Initially published in the Alliston Herald on November 21, 2008
The following is the most recent installment of "The Good, The Bad and The Funny."
The Good: A couple of years ago the Alliston District Chamber of Commerce was nearly broke and at risk of being evicted from its' rental premises. Around that time Michael Keith was elected president of the chamber and, with the assistance of an able board, helped correct the ship.
Last week the chamber voted to amend its bylaws to permit a president to serve more than two terms. Given the absence of anyone willing to step into Keith's shoes, it was a wise and prudent move.
The Bad: The New Tecumseth ward structure is 18 years old and in desperate need of an overhaul. The structure ignores the enormous growth that has taken place in recent years with the result that there is a significant disparity in the average number of eligible voters that each councilor represents. Further, the practice of having the residents of Alliston (Ward 1) and Tottenham (Ward 5) elect two councilors at large is a silly and obsolete practice that ought to be trashed. At the very least new boundaries should be drawn for these wards to eliminate the practice of "one resident, two votes".
The Funny: It would appear as though Simcoe-Grey Conservative president Andy Beaudoin has taken it upon himself to serve as the principal attack dog and protector of all that is right and good with the local Conservative Party and its beloved MP. In recent weeks Beaudoin has circulated letters to editors throughout Simcoe-Grey.
The problem with Beaudoin assuming this role? He is about as fearsome as a 17-year-old blind Chihuahua.
The difficulty for individuals who adopt a fiercely partisan approach is that it becomes hard for the public to take them seriously. A person, regardless of political stripe, who is unwilling to acknowledge the errors/mistakes of his/her party or MP/MPP, will eventually lose credibility. As a wise counsel once told me, "always acknowledge the obvious."
The Funny - Part II: Town Square II is almost complete. There was, however, a teeny weeny problem. Apparently someone forgot to install the custom-made staircase between the first and second floors before the walls and doors were constructed.
When the staircase arrived it did not fit though the door! Welders had a crack at it but it still wouldn't go and the staircase suffered the indignity of lying outside for several days before the problem was remedied.
The Bad - Part II: The deep thinkers at Simcoe-County really don't want the public to know how many tax dollars have and are being wasted by the completely unnecessary move of CONTACT and Ontario Works from their former Wellington Street premises to temporary accommodation at the old liquor store before yet another pending move to Town Square II.
Back on Sept. 3 I made a Freedom of Information request for copies of certain documents in the possession of the county related to the cost of these moves.
Last week I received a letter from County of Simcoe Warden Tony Guergis in response to my request. He wants to charge $560 to have six County employees undertake a "search" of their files (is he concerned the tooth fairy may have absconded with them overnight?). He estimates the search will take in excess of 60 hours.
For a moment I was tempted, with tongue planted firmly in cheek, to send Guergis a letter to the effect that I had a better idea: I would offer 10 to one odds that my pet monkey "Sparky" would be able to locate the documents in 10 minutes or less... One indeed wonders why (or how) the county continues to exist in its present form.
Monday, November 24, 2008
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Beaudoin "Baffled"
Andy Beaudoin, the Simcoe-Grey Conservative Association President, wasn't particularly fond of my columns related to Ms Guergis.
Yesterday, the Alliston Herald published a letter from Rob Holliday in response to Beaudoin that speaks from the perspective of someone who voted for the Conservative Party in Simcoe-Grey. As the letter is not posted online it is set out below:
When the day came to vote in the 2008 Canadian federal election I felt strongly about two things. The first was that it was my duty to exercise my right to vote. The second was that Stephen Harper was the only leader worth voting for in this election.
For these two reasons I very grudgingly marked an X next to Helena Guergis' name on my ballot. I say very grudgingly because my view (and many others I talked to) of Helena Guergis is in agreement with that of Kevin Kemp. However in the Canadian voting system, in order to vote for Mr. Harper as leader, I had to vote for Ms. Guergis as MP.
I'm sure Mr. Beaudoin is well ware of how the voting system works and it is disappointing that he would misrepresent the 30,000 votes cast for the Conservatives as evidence that all these people support Ms. Guergis. 30,000 people supported the Conservatives in our riding but I haven't personally met one who did it because of Ms. Guergis.
