Oh the sillyness...
TheStar.com - PM fires back in missile row
I'd prefer that the US NOT consult us first. We are likely to be better protected by not being reliant on the dithering politicians to make decisions.
Friday, February 25, 2005
Thursday, February 24, 2005
The Globe and Mail: Martin's missile fumble
For once the Globe has hit the nail on the head...
The Globe and Mail: Martin's missile fumble
I'd expect the P.M. will get used to the on-hold musak on the White House phone system.
P.M. Hi, this is Pau..
Operator: Hold please
la di da... time passes
Operator: How may I be of assistance?
P.M.: Well - er..
Operator: Hold - we've heard a rumour that a tree fell in the forest (somewhere), Must run - please try again later.
The Globe and Mail: Martin's missile fumble
I'd expect the P.M. will get used to the on-hold musak on the White House phone system.
P.M. Hi, this is Pau..
Operator: Hold please
la di da... time passes
Operator: How may I be of assistance?
P.M.: Well - er..
Operator: Hold - we've heard a rumour that a tree fell in the forest (somewhere), Must run - please try again later.
Sunday, February 20, 2005
In Niagara Vino
With the snow beginning to swirl down - just in time to make trouble for the Monday morning trip to work - it might be a good moment to cast one's mind away from this mobility-impaired metropolis and towards the ever-improving wine-belt down in the Niagara Peninsula.
Like many, you may be asking why I am brining up a warm weather subject on a frosty February evening. Well, although grapes do only grow and ripen during the warmer weather, many or even most wineries are open for tours and/or tastings throughout the year. In fact, new wines are brought out when the winemaker judges each to be in a state of readiness. (What might be ready for the winemaker is not always ready for you or I as wine consumers.)
So - without further ado - here are my humble recommendations:
Angel's Gate Winery - Beamsville
This is a relatively new winery. The product-line is not as large as some - but the quality is high. Top picks include:
Old Vine Chardonnay 2003 - Nicely-balanced, oaked Chardonnay
Pinot Noir 2002 - Good now - better in 1 year
Merlot "Sigle Vineyard: 2002 - A lush, rich, dense Merlot with a fine chalky tannins
Daniel Lenko Estate - Beamsville
The Lenko's used to supply grapes to more established wineries in the area. Roughly four years ago, Daniel decided to begin making and selling his own wine. Lenko has eschewed building a fancy tasting room. The venue for tasting and sales is the family kitchen. This has not impeded success. In fact, tasting hours have had to be curtailed. When last I checked, hours are 12 - 5 on weekends (reopened at the beginning of this month.)
Top picks:
Unoaked Chardonnay - i.e. fermented, aged in stainless steel tanks - crisp, flavourful
"French Oak" Chardonnay - i.e. fermented in French oak barrels - consistenly one of the top whites from the Peninsula, and one of my favourite white wines from anywhere in the world.
Viognier - The 2002 won many kudos - includes a Gold medal or two. I liked the 2003 better.
Cabernet Franc - As of lasy weekend, Lenko has the 2002 and 2003 on sale. The 2002 is a wine for cellaring - while the 2003 is ready to drink. If you enjoy Cab Franc as I do - both are winners.
Mountain Road Wine Company - Beamsville
MRWC opened to the public only in the last two years. Quite newly released are the following:
Cabernet Franc Reserve 2001
Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve 2001
both of which are rich, balanced, and just plain delicious red wines. When I picked these off the shelf to take to the cash, my eyes almost popped out when I saw the alcohol by volume 15.5%!
Well - I haven't even left Beamsville yet - so perhaps I'll discuss some of the other wineries in that area in a futire post.
Like many, you may be asking why I am brining up a warm weather subject on a frosty February evening. Well, although grapes do only grow and ripen during the warmer weather, many or even most wineries are open for tours and/or tastings throughout the year. In fact, new wines are brought out when the winemaker judges each to be in a state of readiness. (What might be ready for the winemaker is not always ready for you or I as wine consumers.)
So - without further ado - here are my humble recommendations:
Angel's Gate Winery - Beamsville
This is a relatively new winery. The product-line is not as large as some - but the quality is high. Top picks include:
Old Vine Chardonnay 2003 - Nicely-balanced, oaked Chardonnay
Pinot Noir 2002 - Good now - better in 1 year
Merlot "Sigle Vineyard: 2002 - A lush, rich, dense Merlot with a fine chalky tannins
Daniel Lenko Estate - Beamsville
The Lenko's used to supply grapes to more established wineries in the area. Roughly four years ago, Daniel decided to begin making and selling his own wine. Lenko has eschewed building a fancy tasting room. The venue for tasting and sales is the family kitchen. This has not impeded success. In fact, tasting hours have had to be curtailed. When last I checked, hours are 12 - 5 on weekends (reopened at the beginning of this month.)
Top picks:
Unoaked Chardonnay - i.e. fermented, aged in stainless steel tanks - crisp, flavourful
"French Oak" Chardonnay - i.e. fermented in French oak barrels - consistenly one of the top whites from the Peninsula, and one of my favourite white wines from anywhere in the world.
Viognier - The 2002 won many kudos - includes a Gold medal or two. I liked the 2003 better.
Cabernet Franc - As of lasy weekend, Lenko has the 2002 and 2003 on sale. The 2002 is a wine for cellaring - while the 2003 is ready to drink. If you enjoy Cab Franc as I do - both are winners.
Mountain Road Wine Company - Beamsville
MRWC opened to the public only in the last two years. Quite newly released are the following:
Cabernet Franc Reserve 2001
Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve 2001
both of which are rich, balanced, and just plain delicious red wines. When I picked these off the shelf to take to the cash, my eyes almost popped out when I saw the alcohol by volume 15.5%!
Well - I haven't even left Beamsville yet - so perhaps I'll discuss some of the other wineries in that area in a futire post.
