Our Town and Its Business

The beat goes on

2013-05-22T18:13:00.001-05:00

Yesterday, Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau used the words "doctored" and "whitewashed" to describe changes made in a senate committee report on Senator Duffy's expense claims.

Today, Liberal M.P, Ralph Goodale used the word "doctored" again in the same context.

Yesterday it was the N.D.P. party up to bat and again today.

Question period in the House of Commons is in an uproar today as members .one after another, demand
answers and documents which they clearly believe exist and must be produced.

We are having our own debate about the situation in Toronto. What's wrong with that picture?

I can't see a problem.

I'm not comfortable about things turning around to accusations here. I've removd the negative comment about Mayor Dawe .

I make two apologies one to Mayor Dawe and one to the poster.

It was a good comment but what's going on down there is unprecedented and doesn't really have anything to do with our affairs.

It has been compared to Mayor Berry in Washington . But it isn't true either. At least not altogether.

Mayor Berry was arrested, charged , tried and spent six months in jail.

Now he's the Mayor again.

We've heard about a video. We haven't seen it Many of the negative things said about Mayor Ford are accurate. But despite it all, Rob Ford was chosen by the electorate to be their Mayor.

What fascinates me is as much about the people's right to choose , as it is about a separate institution's right to undo that democratic decision.

It happens elsewhere in the world. Is it something we are prepared to accept. I don't think so.

I just heard Deputy Mayor Doug Holyday say the video under discussion was viewed by two reporters on a cell phone in the back seat of a car.

The conversation continues

2013-05-22T18:12:00.001-05:00

I'm watching Charlie Rose talking to everyone who knows anything about the horror of yesterday's tornado in Oklahoma, bringing out every aspect of the disaster on people's lives and the public response , from the President on down to the people on the ground.

I can't help comparing "the crisis in Toronto"

To-day , yesterday and the day before, the local frenzy has been that Toronto's Mayor has nothing more to add to the first three statements he already made on the Star's assertion of a video .

compromising the Mayor, and offered for sale for $200,000 by an American blog named "Gawkers"

At the same time, the Mayor, it could be argued is either the victim or the subject of the story, is held to be responsible for the city making it to the late night American comedy circus and not good for the city's image.

How can the person with nothing more to say be responsible for everything being said.?

Val Sears ,a local communications expert says Doug Ford's defense of his brother is the worst example of public communication. He says, it throws down a challenge to The Toronto Star to respond .

A marketing expert from the faculty of Queen's University who lives in Kingston, also had something critical to contribute to the high level media discussion of the Ford Brothers style of communication.

So the Ford brothers are not sophisticated in the ways of big city political communication.

Would that make them typical or atypical of the people they represent, I wonder?

Could they be favorably or unfavorably compared to former Mayor David Miller or previous to former Mayor , Mel Lastman in that regard ?

What more can the Toronto Star do now that they haven't been doing since the term began.

The video they do not have or profess to authenticate but confidently refer to, is the worst but by no means the first story they have told. that reflects badly on Toronto's Mayor.

Even news from Ottawa and Peru about a senate spending scandal involving two former media stars and the Prime Minister's refusal to answer questions has not been sufficient to divert them from their path.

We watched the Prime Minister yesterday morning share with the Senate how "upset"he is about the conduct in the Senate and his own office.

He said anyone who believes he should profit from public service should "leave the room now"

Wow,that was a scary moment.

But we all know that's al he could do. A senate appointment is good for life until age seventy-five.

Not like an elected office at the municipality or any other level of government .An election holds until the next election.

But not if you can make an elected member's life so utterly miserable they will be forced to quit.

We are not unfamiliar with that scenario.

From the mouths of babes

2013-05-22T08:27:00.001-05:00

Habits are easy to acquire. Fortunately, just as easy to drop. David Letterman may be politically seasonal In humor.

I decided last week when Bea Arthur's portrait was used , I could do without Letterman for a while.

The portait of the decesased followed a bout of particularly tasteless and humurless excess..

This week, I've been thinking about a video seen on Letterman regularly during the presidential election.

Apparently a book had been written about Mitt Romney the Republican nominee for president. A story was told how he took the family for a drive and the dog, an Irish setter, travelled in an open crate on the car roof.

Th video showed Romney driving and the dog dropping over and tapping on the window.

Of course it could not have been authentic. Of course it was being done for a purpose other than entertainment

But at no time did I hear anyone suggest Mitt Romney should have to address the question of whether or not he actually took a trip in a car with the dog on a crate on the car roof.

The election was in full spate.His image was on display . But at no time did I hear anyone demand he account for what the vdeo depicted.

On Sunday , on Global television, Focus Onatrio had the publisher of Toronto Star as guest.

He was jovial. Stated reporters covering the story of the video made by drug dealers and offered for sale for $200,000. , are convinced it is genuiine.

I've seen ,on T.V. two stills presumably taken from the video. One is a picture of a cheerful Mayor in his green football sweater, between two characters with beards and bandannas.The other I've only seen twice. It shows a figure in a business suit, collar and tie with a pipe clutched close to its chest.

