly more than the existing council under Karen Farbridge.

Ontario Deficit

2009-10-20T21:20:00.004-04:00

Its day 2 after the Provincial budget and exactly what was expected as happened (its very unfortunate when you can predict the outcome of something so serious) First I want readers to know that I am sick of all this #@$%^^&*&* partisan crap. When will people understand that things will not change and get better until we all stop pointing fingers and work together to solve some of these problems????

Who cares which party is in power? The system is broken and we need to fix it! The current system is wasteful, inefficient and way to political. (for those who do not know the difference between politics and governing, look it up)

At the end of the day we have to look at the government without the pretense of colour. (i.e. - Red/Blue/Orange/Green)and see how they address issues that affect all of us. This is not happening anymore, its now all about marketing and soundbites. We have a political system that supports this with out having to solve real world problems. It is time for Canadians to address this by making government accountable and the first step is tossing out the current ones albeit Federal, Provincial etc. but that is only the first step!

It was going to happen after the provincial government spent millions of tax money for so called stimulus and bail out. As of today (earlier then I anticipated) the Finance Minister - Dwight Duncan warned Ontarians that services will be cut and blamed it on the economy. So let me get this straight - we spent millions of our tax money on so called helping companies and people get through the recession and now we will pay for it because the economy is doing poorly????

Guess what folks? Next will be tax hikes and you can bet they will try desperately to hold off until the next election so that if they lose they can blame the new government or if they win (OMG) will have a new 4 year mandate and WILL RAISE TAXES!

Do not be fooled by any of this, the political system is very broken and needs to be fixed or we will be churning through this nonsense for years and maybe even worse. Unfortunately there are no checks and balances within the current system. Think about for a second: The Liberals under McGuinty lied directly to us just before his first term when he actually went on TV and signed a document saying he would not raise taxes. Holy Crap! immediately after winning he implemented a hefty health tax. What did we do? We rewarded the crook with another term???

If you have ever read any of my other postings you will know that I am not a member of any party and nor do I have any partisan views. What I truly believe based on observation is that all of the current political parties in Canada are to put it mildly not in it for the best interest of Canadians and need a rude awakening.

Provincial Budget - 2009

2009-03-26T20:13:00.010-04:00

April 13, 2009
Liz Sandals declares that sport associations can benefit if they are a charitable organization.

This was in response to Guelph Minor Hockey president saying the cost of minor hockey and rec will go up by 8% by 2010. Ummm! guess what none of these associations can benefit. This is how out of touch our local MPP is with real issues.

A local doctor who has been practicing since 1970s (Dr. Rosenthal) published a letter to the Guelph Mercury stating that the Ontario Health Care is in more of a dissaray than when Harris was in power. Which is one tall order.

Wow! Just when I thought McGuinty's government could not possibly get worse, this awful budget was announced today. Even though I have been repeatedly told by thought leaders and business leaders that our current governments are in a state of complete disarray and are not adapting to the rapid rate of change in the world, it still shocks me at this kind of behavior. Make no mistake this budget is nothing but a spending spree. There is absolutely no economic strategy behind this so called economic plan.
- The harmonization of taxes will end up costing consumers more money even if it saves some businesses the pain of administration. I own my own business and all this means is now instead of charging only GST I now will have to charge everyone 13%. Its also a myth that all businesses heavily supported the harmonization. In fact right here in Guelph the Chamber issued a survey and 53% do not support the HST.
- We are in the middle of the worst economic turmoil in our lifetime and there isn't any economic plan for creating sustainability and viable long-term jobs in growth industries.
- Make no mistake, this kind of deficit will equal a general increase in taxes (anyone that lived during the last 2 recessions and giant deficits also experienced incredibly high taxes.) This is no different then if you borrow money or extend your credit, at some point you have to pay it back. The irony is that this increase will only occur after the next election.
- There is nothing of significant benefit for the middle class in this budget and this group really does need to wake up and exert its influence.

Judging by the blogs and comments online - the majority of people are really disappointed with this budget. Maybe this is a turning point for Ontario?

Federal Budget and the Economy

2008-10-02T21:58:00.015-04:00

April 14, 2009

Tax hike likely unavoidable, Liberal leader says

Here it comes! The bitter irony is that Ontarions will get a double whammy. For all this so called stimulus, Canadians need to understand that we will be paying much higher taxes for years to come to pay off all this government debt. Its would not be such a difficult pill to swallow if the actions (i.e. stimulus plans actually
benefited Canada)
Simple Question: Are you better off now?

January 28. 2009

As most of us know, a federal spend to stay in power budget was presented yesterday in Ottawa. I have created a chart that reflects some of the main differences between our new so called financial stimulus and the US one:

US	Canada
$275 billion in tax cuts for individuals and businesses.	Increased access to credit
$500 tax break per individual	$76 tax break
Focus is on a green economy	???
$12 billion for mass transit	Incentives to buy cars

Another interesting note, I contacted the so called Economic sustainability committee that is being managed by MPP Frank Valeriote and MPP Gerard Kennedy about why the focus for funding is on traditional manufacturing that is not only in trouble, but has been on the decline in Canada for at least 2 decades. Wanted to know why there isn't any focus on the SMB market (small to medium businesses) that has the following facts:

Employs roughly 75% of the actual Canadian workforce
Accounts for 40 - 50% of the Canadian GDP
Contributes billions for infrastructure improvements (computers, phones etc.)

In my business, I here daily, that the govenment (at all levels)

is fixated on larhe manufacturing organizations

that simply put are become antiquated in Canada

and many may not survive transition from the industrialized

economy to post-industrialized one.



Many SMBs who are thriving would love to expand quicker

and hire more employees but try and get funding (fat chance!)

Why is this???????



Second Point:

Why isn't Canada heavily investing into R&D?  It great to

fill potholes and build roads, but the future suggests we

invest into innovation and yet we have been decreasing

R&D funding support.



According to Canadian Business Mag., finding for Canadian

companies is almost non-existent, we focus on University

research but barely on the commercialization of products and ideas.



Again, I deal with start-ups who are highly innovative with great

ideas and so much intelligence and yet I always see the same thing.

There is little to no support from the government.

Its quite sad when you see our brightest people have to go

abroad to get funding or struggle indefinitely back home.





Bottom line is that there is a significant sector with such high growth

potential that should be getting massive support from the government and

yet it is the antiquated industries that are getting your full attention.

Whether we like it or not, the GMs, Linimar's and WC Woods of the world

will not be the future of economic prosperity. Its those little companies

that start with a great idea that really need our attention.



I have yet to get a response.

Federal Election 2008

2008-09-04T11:14:00.045-04:00

Tuesday October 21, 2008
I have waited a week to post any comments because I needed some downtime and to also reflect on the election results. Somewhere in my blog I had predicted that the Conservatives would get a minority government, and everyone else would be in a similar position. My reasoning was because none of the parties provided any proof that they deserve a majority of votes from Canadians. And I am not talking about the election because its nothing but very unfortunate noise and anyone who votes based on election marketing and polls I say you are doing a disservice to you your family and your country.
Should we not be looking at what a party has done for the past term? Its like a person who goes to confession but behaves differently when not in the pew (you Catholics will know what I mean lol) isn't the person outside of the confession booth the true behavior?
lets examine this:
Conservatives: for the past 2 years they have ignored the environment, reduced some taxes, attacked the other parties, ignored Ontario, ignored the plight of manufacturing, boosted the war in Afganistan, attempted to increase crime laws and zero action on the economy.
Liberals: Fought with the Conservatives, fought with each other, undermined their leader, forgot to raise money, and sat on their collective bottoms on pretty much everything.
NDP: Criticized anyone that is not an NDP supporter.

where are the real solutions from any of these groups? You got nothing and the vote was polarized by mostly partisan supporters. You have met those people I am sure. They support one party and no matter what thats the party who should be elected. You ask them why, and they all say because iot reflects my values. You say oh yah and what are those? Well Conservatives this and Liberalas that and NDP this. Or my parents and my family always votes this way etc. Does anyoone ever think for themselves?
From a real world here are some serious issues:
The Economy - what party actually had a real plan to address the downward moving economy in North America? Who and what would they do with the significant decrease in manufacturing with massive job layoffs and increased cost of living?
The Environment - Climate Change is supported by a majority of experts and what partyhad a plan that does have an impact on green house gases while balancing our economic stability?
Health Care - The baby boomers our all moving into the grey years and wil put an ever increasing demand and burden on our universal system - who had any ideas to address this?
Aboriginal Issues - nothing has been solved what soever

The list goes on but my point is that none of the 3 major parties offer any real leadership for real diffuclt issues and times. So they are where they should be but theydon't get it. The answer to them is unite the left or right for more members, but guess what that solves nothing for Canadians.