Friday, February 18, 2005
Call the Doctor...
The Fiberals may have caught a case of common sense...
TheStar.com - Province gives Toronto another $45M
McGuinty and crew will no doubt be skewered by tomorrow's Toronto Star editorial for "short changing" the city. However, it's actually good news for the city. The sooner the spendthrifts at City Hall are forced to take the smallest step towards fiscal sanity the better. Past overindulgences from higher levels of government only have resulted in the city padding its already bloated cost structure - which just means more pain when the day of reckoning arrives.
Of course, for appearances sake, Municipal Affairs Minister John Gerretsen repeated the zombie-like refrain about Toronto being the economic driver of Ontario. The fact is that Toronto has been hemmoraging jobs to the 905 belt for decades. The 905 belt IS the economic engine of the province - whereas the City has become a rather ungainly caboose. The Liberals are to be commended for rejecting the City's request to raise business taxes - a move that would have accelerated business flight to the 'burbs.
The Star's censors must have missed cutting out part of the story:
Earlier today, before the funding announcement was made public, the province released figures showing Toronto's administrative costs for welfare had increased 42 per cent since 2001, even though the city's welfare case load decreased slightly during that same time.
"These increased costs seem disproportionately high, and inconsistent with what is happening in other communities across Ontario," wrote Community and Social Services Minister Sandra Pupatello in an open letter to Miller.
which shows that the McGuinty cabinet has begun to form the same common-sense conclusions about the way Toronto is run as its predecessors.
TheStar.com - Province gives Toronto another $45M
McGuinty and crew will no doubt be skewered by tomorrow's Toronto Star editorial for "short changing" the city. However, it's actually good news for the city. The sooner the spendthrifts at City Hall are forced to take the smallest step towards fiscal sanity the better. Past overindulgences from higher levels of government only have resulted in the city padding its already bloated cost structure - which just means more pain when the day of reckoning arrives.
Of course, for appearances sake, Municipal Affairs Minister John Gerretsen repeated the zombie-like refrain about Toronto being the economic driver of Ontario. The fact is that Toronto has been hemmoraging jobs to the 905 belt for decades. The 905 belt IS the economic engine of the province - whereas the City has become a rather ungainly caboose. The Liberals are to be commended for rejecting the City's request to raise business taxes - a move that would have accelerated business flight to the 'burbs.
The Star's censors must have missed cutting out part of the story:
Earlier today, before the funding announcement was made public, the province released figures showing Toronto's administrative costs for welfare had increased 42 per cent since 2001, even though the city's welfare case load decreased slightly during that same time.
"These increased costs seem disproportionately high, and inconsistent with what is happening in other communities across Ontario," wrote Community and Social Services Minister Sandra Pupatello in an open letter to Miller.
which shows that the McGuinty cabinet has begun to form the same common-sense conclusions about the way Toronto is run as its predecessors.
Wednesday, February 16, 2005
Kyoto meets reality
The Star's Royson James may be only reporter in Toronto with the patience to keep up with the cash flows between different levels of government. A case in point in his column today:
TheStar.com - Premier may take hit on TTC hike
shows that while the Province is pumping more and more $$$ into the City - supposedly for the TTC - the City is actually using the money for other purposes.
Now part of the rationale for:
1. The disproportionate excise tax on gasoline
2. The disproportionate share of the tax that is provided the Toronto vs. other municipalties
is to help give transit a boost over the ever-hated car.
Instead, the City has decided that it is more important to keep filling the trough feeding its never-satiated unions, rather than to boost transit use. (Personally, I think the money should be used to help reduce commercial property taxes.)
It's seems to me that Canadian are serious about reducing CO2 emmissions - as long as someone else feels the pain. If the ultra-left Toronto city council places more importance on maintaining its unions' gold-plated contracts, what are the rest of us to do?
The misappropriation of the gas tax in Toronto is not the only example where we Canadians are showing our true colours:
a. city council has recently turned down a number of property developments than would have leveraged existing public transit infrastructure.
b. it took but a few months for the Martin government to agree to allow Newfoundland and Nova Scotia to keep their oil and gas revenue - a much faster turnaround than the still-awaited Kyoto plan.
Kyoto seems fine as long as it doesn't mean:
- higher taxes/higher prices
- higher density/bigger buildings in one's neighbourhood
- cutbacks in pay/employment
Is the picture getting clearer?
TheStar.com - Premier may take hit on TTC hike
shows that while the Province is pumping more and more $$$ into the City - supposedly for the TTC - the City is actually using the money for other purposes.
Now part of the rationale for:
1. The disproportionate excise tax on gasoline
2. The disproportionate share of the tax that is provided the Toronto vs. other municipalties
is to help give transit a boost over the ever-hated car.
Instead, the City has decided that it is more important to keep filling the trough feeding its never-satiated unions, rather than to boost transit use. (Personally, I think the money should be used to help reduce commercial property taxes.)
It's seems to me that Canadian are serious about reducing CO2 emmissions - as long as someone else feels the pain. If the ultra-left Toronto city council places more importance on maintaining its unions' gold-plated contracts, what are the rest of us to do?
The misappropriation of the gas tax in Toronto is not the only example where we Canadians are showing our true colours:
a. city council has recently turned down a number of property developments than would have leveraged existing public transit infrastructure.
b. it took but a few months for the Martin government to agree to allow Newfoundland and Nova Scotia to keep their oil and gas revenue - a much faster turnaround than the still-awaited Kyoto plan.
Kyoto seems fine as long as it doesn't mean:
- higher taxes/higher prices
- higher density/bigger buildings in one's neighbourhood
- cutbacks in pay/employment
Is the picture getting clearer?
Tuesday, February 15, 2005
The Globe and Mail: Fare rise will hurt the poor, TTC official acknowledges
More about the TTC fare hike.