The head looks like it had been attached to the figure after the fact. I only saw it twice. And I'm a sceptic.

But how ard could it be? Anyone who kows anything about computers , knows hw easy it is to

create an image.

Why has ithe media not asked the obvious question.about authenticity?

Why is the sale of a video produced by two drug dealers, the responsibility of the city's Mayor to validate?

He sad it was not true. It was ridiculous. It was The Star continuing their attacks.

Then they said"The Mayor must say something"He already did.

How often should he say it before being accused of protestng too much.

The latest headline has "Wynne and Trudeau " mixing in. to the question. .

Now that's rich. The squeaky clean Harper Conservatives have a video of Trudeau in an ad doing a strip tease . The Conservatives are questioning his judgement and fitness

A class of Grade 5 students somewhere in Canada have cried foul.

How is it children can see unfairness where adults don't?

It all adds up to a nasty billof goods

2013-05-18T16:05:00.001-05:00

Adam son of Colin Vaughan,is the one skulking on the edge snatching at the scraps. He's nothing like his Dad.

It's not easy to sort out who's who in Toronto Politics any more. If we were interested ,we could have a better idea who's who in Egypt.

Maybe that's what the Toronto Star is up to. Keep throwing buckets of it over Ford so that nothing else gets the public's attention.

I don't know how well I would get along with the Ford brothers. How could I know without being part of City Council

But with Deputy Mayor Doug Holyday and their team, they have undertaken a monumental task. I admire that.

A recent clip on T,V, showed a series of separate incidents of the Mayor stumbling and tripping and generally being physically maladroit.

Think about that.

If a teacher or anyone else did that to the fat kid in class , would there be a problem identifying the sigificance?

I don't think so.

And I don't think the people of Toronto are misled by it either.

WHAT'S THE TORONTO STAR UP TO?

2013-05-18T11:29:00.001-05:00

It would be interesting to know what's behind The Toronto Star's relentless attacks on Toronto's Mayor.

We heard yesterday about a video offered for sale by drug dealers. Robyn Doolittle, a reporter at the Star, said she had seen it. She saw someone who looked like the Mayor with the sun shining full on him and he was smoking a glass pipe.

What purported to be the video was shown earlier. It looked like the Mayor with the sun shining on him being held up on both sides by a couple of guys who looked like they might be drug dealers if it can be said that drug dealers look like drug dealers .

In fact, if I were really cynical, I'd say it looked like a life sized cardboard cut out of the Mayor being held up by a couple of mean looking guys with beards and bandanas

He wasn't sitting at a table. He wasn't smoking a glass pipe. If there was "crack"in the vicinity, it wasn't

recognizable.

What does crack look like anyway when it's being smoked in a glass pipe . I know cocaine is a

white powder. I understand crack cocane is ersatz. So what does it look like and how would it differ from anything else being smoked in a glass pipe?

Robyn Doolittle, is a pretty little thing. Wholesome. Young. She bobbed her head to illustrate smoke being suckedin and puffed out and talked quite dispassionately.

The decision to publish the story would not have been hers.

Probably the same person who decided on the last scandalous assertion attributed to a Councillor

hostile to the Mayor.

Then there was the story from an erstwhile Mayoralty candidate who complained ,but not really , that the Mayor had behaved inappropriately but she wasn't sure. Didn't she say she had to check her facts with Wikipedia?

So why would Robyn Doolittle be the one giving an interview?

For a facade of innocence perhaps ? To pretend The Toronto Star is not doing relentlessly what The Toronto Star is relentlessly doing ?

You have to wonder ? Who might it be at the Toronto Star who hates the Mayor so much they are prepared to risk credibility? Or doesn't that matter either any more.

Could there be a connection to Provincial politics? Toronto is every bit as Tory Blue as the Ford brothers epitomise.

Then of course there's always Colin Vaughan skulking about on the edges snatching at the scraps.

And Michael Layton . And Olivia Chow.

Maybe Paul Godfrey ,now that he's returning to his managerial role at the National Post, will turn his

attention to the Toronto scene.

Rob Ford's brother Doug has declared himself a candidate in the next Provincial election. A few weeks ago on Focus Ontario, he laughingly responded to John Tory's question; "will you be a candidate for leadership? "

He answered "Will you be my campaign manager?"

He most certainly looks like he would be a passionate and vigorous candidate.

Now, there's a serious thought.

Maybe Ontario Conservatives will re-discover the formual for leadership that kept the Liberals in the wilderness for thirty-five years.

The Times We LIve In

2013-05-17T21:11:00.001-05:00

The media says the government is refusing to release the formula for calculating casino hosting fees.

Well of course they are.They don't have a formula. The Premier jumped in with both feet

when she heard Ottawa Mayor's yelping discontent and poclaimed all cities woukd be treated equally, The word formula was not used.

Monday morning would have been soon enough to respond to Ottawa's Mayor. After a few relevant queries had been made. Te first being why is the business of gaming and lotteries managed by a board rather than by politicians.

Ottawa Mayor's reaction to the hosting fees offered to Toronto is a perfect example.,

It's also why there needs to be a formula. and an apolitical body to create and implement it.

and all the other management policies needed to govern the gambling industry.