Sunday October 5, 2008
Hope everyone enjoyed the weekend. Went golfing with a couple of colleagues and of course we all at some point talked about the debate. Each had mixed views on who won, but we all agreed that no one has any real economic plan. Which makes me even more concerned about this election. Another comment from all of my colleagues (and they all vote differently - lol) was that they felt Harper does not care one iota about Ontario.
Confession, I voted for Stephen Harper the last election because of the following:
1. wanted to get rid of the Liberals for obvious reasons at the time
2. Felt that Harper truly was different than the status quo and would make a positive difference.

I feel betrayed and angry since then. I had never voted Conservative but felt we needed a change. What I am seeing is a party that for some reason hates Ontario and is playing a lot of the same games that the Liberals played while in office. I am also realizing that my value system isn't aligned with the current Conservatives. Not sure about you, but I am scared about the state of the economy, environment and health care. Don't see any kind of plan to address either from the government. If you do, please tell me exactly what it is.

Monday September 22, 2008
Voted today at the election office - There were a lot of people there, this may end up being a heavy voter turn out.

Harris Poll Today has Conservatives at 38%
Does not matter which party you vote for, ask your self if 38% of voters should decide who elects your next government? That means that 62% of Canadian voters will not have elected this government! Seems undemocratic to me that less than half vote for a certain party and that party gets elected a majority?????

Do you think the systems needs to change? You figure it out.

Friday September 19, 2008
Latest polls suggest that the Conservatives and Liberals are losing some ground to the NDP and Greens. Don't figure, maybe people are starting to tire of the bull from these 2 parties?

Whats more interesting is the that only 36% of voters would choose the Conservatives if the election was held today.
Liberals 27%
NDP 16%
Green 11%

Doesn't any one find it disturbing that less than half of Canadians would vote for a party and they would still win? Hardly reflects the views of the majority of Canadians does it? Its 1/3 folks!
Should we not start considering more representational government of such an eclectic society?

Tuesday September 16, 2008
Very Interesting facts from from Stats Canada
Change in Productivity While in Office:
Diefendaker 9.7%
Pearson 18.6%
Trudeau(1) 30.4%
Clark 0.4%
Trudeau(2) 11.8%
Mulroney 6.4%
Chretien 18.3%
Martin 4.1%
Harper -0.6%
Source: CCPA calculations from Statistics Canada quarterly data.

Monday September 15, 2008
Quote of the Day (by Prime Minister Harper)
“My own belief is if we were gong to have some kind of big crash or recession, we probably would have had it by now,” Harper told reporters

Interesting poll today in the Star and Macleans (nearly identical question)
Do you agree with Stephen Harper that Stéphane Dion's Green Shift plan will threaten national unity?
Yes - 38%
No - 62%

The results for both were amazingly similar which begs the question: What really is at the root of the low perception that many have of Dion? Maybe its the Liberal party in question that is responsible for the current poll results.
I am sure that I am not the only person that keeps on questioning the status of the Liberal party that is suppose to have changed and learned from previous mistakes. However, do people like Bob Rae or Michael Ignatieff leave you with that impression?

Sunday September 14, 2008
Hearing a lot about how Harper is such a great leader. The question I have is what has he done during the past tenure in parliament to be given this title? Pleas all you Harper supporters, tell me. Gloria?
I am reading a book right now about the British Empire and India (basically Churchill VS Gandhi) and even if I did do not agree with everything they did and believe, my God were they both what I would label great leaders (at polar opposites I might add)

Polls
Have always had mixed feelings about polls before an election. The company that I own, a portion of our business comes from Market Research. Quite frankly anyone that wants to initiate a poll typically has desired results in mind. What I am trying to say is that the questions from many polls/surveys are bias and skewed towards the desired results.

What concerns me even more is that the general public will take the results has gospel.

For example 2 important polls during the past few days stated the following:
- Conservatives clear majority
- NDP could be opposition

These polls who are most likely funded (might be indirectly) by the 2 parties that have the exposure so to speak. And that is serious because many regular Canadians can be influenced by the results of the polls.

Saturday September 13, 2008
Latest poll commissioned by the Star suggest that Layton is almost tied with Dion
Conservatives 39%
Liberals 23%
NDP 18%
Greens ?????

If you add it up its only 80% does that mean that 20% would vote Green?????????????

Doesn't anyone find it ironic that after all the posturing the Star did in the past 2 days about letting May in to the TV debates they don't include the Greens in this poll? Just goes to show you that they are only in the business of selling papers.

Tuesday September 9, 2008
Conservatives: still getting junk mail even though I asked both the Federal party and the local to stop sending me stuff. Got a real doozy today, its a so called hand written letter from Gloria Kovach (even though its a form letter, like we cannot figure that out)
Its a weird letter, it starts out very personal and then talks about her main values which are supposedly crime control (because we all know how rough it is in sleepy Guelph), product safety (ummm lets see - freed trade with places that don't have quality control, well didn't the Conservatives bring in free trade?) and the last is how much money we will save under a Conservative government.

NDP: Wow! what a day for Jack Layton. His mouth has finally caught up to him. He is getting pounded by the media and more importantly NDP supporters for refusing to allow the Greens in the National TV debates. You have to feel sorry for Tom King, since he has been earning kudos despite Mr. Layton.

Liberals: Kudos to Dion, he is not stooping to the level of Mr. Harper and is taken the high road. However, I am sure some of his colleagues would love to launch a counter- attack. What I find kind of interesting, is that Dion seems to be an anomaly in the Liberal party. The downfall is that he still has the same old cronies. A second kudo goes to Frank Valeriote who came out even before Dion to object that the Greens will not be in the debate.

Greens: If yesterday was a bad day, today quite frankly was bittersweet. Yes the Greens are getting more support via a backlash from the pompous and arrogant decisions of the current elite. BUT, it seems that supporting the Liberals during the last election will be a thorn for quite some time. Also not sure that Elizabeth is correct in saying that part of the decision was because she is a woman. On the upside, 54% of Canadians (according to Angus Reid Poll) think she should be in the debates.

Monday September 8, 2008

Wow! Judging by the reaction to today's events, there is life after the existing systems! I have never seen so many comments online at the Star or Globe and Mail about the exclusion of the Green party.

And the fun begins!
GREENS have been barred from the National TV Debates!
Wow, can you believe that in a so called democracy like Canada that 3 major parties have stonewalled a new and emerging party?
Why would the TV consortium ask the other parties if the Greens should participate?
Well lets see, money, um influence and lobbying are only a few things I can think of :-)
Anyone else care to comment?

Curious poll today:
Do election campaigns influence your vote?
An overwhelming 78% say no

Don't you find the results interesting? Maybe even questionable?

Conservatives: Harper's strategy is clearly 2fold
1. Attack Dion's character
2. Highlight is track record

Sunday September 7, 2008

Its Official - Election on October 14!

First Poll (source - The Toronto Star)
Conservatives 35%
Liberals 34%
NDP 11%
Greens 10%
Undecided 11%

Cost of Waste: Yesterday I inquired about what it will cost us if the bi-elections are canceled and it turns out to be $3.5 million dollars!!!!!

September 5th, 2008

The Prime Minister's Office has released Stephen Harper's weekend itinerary.

It reads as follows:

Prime Minister Stephen Harper on Sunday September 7 at 8:05 am will leave 24 Sussex en route to Rideau Hall to meet with Governor Michaelle Jean to ask her to dissolve the 39th Parliament for an election call October 14 2008.