The Globe and Mail: Fare rise will hurt the poor, TTC official acknowledges
It's interesting that GO transit raises fares each year - yet this never results in the level of acrimony seen in response to such moves by the TTC. It's also escaped most commentators attention that GO Transit's ridership has climbed every year. So what is going on here?
Well, the TTC's P.R. problem in raising fares is very much a case of being hoisted by one's own petard. The politicos at and around the TTC have waged a years-long P.R. campaign blaming the Harris government and the subsidy cuts for a drop in ridership. They've persisted in this claim despite the fact that the TTC experienced the bulk of its ridership decline in the early 90's - during the NDP regime under the bright but severely misguided Bob Rae.
This period saw employment in the city fall precipitously. As is true for all transit systems, the majority of the TTC's riders use it to travel between work and home. In Toronto in the early 1990's there were fewer and fewer of these each year. The decline in ridership revenue forced the TTC to raise fares on the remaining riders.
Now increased fares do cost ridership - but the impact is marginal, and in my view temporary. The fact is that those who can rely on full-service transit systems such as the TTC save thousands of dollars a year when compared to the cost of owning and operating a car. People do not run and and buy cars because fares have risen by a dime or a quarter. Some may choose to walk or bike instead.
It's heartening to hear hear Councillor Joe Mihevc touting the great value the TTC provides - a welcome respite from the nonsense spewing forth from the likes of Gordon Perks. The TTC should follow through on its plan to improve bus service. It is well behind Montreal and Ottawa in establishing express bus services.
There have been too many years spent chasing subway dreams. It's too bad that so much of the available money is spent on useless streetcar projects. Without these, we'd be a lot further along.
The Globe and Mail: Fare rise will hurt the poor, TTC official acknowledges
It's interesting that GO transit raises fares each year - yet this never results in the level of acrimony seen in response to such moves by the TTC. It's also escaped most commentators attention that GO Transit's ridership has climbed every year. So what is going on here?
Well, the TTC's P.R. problem in raising fares is very much a case of being hoisted by one's own petard. The politicos at and around the TTC have waged a years-long P.R. campaign blaming the Harris government and the subsidy cuts for a drop in ridership. They've persisted in this claim despite the fact that the TTC experienced the bulk of its ridership decline in the early 90's - during the NDP regime under the bright but severely misguided Bob Rae.
This period saw employment in the city fall precipitously. As is true for all transit systems, the majority of the TTC's riders use it to travel between work and home. In Toronto in the early 1990's there were fewer and fewer of these each year. The decline in ridership revenue forced the TTC to raise fares on the remaining riders.
Now increased fares do cost ridership - but the impact is marginal, and in my view temporary. The fact is that those who can rely on full-service transit systems such as the TTC save thousands of dollars a year when compared to the cost of owning and operating a car. People do not run and and buy cars because fares have risen by a dime or a quarter. Some may choose to walk or bike instead.
It's heartening to hear hear Councillor Joe Mihevc touting the great value the TTC provides - a welcome respite from the nonsense spewing forth from the likes of Gordon Perks. The TTC should follow through on its plan to improve bus service. It is well behind Montreal and Ottawa in establishing express bus services.
There have been too many years spent chasing subway dreams. It's too bad that so much of the available money is spent on useless streetcar projects. Without these, we'd be a lot further along.
Thursday, February 10, 2005
Pitty poor Mr. Perks
It's only Thursday, but already the award for whining hypocrite of the week can be awarded - to Gordon Perks of the Toronto Environmental Alliance.
Toronto Sun: NEWS - TTC fare hikes set to roll
Perks is complaining about the TTC decision to raise some of its fares. The adult cash fare will rise from $2.25 to $2.50, while the price of a token or ticket will rise 10 cents to $2.00. The price for a Metropass is not going up.
Per Perks, his family are heavy users of the TTC. Per his statements as reported in The Sun, his family currently pays $4,300 in TTC fares a year - a figure he claims will rise will rise by $300 - $400 with the impending fare increases.
Perhaps Mr. Perks should acquaint his family with tickets and tokens - which are hardly going up that much - the math simply doesn't work. Indeed, if his family members are such regulars on the TTC, they would certainly be better off getting Metropasses - or better yet, using the Metropass discount plan. The price for the Metropass isn't going up at all.
Then again, Mr. Perks is obviously not that good with math. He and his TEA lobby pushed hard to get the St. Clair streetcar right-of-way approved. At $65 million to reduce the average riders trip time by one minute, the math doesn't work on that either.
Without the St. Clair project, the TTC could easliy have avoided this year fare increase. Mr. Perks is reaping what he helped sew. Let's not shed a solitary tear.
Toronto Sun: NEWS - TTC fare hikes set to roll
Perks is complaining about the TTC decision to raise some of its fares. The adult cash fare will rise from $2.25 to $2.50, while the price of a token or ticket will rise 10 cents to $2.00. The price for a Metropass is not going up.
Per Perks, his family are heavy users of the TTC. Per his statements as reported in The Sun, his family currently pays $4,300 in TTC fares a year - a figure he claims will rise will rise by $300 - $400 with the impending fare increases.
Perhaps Mr. Perks should acquaint his family with tickets and tokens - which are hardly going up that much - the math simply doesn't work. Indeed, if his family members are such regulars on the TTC, they would certainly be better off getting Metropasses - or better yet, using the Metropass discount plan. The price for the Metropass isn't going up at all.
Then again, Mr. Perks is obviously not that good with math. He and his TEA lobby pushed hard to get the St. Clair streetcar right-of-way approved. At $65 million to reduce the average riders trip time by one minute, the math doesn't work on that either.
Without the St. Clair project, the TTC could easliy have avoided this year fare increase. Mr. Perks is reaping what he helped sew. Let's not shed a solitary tear.