Now there's none. Paul Godfrey was asked to resign for doing his job as it needed to be done and the entire board has resigned , not only in support of Godfrey but a Board like that can only do its job without political interference.

Andrea Horwath is going to hold a press conference on Tuesday and tell us if there's going to be a Spring election.

The Premier is hoping there won't.

Councillor Ballard wants the town to ask Go to send a train north on a Saturday so Toronto Touristos will visit Aurora Farmer's market.

Town staff are directed to seek dispute resolution with Bell on the Cell tower even though it was activated on April 29th.

And Pamela Wallen has decided to sit as an "Independent" Senator and continue to collect salary and expenses.

The Day Will Come

2013-05-17T16:17:00.001-05:00

By resigning from the conservative caucus , Duffy has no role to play in the Senate. He still keeps a seat and the salary that goes with it. I'm not sure he can be fired.

A federal riding in Markham had an M.P. once who was expelled from the Liberal caucus. His name was Jag Badhuria.He became an embarrassment to the government because of his conduct.

But he could not be expelled from Parliament. Markham voters collected petitions for him to be removed as their member and a by election held. But that never happened. He had been elected to the seat and there he stayed until the next elecition.

He even went on a trip to Asia at public expense while having no role to play in the House of Commons.

In the next election, he again sought the Liberal nomination.

I'm not sure I've ever heard of a Senator being removed. A retirement age of seventy-five was introduced a number of years ago.

A recent retirement of a Senator who was suffering from Alzheimer's was in the news but that probably only happened when the facts became public.

Duffy's situation may be enlightening to us all.

The Prime Minister's handling of the situaition has not been impressive so far. How long he can turn a blind eye to the situation remains to be seen.

I don't think the story is going away soon.

Contrast it with the firing of Paul Godfrey and resignations of eight members of the Ontario Gaming and Lottery Board.

Not much grace was attached to that. The Premier blunders in to the question of an equalising factor between cities. She declared on a Sunday night that Ottawa would receive the same as Toronto. It's unlikely she paused to discover the facts.

Now we hear it was Charles Sousa who fired Godfrey and then the story was leaked.

Charles Sousa was a rival candidate for the leadership. He is a provincial member from Mississuaga

Probably knew all about the cancellation of the generating plants. Formerly associated with the Royal Bank of Canada.

Paul Godfrey was probably paid an adequate salary for the job of Chairman of OLG. Still the job was a public service.

Dalton McGuinty saw fit to keep hm in the job. His performance must have been satisfactory.

Paul Godfrey started as an alderman in North York. His successful career has been very public. He is an icon in the Jewish community.

There's something mean-spirited in the Kathleen Wynne government that couldn't handle the separation with more class. It's not worthy of a government.

They may rue the day.

Truth and Consequences

2013-05-16T21:02:00.001-05:00

Paul Godfrey is out as Chairman of Ontario Lottery and Gaming, Government confirms.

That was Kathleen Wynne's first blooper.

Ottawa's Mayor demanded equality in hosting fees between cities . Without waiting to see how things work the brand spanking new premier assured Hottawa there would be.equality.

As f the two cities are the same.

Right there , ignorance and recklessness sounded a warning knell.

Even with Toronto Mayor's support ,the vote for a casino was not a slam dunk.

The deal had to appeal With a good deal ,the Fords could easily persuade the people of the merits of a casino outweigh the negatives.

Jobs and revenue and jobs are always good persuaders.

The government is refusing to release the formula forhosting fees. Of course they are. It would certainly show wrong the Premier was, when she charged into the discussion without first consulting with the agency in charge.

Chairman Godfrey out on the eve of a strike at the LCBO cannot be seen as a plus.

An election now would mean the Liberals tossed for certain sure.

No business can take confidence from this performance.

All the elaborate planning for McGuinty to step aside to escape consequences for a political decision that cost Ontario's taxpayers and hydro users millions of wasted resources.

I heard ion Focus Ontario, most of the money squandered for an extra seat to keep the Liberals in power must be recovered in higher hydro costs,

The consumer pays. Of course we wll. Don't we always?

If Andrea Horvath votes to keep them in power in the face of cmplete incompetence , the NDP will carry the overflowing can. .

Kathleen's winning smile will not help Ontario's voters to forget their troubles.

The entire OLG board has resigned with the ouster of Paul Godfrey.

Oh dearie me .

A few dibs and dabs

2013-05-16T11:06:00.001-05:00

Grant funds are included in the town's budget.

Any Aurora group or individual is entitld to make an application for financial support from the fund.

There is criteria and if they qualify and there's money in the budget they might be successful.

But only if they make an application.

We often hear criticism from a food bank supporter for not providing funds to their charity.

The answer is simple.

Everything the food bank receives is by voluntary donation from the community.

The region, province and federal government are responsible for adequacy of social services and assistance. Consideringthe vast majority of those on social assistance are children I think it's scandalous for there to be reliance on a food bank.

During Tuesday's meeting ,Councillor Gallo referred to funds for Councilors to pay for tickets and such to support various charitable organisations. He thought it was hypocritical to suggest ,it was not right to buy those tickets.

