Joe Oliver represents a riding in mid-town Toronto and is PM Harper's Finance Minister. Like his grossly overrated predecessor, Jim Flaherty, Oliver has a a hate-on for his home province Ontario. His loyalty is not to his constituents but to his mean spirited leader Harper. Harper's pro-Western Canada agenda hurts Ontario. Oliver, like Orange Jim before him, believes that badmouthing Ontario, jeopardising its rating with agencies is good for Harper. Screwing his own constituents be damned.
I hope the voters of Eglinton-Lawrence area have the common sense to throw this dirtbag to the curb in 2015. I'm sick and tired of Ontario Conservatives ripping apart their home province on behalf of their Dear Leader. We deserve better representation that these Harper loyalists. You would think that Montreal born and raised Oliver would believe in funding transit in his new hometown? This guy doesn't give a shit about Toronto transit and he is Canada's Finance Minister.
Saturday, 23 August 2014
Tuesday, 19 August 2014
August Cruising
I took The Brawler out in rougher waters last weekend. Unusually cold temps, high winds and rain greeted The Brawler last Saturday. I have no problem navigating the boat in rough water. Lake Ontario is a Great Lake and subject to rough water conditions. I note that one of my passengers was a little concerned but I knew we were safe. The boat is made to withstand rough waters. We were never in danger. I might be used to the conditions due to my naval days when we plied the ocean. Boats float and it takes a lot to sink them. It was just a little rough sea conditions. The water was barely spraying over the bow. My only concern is parking the boat in windy conditions. On this day with the sheltered marina I had no problems. I won't go out in lightening but some wind and waves are not an issue in the open water. Most of the passengers enjoyed the open water. I am rarely more than 500 meters from shoreline with all the safety equipment allowed.
I am sensitive to people feeling concerned, or a little sea sick and I took the boat into the calmer inner harbour. My sense of what constitutes rough water is likely different from people without sea legs. I have only had one person get sea sick on The Brawler.
The weather this upcoming weekend looks a lot better with only 5km winds rather than 20km. The roughest water I have encountered in Lake Ontario was when I had my parents on the boat last summer. We tried to take it out into the open water but it was simply too rough so we turned back. On at least one other occasion I cancelled a trip due to rough water conditions. We stayed in the harbour and fired up the BBQ. It's not fun if the water is too rough. I would say that ocean going cruisers would find these conditions moderate. This in not the Perfect Storm. I have sailed in those conditions as a young man on the ocean during a hurricane.
I pay attention to small craft advisories on the radio. Those conditions for the lake Ontario are winds of 25kts or nearly twice what we encountered.
I am sensitive to people feeling concerned, or a little sea sick and I took the boat into the calmer inner harbour. My sense of what constitutes rough water is likely different from people without sea legs. I have only had one person get sea sick on The Brawler.
The weather this upcoming weekend looks a lot better with only 5km winds rather than 20km. The roughest water I have encountered in Lake Ontario was when I had my parents on the boat last summer. We tried to take it out into the open water but it was simply too rough so we turned back. On at least one other occasion I cancelled a trip due to rough water conditions. We stayed in the harbour and fired up the BBQ. It's not fun if the water is too rough. I would say that ocean going cruisers would find these conditions moderate. This in not the Perfect Storm. I have sailed in those conditions as a young man on the ocean during a hurricane.
I pay attention to small craft advisories on the radio. Those conditions for the lake Ontario are winds of 25kts or nearly twice what we encountered.
August 2014 Photos
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| Nespresso Machine |
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| Sunset Over Ontario Place |
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| Brawler Visits Cabana Club |
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| Cabana Club Toronto |
Sunday, 10 August 2014
City Building
David Shiner the Toronto city councillor from North York a couple of years ago shelved a plan for an iconic pedestrian bridge from Stanley Park to Fort York in downtown Toronto. He had headed the Public Works and Infrastructure committee with the ability to shelve the project. Shiner's ward is about as far from downtown Toronto as you can get. Shiner a Mayor Ford supporter and former provincial Progressive Conservative candidate has been renting a Yogne-Eglinton 2-bedroom apartment, with 2-parking spots from a city developer for well below market rates. In 2013 he was paying $630 a month. He was also a registered federal lobbyist for a company that did business with the city, while being a councillor.
The problem with the right-wing politicians in this city is that they lack vision and an ability to think of long-term city building. Always looking for ways to squeeze a nickel out of the budget and letting transit and infrastructure suffer. The bridge would have been a visionary project costing $23M. He wanted the city to build a staid low budget alternative. Three years later no shovel is in the ground.