Saturday, February 05, 2005
TIMBER!
My neighbourhood is seeing many undersized homes either demolished completely, or upgraded through the addition of a second story. In all of the examples I've seen, the projects result in vast improvements to the housing stock - and hence the appeal of the neighbourhood.
A case in point is a small, ugly bungalow on Elmer Avenue. Construction has now started on the addition of a second floor, the addition of bay windows. I'm hoping that the riotously ugly brick (the colour of month old phlegm) will be covered up as well.
This week, the wood for the project arrived. As of this moring, something curious has been erected on the front yard. This is a wooden fence - signposted by the city denoting that it is to protect the trees. The trouble is that there are no trees on the front of the property. I know, I walked past thousands of times. Futhermore, one can peek though the fence to verify that there is no tree. There isn't even a bush of any size!
I wonder how much it cost the city to come and install the fence!?
A case in point is a small, ugly bungalow on Elmer Avenue. Construction has now started on the addition of a second floor, the addition of bay windows. I'm hoping that the riotously ugly brick (the colour of month old phlegm) will be covered up as well.
This week, the wood for the project arrived. As of this moring, something curious has been erected on the front yard. This is a wooden fence - signposted by the city denoting that it is to protect the trees. The trouble is that there are no trees on the front of the property. I know, I walked past thousands of times. Futhermore, one can peek though the fence to verify that there is no tree. There isn't even a bush of any size!
I wonder how much it cost the city to come and install the fence!?
Friday, February 04, 2005
Miller, Moscoe play hookie
In case you missed it, Mayor David Miller and TTC Chairman Howard Moscoe skipped out on a critical TTC budget meeting.
TheStar.com - TTC fare hike `likely,' Miller says
Apparenty, this dynamic duo were at another begging meeting - i.e. where they beg for more money from the upper levels of government. Commissioners David Shiner and Bas Balkissoon then bolted from the meeting - thus denying quorum. This means that the TTC budget will be set by council, by default.
In the larger scheme, although this type of behaviour is unprofessional at best, and childish at worst, it is actuallty a traffic-ticket misdemeanour compared with the other budgeting and control faux-pas committed by the TTC and Council over the years. These include:
- failing to contribute to reserves as the asset-base (subway cars etc) depreciated.
- continuing to operate streetcars - thus draining the financial capacity to fund expansion of frequent service bus routes to the more suburban areas of the city
- allowing operating expenses to grow more rapidly that inflation
- ramming through the St. Clair streetcar right-of-way without assessing the full life cycle costs
TheStar.com - TTC fare hike `likely,' Miller says
Apparenty, this dynamic duo were at another begging meeting - i.e. where they beg for more money from the upper levels of government. Commissioners David Shiner and Bas Balkissoon then bolted from the meeting - thus denying quorum. This means that the TTC budget will be set by council, by default.
In the larger scheme, although this type of behaviour is unprofessional at best, and childish at worst, it is actuallty a traffic-ticket misdemeanour compared with the other budgeting and control faux-pas committed by the TTC and Council over the years. These include:
- failing to contribute to reserves as the asset-base (subway cars etc) depreciated.
- continuing to operate streetcars - thus draining the financial capacity to fund expansion of frequent service bus routes to the more suburban areas of the city
- allowing operating expenses to grow more rapidly that inflation
- ramming through the St. Clair streetcar right-of-way without assessing the full life cycle costs
Sunday, January 30, 2005
TheStar.com - Linda McQuaig says today's charade is simply about Iraq's oil
I guess it isn't a happy day for Linda McQuaig and the rest of the ranting left-wing cabal.
TheStar.com - Linda McQuaig says today's charade is simply about Iraq's oil
Of course, one of the senior members of the cabal is not longer published in The Star. Michele Landsberg's column no longer appears. Perhaps Landsberg is still around. I wonder if she "does lunch" with the likes of McQuaig. I gander there is nothing like a company-paid lunch as the setting for left-wing types to exchange disinformation.
Alternatively, Landsberg might be in Afghanistan searching in vain for the mythical oil pipeline she claimed the US would be building in that country as soon as the Taliban regime had been removed. History has proven her wrong. The Afghanis have held an election - and there is no pipeline.
The level of bitterness Landsberg's columns evidenced always astounded me. I read the same in McQuaig's writing. One doesn't have to read between the lines particularly closely to understand McQuaig's real fear - the fear that democracy might break out. McQuaig must be kept awake by the prospect of the success of the Bush policy - a success which would help reinforce the Republican hold on the US government.
Her column demonstrates the depth of the moral abyss into which the left have fallen. They believe that it would be better for Iraqis to remain under a brutal, Hitler-like regime, rather than see a successful Republican-led initiative.
TheStar.com - Linda McQuaig says today's charade is simply about Iraq's oil
Of course, one of the senior members of the cabal is not longer published in The Star. Michele Landsberg's column no longer appears. Perhaps Landsberg is still around. I wonder if she "does lunch" with the likes of McQuaig. I gander there is nothing like a company-paid lunch as the setting for left-wing types to exchange disinformation.
Alternatively, Landsberg might be in Afghanistan searching in vain for the mythical oil pipeline she claimed the US would be building in that country as soon as the Taliban regime had been removed. History has proven her wrong. The Afghanis have held an election - and there is no pipeline.
The level of bitterness Landsberg's columns evidenced always astounded me. I read the same in McQuaig's writing. One doesn't have to read between the lines particularly closely to understand McQuaig's real fear - the fear that democracy might break out. McQuaig must be kept awake by the prospect of the success of the Bush policy - a success which would help reinforce the Republican hold on the US government.
Her column demonstrates the depth of the moral abyss into which the left have fallen. They believe that it would be better for Iraqis to remain under a brutal, Hitler-like regime, rather than see a successful Republican-led initiative.