I had to remind Coucillors it is for the individual to decide wheher to appear to be supporting a charity and all the while using taxpayers money to do so.

I never have.

I do not criticise those who do. The policy pemits it. But I don't care to be called a hypocrite either.

BTW nothing in the correspondence from the Craigs , Curator of Georgina Military museum
indicates the museum is a charity.

The letter noted there had been generous support from Georgina. At the same time , his Wednesday missive acknwledged the answer to the request for funds would likely have been the same had the request for funds come before Council.

That only added to the mystery.

Agenda Item 6

2013-05-16T01:16:00.001-05:00

It was a memorandum requiring direction from Council.. Attached were two letters soliciting funds. One from Georgina's Mayor and a second from an outfit claiming to be operating something called a military museum in Georgina. After the meeting I learned it occupies the burger and french fries stand at the corner of the road turning into the Village of Sutton..

The request was for Aurora to purchase 100 tickets at $5. a shot and distribute them between Legion members and cadets.

I hadn't read the letters until now.

It's a good thing.

Councillor Ballard who seems to be a one man cult of all things military was first up with a motion to

buy tickets as requested by "The Craigs"

Several argued in support. I didn't. The debate went around the table twice before it was settled with the motion defeated.

Today we received an e-mail from Mr.Craig. He is a Councillor in Georgina. He said the vote would likely have been the same in Georgina Council. He was responding to an e-mail from an Aurora Councillor willing to buy ten tickets out of his own pocket and hoped others would do the same.

I will not .

The Craig's letter promoting ticket sales was accompanied by a letter from Georgina's Mayor Rob Grossi. He said;

"The chance to visit our museum and take this memorable journey should not be missed by anyone. I invite you to seize the opportunity to view these extraordinary exhibits and celebrate with us onMay 5t for "Georgina Salutes".I would ask that you support the request of the museum's Curator and purchase the amount of tickets suggested, to distribute to associates and members of your community, so that they,too, can honour the memory of our fallen soldiers."

That's what he said.

On the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of every year for close to a hundred years people the world over have remembered those who paid the ultimate sacrifice in war.

Few homes were unaffected.

We do not use artifacts of war to remember our dead or honour their memory

Thousaands of stories have never been told. Veterans who saw active combat spent the rest of their lives trying to escape the memories.

Despite the sacrifice, its clear no lessons were learned .

Nichola Goddard is a name that quickly comes to mind

I FORGOT TO TELL YOU

2013-05-15T18:38:00.001-05:00

A few months ago Council received a report on a renegotiated contract with the Culture Centre Board.The Recreation Director and town solicitor were occupied on the project for eight months I believe.

Space was to be turned over for museum purposes. We understood the space might be available by May 1st.

Later we had a consultant's report on the museum collection. That too took several months to complete. Mr.Downey was assigned to that project as well..

I am not normally impressed with consultant studies. Most are a compilation of information obtained from talking to staff. Public input is usually provided by the same small group that take an interest in stuff like that.

They are very well-meaning people but their numbers are negligible and as representative of the ccommunity, they are not.

The report on the museum collection was substantial. An inventory was completed. The value of the collection was authenticated. The condition of textile artifacts were determined to be in dire need of attention. Some artifacts were determined to be missing.

Storage was also determined to be inadequate

The building as a suitable repository and exhibition space was determined to be exemplary. Which wasn't surprising considering we spent $2.3 million renovating it for a modern,state of the art home for the Aurora museum.

Good work was done by the consultant, the director and a curator. We were ready for next steps.

We did not take the step. After spending tens of thousands of dollars on a study , we did not act. .

A majority vote, including the Mayor and Councillor Pirri ,decided no action should be taken until after the Culture Master Plan was completed.

It wasn't even started,

Last night we approved reconsideration of that vote . It will happen at the next meeting.

But that's not what I wanted to tell you.

An exhibit was hoped for on July1st. But a problem presented. The Culture Centre does not open on

Statutory holidays wen people are free to recereate.

We learned the space allocated for the museum would not be available until after November. The Culture Centre had accepted a booking in November

The Farmers Market will be accommodated .

Free of cost.

That's what I forgot to tell you.

Jesus wept.

Humpty Dumpty sat on a stool. Humpty Dumpty was a greedy fool, Obviously

2013-05-15T14:58:00.001-05:00

Robyn was here yesterday. Added a couple of apps to my ipad.

So, I've been listening to news

The updated story about the Illustrious Senator Mike Duffy. Who perched on a stool in the loobby of Parliament for years and was acclaimed for his erudition by politicians of all stripes.

The gilt has worn off the gingerbead so-to-speak. Senator Humpty Dumpty Duffy turns out not to be so squeaky clean as to justiufy his appointment to the August body of the Senate.

Seems Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Chief of staff made a gift of $90.000 to Duffy to repay the ill-gotten gains siphoned from the public treasury.

The Prime Minister's Chief of Staff is apparently a multi-millionaire. He just handed over a cheque as a gift. He's probably the one who advised the Prime Minister he needed a new image. One with a personality.

