And should be tattooed on the forehead of all left wingers and social in-activists:
FOR THOSE WHO DO NOT UNDERSTAND, NO EXPLANATION IS POSSIBLE.
Income Taxes Explained:
Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:
The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay $1.
The sixth would pay $3.
The seventh would pay $7.
The eighth would pay $12.
The ninth would pay $18.
The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.
So, that's what they decided to do.
The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve. "Since you are all such good customers," he said, "I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20."Drinks for the ten now cost just $80.
The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free. But what about the other six men - the paying customers? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his 'fair share?' They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody's share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer.
So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man's bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay. And so:
The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).
The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33%savings).
The seventh now pay $5 instead of $7 (28%savings).
The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).
The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).
The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).
Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings.
"I only got a dollar out of the $20,"declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man," but he got $10!"
"Yeah, that's right," exclaimed the fifth man. "I only saved a dollar, too. It's unfair that he got ten times more than I!"
"That's true!!" shouted the seventh man. "Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!"
"Wait a minute," yelled the first four men in unison. "We didn't get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!"
The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.
The next night the tenth man didn't show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn't have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!
And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.
For those who understand, no explanation is needed. For those who do not understand, no explanation is possible.
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Leave $125 Million In Small Bills In A Canvas Bag
In the waste receptacle in front of the Parliament building. No Police. Pretty well the standard ransom/extortion note.........
Caledonia offer: $125M
Rita Daly 83 min. ago
Ottawa has offered $125 million to the Six Nations to settle four land claims in exchange for an end to the longstanding Caledonia dispute.
Caledonia offer: $125M
Rita Daly 83 min. ago
Ottawa has offered $125 million to the Six Nations to settle four land claims in exchange for an end to the longstanding Caledonia dispute.
Leave $125 Million In Small Bills In A Canvas Bag
In the waste receptacle in front of the Parliament building. No Police. Pretty well the standard ransom/extortion note.........
Caledonia offer: $125M
Rita Daly 83 min. ago
Ottawa has offered $125 million to the Six Nations to settle four land claims in exchange for an end to the longstanding Caledonia dispute.
Caledonia offer: $125M
Rita Daly 83 min. ago
Ottawa has offered $125 million to the Six Nations to settle four land claims in exchange for an end to the longstanding Caledonia dispute.
Liberals Downplayed Workfare Proposal
But social in-activists would rather see basketball courts and programs that they put foward so they can feed at the public trough.
Commit to 'full employment' for youth
By LORRIE GOLDSTEIN
Jordan Manners' mother yesterday called for the province to appoint a youth commissioner in the wake of her son's murder.
Someone like Ken Dryden, now a Liberal MP, who was the last occupant of that job from 1984 to 1986.
What Laureen Small is advocating makes sense. But we don't need another commissioner.
We should just implement the one recommendation Dryden made in his final report as Ontario's youth commissioner 21 years ago.
Back then, Dryden called on the Ontario government to implement a policy of full employment for every young person coming out of high school.
He wanted to ensure every graduate went on to college or university, entered an apprenticeship program or obtained a job in the private or public sector -- from joining the army to planting trees -- as long as it was real work with real pay.
"I cannot accept the view that the unemployed are residual, a symptom to be dealt with symptomatically," Dryden wrote. "It is not enough to sit back and wait for time and unemployment-related policies to heal. Too many people are paying too big a price. Unemployment should be addressed directly." Exactly.
Dryden wasn't advocating the usual mish-mash of social programs. He said they'd been tried and had failed. He was advocating work.
McGinty's Walkerton
Queen's Park tap water high in lead
Politicians, staff and visitors at Queen's Park have been told to stick to bottled water after tests revealed unacceptably high levels of lead in the tap water.
Politicians, staff and visitors at Queen's Park have been told to stick to bottled water after tests revealed unacceptably high levels of lead in the tap water.
The Mayor Of All The People - What A Load Of Crap
Mayor pans business woes
By SUE-ANN LEVY
Earlier this week, Elm St. restaurateur Tarek Bousheka told the mayor's hand-picked executive committee he's "shocked" by the number of panhandlers who "aggressively" beg for money in his new neighbourhood.
"I arrived in the neighbourhood three months ago ... the scene in the streets seems to be more like out of a movie," said Bousheka, who noted he decided to speak out about the issue for the first time to "express the frustration" he faces.
But Mayor David Miller was not in the room to hear him. About half of his committee was missing in action as well, including Gloria Lindsay Luby, Norm Kelly and Giorgio Mammoliti.
Miller did finally turn up about one hour later, just as soft-spoken Nivine Shenouda, owner of a Tim Horton's at Queen and Bay, recounted her own personal experience with a panhandler. "He was sitting in my store for a couple of hours when I asked him to leave he got very agitated, slapped me across the face and cut me," she said.
The King of Denial tersely thanked her and quickly moved on to the next speaker.
When Elm St. restaurant owner Chris Ross said harassment of customers on sidewalks by aggressive beggars has become part of the "nightly fabric" on that street and businesses there feel let down by City Hall and the police for not dealing with it, Miller claimed the Safe Streets Act is on the books to handle the problem.
Yes, the mayor, a member of a police services board which has sent a clear message to the force to keep their hands off the "poor" panhandlers in this city by not pushing them to enforce the rules that are there, actually had the gall to claim the police have the tools to deal with the problem.
When Monica Testolini, general manager of the Bond Place Hotel talked about panhandlers, like the drunk who regularly passes out on the steps of her hotel driving tourists away, the mayor seemed testy, if not bored.