Monday, January 24, 2005
What about equality for strippers and pizza men?
Well - this is pretty sexist! MP Judy Sgro not only quits her post as Minister of Immigration, but also threatens legal action over allegation of breach of trust in the quickly baking 'l'affaire pizza'.
TheStar.com - Sgro starts to strike back
hmmm. It's interesting that earlier allegations by a stripper of East European extraction resulted on no such response from Sgro. Obviously allegations made by men are to be taken more seriously that those by a woman.
With the Fedfibs so intent on passing the same-sex marriage law - which they claim is warranted in order to make everyone equal - it's astonishing to see how they do not yet see men and women as equal. Well - perhaps it is not astonishing, it's just politics. The Fedfibs don't have any core beliefs. They'll twist any which way they need to remain in power.
TheStar.com - Sgro starts to strike back
hmmm. It's interesting that earlier allegations by a stripper of East European extraction resulted on no such response from Sgro. Obviously allegations made by men are to be taken more seriously that those by a woman.
With the Fedfibs so intent on passing the same-sex marriage law - which they claim is warranted in order to make everyone equal - it's astonishing to see how they do not yet see men and women as equal. Well - perhaps it is not astonishing, it's just politics. The Fedfibs don't have any core beliefs. They'll twist any which way they need to remain in power.
Thursday, January 20, 2005
Growth is slowing in Ontario - no kidding
A large tax hike, pandering to unions and the gargantuan intellects in the McGuinty cabinet are wondering what is happening to growth.
TheStar.com - McGuinty, cabinet focus on slowing growth
Wait until the greenbelt legislation is enacted and the development industry crashes. McGuinty & Co will think these are the good old days.
TheStar.com - McGuinty, cabinet focus on slowing growth
Wait until the greenbelt legislation is enacted and the development industry crashes. McGuinty & Co will think these are the good old days.
Thursday, January 13, 2005
TheStar.com - Council nitpicks at litter-pickers' $19.32
Councillor Denzil Minnan-Wong is fighting the good fight in attempting to allow the City to hire students at reasonable rates to help pick up litter this summer.
TheStar.com - Council nitpicks at litter-pickers' $19.32
This past summer, the City had to pay an already inflated rate of $15.00 an hour. Since then, negotiations with the union (CUPE) have even take this modicum of flexibility.
The union say it might consider allowing a lower paying role for students but not one that would "actually involve picking up litter". That great sucking sound gets louder each day as CUPE more and more brazenly exercises its hegemony over the willfully supplicant Mayor Miller and cabal.
TheStar.com - Council nitpicks at litter-pickers' $19.32
This past summer, the City had to pay an already inflated rate of $15.00 an hour. Since then, negotiations with the union (CUPE) have even take this modicum of flexibility.
The union say it might consider allowing a lower paying role for students but not one that would "actually involve picking up litter". That great sucking sound gets louder each day as CUPE more and more brazenly exercises its hegemony over the willfully supplicant Mayor Miller and cabal.
Monday, January 10, 2005
TheStar.com - Will aquarium plan float?
The Star's Royson James wonders out loud whether the vision of a new aquarium on Toronto's waterfront - near the foot of Dufferin. See the following link to the story.
TheStar.com - Will aquarium plan float?
Apparently, aquariums are all the rage - springing up in the most unlikely of places and by all accounts succeeding.
This has got me thinking. While it's refreshing that the City is looking to the the private sector to build and operate such a facility, we should really be looking to create something unique. In a few years, aquariums may be out of style and/or people will be tired of looking at big fish in captivity. (Oh dad, do we have to go to another aquarium.)
Let us instead create something unique - something that plays to Toronto's strength - so to speak. Let us create a Museum of Socialism. Why? There is so such an abundance of great material that could be easily collected - most of it for free.
Some of the key attractions could be:
The Waste Wing
This would document - along with examples from Toronto's city government:
- how Ontario Hydro managed to wipe out $21 billion in equity in its generating stations by failing to maintain them
- how $900 million in transitional funding to the Toronto District School Board evaporated as one staffer put it, the far-left board "spread the disease"
The Stupidity Section
This would document:
- Toronto's homeless problem - which continues to see money thrown at it without any attempt to quantity the number of actual homeless
- The decision to ship garbage to the supposed 'willing hosts' in Michigan - as opposed to the unwilling ones in northern Ontario
The Hall of Shame
This would detail the histories of prominent local socialists:
- Jack Layton (largely responsbile for the garbage mess)
- Bob Rae (architected the Province's economic collapse of the erly '90s)
- David Miller (our suave socialist mayor) as labelled by Sue-Ann Levy of The Sun - who stated that Police Chief Fantino was doing a great job - at the same time engineering his ouster. (Actually, this man has no shame.)
TheStar.com - Will aquarium plan float?
Apparently, aquariums are all the rage - springing up in the most unlikely of places and by all accounts succeeding.
This has got me thinking. While it's refreshing that the City is looking to the the private sector to build and operate such a facility, we should really be looking to create something unique. In a few years, aquariums may be out of style and/or people will be tired of looking at big fish in captivity. (Oh dad, do we have to go to another aquarium.)
Let us instead create something unique - something that plays to Toronto's strength - so to speak. Let us create a Museum of Socialism. Why? There is so such an abundance of great material that could be easily collected - most of it for free.