We had a conversation about that on Sunday at the family gathering. The consesus was the effort has failed. Events contrived to create a warm and fuzzy feeling about Stephen Harper have all been for nought. Slightly nauseating in fact. He is still minus a personality.

Now we have the Honorable Peter Van Loan making statements about Duffy having "shown leadership" by re-paying money he should not have claimed in the first place.

You have to wonder what kind of air freshener they us in the Halls of Parliament that makes them think people can be taken in so easily.

They continue to add insult to injury.

This observation is not an advertisement. It is not paid for by anyone .

It is written by me, myself, alone.

What kind of fools do hey think we are? Or maybe they don't. Maybe they are just so G.D. arrogant they think they don't need to worry about what wethink

It's too much to bear

2013-05-14T16:45:00.001-05:00

What a nightmare for the family of the young father .

How will they ever come to terms with his death?

Magnificent Magnolia

2013-05-14T11:56:00.002-05:00

We will return

2013-05-13T20:45:00.001-05:00

The jury was to have been chosen tomorrow. Wirnesses might have been called.
For a reason, not my business to release, it will not happen.

It will be November before it proceeds.

I believe I can say without repurcussion, the most difficult aspect of litigation is not being able to share the experience.

In November, it will be fifty months since Notice of Intended Action was delivered.

The second difficulty is not having control of the processs.

In the meantime, there's Labrador, a lovely day with my family yesterday and summer ahead.

Tomorrow our attention will be re-directed.

Happy Mother's Day

2013-05-11T09:04:00.002-05:00

I received a comment yesterday that Council is a horror story. To the extent conversation on this blog might be partially responsible for that impression, because I am the story teller, I would like to correct it.

In contrast to the last Council, there really is no comparison .

I doubt there is a more transparent Council anywhere. We talk about everything. If the decision isn't going the way the Mayor wants it , there's often a deferral and the decision nay well be reversed.

If Councillors allow themselves to be persuaded by something that wasn't discussed in the open
that's transparent.

It's not hard to follow . I think knowing about it is wholesome .

Councillors Gaertner, Gallo and Ballard ,for a reason I cannot fathom, appear to be determined to past battles not their own. Gallo not so much.

They were elected on their own merits. Voters chose them from a slate.

Other candidates would not be wasting precious time trying to get them defeated. Their effort would be taken up trying to get themselves elected.

Why the trio would squander opportunity continuing to fight battles lost is quite beyond
comprehension.

I run for office because I don't know anyone else who would represent me the way I want to be represented. Over the years. there have always been enough people to vote for me to represent them as well.

I revel in the opportunity. But I'm not there to generate a slumber zone around me. I like to feel
electricity. It's how we all know we are alive.

So I contribute to the environment of Aurora Council. People adapt. As long as I'm there everyone gets drawn into the conversation and we all have a jolly time fiercely or not , expounding our various views and no harm done. Sometimes meetings are volatile but mostly vigorous at least.

Why would anybody want it to be different ?

We are alive. Let's enjoy the experience .

It will not come again.

Happy Mother's Day!

Not precisely flotsam

2013-05-10T09:19:00.001-05:00

I have a few minutes between working and taking sustenance. Not long enough to write a post.
Nor could I give it my full attention. Which my detractors would undoubtedly say 'Thank
Goodness for small mercies.

I am occupied on my computer. Giving my full attention to the task in hand and getting into the swing of it. Time is of the essence.

I dearly wish I could share . But needs must... I can't.

Not until the fight is over and perhaps not even then.

I am engaged in an entirely different experience and discovering the fight is fought not at all as one might expect being in a different arena and all.

We are considering a new "Procurement Bylaw" at Council. It gives staff authority to spend up to $200,000. without deferring to Council.

At the moment it doesn't look like it will fly. But it has been deferred for a month Which often means an issue comes back with a changed mindset.

I pointed out to the Mayor his support is probably due to his experience in he private sector. Where a company owner makes a decision and passes on to his trusty staff the authority to carry through without further consultation.

Of course it's speedier. More efficient. It is also private not public business. If a mistake is made,
the resources at risk are also private not public.

Not so, said the Mayor. It's how the Region does it.

I went to the Region's inaugural meeting. I listened to the Councillors introduce themselves, their families, their campaign organizers and all and sundry.

I am not persuaded the Region has an act I wish to follow.

Mask Wearers

2013-05-07T00:08:00.003-05:00

"Give a man a mask and he will tell the truth." Sounds like an argument for anonymous comments to blog posts.

Harrison Ford was a guest of Charlie Rose to-night. The talk was about his character role in the movie about Jackie Robertson , first black player in white U.S. baseball.

Later I watched a program on TVO about the life and times of William Shakespeare . I am now not sure where the quote above emanated but I think it was from Ford the actor on playing a character role and assuming a different personality.

I've had to attend to other things in the last several days although I have read the comments and incoming mail .One e-mail respectfully sought a response .

It stated different positions of the Toronto and York Region Boards of Health on cell towers and
phones and asked me to explain.