It is this limited race to the cellar that resulted in the current half-ass renovations at Nathan Phillips Square. The most important square in the city, arguably passed by Yonge-Dundas Square due to neglect, as a result is undergoing a minor face lift.
The right-wing councillors in Toronto and their penny-pinching mayor bitch about the costs of permanent, year-round umbrellas in an urban beach project, comparing them to cheap synthetic patio umbrellas that might last one season. It was this same thinking that lead former Premier Mike Harris to fill in subway tunnels on Eglinton with cement.
This is no way to build a city. A North York penny pincher, living in a subsidised apartment from a developer, axing iconic downtown structures. We deserve better in this city. It is the same lack of vision that holds up projects like the Frank Gehry condos on King West. People on the left and right that are afraid of building heights and literally shadows. They complain that the King streetcars are already packed. The vast majority of people living at King & John will work within a 10-minute walk from their building. They are not taking streetcars. The naysayers are probably the same folks that travel to world class cities and marvel at the architecture and amenities.
No one that is an actual decision maker in this city has any vision. Too scared to propose tolls and a rise in the HST to pay for transit and infrastructure. Afraid of a public backlash when they know there is no other alternative to pay for needed subways and LRT's. We have mayoral hopefuls without the vision to call for true reform. Local councillors that you would not hire to budget your local bingo club are making $Billion decisions on city-wide issues while looking out for their backwater little wards.
One of the major problems are the public meetings that review each project. It is the "No" brigade of largely entitled, artsy, government funded height police that attend these meetings. Regular people would last about 5-minutes in that room before pulling out their hair. The result is that we have a city "run" by the extreme right and extreme left. Chaos and stagnation ensue. Think of any city in the world that would turn down private sector built Gehry structures? They will probably be built, but neutered and cut off at the knees to satisfy the navel gazing extremists that are scared of shadows and standout structures that differ from the bland. These same people sip lattes and complain about the lack of architectural gems in the city.
The problem with the right-wing politicians in this city is that they lack vision and an ability to think of long-term city building. Always looking for ways to squeeze a nickel out of the budget and letting transit and infrastructure suffer. The bridge would have been a visionary project costing $23M. He wanted the city to build a staid low budget alternative. Three years later no shovel is in the ground.
It is this limited race to the cellar that resulted in the current half-ass renovations at Nathan Phillips Square. The most important square in the city, arguably passed by Yonge-Dundas Square due to neglect, as a result is undergoing a minor face lift.
The right-wing councillors in Toronto and their penny-pinching mayor bitch about the costs of permanent, year-round umbrellas in an urban beach project, comparing them to cheap synthetic patio umbrellas that might last one season. It was this same thinking that lead former Premier Mike Harris to fill in subway tunnels on Eglinton with cement.
This is no way to build a city. A North York penny pincher, living in a subsidised apartment from a developer, axing iconic downtown structures. We deserve better in this city. It is the same lack of vision that holds up projects like the Frank Gehry condos on King West. People on the left and right that are afraid of building heights and literally shadows. They complain that the King streetcars are already packed. The vast majority of people living at King & John will work within a 10-minute walk from their building. They are not taking streetcars. The naysayers are probably the same folks that travel to world class cities and marvel at the architecture and amenities.
No one that is an actual decision maker in this city has any vision. Too scared to propose tolls and a rise in the HST to pay for transit and infrastructure. Afraid of a public backlash when they know there is no other alternative to pay for needed subways and LRT's. We have mayoral hopefuls without the vision to call for true reform. Local councillors that you would not hire to budget your local bingo club are making $Billion decisions on city-wide issues while looking out for their backwater little wards.
One of the major problems are the public meetings that review each project. It is the "No" brigade of largely entitled, artsy, government funded height police that attend these meetings. Regular people would last about 5-minutes in that room before pulling out their hair. The result is that we have a city "run" by the extreme right and extreme left. Chaos and stagnation ensue. Think of any city in the world that would turn down private sector built Gehry structures? They will probably be built, but neutered and cut off at the knees to satisfy the navel gazing extremists that are scared of shadows and standout structures that differ from the bland. These same people sip lattes and complain about the lack of architectural gems in the city.
Photos August 2014
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| Brawler Back in Business |
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| New Resto Across from The Bond |
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| The Bond Above Ground |
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| New Keg at 560 King West |
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