Some of the key attractions could be:
The Waste Wing
This would document - along with examples from Toronto's city government:
- how Ontario Hydro managed to wipe out $21 billion in equity in its generating stations by failing to maintain them
- how $900 million in transitional funding to the Toronto District School Board evaporated as one staffer put it, the far-left board "spread the disease"
The Stupidity Section
This would document:
- Toronto's homeless problem - which continues to see money thrown at it without any attempt to quantity the number of actual homeless
- The decision to ship garbage to the supposed 'willing hosts' in Michigan - as opposed to the unwilling ones in northern Ontario
The Hall of Shame
This would detail the histories of prominent local socialists:
- Jack Layton (largely responsbile for the garbage mess)
- Bob Rae (architected the Province's economic collapse of the erly '90s)
- David Miller (our suave socialist mayor) as labelled by Sue-Ann Levy of The Sun - who stated that Police Chief Fantino was doing a great job - at the same time engineering his ouster. (Actually, this man has no shame.)
Wednesday, January 05, 2005
TheStar.com - Fight goes on over streetcars
It should be no surprise that the community group Save Our St. Clair is asking Ontario Environment Minister Leona Dombrowsky to reject the City's environmental assessment regarding the establishment of a streetcar right-of-way on St. Clair Avenue. See the following for the story in The Star.
TheStar.com - Fight goes on over streetcars
Margaret Smith of SOS questions the integrity of the process - and rightly so. The EA was a complete sham. The TTC never intended to assess alternatives - and staged a disinformation/propaganda campaign to cram its preferred solution down the neighbourhoods' throats.
Here are some examples:
The lie
TTC Commissioner Howard Moscoe stated in an email to me that the St. Clair streetcars could carry 100 passengers - whereas buses could only carry 40 people.
The truth
In response, I pointed out that TTC planners use a capacity of 74 for streetcars and 57 for buses. In reality, this vastly overstates the difference. TTC's own numbers show:
Streetcar boardings / hour = 81
Bus boardings / hour = 76
Since the streetcar number include the articulated vehicles (ALRVs), the effective capacity of the CLRV's on St. Clair and standard buses are actually very close.
The lie
TTC is circulating a wad of PR material from the light rail lobby titled "The Streetcar Renaissance". In this document, the trumpet the success of light-rail systems such as the C-Train in Calgary in attracting passengers. This document asserts that the C-Train is a '2nd generation streetcar'.
The truth
Calling the C-Train a 2nd generation streetcar is beyond the pale. This is preying upon people's ignorance. The C-Train is much more like a subway system that a streetcar system. Very limited portions run on former streets.
The lie
The same document puports that the C-Train has been more successful than Ottawa's busway system in attracting passengers. They base this on ridership statistics from 1991-1996.
The truth
This uses statistics very selectively. In the early 90's, tens of thousands of jobs were lopped from the federal civil service. In contrast, Calgary's economy added close to 60,000 jobs. Since 1996 - when the newest phase of OC transit's busway was put in service, ridership on OC transit has grown faster that Calgary's:
Ottawa (OC Transit): + 35%
Calgary: +27%
(APTA figures from 1996 to 2002)
..and Ottawa residents use transit much more that Calgarians:
Ottawa: 113 annual rides per capita
Calgary: 84 annual rides per capita
(IBI Report for TTC - 2003)
My take is that either a system of bus lanes - or a modern LRT could work on St. Clair. The trouble with the current proposal is that the TTC will be using streetcars rather than ligh-rail vehicles. The streetcars operate like buses - only at far greater cost, and without the flexibility.
Councillor Joe Mihevc has written to me stating that his next priority project will be to have the CLRVs replaced by modern, standard ligh-rail vehicles. The problems here are that:
1. The current plan is for the TTC to rebuild the existing CLRVs - at over $1 million each - to keep them in service for an additional 10-15 years. (TTC could purchase 2 buses for the same price.)
2. It hasn't been determined if any of the LRV's currently on the market can be run on the TTC's system of surface track. At a minimum, ant LRV will have to be modified for gauge - and to use poles instead of pantographs. But what about turning radius, length of platform etc. ?
The sensible thing to do would be to wait for the study on this issue to be completed. Mihevc expects the report to be ready 'in a few months' (as of Nov 14th 2004.)
TheStar.com - Fight goes on over streetcars
Margaret Smith of SOS questions the integrity of the process - and rightly so. The EA was a complete sham. The TTC never intended to assess alternatives - and staged a disinformation/propaganda campaign to cram its preferred solution down the neighbourhoods' throats.
Here are some examples:
The lie
TTC Commissioner Howard Moscoe stated in an email to me that the St. Clair streetcars could carry 100 passengers - whereas buses could only carry 40 people.
The truth
In response, I pointed out that TTC planners use a capacity of 74 for streetcars and 57 for buses. In reality, this vastly overstates the difference. TTC's own numbers show:
Streetcar boardings / hour = 81
Bus boardings / hour = 76
Since the streetcar number include the articulated vehicles (ALRVs), the effective capacity of the CLRV's on St. Clair and standard buses are actually very close.
The lie
TTC is circulating a wad of PR material from the light rail lobby titled "The Streetcar Renaissance". In this document, the trumpet the success of light-rail systems such as the C-Train in Calgary in attracting passengers. This document asserts that the C-Train is a '2nd generation streetcar'.
The truth
Calling the C-Train a 2nd generation streetcar is beyond the pale. This is preying upon people's ignorance. The C-Train is much more like a subway system that a streetcar system. Very limited portions run on former streets.
The lie
The same document puports that the C-Train has been more successful than Ottawa's busway system in attracting passengers. They base this on ridership statistics from 1991-1996.
The truth
This uses statistics very selectively. In the early 90's, tens of thousands of jobs were lopped from the federal civil service. In contrast, Calgary's economy added close to 60,000 jobs. Since 1996 - when the newest phase of OC transit's busway was put in service, ridership on OC transit has grown faster that Calgary's:
Ottawa (OC Transit): + 35%
Calgary: +27%
(APTA figures from 1996 to 2002)
..and Ottawa residents use transit much more that Calgarians:
Ottawa: 113 annual rides per capita
Calgary: 84 annual rides per capita
(IBI Report for TTC - 2003)
My take is that either a system of bus lanes - or a modern LRT could work on St. Clair. The trouble with the current proposal is that the TTC will be using streetcars rather than ligh-rail vehicles. The streetcars operate like buses - only at far greater cost, and without the flexibility.
