Spadina Fort York is the name of my new riding in downtown Toronto. It is primarily the old Trinity Spadina riding. They have added a couple of inner city ridings as part of the 15 new ridings Ontario will get this election. The vast majority are in the 905 area code in the suburbs.
Spadina Fort York has an interesting race. Incumbent Adam "No Fun" Vaughan for the Liberals versus our former MP Olivia "I can barely speak English even though I moved to Toronto 30 years ago" Chow for the NDP. The Conservatives might win enough votes for their candidate to get their deposit back.
To me neither candidate is attractive. Both are far too left wing even for me. They are artsy types that pander to the loud underclass of entitled tax takers. People that pay no taxes but demand my share. "Someone else has to pay for my entitlements."
I plan to vote for the party not the candidate. I want Harper and his band of social conservatives, tax breaks only for their base, rough talking lightweights to lose. I want them to lose badly.
I'm not a big fan of Mulcair or Trudeau but either would be an improvement over Harper. Harper, a physically weak man, talks tough, gutted the military while shaking his limp fist at Putin and ISSL. Silenced scientists, ran massive deficits after he inherited a huge surplus prior to the recession, cut taxes only for his base, ran a corrupt PMO, cheated during election campaigns, horrific senate appointments, Supreme Court justices, incompetent cabinet members and refused to speak with provincial premiers or the media.
The use of taxpayer's money to promote the government was disgusting. Demonising opposition leaders to the point that parroting Conservative supporters channel PMO talking points into everyday conversations. Harper actually calls Mulcair a career politician. What job did Harper actually hold outside of politics? A brief stay at the Fraser Institute a Conservative think tank. Nothing more than a conservative PAC or lobby group.
I will be setting out my proposals of how to run this country in a post in the near future. It will be sensible, doable and make Canada a great country. No party will adapt any of my ideas.
By the way did anyone ask Brad Wall why Saskatchewan and Manitoba have 14 seats each, while their populations justify only 10 each?
Ontario is a "have not province"? Not one cent of money from Alberta or Saskatchewan flows into Ontario. Not a penny. Never has and never will. Ontario taxpayers fund 40% of the equalisation fund and yet their province collects 10-15% of the fund. Ontario pays $Billions every year into federal coffers more than it collects. Always has and always will.
I'm politically astute but I can guarantee that Brad Wall could walk down Bay Street and no one would recognise him. Not 1 in 100 people. 0 out of 100 people. I don't know what he looks like. I don't even know if the premier of Manitoba is a man or woman, or which party they belong to and I follow politics. I know Wall is from Saskatchewan because he has a big mouth. There are suburbs of Toronto with bigger populations than Saskatchewan.
Tuesday, 18 August 2015
Thursday, 30 July 2015
Pan Am Games
There are too many people that think in the short term in Toronto. The Pan Am games is a prime example. I'm not sure what the price tag was? Maybe $2.5B. Or about 20% of Ontario's deficit this year. What did we get out of it? Two weeks of feel good athletic stories? Some traffic problems. My marina was all but blocked off for 3-weeks. We still have the Para Pan games coming up.
It doesn't matter. What we gained was an entire new neighbourhood fast tracked forward in Corktown. $Millions in future property taxes. An amazing redo of Queen's Quay. Head down there if you live in the city. It is jammed packed with tourists and locals. One of the best waterfronts I have seen in North America.
We have Olympic calibre pools, tracks and other facilities badly needed in Southern Ontario. Hamilton has a new football stadium. None of the facilities would have been built without the games. It is a small price to pay.
Toronto has too many naysayers. People that do not want to build anything. It is the reason our subway system is so pathetic. People want transit but don't want to pay for it. Nathan Phillips Square has a half-assed reno because City Hall wanted a to save a few bucks. There is nobody with vision running the city.
Toronto is a great city with a dynamic downtown core that is packed 7-days a week. But it was built by businesses not politicians. The city succeeds despite the politicians. This is not an endorsement of free enterprise. Most Canadian cities turn the lights out after 6PM downtown. It is just that Toronto has the population and economy that makes it work.