September 4, 2008
Well its almost a forgone conclusion that we will have yet another election this fall. Since none of the current elected MPs can seem to work together to get anything done. Which begs the question: Why would we re-elect any of them?

Another interesting observation: How much money would be wasted if the bi-elections are canceled? and Why are people so complacent about it? There has been more of an uproar and media frenzy about political sign vandalism. Heck the Mercury even had a poll over it!

Political Mailings: I have never received so much quite frankly junk mail from one political party. I don't like getting junk mail in general and the reason why I call political party mail junk is because there is never any real substance to what they print. Its all marketing with soundbites in the form of bullet points. You know the stuff! Vote for me because of these 3 reasons etc.

In this particular case I am talking about the Conservatives (sorry Gloria) but I have been receiving mail almost daily from the Harper Clan. I even emailed Gloria and the marketing department for the Conservatives and didn't even get a response. Do the parties actually think this kind of stuff works? If it wasn't so annoying it would be hilarious! I guess this means we will probably be getting a lot more junk mail over the next few weeks. If any of the parties read this - It doesn't work, mass mailers are very ineffective and cost intensive.

September 2008, Federal Bi-Election Called

2008-07-29T18:51:00.035-04:00

September 4, 2008

This was released by the Green Party yesterday - to bad the bi-election may be cancelled

Poll Shows Guelph By-Election a Green-Liberal Contest

September 3, 2008 - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Poll results released today show that the Guelph by-election is a two-way race between Mike Nagy of the Green Party and Frank Valeriote of the Liberals. The poll, conducted September 1 and 2 by Oraclepoll Research, shows Green Party support is now almost twice as high as the Conservatives’ and three times the level of the NDP.

The standings are:
Frank Valeriote, Liberals 38.4%;
Mike Nagy Green Party 24.2%;
Gloria Kovach, Conservatives 12.6%;
Tom King, NDP 8.0%.
A further 16.7% of voters are undecided.

September 2, 2008

Wow! a lot has happened since the last time I was on the blog.
1. The Green Party now has an official MP in the house of commons
2. The Prime Minister is going to call an election making the current bi-election null and void

There are 2 major issues that have not been addressed during the bi-election which I am sure will still not be addressed now.
- Will anyone actually have a real strategy for the environment?
- and all though many voters do not connect this with the earth/environment, what if any strategy does each party have for the economy?

August 13, 2008

Well we have finally come to an issue that is relevant and fairly important to Guelph and even the country and that is the sputtering economy.
The Mercury asked each candidate about their strategy/views on how to stimulate the economy:
Liberals: Frank Valeriote states we have to partner with industry by investing in diversification (but does not elaborate as to what that means) Talks about innovation as well. I am sorry Frank but I am tired of hearing that from most politicians. It reminds us to much of the Provincial strategy (or lack of) in that they keep on saying we have to be more innovative and that's how we will save manufacturing. Have I missed something here? Is there some kind of magic formula called innovation that will compete against ludicrously cheap labour from Asia and South America???????????

NDP: Tom King seems to actually understand that a significant reason why manufacturing is shrinking in Guelph/Canada is because "Certainly we have been losing manufacturing jobs, and I think mostly because large corporations can take those jobs to other countries -- other places in the world where the wages are cheaper and the environmental controls are much more lax than they are up here," King said. Although light on suggestions he does state we should be looking and investing into research and jobs for green technologies.

Green: Mike Nagy seems to understand the impact of globalization as well. "Many local companies face unfair competition from imports from countries that have lax labour, safety and environmental laws." As a few good ideas that all governments should be considering:

Investment from government in the form of loans and financial incentives is needed to create jobs and stimulate enterprises, he said. Guelph would qualify for funding under the Green party's Small Cities Venture Capital Fund. The fund is designed to stimulate economies in smaller communities that are located near large urban centres.

"There has to be government programs to help balance the economic growth throughout the country," he said.

Conservative: Gloria Kovach was one of the first to campaign on the economy (kudos) but her platform as to how we solve this serious issue of job loss is awful. Its the same old same old- reduce taxes and that will magically stimulate growth. Ummmm history has not shown that. No I am not suggesting that reduced taxes is a bad hing what I am suggesting is that simply reducing taxes does not solve the problem of manufacturing job losses and off shoring.

Here is one of my pet peeves: Can someone tell me why none of the candidates want to address the real reasons as to why we are having job losses? A couple of them touch on it and others simply ignore the reality of our existing market. The simple fact is that it is very cheap to manufacture goods in Asia, India, Mexico and even some parts of the States. Period! Until we accept this simple fact, there can be no real solution. And we can blame this on corporations except that we have also grown very accustomed to relatively cheap energy and goods. Right or wrong, we have to acknowledge that manufacturing jobs will continue to be displaced offshore based on our lifestyle. I am not advocating a change or not to change what I am trying to say is that those are the main reasons as to why manufacturing is changing and will continue to change as long as we keep the status quo. And thats my peeve as to none of the parties will come and honestly state this.

August 8, 2008

Read a great editorial today from the Mercury by E.J. Leslie - Vote for those who want to move forward and put honour back into politics. Let's put leadership back into politics locally and federally; the kind of leadership that we saw in all three parties, elected or in opposition, before the 1980s shift from politicians serving their country to serving themselves.
Can you name one?

Tom King (NDP) came to my door this week. Guess what? Out of all the politicians that I have met, I was very impressed with his behavior. I asked him some very pointed questions and he did not do the same old same old as in tow the party line. It appeared that he genuinely thought for himself. Does not appear to have allegences to one special interest group (including the unions)

Gloria Kovach (Conservative) is getting a lot of support from the existing government. Peter McKay was in town to suggest that the main issues in this bi-election are taxes, crime and Afganistan? Again I am perplexed as to where this party is getting its information. If its from Gloria well I am sorry to say she is unfortunately out of touch with Guelphites in general. There are several issues that certainly trump what McKay mentioned. (not nec. in order of priority)

environment
economy
health care
transportation
water
increasing division between Ontario and Alberta
rising energy cost

Frank Valeriote (Liberal)has appointed Brenda Chamberlain co-campaign chair. This isn't a bad strategy since even though Brenda was a very weak MP in the house of commons, she one 2 majorities in Wellington County. I always liked Brenda, but could never get over thefact that she wasn't a strong or willing advocate to stand out when it came to politics. I voted for her when she first ran for office to topple the Mulroney era because back then she was so fiery and expressive. However for watever reasons that flame dimmed afterwards. BUt heck the people of Guelph still voted for her didn't they?

July 30, 2008
Environment:
The question was asked by the Guelph Mecury, "What is your party strategy for reducing our Carbon Footprint"?
Greens: Mike Nagy suggests that everyone does their part, but that we have to legislate the big polluters such as the tar sands development in Alberta.

Liberals: Frank Valeriote obviously support Dion's Cap & Trade strategy and also says we have to do our part.

Conservatives: Gloria Kovach argues that the existing Harper plan is the way to go.

NDP: Tom King (who I am liking more and more - to bad he is with Layton) talks about attitude and behavioral changes will be the true answer.

July 31, 2008
He said, She Said
Here we go, and its only the first week :-)
Gloria Kovach (Conservatives) accuses Frank Valeriote (Liberals) of name calling and dirty tactics.

The best statement came from Mr. Tom King (NDP)

"When I was growing up, a friend of mine, Douglas Crook, his father ran a garage and a gas station. He would take in all sorts of cars that are in states of disrepair," King said.

"One of the cars he had was a big old Cadillac and it was a great car but the only gear it had was reverse, so if you wanted to drive it around you had to go backwards. And he had another car that was a really flashy sports car, but the gears had been stripped and all it had left was neutral.

"I gotta admit when I look at the Conservatives and Liberals, I think about those two cars -- the Conservatives just in reverse and the Liberals in neutral. If they're getting upset with each other it might make for an interesting demolition derby."

Mr. Nagy (Greens) summed it up best:"minority governments are the new reality and we all have to learn to get along."

However, the Conservatives and Liberals are sill in denial about that reality even though the polls have consistently proved other wise.