Councillor Joe Mihevc has written to me stating that his next priority project will be to have the CLRVs replaced by modern, standard ligh-rail vehicles. The problems here are that:
1. The current plan is for the TTC to rebuild the existing CLRVs - at over $1 million each - to keep them in service for an additional 10-15 years. (TTC could purchase 2 buses for the same price.)
2. It hasn't been determined if any of the LRV's currently on the market can be run on the TTC's system of surface track. At a minimum, ant LRV will have to be modified for gauge - and to use poles instead of pantographs. But what about turning radius, length of platform etc. ?
The sensible thing to do would be to wait for the study on this issue to be completed. Mihevc expects the report to be ready 'in a few months' (as of Nov 14th 2004.)
Tuesday, January 04, 2005
That great sucking sound
WOW it took The Star a whole three editions into the New Year to resume the drumbeat of its propaganda campaign to get even more money for the City of Toronto.
TheStar.com - Editorial: Cities need to see a truly `new deal'
In recent years, the City has been granted:
- relief from paying GST on the goods and services it purchases
- repeated bailouts from Queen's Park - usually very loosely disguised as special funding for some purpose or other
- the lion's share of the Ontario governments dispersal of gas tax money to its municipalities
- roughly $1 billion in towards the TTC capital program over the next 5 years
What the editorial forgets to mention is that the City of Toronto has other fiscal advantages:
- roughly $150 million is transferred in from Toronto's neighbouring municipalities (York, Peel, Halton..) each year under the GTA Social Services Pooling arrangement
- Toronto charges a far higher mill rate on commercial and industrial than neighbouring areas (and than any other jurisdication in Canada for that matter)
Furthermore, the most built-up areas have natural advantages in raising property taxes over less built-up ones. When a merger between Brooklyn and New York (then only Manhattan) was being considered back in the 19th century - it was Manhattan that held the fiscal advantage. Pour neighbour Brooklyn felt the fiscal pressure to join - rather than the other way around.
In Toronto, the natural state has been turned on its head. Despite its natural advantages, the City is having to sponge from the less built up areas - i.e. from those 'sprawling suburbs' that are supposedly so inefficient.
The fact is that Toronto does not have a revenue problem - it has a spending problem. Its municipal spending per capita drarfs other Canadian cities - be they small, medium or large. Toronto is a monument to the inevitable failure of socialism, pandering to unions with gold-plated contracts, phony budgeting and the raiding of reserves.
Now The Star would like the rest of the country to pay for this mess. Surely step one would be for Toronto to book itself into Spendaholics Anonymous. Instead, Mayor Miller and his NDP cabal, and The Star continue to deny the problem - breaking open more and more money bottles on a regular basis.
Canadian should listen carefully for a great sucking sound. This will be your money headed here to help pay for our gold-plated union contracts.
TheStar.com - Editorial: Cities need to see a truly `new deal'
In recent years, the City has been granted:
- relief from paying GST on the goods and services it purchases
- repeated bailouts from Queen's Park - usually very loosely disguised as special funding for some purpose or other
- the lion's share of the Ontario governments dispersal of gas tax money to its municipalities
- roughly $1 billion in towards the TTC capital program over the next 5 years
What the editorial forgets to mention is that the City of Toronto has other fiscal advantages:
- roughly $150 million is transferred in from Toronto's neighbouring municipalities (York, Peel, Halton..) each year under the GTA Social Services Pooling arrangement
- Toronto charges a far higher mill rate on commercial and industrial than neighbouring areas (and than any other jurisdication in Canada for that matter)
Furthermore, the most built-up areas have natural advantages in raising property taxes over less built-up ones. When a merger between Brooklyn and New York (then only Manhattan) was being considered back in the 19th century - it was Manhattan that held the fiscal advantage. Pour neighbour Brooklyn felt the fiscal pressure to join - rather than the other way around.
In Toronto, the natural state has been turned on its head. Despite its natural advantages, the City is having to sponge from the less built up areas - i.e. from those 'sprawling suburbs' that are supposedly so inefficient.
The fact is that Toronto does not have a revenue problem - it has a spending problem. Its municipal spending per capita drarfs other Canadian cities - be they small, medium or large. Toronto is a monument to the inevitable failure of socialism, pandering to unions with gold-plated contracts, phony budgeting and the raiding of reserves.
Now The Star would like the rest of the country to pay for this mess. Surely step one would be for Toronto to book itself into Spendaholics Anonymous. Instead, Mayor Miller and his NDP cabal, and The Star continue to deny the problem - breaking open more and more money bottles on a regular basis.
Canadian should listen carefully for a great sucking sound. This will be your money headed here to help pay for our gold-plated union contracts.
Sunday, January 02, 2005
TheStar.com - Politician's comments criticized as racist
Well, I haven't been particularly productive in contributing to my blog. December is a month of many distractions! I hope all of my readers enjoyed a terrific Christmas - and I wish you all the best in the New Year.
Now it seems that one of our city councillors has already hit a spot of PR trouble. Scarborough councillor Mike Del Grande is in a spot of hot water for stating that "white people" are moving out of his ward. See the following link for the story in The Toronto Star.
TheStar.com - Politician's comments criticized as racist
Del Grande is being taking to task by members of the NDP cabal. However, how can he be at fault promulgating information that is collected by Statistics Canada, analysed by Toronto's Urban Development Services department, and published in detail on the City of Toronto's website. For example, here are statistics for uber-socialist Janet Davis's ward:
Ward 31 Ethnocultural statistics
If Del Grande is racist, so are Statistics Canada and the City of Toronto.