The Toronto Board's position in the nineties was that evidence of harm from cell towers or phones
is not certain. Therefore the Board recommends 100% more of whatever for protection than the Federal recommendation.

I did write a response , Then I decided adding my two cents worth to the different positions of various expert authorities, would add nothing to the discussion so I deleted it and decided to spend the rest of the evening listening and hoping to hear something illuminating.

In the late news, skin experts were talking about the risk of skin cancer from exposure to sunshine.
The last medical spokesperson noted behavior does not change with knowledge. People still do what they like. Even when they've had a bout with skin cancer they will expose their skin without applying sun block.

For some reason it made me think of a comment I wanted to make for several weeks.

Andy Rooney was a popular curmudgeon who ended Sixty Minutes every Sunday night with a custy comment. He was in his mid eighties. Still doing a job he excelled at. Wood work was his hobby. He complained regularly about the indignities of growing old.

"It sucks" he said,

All of a sudden, so to speak, he was dead.

He had minor surgery for a simple ailment and died from complications of the surgery.

I could imagine what he would have had to say about that,

How could there be complications from minor surgery for a simple ailment?

Either there is no such thing as minor surgery or a major mistake was made in the process.

Thanks to all you masked commenters for keeping things going during the last few days.

Ye Shall Not Pass

2013-05-03T12:16:00.000-05:00

I've said it before but never with such vehemence as on Tuesday

I startled myself.

I related an incident from the term previous to last. Hydro Ontario proposed increased power
on overhead lines.

Tim Jones was Mayor. Morris took ownership of the issue. The pot was stirred to a roiling boil.

A person with the title of doctor was invited from Trenton University to testify children could contract leukemia from hydro wires. The last time she was on the scene, a pedlar's suitcase of gizmos was displayed to protect people from "dirty" electricity in their homes. Like from light switches and wall outlets.

A particular meeting , organized by Morris, brought enraged residents to a face-off with Hydro officials . An angry male demanded the name and address of an official so that he could be sued when the resident's ten year old was diagnosed with cancer.

The crowd roared with laughter and applauded the genius of his wit.

I thought; My God man, are you listening to whst you are saying?

My reaction grows every time I hear someone use grevious perhaps fatal harm to their
children as a reason for bureaucracy to be doing something different.

Until Tuesday I've stayed calm. I've pointed out choice of domicile is still a personal decision. I've stated if I believed my child to be at risk, I woild not wait for bureacracy to make the decision that would remove the risk. I would waste no time removing my child pretty damn fast.

On Tuesday night, driving home, I had to come to terms with my fury.

This argument is constant. We give it a pass.

I thought of parents and children who, every day endure the unendurable, the terrible reality of childhood cancer, the desperation, hope dashed time and time again and for many the inevitable end and the sadness that never leaves.

The child who wasn't allowed to grow up.

I thought of the difference, ,if all that was needed was a change of address .

I understood my anger.

While so many continue to endure the worst of life's experience, properly-owners casually refer to the awful possibility of harm to their children as a reason to bludgeon bureacracy to bend to their will.

It cannot and it should not be allowed to pass.

The Play's The Thing

2013-05-02T11:19:00.002-05:00

A comment last week said it must be hard to maintain objectivity at Council and everything is depressing.

It's not hard . Nor is it depressing. There has never been a time when Councillors were so much exposed under the microscope. It takes getting used to. And living up to.

I have an advantage. I know stuff other Councillors do not.

For example ,when spectator benches are full and many choose to be belligerent, others are there to hear and understand the right way of things.

Councillor Gallo commented this week, people have a right to represent their interest. Of course they do.

Councillors have the same right but they also have a responsibility to reflect different perspectives.

A modern Canadian community is not a medieval oligarchy. We have no ruling class.

Council is political theatre. Supremely authentic .

The play is perfectly cast. Each writes and delivers his own lines . He plays his own role without flaw.

Says exactly what he intends. No time or opportunity for re-writes.

The Mayor is the lead character. If he fumbles, he fails and the play brcomes jagged and hard to follow.

But the fault is clear.

My determination to be frank and free without fear or favour, makes mine a pivotal role and puts others at a disadvantage. Clumping together in a majority is an exercise of power. But the audience does not neccessarily have a postive view of it.

Critics abound

The list of characters is complete with the notable exception of romance and sex.

The wise one, his nemesis, the victim, the foolish one, the scurvy knave all have parts.

The hero's role has the potential to shift from week to week.

Thisplay has a four year run with an option for an extended booking.

It's real.

It's contemporary history.
It calls for skills that must be learned.

It's an incredible privilege.

An opportunity to make a difference.

And well worth while.

It's so Easy

2013-05-01T12:06:00.001-05:00

Development charge fees deferred in the extended agreement between the town and St. Andrew's College are over two million dollars. NOT $240,00.

And that's only for the current building plans of addition to the dining hall and ice arena. A deferral for the building program in 2002 was already in place.

My main concern is preferential treatment for St. Andrew's over other "stakeholders " in town.

Not so much what we are doing for St. Andrew's as what we are not doing for others rquiring building permits from the town.

No payment up front for Development charges. No building permit.

It's as simple as that.