Bi-Election Called
In case you have not heard, the acting Prime Minister, Stephen Harper called a bi-election for Guelph for September 8th.

I will try to cover as much as possible the issues and local candidates following up to the election.

Whats strange is that the Conservatives are ignoring most major issues and focusing on some fairly obscure things. For example the top 3 issues according to them are the following:
1. Product Safety
2. Crime
3. Reduce taxes for families

- Okay, we are losing manufacturing jobs like crazy
- Climate change is on everyone's mind
- consumer confidence is at an all time low
- health care is eroding
- Energy prices are increasing exponentially

What world do the Conservatives live in? I read an article in the Globe and Mail last week that said Guelph is a mixed semi urban and rural riding which is ideal for the Conservatives. Ummm! the majority of Guelphites live in an urban setting and the city is very ethnically diverse, engaged and educated. Seems to me they have not done their homework.

NDP - Tom King who is a CBC host seems like a good candidate, except that his leader is Jack Layton. Mr. Layton is a trow back to the Buzz Hardgrove ideology in which unions rule and nothing else matters. His platform is a Hodge Podge of contradictions.
Example - he states he wants to fight climate change but wants government bailout for the gas guzzling auto industry and a reduction in gas cost at the pump. See the problem?
- They use a lot of bullet points but no real substance behind it

Liberals - Local lawyer Frank Valeriote is a favourite in the early days of this election. No I am not endorsing him I am just stating the obvious. Frank owns a long time law practice hear in Guelph and is very well liked. Name recognition is another advantage. I have met Frank on several occasions and he is a likable and sensible guy. The negative is that his party lacks credibility. I even like Mr. Dion but the Liberal party is great at telling what you want to hear and believe but doing the opposite or nothing. We are hearing the right things from Mr. Dion and you genuinely want to believe him, except that the track record has never been there. (Kyoto, GST, Healthcare etc.)

Greens - This is an interesting party for Guelph since it has continuously increased in popularity. The dilemma for Mr. Nagy is that they are not a recognized party and have a very steep hill to climb. However, out of all the parties this is still the most refreshing because it is relatively new and its mandate squarely tackles climate change which according to polls is the number one concern of Canadians (proof is the pudding though)

Economic Downturn

2008-07-08T17:23:00.004-04:00

November 28, 2008
Here is a good one to digest. The Federal opposition parties are going to topple the Conservative government because they propose to eliminate taxpayer funding of political parties. Well folks we should be outraged, since the same opposition parties never even remotely wanted to topple the government during its previous tenure. Lets see there was climate change, economic issues, provincial transfers etc. But heck once the piggies cannot feed at the through, watch out!

We hear in the media daily about the downturn in our economy, manufacturing closures in Ontario, ever increase in the price of energy and yet what do we get from both the Provincial and Federal levels of government?

Well lets see - Mr. Harper is hobnobbing with the G8 leaders this week in a luxurious setting. And Mr. Dithers (I.e. McGuinty) is saying stay the course, we go through these cycles so lets just hang on. That's great for these political fat cats who live off our taxes and are guaranteed life time pensions. Except it does nothing to solve major issues of job displacement in Canada. There is a major shift in blue collar labour from North America to China and the primary reason is because of cheap goods PERIOD! Some newspapers and government will tell you its because we need to be more innovative. LOL! It does not matter how innovative we are, if its only costs $3 a day to make shoes in China, than where do you think the shoe company will source its production? At the other end of the spectrum, Canadian consumers should they want jobs to stay in Canada should expect to pay more for goods. Bottom line is you can't expect to shop at a big box store for dirt cheap goods and expect manufacturing to stay in Canada.

On a sidebar - My mother in law purchased some Canadian souvernirs (hats etc) on Canada day from HBC and I was flabergasted that they were all manufactured in China! We are talking about flags, hats & t-shirts all red and white with our national logos emblazed everywhere and it was all produced offshore.

Doozy of the Week!

2008-05-15T14:12:00.006-04:00

June 3, 2008

Okay so now this group of trustees (who have not been fired) have decided to lay off 85 teachers and had the gall to say that if any more cuts are required they would take it out of their expenses. Question - Why hasn't the Ministry of Education dismissed these people????? Well, let me ask you this? How much do you think the ministry expenses and what? It would be like calling the kettle black is what this comes down to. Many of my friends work for various government agencies and the on going sad but true joke is how much the government at all levels waste our hard earn money. Its pretty bad when employees of the government even complain about government waste isn't it?

Wow, just when you thought politicians can not stoop any lower in behavior they come up with a home run!

This week I am talking about the Toronto Catholic School Trustees who get paid $18k per year but spend on average $80k in expenses. What is even more shocking is that expenses claimed ranged from lingerie to exotic trips to the Southern hemisphere.

Even after being confronted by Catholic school ratepayers, none of the trustees have shown any kind of remorse what so ever. Can you believe it? Well we have no one else to blame but ourselves, don't get me wrong here, I am not saying we created this sense of entitlement and holier then though attitude of elected officials, but we has in the public do not hold any of these people accountable for bad behavior.

Ontario Circus

2008-05-15T13:55:00.005-04:00

February 2, 2009
Well McGuinty finally came clean today and said we would be in deficit mode for several years. Unfortunately its probably the first time he has ever told the truth. I guess you can't hide a $5 billion estimated deficit.

This government has been a train wreck from the first time it was elected and yet it seems to stay in power. How is that? Someone suggested to me its because the other 3 parties are even less desirable. That may be true, however I am sill shocked that anyone but McGuinty isn't a little better. Think about this for a second, Ontaio will go into major annual deficits for an extended period of time and what will we have to show for it? New roads? more houses? Pan Am Games? An auto industry on continual life support? Highest post-secondary costs in Canada? Increased transfer payments? Highest unemployment in Canada? Hospital lay offs (while our population will surge in elderly) the list goes on for ever. This guy would hav ebeen fired eons ago if he was running a corporation.

Auto industry running on empty

The Toronto Star contends that Premier Dalton McGuinty's $500 million auto-investment fund (nearly half of which went to General Motors) was money well-spent, and speculates on what the industry might look like today had the provincial government not forked over taxpayers' money to secure $7 billion in new automotive investment – thereby enabling Ontario to overtake Michigan as North America's No. 1 auto producer.

The editorial conveniently neglects to mention the fact that much of that $7 billion in investment and increased production came from new Canadian auto manufacturers like Honda and Toyota, which, instead of laying off workers, are expanding their workforce and providing new jobs without the benefit of direct government handouts.

Defence of the Ontario government's decision to provide corporate welfare with no strings attached to the Big Three automakers is somewhat misguided and short-sighted. McGuinty's plan has only enabled uncompetitive vehicle manufacturers and overpaid CAW workers to continue building gas-guzzling, smog-producing behemoths that nobody wants for a couple of more years, and has only served to postpone the inevitable decline of these dinosaurs.

Instead of building vehicles in Ontario that no one wants to buy, perhaps this province should take the lead in producing more fuel-efficient or hybrid cars?

Premier Dalton McGuinty, with the help of the federal government, should encourage auto manufacturers to make vehicles that are needed for the future, not for the past. Both Ottawa and Queen's Park should be financially supporting new transportation technology that is good for the economy, the environment and the workers of Ontario.

Or are they more interested in collecting their share of the profits in the form of gasoline taxes?

Latest Events

2008-04-26T16:43:00.005-04:00

January 20, 2009

Read a headline today in the KW Record and it made my blood boil!

Here is the headline: Agfa hiring locally after $200M investment

The just of the article is that the current provincial government (a la McGuinty) is giving 29 million of tax money to Agfa HealthCare. Normally I would say yeah okay not sure if they deserve the money but what ever so to speak. Well I happen to know the company very well since Iworked there for roughly 6 years. Lets see - they laid off roughly 200 employees in the past 4 years, sold a major division for money, technology is ranked about 4th in the industry and last is that the company is Belgium owned. Why are we given money to them????????????