It doesn't matter. What we gained was an entire new neighbourhood fast tracked forward in Corktown. $Millions in future property taxes. An amazing redo of Queen's Quay. Head down there if you live in the city. It is jammed packed with tourists and locals. One of the best waterfronts I have seen in North America.
We have Olympic calibre pools, tracks and other facilities badly needed in Southern Ontario. Hamilton has a new football stadium. None of the facilities would have been built without the games. It is a small price to pay.
Toronto has too many naysayers. People that do not want to build anything. It is the reason our subway system is so pathetic. People want transit but don't want to pay for it. Nathan Phillips Square has a half-assed reno because City Hall wanted a to save a few bucks. There is nobody with vision running the city.
Toronto is a great city with a dynamic downtown core that is packed 7-days a week. But it was built by businesses not politicians. The city succeeds despite the politicians. This is not an endorsement of free enterprise. Most Canadian cities turn the lights out after 6PM downtown. It is just that Toronto has the population and economy that makes it work.
Sunday, 5 July 2015
Harbourfront Toronto July 2015
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| Harbourfront Improvements |
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| Boat I trained on 3-years ago |
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| Alternate Pick-up Point for Brawler |
Boating July 2015
My first summer boating in 2013 I would rate my confidence level at 10-20%. Last year it improved to 30-50%. In 2015 I would say I'm 80+%. The change has been incremental. It was not an overnight change but a combination of practise and formal training with useful tips thrown in. Small things that add up to increasing confidence in my driving and parking ability.
I'm pleased that Martin was able to adjust the RPM on my twin engines. I had asked Great Lakes Yacht Service to fix the issue but they failed to show up. I would say that the slow idle speed, which led to engine shutdown, was the main culprit in 90% of the issues I had last year.
I still have a lot to learn but what I considered slow progress is starting to show constant improvement. I no longer consider myself the worst boat driver in Toronto. I even notice my neighbours no longer consider me a hazard to navigation.
I'm pleased that Martin was able to adjust the RPM on my twin engines. I had asked Great Lakes Yacht Service to fix the issue but they failed to show up. I would say that the slow idle speed, which led to engine shutdown, was the main culprit in 90% of the issues I had last year.
I still have a lot to learn but what I considered slow progress is starting to show constant improvement. I no longer consider myself the worst boat driver in Toronto. I even notice my neighbours no longer consider me a hazard to navigation.
Friday, 5 June 2015
A Senator's Entitlement
I don't know if Senator Mike Duffy will be convicted of fraud and various other charges but I urge people to read Christie Blatchford's National Post columns and watch her videos summarising the daily events at his trial. Duffy may be able to convince a judge that the rules were too vague and allow him to walk away a free man but he clearly fudged or broke the rules on many occasions. What is astonishing is Duffy's sense of entitlement, shocking expense claims and cavalier attitude towards taxpayers money.
Duffy's attitude appears to have been that the mere act of waking up entitled him to bill the taxpayer for every moment forward until he lay his head on a pillow that night. Many times in a taxpayer funded hotel. His 6-day trip to BC to visit family at the taxpayers expense without any real senatorial business is particularly galling.
I recall when Duffy was a TV pundit on Parliament Hill that he was so deep into the Conservative party pockets that I was astonished that Liberal and NDP politicians would even appear on his show. They should have showed an ounce of integrity and self worth and boycotted his program. It is little wonder that Harper awarded his lapdog with a senate seat.
Duffy's attitude appears to have been that the mere act of waking up entitled him to bill the taxpayer for every moment forward until he lay his head on a pillow that night. Many times in a taxpayer funded hotel. His 6-day trip to BC to visit family at the taxpayers expense without any real senatorial business is particularly galling.
I recall when Duffy was a TV pundit on Parliament Hill that he was so deep into the Conservative party pockets that I was astonished that Liberal and NDP politicians would even appear on his show. They should have showed an ounce of integrity and self worth and boycotted his program. It is little wonder that Harper awarded his lapdog with a senate seat.
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