I daresay every building contractor in the town could make an argument about why
development charges should not be paid on the basis of this or that benefit to the community.Not the least would be revenue from new tax assessment.

Development charge revenue is easy money. Easy come. Easy go.

A project recently approved calls for ornamental lighting on Wellington Street. It is being extended
towards the town centre.

It is being paid for with development charge reserves.

The theory justifying CDs is that growth must pay for growth.

How does new housing create a need for ornamental lighting.

Development charges are taxes. Every new home carries a hidden tax of at least $50,000 for the levy alone. Property assessment calculated on the basis of sale price means the homeowner
pays taxes on taxes forever and a day.

Politicians talk a lot about integrity in government . Codes of Conduct and Ethics Codes are bandied about like candy.

I don't find integrity in providing relief from DCs for one and not another.

I don't find it in taking the loot to pay for projects made neccessary by growth and spending it on projects that have nothing to do with growth.

New homebuyers have no idea how much the price and the mortgage for their homes has been jacked up with hidden taxes.They would rather not.

Builders do. But they are mostly interested in just getting on with the job. They complain. But they pay up. They just pass the cost on as an overhead to the buyer.

But I know. Municipalities take it because we can. Not because it's right.

It's found money. There's no accountability.

The More things Change...The More They remain The Same

2013-04-30T11:21:00.000-05:00

I drove down Leslie to Wellington Street yesterday. I looked for a particular house. Didn't see it. I will return. I did see one in ruins.

It was the home of a couple who, on an occasion during the last Council term, spent several months in California with a family member . On return, they discovered to their horror, part of a metal pole could be viewed framed in their dining room window. It wasn't there when they left .

New light poles had just been installed for the new Stewart Burnett Baseball Diamond on Wellington Street abutting the Sronach Recreation Centre.

The couple were aware of construction of the diamond. They could hear the earth movers. They couldn't see anything because of the natural woodland screen.

The season had changed, Foliage was off the trees and they could see a portion of a
metal pole.

They were not concerned about the lights. Just that section of the pole framed in the dining room window.

They came to Council in high dudgeon. The wife had been in contact with Councillor MacEachern who was a source of solace. Now the only question was what would be done to resolve the perceived problem.

The first solution was to move the newly installed pole to another location.

Sports field lights are installed according to a plan. They cost hundreds of thusands of dollars.
It was hard for me to see how one pole could be easily re-located.

The second solution was to plant evergreen trees high enough to obscure the offending section of pole. The top part didn't matter. It was not seen from the dining room.The bottom part was obscured by scrub bush. It was just that itty-bitty part in the middle.

Estimated cost was $8,000 of trees of the right height.

The owners had no intention of staying in the home.

Property use had changed from rural residential to urban commercial. It was opposite the
Walmart shopping centre . It was the property-owners intention to realize vastly improved asset.

One real estate listing has already expired. A new listing was intended.

Except for a tripod rather than a section of a pole and $8,000. versus $150,000 , the situation was peculiarly similar to the current foo-fer-a on Bathurst Street.

And Oh yes.... a different Mayor and Council but pretty much the identical knee jerk hysterical reaction.

Just give us the facts

2013-04-29T20:42:00.001-05:00

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "A conundrum": It’s not the SAC can’t pay the Town of Aurora for the development charges, it’s that if they can continue to defer it then it doesn’t come out of their bank accounts. In essence, they don’t have to pay at least for now and their money stays in the bank or gets put into other projects around their campus. They may be deemed non-profit and a charitable organization but these are just classifications to the government and how they run the school. In the end a private school, any private school is still a business. They have to collect revenue (tuition and gifts) and pay expenses (teachers’ salaries, administration and operational costs, marketing for new students, capital costs for buildings, etc). Being deemed non-profit by its very definition just means that any surplus revenue (after expenses) goes back into developing the school as opposed to going into some shareholders pockets. Being a charitable organization as defined by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) means that they can issue official donation receipts for gifts to the school. So they can campaign their alumni for funds and give them tax receipts. You can look at CRA website and find that lots of private schools have charitable status including for example local to Aurora, Pickering College in Newmarket and Country Day School in King. They are set up to educate the students whose parents can afford to send them and want them in that school. Like any organization they will use the rules to their advantage. I am neutral to SAC, its students, their parents and alumni. Yes, it is good that they do work in the community. But if their argument is that they do so much good for the community and then ask for the tax break then essentially Aurora is paying (because it’s money out of the Town’s pocket, read as taxpayers) for the work that they do. The community work that they do would be deemed as part of the educational experience and the opportunity that they provide their students. Thus Aurora is subsidizing the students’ experience and essentially their tuition. If the tuition has to go up, so be it. Or find a way to reduce your costs. Don’t build such elaborate buildings, cut back on your programs. They are a business, be it a business of educating students for a fee. It is not as if their students don’t have other options – there are other private schools (also competing for students and their fees) and there is the public system. The school needs to pay their own way and this applies to any other school or organization in Aurora trying to do the same thing. What’s fair for one has to be fair for all. For everything that they do – they do it for their reasons not the Town’s. If they didn’t want to rent the soccer fields they wouldn’t or they would put the cost up so high the Town would say no. And if they did the Town would have to find another solution. Yes, hosting the Special Olympics is a good thing, but they still get something out of it even if they are doing it for free. It’s an opportunity for their students to perhaps volunteer, for their school to be associated with the Special Olympics - certainly that’s good public relations. In the end everything they do is towards getting and retaining their paying students. That is their purpose. Nobody (at least almost nobody) does anything for free, there is always some return for them be it experiential, emotional,