Now it seems that one of our city councillors has already hit a spot of PR trouble. Scarborough councillor Mike Del Grande is in a spot of hot water for stating that "white people" are moving out of his ward. See the following link for the story in The Toronto Star.
TheStar.com - Politician's comments criticized as racist
Del Grande is being taking to task by members of the NDP cabal. However, how can he be at fault promulgating information that is collected by Statistics Canada, analysed by Toronto's Urban Development Services department, and published in detail on the City of Toronto's website. For example, here are statistics for uber-socialist Janet Davis's ward:
Ward 31 Ethnocultural statistics
If Del Grande is racist, so are Statistics Canada and the City of Toronto.
Wednesday, December 01, 2004
The Globe and Mail: Shadowy deals loom on the waterfront
The Globe and Mail's John Barber whines about a 'shady' deal to develop part of Toronto's waterfront. According to the rumours, Canwest Global would move into a new building on a derilict part of the waterfront just east of the Redpath Sugar refinery.
This is a subscriber-only article - but if you aren't a subscriber - this and other Barber columns are surely no reason to plunk down your hard-earned $$$ to pay for access.
The Globe and Mail: Shadowy deals loom on the waterfront
The tone of the column reflects the typical Toronto-leftist mistrust of anything to do with the private sector. It doesn't occur to them that the city exists because of private enterprise. The leftist vision sees a Toronto of grand public buildings, public housing projects, and parks.
It doesn't occur to Barber and other leftists that:
1. A vibrant private economy is needed to fund all these goodies.
2. Private companies need to negotiate contracts in private.
Barber is not alone in complaining about the prospects of an office building/studio being constructed. A local residents association bemoaned that they would prefer an aquarium. (..Yes - please put the aquarium right there, and while your at it we'd like this type of landscaping...) Boy - I'd love to see these self-serving residents hit with a special assessment to pay for their wish list.
The real problem with the rumoured deal is that the city must subsidize the venture in order to make the site competitive with suburban locations. Given the city's astronomical commercial property taxes, this is the only way to retain jobs. (No these are not new jobs coming into the city - but rather jobs that will move from locations such as the Post's current premises on Don Mills.)
This is a subscriber-only article - but if you aren't a subscriber - this and other Barber columns are surely no reason to plunk down your hard-earned $$$ to pay for access.
The Globe and Mail: Shadowy deals loom on the waterfront
The tone of the column reflects the typical Toronto-leftist mistrust of anything to do with the private sector. It doesn't occur to them that the city exists because of private enterprise. The leftist vision sees a Toronto of grand public buildings, public housing projects, and parks.
It doesn't occur to Barber and other leftists that:
1. A vibrant private economy is needed to fund all these goodies.
2. Private companies need to negotiate contracts in private.
Barber is not alone in complaining about the prospects of an office building/studio being constructed. A local residents association bemoaned that they would prefer an aquarium. (..Yes - please put the aquarium right there, and while your at it we'd like this type of landscaping...) Boy - I'd love to see these self-serving residents hit with a special assessment to pay for their wish list.
The real problem with the rumoured deal is that the city must subsidize the venture in order to make the site competitive with suburban locations. Given the city's astronomical commercial property taxes, this is the only way to retain jobs. (No these are not new jobs coming into the city - but rather jobs that will move from locations such as the Post's current premises on Don Mills.)
Monday, November 29, 2004
TheStar.com - Council to debate axing 3 managers
David Miller's infamous broom is set to sweep three more off the good ship Toronto's decks.
TheStar.com - Council to debate axing 3 managers
Now while there is certainly room for improvment in the way the city operates, it's hard to envision that moving some of the higher level boxes around and drawing some lines will have a discernible impact. My take is that this is nothing more than a convenient way for the mayor to jettison staff he doesn't like.
Of course, the NDP cabal in council is backing the mayor:
...Dumping the commissioners would end the parochialism that has occurred between competing departments...
claims the inveterate nitwit Glenn De Baeremaeker. Really! If shuffling reporting lines and axing a few managers were a solution to departmental parochialism, such silos would have vanished in most organizations a long time ago.
TheStar.com - Council to debate axing 3 managers
Now while there is certainly room for improvment in the way the city operates, it's hard to envision that moving some of the higher level boxes around and drawing some lines will have a discernible impact. My take is that this is nothing more than a convenient way for the mayor to jettison staff he doesn't like.
Of course, the NDP cabal in council is backing the mayor:
...Dumping the commissioners would end the parochialism that has occurred between competing departments...
claims the inveterate nitwit Glenn De Baeremaeker. Really! If shuffling reporting lines and axing a few managers were a solution to departmental parochialism, such silos would have vanished in most organizations a long time ago.
Sunday, November 28, 2004
TheStar.com - TTC on board for smart fare card
Wow - what a difference a few weeks can make! The TTC is now 'fully behind' the implementation of a 'smart-card' based system for customer fares. This comes on the heels of council's decision to pay the city's share for GO Transit expansion.
TheStar.com - TTC on board for smart fare card
It can't have been more than a month ago that we heard Mayor Miller castigate the provincial government over not giving enough money - and use this as a reason to refuse to fund the requested contribution to GO. The TTC has long been reluctant about/opposed to smart-cards and fare-integration.
It makes one wonder how the McGuinty & Co have suddenly found themselves with the luxury of this new maleability in the likes if Miller, Moscoe and Ashton??
TheStar.com - TTC on board for smart fare card
It can't have been more than a month ago that we heard Mayor Miller castigate the provincial government over not giving enough money - and use this as a reason to refuse to fund the requested contribution to GO. The TTC has long been reluctant about/opposed to smart-cards and fare-integration.
It makes one wonder how the McGuinty & Co have suddenly found themselves with the luxury of this new maleability in the likes if Miller, Moscoe and Ashton??
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