Rob Holliday
Stephen Fishman of Wasaga Beach had a letter to similar effect that included the following excerpt: "...the so-called attacks against Helena Guergis were not based on partisan politics, but on her record as our MP."
Ironically, Beaudoin appears to have borrowed liberally from my November 7, 2008 column in a letter to the Collingwood Enterprise Bulletin. It's great to see that Andy is a regular reader!
Yesterday, the Alliston Herald published a letter from Rob Holliday in response to Beaudoin that speaks from the perspective of someone who voted for the Conservative Party in Simcoe-Grey. As the letter is not posted online it is set out below:
When the day came to vote in the 2008 Canadian federal election I felt strongly about two things. The first was that it was my duty to exercise my right to vote. The second was that Stephen Harper was the only leader worth voting for in this election.
For these two reasons I very grudgingly marked an X next to Helena Guergis' name on my ballot. I say very grudgingly because my view (and many others I talked to) of Helena Guergis is in agreement with that of Kevin Kemp. However in the Canadian voting system, in order to vote for Mr. Harper as leader, I had to vote for Ms. Guergis as MP.
I'm sure Mr. Beaudoin is well ware of how the voting system works and it is disappointing that he would misrepresent the 30,000 votes cast for the Conservatives as evidence that all these people support Ms. Guergis. 30,000 people supported the Conservatives in our riding but I haven't personally met one who did it because of Ms. Guergis.
Rob Holliday
Stephen Fishman of Wasaga Beach had a letter to similar effect that included the following excerpt: "...the so-called attacks against Helena Guergis were not based on partisan politics, but on her record as our MP."
Ironically, Beaudoin appears to have borrowed liberally from my November 7, 2008 column in a letter to the Collingwood Enterprise Bulletin. It's great to see that Andy is a regular reader!
Friday, November 14, 2008
Mouseland: Part II
Initially published in the Alliston Herald on November 14, 2008
There was trouble in Mouseland.
The TNT hockey mice were fighting. The Alliston soccer mice were fighting too.
The head mouse of Mouseland did not like fighting. He liked it best when all the mice got along.
The head mouse liked to use his ears to listen for fights. He would then try to stop them. He would have meetings and say, "We need to do the right thing."
The head mouse sometimes dreamed that he was the head mouse of Utopia. In Utopia the newspapers only said nice things. In Utopia everyone would share and hold hands and hug and get along. In Utopia even the mouse called "Dorland" (who used to be a member of the Mouse House) would not talk too much. The head mouse wished Mouseland was more like Utopia.
The youngest Mouse House mouse from Tottenham also had dreams.
He would dream that he was the head mouse or the deputy mouse of all of Mouseland. He dreamed that cats and rats from all over would rub his tummy and take him to lunch just like they did with the real deputy mouse. This made him happy. It made him smile in his sleep.
But each morning the youngest mouse from Tottenham would wake up and realize it was just a dream. This is why he scowled. He scowled most of the time when he was awake.
The mouse from the Briar was not the oldest mouse in the Mouse House. He just looked like it.
This mouse was an eager and earnest mouse.
He liked it when other mice would rub his head and say nice things like: "You are a very important mouse" and "You are the most clever mouse in all of Mouseland".
One time, this made the Briar's mouse head get big like a balloon. It almost got as big as the noisy mouse from Beeton. He almost floated away. Honest.
After this happened the Briar mouse began to say and do silly things. He seemed to have mouse fever. He quit all of his Mouse House committees. He said the head mouse was a poor leader of mice. One time he even walked out of a Mouse House meeting before it was over. He did not get his way. He was very upset. He turned red like a lobster.
The boisterous mouse from Beeton loved being in the Mouse House. It was his most favourite place to be. But the Beeton mouse had a problem. He wanted all of the mice in Mouseland to like him. He did not want any mouse to be angry or cross with him. This made him worry and fret.
This was a problem for the Beeton mouse. This was because sometimes some mice wanted him to do one thing and different mice wanted him to do another. It was hard to do both things.
The Beeton mouse found a solution. He learned that he could stick his head in the sand. Like an ostrich. In Mouseland sand is called muck. It looked really funny to see the large mouse from Beeton with his head in the muck. But it seemed to work.
Sometimes, when he took his head out of the muck the problem was all gone and all of the mice in Mouseland still liked him.
To be continued...