Council take note. The tower will stay

2013-04-29T20:29:00.001-05:00

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Spending like Mc Guinty": The Tower is in up and is either now or soon to be working. I have to assume that Bell would have followed all of the procedures required by Industry Canada. It wouldn’t be there first tower. So you want to shut it down or have it moved. What would you have to do to accomplish this. Show that they did not follow procedure and/or specifications and illegally erected the tower or that the health concerns are so real and blatant that the government forces them to shut it down. What is Aurora putting forth for this argument? Approval process – No, Bell followed it. King and Aurora can throw mud at each other, but King also followed the process. Aurora for that sake did the same. You may not like the way Aurora handled it but they were informed as per the process. Health – Not enough evidence. Esthetics – Not a real argument. So Bell did everything to spec. but you are unhappy about the approval process. Fine, you fight to get the process changed for the next one, but the Tower will stand – you are not going to move it. Change the process how municipalities communicate to each other over such projects on their borders – but this tower will stand. Plan B – You try to pay Bell to move it. (First why would they?) You are asking them to go through the whole process again- finding another site, applications, approvals, meetings, letters, new residents to deal with. They have to re-do all their engineering, site preparations, civil engineering design for a new concrete pad, electrical hook-up at new site, crane rentals for disassembly of the existing tower, trucks to move the tower in sections to new site, re-erect the tower, hook-up, testing, etc, etc. Plus they have to compensate the Bathurst St. landowner at the present site for breach of contract (they have to pay this property owner on the deal they struck with them for putting the Tower on their land in the first place) and they would have to restore his land to the original condition. Meaning removal of all Bell equipment, concrete pad, restoration of vegetation, etc. How much do you think all of that is really going to cost? Certainly not $100,000 from the Town of Aurora. And why would Bell do it? Pay them enough and make it lucrative and they will move it. But at a tidy profit. $100K is peanuts. They have other business to attend to and new towers to keep on schedule. And why as some suggest would they drop a tower to cover an area where no one lives? It’s like putting a gas station at the end of dead end road. (What is this, the “Field of Dreams” movie – “if you build it, they will come”). No, Bell’s return on investment is to provide service where the most users are located. Fight the process for the next set of towers, but this one is staying put. Anyone saying otherwise is leading you astray, be it most of council. There is no battle here, none to be created. It was over before it started.

A conundrum

2013-04-28T09:32:00.002-05:00

"Let's leave the Siftons out of this" somebody has said.

It sounds like a bit of a scold.

I'd like to point out , we didn't bring the Siftons into this. Mr. Sifton was part of the delegation representing St. Andrew's College on Tuesday night. He was introduced to Council.. I don't think he was on a social visit.

I doubt the Sifton family wealth and influence would come as much of a surprise .

I think the fact St.Andrew's is classified as a non-profit charitable foundation is the contrast that made people sit up and take notice.

But now the fact of wealth has been raised , the details contribute little to the discussion.

What surprises me is that no-one is shocked by the amount of Development Charges not been collected from St.Andrew's

With added fees for this and that, it's two and a half million dollars over and above what it costs to build the facilities.

I still pause when figures run into double digits , let alone seven. Not my colleagues though.

It;s proposed to scatter a hundred thousand dollars at the feet of Bell telephone. They will be pleased to move the tower. We will keep the threat of an injunction at $150,000. in our back pocket to scare them into submission,

Well.it's only money. We've got plenty where that comes from. We will increase the charges on new home buyers of town houses with barely a footprint on the ground to make up.

We'll make the ticky-tacky box home owners pay up for the million dollar mansion dwellers.

But I digress.

The assessed value of the school buildings is not relevant. The non-profit .charitable foundation classification means no property taxes are paid.

Staff residences are assessed and taxable.

Another question just popped into my head.

The agreement with the town allows deferral of development charges until such time as the use of the property changes or the property is sold.

In the event of the latter , the new owner would then be liable for development charges on whatever new use may be made of the property,

The municipality, the Region and the Board of Education would be in the position of collecting development charges from St Andrew's when the sale is made and again on the developer who purchased the property for development.

I'm not sure how the municipality would collect DCS owing if the property were to be sold. Is the agreement registerd against the land title. Nobody said so.

Council was not given a copy of the ten page agreement. We have no idea how that's supposed to work.

I doubt very much thought was given to that aspect of the deal. Not for a minute do I imagine there is any intention of the use or land changing hands.

I am convinced the agreement is nothing more than a dodge to escape paying development charges.

And the preferential treatment for St Andrew's is quite acceptable with the Mayor and Councillors.

By the way, Councillor Ballard joined me in not voting to extend the agreement.