Isn't anyone pissed off about that?
If so, please contact the premier at the follwoing: dmcguinty@premier.gov.on.ca

November 25, 2008

This is an excerpt from the Washington Post today:

Obama's pledge to work with Republicans reflected his campaign rhetoric. His chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, met last week with leading GOP lawmakers, and Obama has pledged to have at least one member of the opposition party in his Cabinet.

"I think what the American people want more than anything is just commonsense, smart government," he said.

"They don't want ideology, they don't want bickering, they don't want sniping. They want action and they want effectiveness."

Why can't we do the exact same in Canada?

Just found a great Blog about why we should not bail out everyone

http://thestar.blogs.com/globalfinance/2008/11/whats-good-for-general-motors-is-good-for-the-country.html

Politicians hit bottom

May 04, 2008 04:30 AM

An Angus Reid poll has confirmed what most Canadians already know: We don't think much of politicians.

The online survey, conducted last month, found only 25 per cent of the 1,015 randomly selected respondents had a "great deal" or "fair amount" of respect for politicians. That put them at the bottom of the list of professions included in the survey, well behind highly respected doctors (94 per cent), and police officers and teachers (both 83 per cent). Even lawyers (44 per cent) fared better.

It is lamentable, if not surprising, that Canadians hold their elected representatives in such low esteem. Who can blame them when scandals and partisan barbs have elbowed out substantial policy discussions at all levels of government? It's not hard to see how voters might conclude that most politicians are motivated less by public interest than self-interest.

Unfortunately, the low regard in which politicians are held risks becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy. The less respect politicians command, the fewer good candidates will want to stand for elected office, justifying ever-lower public opinion of politicians.

It is notable that journalists, who serve up the sound bytes on which ordinary citizens base their opinions of MPs, MPPs and city councillors, didn't score much better than the politicians they report on. Only 49 per cent of respondents thought highly of journalists, compared with 73 per cent in 1994, the biggest drop for any profession.

Perhaps this survey will serve as a wake-up call to both politicians and journalists that they need to raise the level of their game.

Nestle gets approval! (with conditions) LOL!

A question that no one from the ministry or Nestle seems to
want to answer is:
- If the water supply is so sustainable, why is it that
Guelph is consistently under a water restriction program?
- City staff and consulting companies have determined that
the city cannot grow pass a certain population size with
current water supply and usage (I think the population
number is 170 but you would have to verify it with the city).
The point is that there is a threshold and for some reason
no one wants to admit or accept it.

On a sidebar - the ministry is taken its time and so called
due diligence because its a political issue for our current
MPP (Liz Sandals)and she was heavily criticized during the
last election because of her inaction and indifference. In
fact there was a quote in the Mercury during the election from
her that Nestle was a good corporate citizen and created jobs.
 
Between you and I, Nestle got permit to its permit, however
Mrs. Sandals will be able to say that her perfect government
went through the necessary process and determined through
extensive analysis that Nestle has no adverse impact on our
water table and case closed. 

Meanwhile, we will continue to have water issues, water
restrictions etc.
BTW - The KW Record newspaper, published a story from the
Grand River Conservation Authority that is quite contradictory
to what
the Ministry is saying about watershed issues.  It was a great
story that interviewed the head of the GRCA and he provided
startling facts about the decrease in water with in the GRCA
and the increase in water temperature.
So maybe the ministry could start there - lol!

Guelph Current events

2007-10-13T18:37:00.001-04:00

Saturday December 13, 2008
Wow! I cannot believe that its been this long since I made an entry to local events - of course way to much has happened since then. Well lets dive right in to it shall we???? :-)
At first when Frank Valeriote was elected I was of no real opinion other than its not Brenda and its not the Conservatives. I had met Frank on a couple of occasions and he seemed like an okay guy with similar views/age/lifestyle etc. So heck could not be that bad considering that his provincial sister I would consider is a complete moron and that she is no different than all seasoned politicians who only care about one things - Getting elected!

Well - I am very dissapointed in Mr. Valeriote and here is why: I emailed him twice in the past week and never got a response at all (I am sure he responds to precious Linda at Linimar) when she calls or emails. And you know why he would not respond (I can only suspect) is that I 100% agree with an auto bail-out.

Saturday January 19, 2008
How things change and remain the same
I was reading an editorial today by Tony Leighton and it somewhat discouraged me since I believe he is correct in what he is saying. The premise was around the topic of development and how we as in citizens as well as the municipal government do not really have any real control as to how development occurs in Guelph. Not sure if I have mentioned this before, however I am a committee member of the Guelph Green Plan which is appointed by the City of Guelph Council. when I first was appointed a year ago, I was overly excited and positive that we would change the city for the better. After a few months my expectations downgraded but at least we would have a positive influence. Now I am not convinced that we will influence anything!

You may wonder why the drastic change? Well the world is a complex place where egos, personalities and money rule? - yikes I hate saying that! Its so pessimistic, however I see it every day both in the business I own and the politics that I experience.

Sunday December 30, 2007
Merry Christmas to everyone who reads this blog!

TO BUILD OR NOT TO BUILD
There has been considerable publicity surrounding the Clairefields Neighbourhood Group since they have been quite vocal about the lack of amenities in the South End. Of course there use to be a time when people didn't have a shopping plaza or take out on every corner. LOL! Of course I digress..... What is at issue is the lack of Recreation Centre in close proximity to Clairefields Road region. Of course one could argue what is close proximity? This can be somewhat subjective, however one argument in favour of the group is that there was a supposed agreement with the developer and city when lots at Clairefield were being sold that I rec complex would be built with in a reasonable time frame.

The issue is starting to be somewhat polarizing since certain individuals have made comments that the South End pays more in taxes and therefore deserves better amenities. Yikes! that may or may not be true about the amount of taxes, however it is based on the size and value of your property????? If you paid more for a bigger house with more bling than yes you will pay more taxes! These kind of statements are disturbing in that it causes additional strain between old and new neighbourhoods. A further indication of the differences came from a recent Guelph Mercury poll where 58% who answered the poll reject the idea of a new rec centre (at least in the short term) versus 42% in favour.

Whether you agree with building a new rec complex or not, the city needs to address this issue by publishing some sobering financial facts about the impact of current and future growth on the city. I have seen some of projected increased cost that have been calculated to support growth and Guelphites definitely need to be made ware of these increased costs. (I will publish the forecasted figures as soon as I can get an actual copy from the City)

Tuesday May 8, 2007
Water Issues:
Read a terrific article in the Tribune last week - The author was questioning why the Provincial government is allowing a company by the name of Nestle to extract water from the the same source has the city's drinking water? Great question, since we have water rationing in the summer and yet companies like Nestle can take our water and resell to us. Does that make any sense to you?
Care to guess what our elected MPP's response has been? Liz Sandals doesn't feel there is an issue and defended the government rather than even attempt to address the concerns of her constituents.

Passing of Laura Bailey
It is with great sadness that I found out today that Councillor Laura Bailey for Ward 1 passed away on Saturday of cancer. What shocked me even more is that I had seen her last Friday at a council meeting and she seemed fine. It is a shocking reminder of how precious life really is.

Education

2007-10-07T01:35:00.000-04:00

Here is another biggy - the provincial government professes they are the clear champion of education.

HA! What exactly is it that they are doing to improve the existing system? Please tell us, anyone!

I had no idea until my children entered the public school system as to what was really going on. Let me put a little context here, my son is in grade 5 and my daughter is in grade 2.

Funding: Can someone at Queen's Park kindly tell me where exactly is all the money they continue to announce going towards? There isn't a week that goes by since my children started school that we have to pay for something or that these poor kids are raising money to cover some minimal activity.

ESL: The standard testing which was introduced by the education party (read between the sarcastic lines) has become an obsession with the current regime and from what I can see a burden on our teachers. Unfortunately, teachers are so overburdened with preparation for the ESL, that so many other educational areas are ignored. For example, my son can do fairly well on the ESL but he learns nothing about history, physical sciences,

Health Care

2007-10-07T01:08:00.001-04:00

Personal Experience

My father in-law had to get his hips replaced and was told by doctors several years ago that he should expect to have both replaced. However, the kicker was that because of the lengthy wait times, they would wait until it was an absolute necessity (as in to much pain to endure) would he be put on a list. Now the current provincial government will tell you that it only takes 3 - 6 month before you will get your hip replacement. LOL! It took more than a year per hip. In the meantime he could not even walk. Hmmm, I hate to see what the wait times were before Mr. McGuinty came to power and improved them?