There was trouble in Mouseland.
The TNT hockey mice were fighting. The Alliston soccer mice were fighting too.
The head mouse of Mouseland did not like fighting. He liked it best when all the mice got along.
The head mouse liked to use his ears to listen for fights. He would then try to stop them. He would have meetings and say, "We need to do the right thing."
The head mouse sometimes dreamed that he was the head mouse of Utopia. In Utopia the newspapers only said nice things. In Utopia everyone would share and hold hands and hug and get along. In Utopia even the mouse called "Dorland" (who used to be a member of the Mouse House) would not talk too much. The head mouse wished Mouseland was more like Utopia.
The youngest Mouse House mouse from Tottenham also had dreams.
He would dream that he was the head mouse or the deputy mouse of all of Mouseland. He dreamed that cats and rats from all over would rub his tummy and take him to lunch just like they did with the real deputy mouse. This made him happy. It made him smile in his sleep.
But each morning the youngest mouse from Tottenham would wake up and realize it was just a dream. This is why he scowled. He scowled most of the time when he was awake.
The mouse from the Briar was not the oldest mouse in the Mouse House. He just looked like it.
This mouse was an eager and earnest mouse.
He liked it when other mice would rub his head and say nice things like: "You are a very important mouse" and "You are the most clever mouse in all of Mouseland".
One time, this made the Briar's mouse head get big like a balloon. It almost got as big as the noisy mouse from Beeton. He almost floated away. Honest.
After this happened the Briar mouse began to say and do silly things. He seemed to have mouse fever. He quit all of his Mouse House committees. He said the head mouse was a poor leader of mice. One time he even walked out of a Mouse House meeting before it was over. He did not get his way. He was very upset. He turned red like a lobster.
The boisterous mouse from Beeton loved being in the Mouse House. It was his most favourite place to be. But the Beeton mouse had a problem. He wanted all of the mice in Mouseland to like him. He did not want any mouse to be angry or cross with him. This made him worry and fret.
This was a problem for the Beeton mouse. This was because sometimes some mice wanted him to do one thing and different mice wanted him to do another. It was hard to do both things.
The Beeton mouse found a solution. He learned that he could stick his head in the sand. Like an ostrich. In Mouseland sand is called muck. It looked really funny to see the large mouse from Beeton with his head in the muck. But it seemed to work.
Sometimes, when he took his head out of the muck the problem was all gone and all of the mice in Mouseland still liked him.
To be continued...
Friday, November 7, 2008
The Green Candidate's Innuendo
Initially published in the Alliston Herald on November 7, 2008
Our society has made great progress on issues of gender equality from the days of my childhood. In consequence, the future for my seven-year-old daughter is much brighter than it was for women of my generation.
There nevertheless remains room for improvement in the elimination of paternalistic thought and attitudes that regard the role of a woman as subservient to a male. It is an attitude illustrated by a memory from my youth when a neighbour commented that he would never vote for newly elected Progressive Conservative leader Joe Clark because he could not "control" his spouse, Maureen McTeer, and ensure that she took his last name.
In my column of October 17, 2008 I referred to remarks made by perennial Green Party candidate Peter Ellis at the Collingwood all-candidates debate. I wrote that, in the course of his opening statement, Ellis referred to the pending marriage of Helena Guergis and posed a rhetorical question as to where she would ultimately reside. I was critical of the comments and the arguably sexist innuendo that a woman would "follow" the man.
The day following the debate the Wasaga Sun reported that: "Ellis told Simcoe.com he was just wishing her (Guergis) the best but said that one could ask the question, where is she going to live."
Ellis evidently took offence to my remarks and circulated letters to editors throughout Simcoe-Grey questioning why I would "invent" a story about what he said.
Ellis claims that at the Collingwood debate he told the audience about Guergis' upcoming marriage and congratulated her. I do question the absurdity of Ellis using scarce time in his opening statement to raise the issue. If he wished to congratulate Guergis could he not have done so in private? Was he hoping to score points with his genteel manner and knowledge of etiquette?
From the cynical perspective, a more likely explanation is that the remarks were a misguided effort to score political points with the innuendo that Guergis would not reside in Simcoe-Grey after the wedding.
Remarkably, in his letter Ellis also pronounced, "At no time did I pose a rhetorical question as to where Guergis would ultimately reside."