Emergency experience

My 78 year old neighbor severed his thumb this fall while cutting a piece of wood on his table saw. After bandaging his thumb with gauze etc. I rushed him to emergency and it took 5 hours of waiting before a doctor could treat him. The system is so flawed that he was assessed to be a level 3 triage patient since he was only dripping blood. Should a 78 year old man who has severed his thumb have to sit in emergency for 5 hours? Do not blame the staff since they are clearly overworked and understaffed. However here are some very simple observations and hopefully some elected official at some point in time will read this and seriously consider some of them:
1. There are not enough staff for emergency operations - PERIOD!
2. The criteria for visiting an emergency room is flawed as in there isn't any. I can walk into emergency with any minor ache or pain and if you know anyone who works there they will tell you that a significant portion of patients they see should have never been treated at emerge. Create criteria and educate people!
3. Since we have a public funded and universal health care system (in theory), why is it that there are not enough family doctors for everyone? Stop blaming past governments and deal with the actual problem. Hint! No one wants to be a GP in Ontario anymore - the pay sucks and the hours are brutal.

I worked in health care for 6 years before I started my own company and most executives always told me the same thing: "There is ample enough $$$ in the system, it is just being mismanaged" Hmmm does that sound familiar to you?

Ontario Provincial Politics

2007-09-19T19:37:00.002-04:00

Current
May 5, 2010
McGuinty admits the HST will cost families more!
Big surprise here, this is a government that increased taxes the day after he was first elected and wasn't the least bit ashamed of it! What is even more troubling is that we the taxpayers of Ontario have not only allowed the free spending ways of the government to continue but also re-elected him.
I'm curious to know from anyone why we continue to support this behavior?

Pharmacist feel Liz Sandals not supportive!
This is an alarming issue, since I have heard from various individuals and groups that Liz Sandals isn't supportive of much in the riding unless it falls 100% under the Provincial Liberals mandate. That is disturbing because the first priority of an elected official is the riding. This is another example of someone who continues to get re-elected but the community doesn't feel they are actually getting net worth.

Budget 2008
Is anyone surprised at today's budget? I hope not. Its the same old same old, when you have a major problem (such as major economic uncertainty) simply announce big spending initiatives with little or no substance. Heck the government always does that for health care, education, seniors, oh an the new one is the environment.
Now ask yourself this: Are any of those issues resolved?
Now ask yourself an even more important question: Why do we re-elect these people if we continue to get the same results?

The biggest announcement was $1.5B for jobs training, and the strategy is to retrain people who lose jobs in sectors such as manufacturing for high growth verticals such as high tech and biotechnology. Does anyone see the issues with the pie in the sky strategy? For example, I lose my job as a worker on some manufacturing assembly line, but not to worry I will get retrained to work in software or genetics. lol! How many manufacturing people do you think will be able to transition to computer or bio jobs? The other alternative is the retail industry which is growing as well. Hmmm so I lose my $25 - $30 per hour job at manyfacturer ABC but I can now work at Walmart or Home Depot for $9 per hour. Yipee! PROBLEM SOLVED

Current Assessment:

We are in the final stretch - only 3 days before the provincial election and unfortunately it looks like the Liberals will be re-elected.
Don't figure - you can be a horrible government, but as long as you run a great marketing machine and of course have even less than stellar opponents will assure you re-election.

I have not tallied the number of promises, but one thing that I have always found disturbing is that all these promises are funded with our money and yet the general populous seems to lap it up. Don't figure :-)

It also looks like Ontarians ever so cautious have decided to stick with the status quo and not vote in favour of MMP. What a missed opportunity for Ontario to evolve into an actual democracy rather than the archaic first past the post system we have now. Some suggest that the current system isn't broken and that MMP was designed for small parties such as minorities and women etc. Although somewhat true in that it does give those groups a fairer chance of being represented, it also does the same for the majority of Ontarians.
For Example - IN 2003 the provincial results were as follows:
Liberals - 74 seats/46% of the vote
PV - 24 seats/35% of vote
NDP - 7 seats/15% of vote
Other - 4% of vote
* Therefore, The Liberals under first past the post received 46% of the provincial vote while 54% of those who voted did not vote for the party that was elected. I ask you is that representative of Ontario's population?

Example 2 - In Wellington County (where I live), in 2003 the breakdown was as follows:
Liberals (Liz Sandals) - 42%
PC - 37%
NDP - 12%
Green - 7%
FC - 2%

Therefore Liz Sandals receives only 42% approval from the riding, while an
overwhelming 58% of voters did not choose her. Hardly a resounding vote of
confidence is it?

Therefore, that is the attempt of MMP, is to represent the majority of the
population, not a 200 year old system that clearly benefits less than half
the population.

Unfortunately MMP will not pass, but I would suggest its because of fear
mongering by the current top parties (and the media) and which interesting
enough are the same who have the most to lose should it pass.

Will Toronto ever Learn?

A poll released today in the Globe and Mail suggest that the Liberals are gaining ground in the 905 and surrounding region.

Doesn't it surprise anyone that the GTA and in particular 905 area code is more receptive to Liberal messaging?

They lied about key election issues (last time) so why would we ever believe them now?
Imposed a significant tax increase when the rest of the world is decreasing taxes!
Spent more money on education and health care and yet is it really better?
Social downloading was suppose to be a key issue in the last election, and yet they have not reversed that trend!
The environment?
Absolutely no economic plan for transition from a manufacturing based economy to say a knowledge based one.

I just don't get it! Can someone please explain this to me???

Water Debate in Guelph

2007-07-23T20:28:00.005-04:00

Nestle gets approval! (with conditions) LOL!

A question that no one from the ministry or Nestle seems to
want to answer is:
- If the water supply is so sustainable, why is it that
Guelph is consistently under a water restriction program?
- City staff and consulting companies have determined that
the city cannot grow pass a certain population size with
current water supply and usage (I think the population
number is 170 but you would have to verify it with the city).
The point is that there is a threshold and for some reason
no one wants to admit or accept it.

On a sidebar - the ministry is taken its time and so called
due diligence because its a political issue for our current
MPP (Liz Sandals)and she was heavily criticized during the
last election because of her inaction and indifference. In
fact there was a quote in the Mercury during the election from
her that Nestle was a good corporate citizen and created jobs.
 
Between you and I, Nestle got permit to its permit, however
Mrs. Sandals will be able to say that her perfect government
went through the necessary process and determined through
extensive analysis that Nestle has no adverse impact on our
water table and case closed. 

Meanwhile, we will continue to have water issues, water
restrictions etc.
BTW - The KW Record newspaper, published a story from the
Grand River Conservation Authority that is quite contradictory
to what
the Ministry is saying about watershed issues.  It was a great
story that interviewed the head of the GRCA and he provided
startling facts about the decrease in water with in the GRCA
and the increase in water temperature.
So maybe the ministry could start there - lol!

Its somewhat disappointing that in this day and age we as in Canadians do not exert the actual power we have over government. There is a movement with in Guelph (and other regions) to or at least desire to properly manage our Canadian water resources. Of course the government's position (in this case the Province of Ontario) offers no solutions but rhetoric and blame and the old we will consult baloney tactic.

In this particular case, Nestle has applied for a new permit to extract water from the exact same source that the city of Guelph uses for municipal water supply. Of course rather than being a true representative of the community, the local MPP - Liz Sandals is non-committal and even defends the current situation with Nestle. In a perfect world we would toss her out on her red butt! Of course this will not happen and she knows it.

I read a PR newsletter that Liz sent to Guelphites last week (and I am sure at our expense) and it at first made me angry than I had to laugh at the state of affairs. The first statement was proudly representing her constituents - lol! that is the last thing she has done - it should have said the following : " Representing only as much as what will get me re-elected and not any more than that"

Provincial Government

2007-03-26T19:00:00.001-04:00

February 9, 2008 (to be or not to be)

Why is it that Canadian politicians cannot speak the absolute truth?
Example:
Mr. McGuinty states profusely that he wants to combat climate change and yet on the other side of his mouth he will not ban plastic bags, will not sign on to an emission standard unless its made in Ontario because he says it will hurt the auto industry and last but not least he is starting to spend tons of dollars on building new highways for more cars. So what is it that he is doing to mitigate this serious issue?????

Then he spouts rhetoric about a rosy outlook for the economy except that his sad and public strategy is for Ontarions is to go out and buy more? Also he has not actual plan for dealing with the significant decrease in manufacturing with in this province. Here is some food for thought:
1. Manufacturing will continue to decrease in Canada not based on the Canadian dollar but the fact that we have grown very accustomed to cheap goods which can only be provided at those rates if we continue to buy from China.

2. There has been roughly 500,000 people layed off from Ontario manufacturing over the past 3 years, how many of those people do you think will be able to transition in to the growth areas such as high tech??????

3. What do you think is the most common job that many find after leaving manufacturing? hint - retail or fast food

4. When people cannot afford to purchase the quality and quantity they did with higher incomes, how does go out and buy more solve the slow down in our economy?

February 2, 2008

We continue to see in the media the incredible amount of disrespect that the provincial government has for Ontarions. For example - a school trustee in Toronto has been abusing expenses in such an incredible way that it made excessive headlines a week ago. As in expenses trips, coffee and even lingerie. Well here is the hard fact people! This person has been re-lected even though she was called out for her behavior before and we still vote for her? We only have ourselves to blame for where we are today. We as in Canadians continue to accept bad behavior and mediocre government.

Economics Woes
January 19, 2008

Well 2008 has come in with a somewhat negative spin with the US economy sputtering and the ever increasing evidence towards climate change.

A key indicator in Canada is the faltering manufacturing sector, although I personally would not blame it on the US economy. Yes it is compounded by the downturn, however the signals were there years ago and have been accelerating ever since. We live in a consumer oriented society that has been brought up to buy ever increasing at the lowest possible price. Value isn't in craftsmanship but in how much we can acquire and how much we paid. Therefore, unlike the days before free trade and other protective barriers, manufacturers must source all resources at the lowest cost possible in order to profit let alone survive. In Canada and Ontario in particular we have experienced an incredible period of purchasing power from homes to appliances at astronomically low prices. Well people that is changing and it is changing faster than the internet has evolved!

At some time we have to realize that we have only 2 options:
1. Accept the fact that based on current consumer behavior, manufacturing will have to be outsourced to third world countries because its way cheaper therefore we will have (should have already) migrate from resource and manufacturing base economy to a knowledge and service oriented one.

2. The status quo of consumerism at the lowest price cannot be sustained with out significant employment losses in Canada. Almost all goods in some shape or form are produce in China because labour is absurdly cheap, therefore manufacturing will continue to migrate over to Asia regardless of how much money the Federal and Provincial governments toss at the industry.

Taxes:
November 24, 2007

It would be hilarious the discussions going between all levels of government for who should collect our taxes, except that its our money. Taxes are a fact of Canadian life and contribute to the complete infrastructure of this nation. What is disturbing about the process is that the Provincial government wants to siphon directly from the federal surplus. We should not allow this to happen and here is why: The responsibility of the federal government is to finance and manage national services such as - defense, health care, education etc. All other responsibilities fall on the province and than based on locality the municipal government. Therefore, if Miller wants more $ than he should and is allowed to raise taxes in Toronto and not the rest of the province. Surely the needs of Toronto are different than the needs of Guelph or Hamilton etc. The same goes for the province, if Mr. McGuinty wants more $ from the feds he should raise taxes hear instead and his constituents to judge if he is right or not. Yes it is that simple folks, every level of government needs to stop passing the buck and start representing and being accountable to its direct voters.

The results of the 2007 provincial election were predictable and disappointing for the majority of Ontarians. Until I actually properly reflected on the final voting results, I wasn't fully aware of how dysfunctional the current 'first past the post' system is.

Consider the results for Wellington County (where I live)

The voting numbers in the Oct. 10 provincial election for Guelph looked like this: 46,728 people voted and Liz Sandals (liberal incumbent) received only 19,9009 of those votes.

What that translates into is the fact that 59.4 per cent of voters who live here did not vote for Sandals. Would you consider that result an endorsement or confidence of the community?

Isn't it interesting that the results of a recent online poll by this newspaper, "Would Guelph be better served if Liz Sandals were named a provincial cabinet minister?" -- yes: 41 per cent (155 votes), no: 59 per cent (225 votes) -- mirrored the results of the election?

Since we have no choice for at least the next four years, here are a few questions that we need addressed by our newly re-elected MPP:

1. What is the province's strategy for dealing with water issues? Fact: we had 300 millimetres of rain this year (the average is 900). The Places to Grow strategy, with its population forecasts, suggest that we will not have enough water to support the growing population of Guelph in 20 years.

2. What about economic growth? Manufacturing in Guelph and Wellington County is under significant stress as it is in the rest of the province. What is Dalton McGuinty's government going to do to address the current trend?

3. The United Nations published a scathing report two weeks ago that suggests we are on a destructive path should we continue business as usual, and specifically called out such countries as Canada and the U.S. for their excessive consumption behaviour.

There certainly are many Ontarians who would like to see us become a solution leader rather than being a bigger part of the problem. Mr. McGuinty, can you lead the way?

Provincial Election 2007

2007-01-22T13:44:00.000-05:00

Wellington County:

Although we are several months away from the provincial election I thought we could start a dialogue on this.

I think there is an opportunity for Ontarians to make a real difference with this election. Lets face it, most of our past governments (including this one) have been a terrible disappointment and certainly do not reflect the views of the majority of us. So than why is it we vote for them?

The onus is on us to change the way things work! Why should we settle for what we have now? The values we all believe in or even dream of can become a reality if we chose to do something about it. There are far to many MPPs who seem to think that by wearing the right colors and appearing at the right events represents leadership. Is that what we think? Is that real representation of the community?

Liz Scandals - I copied this from the Guelph Tribune and love it! Liz unfortunately is a perfect example as to what is wrong with provincial politics. Defend your party at all cost and blame the previous governments for all problems. Again, how does this represent your constituents? I have gotten to the point where I no longer belong to any party. Why is it that each party is so blindly partisan, that they seem to never have the best interest of us?

2007

2006-12-27T10:35:00.000-05:00

Questions from 06 to Ponder in 07

Has we move into a New Year, I have compiled a list of questions from 2006 that is food for thought in 2007.

With the obvious change in climate, does that mean Guelph will be the new Florida & Moosenee will be the new Guelph?
Many of us do not support local retailers because we think they are greedy, does that mean that big box stores are not?
Why do we wait for ever in drive-thrus while the local coffee shop is empty?
If we actually got out of our Vans and SUVs, does that mean we would still have to buy a gym membership?
Will we still have jobs when environmental catastrophes continue to increase?
What kind of jobs will they be?
When the air quality gets to the point that we cannot breathe it, will we convert to Co2?
Once we run out of water, will we switch to coke?
Do we need bigger public garbage receptacles or do more people need glasses?

Don’t spend too much time trying to answer any of these questions; rumour has it that Wallymart & Google should be able to provide us with cheap ways to solve all of these questions…….

Have a Happy New Year!

Municipal Leadership

2006-10-14T11:45:00.000-04:00

If there is one thing that I have learned in the business world, that is what good leadership really means. It took many years for me to understand and even appreciate what great leadership means, and I suspect that part of it was because quite frankly I had not seen much of it until 2004. At that time I worked for a local high technology company and had recently been assigned to a newly created department. It was with in that department that I was able to gain first hand experience as to what real and effective leadership can do. Leadership isn't about having just a vision and certainly isn't telling people what to do, it is far more complex than that, however it comes down to understanding human behaviour and applying rational thought as to why and what should be done in any situation. In practical terms a leader certainly needs vision, but that vision does not come solely from with in, it comes from clearly understandings peoples goals, problems, strengths, weaknesses and desires. Once a true leader understands this, visions can be realized using people’s strengths, mentoring and providing individuals with the necessary skills to overcome weaknesses.