Although Ellis denies asking a rhetorical question, the quote he gave to the Sun certainly appears to expose his motive in raising the issue.
Oddly enough, Ellis' letter perhaps unwittingly reinforces my initial criticism. He writes, "I wish them [Guergis and Jaffer] the best and I am sure they will enjoy western Canada." He adds "...why did Guergis not tell the public that she was going to marry a person from Edmonton...".
Once again, these remarks seem to reflect a paternalistic attitude and/or assumption that Guergis will "follow" the man and move to Alberta.
In reality, there is not a scintilla of evidence that Guergis intends to move to Alberta. Although I have been critical of Guergis and her performance as a Member of Parliament, I do not believe that she would abandon her constituents in this manner. If she were to do so the residents of Simcoe-Grey would certainly have a right to object. Not before.
The issue of Guergis' marriage and any archaic assumptions and/or innuendo that go with them are best left in the dinosaur age.
Unfortunately, Ellis' letter suggests that he still doesn't "get it." His remarks were a disservice to his candidacy and the local Green Party effort.
Significantly, some Green Party insiders felt the tactic detracted from their message and objected to it being an issue. Ellis apparently ignored such counsel and continued merrily along. My advice for the Green party: It's time for a new candidate.
Our society has made great progress on issues of gender equality from the days of my childhood. In consequence, the future for my seven-year-old daughter is much brighter than it was for women of my generation.
There nevertheless remains room for improvement in the elimination of paternalistic thought and attitudes that regard the role of a woman as subservient to a male. It is an attitude illustrated by a memory from my youth when a neighbour commented that he would never vote for newly elected Progressive Conservative leader Joe Clark because he could not "control" his spouse, Maureen McTeer, and ensure that she took his last name.
In my column of October 17, 2008 I referred to remarks made by perennial Green Party candidate Peter Ellis at the Collingwood all-candidates debate. I wrote that, in the course of his opening statement, Ellis referred to the pending marriage of Helena Guergis and posed a rhetorical question as to where she would ultimately reside. I was critical of the comments and the arguably sexist innuendo that a woman would "follow" the man.
The day following the debate the Wasaga Sun reported that: "Ellis told Simcoe.com he was just wishing her (Guergis) the best but said that one could ask the question, where is she going to live."
Ellis evidently took offence to my remarks and circulated letters to editors throughout Simcoe-Grey questioning why I would "invent" a story about what he said.
Ellis claims that at the Collingwood debate he told the audience about Guergis' upcoming marriage and congratulated her. I do question the absurdity of Ellis using scarce time in his opening statement to raise the issue. If he wished to congratulate Guergis could he not have done so in private? Was he hoping to score points with his genteel manner and knowledge of etiquette?
From the cynical perspective, a more likely explanation is that the remarks were a misguided effort to score political points with the innuendo that Guergis would not reside in Simcoe-Grey after the wedding.
Remarkably, in his letter Ellis also pronounced, "At no time did I pose a rhetorical question as to where Guergis would ultimately reside."
Although Ellis denies asking a rhetorical question, the quote he gave to the Sun certainly appears to expose his motive in raising the issue.
Oddly enough, Ellis' letter perhaps unwittingly reinforces my initial criticism. He writes, "I wish them [Guergis and Jaffer] the best and I am sure they will enjoy western Canada." He adds "...why did Guergis not tell the public that she was going to marry a person from Edmonton...".
Once again, these remarks seem to reflect a paternalistic attitude and/or assumption that Guergis will "follow" the man and move to Alberta.
In reality, there is not a scintilla of evidence that Guergis intends to move to Alberta. Although I have been critical of Guergis and her performance as a Member of Parliament, I do not believe that she would abandon her constituents in this manner. If she were to do so the residents of Simcoe-Grey would certainly have a right to object. Not before.
The issue of Guergis' marriage and any archaic assumptions and/or innuendo that go with them are best left in the dinosaur age.
Unfortunately, Ellis' letter suggests that he still doesn't "get it." His remarks were a disservice to his candidacy and the local Green Party effort.
Significantly, some Green Party insiders felt the tactic detracted from their message and objected to it being an issue. Ellis apparently ignored such counsel and continued merrily along. My advice for the Green party: It's time for a new candidate.
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