Consensus building - A key quality of a true leader is the ability to develop consensus on any particular issue. I do not mean bullying/pressuring someone, but actually getting people to accept and understand something.

Sincerity - Being honest and treating people how you want to be treated goes further than anyone can ever imagine.

Listening - This is a quality that provides the foundation for all others. A great leader listens even when they may not agree with that group/individuals perspective.

Cry of the Day

2006-10-01T21:12:00.000-04:00

Drive Thrus
I recently read several articles about communities such has Hamilton who are actively trying to ban drive-thrus. The rational is that an idling car waste's precious energy and contributes unnecessary CO2 to Global Warming. What concerns me is the negative reaction of some. The primary argument is that it takes convenience away. So let me get this straight, some feel that it is more important to sit in an idling car to get for example a coffee rather than save the planet? What has happened for us to think that way? I would appreciate any feedback from anyone that reads this blog.

LONDON BI-ELECTION

There is a federal Bi-Election in London at the end of November. What is significant is the fact that Elizabeth May who is the Green Party leader is running. What confuses me and I would love to hear your opinion is that the front runner Dianne Haskett is someone who is homophobic, may be anti-Muslim and is ignoring global warming. Why is she is the front runner? What does that say about us?

Geisha vs. Climate
Last night my wife and I watched Geisha and at first I was thinking 'Oh great this will be a bore', well guess what it was a good movie. It was actually historical and also reminded me that we have not changed since than. We still value external features and of course money, maybe even more...

However, that is not what I wanted to tell you about, when I had my first cup of coffee this morning I normally read the newspaper, but instead I decided to watch CTV News at 8:00 and it both alarmed me and fascinated me since most of the topics revolved around the environment.

One extremely disturbing interview was with the head climatologists in the US who discussed the fact that in 40 - 45 years from today we will have a 2 degree temperature increase that will cause mass catastrophes through out the world and may very well spell the end of the human race. It will be the warmest period in 1 million years! Wow and than it got me thinking about yet again politics :-) At every level of government, who has done anything to mitigate this very real and scary problem? And why is that? Is it because of us as individuals? Lets consider this for a moment: What do we normally vote on? Taxes? Employment? Pot Holes? Price of Gas? How many stores we have nearby? etc. Who can blame the politicians who want to get re-elected? If someone was running and said: ' Hey I am not building more roads, subdivisions and in fact I am going to create more green space, bring in more water conservation measures and strict emissions measure, would you vote for them????

Liberal Leadership Campaign

2006-09-25T12:58:00.000-04:00

New Leader of the Liberal Party

If you have not heard there is a new leader of the Federal Liberal party. I must admit that I was very concerned last weekend when I was waiting for the results. It stressed me to no end. Why? Well I was convinced that Bob the bobble head Rae would win. I assumed that delegates would go with Mr. Rae in hope of wining the next election. That deeply concerned me because Bob Rae is to much of a consummate old school politician and personally I believe he just does not get it. How can he? He is a Rhodes Scholar (like that should mean something to us working folks) and has he ever truly understood the masses? Boy was I ever delighted, no wait ecstatic when Mr. Dion won the leadership! Even though I have not voted Liberal in over a decade I am happy that the party seems to be looking not to just win the next election, but cares (maybe) about the electorate.

A new poll suggests that Bob Rae is now the front-runner for the leadership of the Federal Liberal Party. Can you imagine, Mr. Rae days has the next leader of what some use to call the greatest political party in Canada? Like many in Ontario I actually voted for Bob Rae and could not wait to boot him out after his maniacal performance. What has happened to the Liberal party? Or was it always this screwed up? Here we went from somewhat respectable Jean Chrétien, to Mr. Dithers and now possibly one of the worst premiers that Ontario has ever had.

National Current Events:

2006-09-21T10:11:00.003-04:00

Canadians Don't Know any better?
I guess we just don't know anything and thank God we have the government to steer us in the right direction. The majority of Canadians seem to be against an auto bail-out and yet all levels of government are going to toss money at them. An interesting poll today from Ipso Reid asked if the bailout will make a difference and an overwhelming 72% said NO!

Rae Decides to Back Down from Leadership Race
There was an interesting editorial by Jim Coyle in the Toronto Star that suggests Rae was given a difficult time because of his track record when he was premier of Ontario and that is the reason why he will never be Liberal leader. BALONEY! Yes Rae wasn't that great of a premier (just think of Rae days) But do you not find Mr. Rae to be just a tad out of touch with the middle class and the challenges we face on a regular basis? He must get that perception frequently since he is always professing how much he has learned from his mistakes and is alwasy thinking howto solve the issues of the common folk. Ummmmmm, andjust were does he pull his experience from? All the boards and committees he sa on after he left provincial politics? Being and MP? When he was roomates with Ignatieff??

Polls show Tories and Liberals flatlining - March 5, 2008 - The Canadian Press Harris-Decima survey
What absolutely surprises me is that both parties cannot grasp why they are not gaining any kind of momentum what so ever. Here are suggested reasons and please feel free to comment:
- both parties are not in touch with the average Canadian
- both parties are so similar in behavior
- both parties cannot be trusted (example - sponsorship scandal, Chuck Cadman affair)
- both parties are not addressing very real and serious issues (economy, manufacturing, climate change, health care)

Federal Budget: The risk of being negative, I am not a fan of this budget. Why?
Simply put it is an umbrella of spending to whom ever the government is targeting to vote for them. It has nothing to do with what Canada really needs. Its an election designed budget! period! Oh if your wondering I voted for Harper.... There are a some serious issues that need to be addressed by our government which frankly did not.

Sweet Belinda: I may have to start a post just for Belinda Stronach :-) This person is unbelievable; it would be funny if she wasn't a representative of parliament. Today (October, 20th, Belinda made news again by suggesting the entire Conservative party is chauvinistic because of alleged comments by Peter McKay. Wow! and this coming from someone of already very questionable ethics? The real pathetic part of this is that much of the focus in the house of commons has now been on this bullshit. Isn't there more important things that MPs should be discussing

Wow - Prime Minister Harper must privately be celebrating at his current good fortune. If the PMO ever reads this here is some free advice: Don't do anything but wait and see until the next election. Chances are there will not be any credible members of the Liberal party left. It is amazing and sad at what speed the number of negative issues that keep erupting within the Liberal Party. The sad thing is that no one outside of the party has had to do anything - they just keep doing it to themselves. If you have not heard the latest is the alleged Tie Domi/Belinda Stronach fiasco. It seems that ex Maple Leaf bruiser (Tie Domi) has been involved in extra marital affair with no other than poor Belinda. Recently she was on Mike Duffy and was crying double standard as well as using the old tactic of my private life does not reflect my public life. Well I hate to break the news to wise old Belinda, your actions in private certainly does reflect how you are perceived and how you behave in public. In fact there is an argument to suggest that how we behave in private is our true behaviour, values, morals and integrity; and it is how we behave in public that is the surreal.

Election 2003: In Ontario, it will be municipal election time on November 13, and unfortunately voter turn-out is typically low (less than 50%). Here in Guelph it was only 36% in 2003 which is dreadful and begs the question as to how any elected officials can properly govern since they clearly do not even represent half the voting population. And than certain representatives went around stating they had a landslide and that the people have spoken. Well with my math calculations, 67% of eligible Guelphites did not vote. How does that provide any kind of real mandate? It would be interesting to hear from you as to why voter turn out is so low.

Average Canadian

2006-09-19T11:45:00.000-04:00

Hello to all who have come across my personal blog. My name is Regg Struyk and I am an average Canadian who over the years has become very dissatisfied with the way our Canadian political system has evolved. I feel frustrated at the arrogance and lack of genuine respect within the Canadian system at all levels of government. It is also discouraging that the majority of Canadians have become apathetic and disassociated with the system. This is my attempt to speak out with other average Canadians and who knows beyond group therapy maybe it will help improve our way of life.