When Beric German, one of the poverty advocates on the Toronto Disaster Relief Committee (TDRC), suggested a proposed summer-long study of panhandling wouldn't be done if it involved "Jewish people," not one member of the committee stopped his offensive comments.
"What if we were discussing here Jewish people ... would we be studying whether Jewish people could come down and ask for help if they were in trouble?" he spat in an angry voice. The politically correct leftists sat like bumps on a log.
Is it any wonder chaos reins supreme on the streets of downtown Toronto?
While our Harvard-educated mayor deludes himself into thinking illegal guns are behind the rash of shootings in this city, the criminals, I dare say, are emboldened because there are no consequences for petty crimes like panhandling.
For nearly three hours Monday, downtown business owners begged the mayor and his minions to do something.
At socialist City Hall the reality of the streets falls on deaf ears.
All Paula Fletcher could do was blame the Harris Tories for creating the problem. "The Common Sense revolution has left people in very dire straits 12 years later," she said.
Her comrade-in-arms Joe Mihevc said the last thing they should do is put in place "yet another bylaw" that blames the victim. "If you're struggling with a mental issue and are hungry, you're going to do some silly things on the street," he said. (Not half as silly as the dogma coming out of City Hall.)
As for Miller, he moved to put in place his silly summer-long review of the needs of panhandlers and creatively invented a way to ensure the issue won't be sent to the next council meeting (as has been his habit as of late with all controversial issues), let alone see the light of day again until next spring.
He also claimed, once more, that the laws are already there to address aggressive panhandling. "Much more can be done by the police services to address this issue," he said.
Okay fine Mr. Mayor. Put your money where your mouth is and give the police the go-ahead to charge aggressive panhandlers. Like heck he will.
Coun. Case Ootes, who bravely tried to push for an anti-panhandling bylaw, said all he can do is hope there will be "continuous pressure" by the downtown business people on the mayor to do something.
"Hopefully it will get more attention as a serious issue," he said. "But no there won't be a change this summer."
By SUE-ANN LEVY
Earlier this week, Elm St. restaurateur Tarek Bousheka told the mayor's hand-picked executive committee he's "shocked" by the number of panhandlers who "aggressively" beg for money in his new neighbourhood.
"I arrived in the neighbourhood three months ago ... the scene in the streets seems to be more like out of a movie," said Bousheka, who noted he decided to speak out about the issue for the first time to "express the frustration" he faces.
But Mayor David Miller was not in the room to hear him. About half of his committee was missing in action as well, including Gloria Lindsay Luby, Norm Kelly and Giorgio Mammoliti.
Miller did finally turn up about one hour later, just as soft-spoken Nivine Shenouda, owner of a Tim Horton's at Queen and Bay, recounted her own personal experience with a panhandler. "He was sitting in my store for a couple of hours when I asked him to leave he got very agitated, slapped me across the face and cut me," she said.
The King of Denial tersely thanked her and quickly moved on to the next speaker.
When Elm St. restaurant owner Chris Ross said harassment of customers on sidewalks by aggressive beggars has become part of the "nightly fabric" on that street and businesses there feel let down by City Hall and the police for not dealing with it, Miller claimed the Safe Streets Act is on the books to handle the problem.
Yes, the mayor, a member of a police services board which has sent a clear message to the force to keep their hands off the "poor" panhandlers in this city by not pushing them to enforce the rules that are there, actually had the gall to claim the police have the tools to deal with the problem.
When Monica Testolini, general manager of the Bond Place Hotel talked about panhandlers, like the drunk who regularly passes out on the steps of her hotel driving tourists away, the mayor seemed testy, if not bored.
When Beric German, one of the poverty advocates on the Toronto Disaster Relief Committee (TDRC), suggested a proposed summer-long study of panhandling wouldn't be done if it involved "Jewish people," not one member of the committee stopped his offensive comments.
"What if we were discussing here Jewish people ... would we be studying whether Jewish people could come down and ask for help if they were in trouble?" he spat in an angry voice. The politically correct leftists sat like bumps on a log.
Is it any wonder chaos reins supreme on the streets of downtown Toronto?
While our Harvard-educated mayor deludes himself into thinking illegal guns are behind the rash of shootings in this city, the criminals, I dare say, are emboldened because there are no consequences for petty crimes like panhandling.
For nearly three hours Monday, downtown business owners begged the mayor and his minions to do something.
At socialist City Hall the reality of the streets falls on deaf ears.
All Paula Fletcher could do was blame the Harris Tories for creating the problem. "The Common Sense revolution has left people in very dire straits 12 years later," she said.
Her comrade-in-arms Joe Mihevc said the last thing they should do is put in place "yet another bylaw" that blames the victim. "If you're struggling with a mental issue and are hungry, you're going to do some silly things on the street," he said. (Not half as silly as the dogma coming out of City Hall.)
As for Miller, he moved to put in place his silly summer-long review of the needs of panhandlers and creatively invented a way to ensure the issue won't be sent to the next council meeting (as has been his habit as of late with all controversial issues), let alone see the light of day again until next spring.
He also claimed, once more, that the laws are already there to address aggressive panhandling. "Much more can be done by the police services to address this issue," he said.
Okay fine Mr. Mayor. Put your money where your mouth is and give the police the go-ahead to charge aggressive panhandlers. Like heck he will.
Coun. Case Ootes, who bravely tried to push for an anti-panhandling bylaw, said all he can do is hope there will be "continuous pressure" by the downtown business people on the mayor to do something.
"Hopefully it will get more attention as a serious issue," he said. "But no there won't be a change this summer."
Election Train IX
Another area McGinty didn't meet a promise or failed to suceed.......
Literacy at a standstill
Grade 10 marks haven't improved
By KEVIN CONNOR, SUN MEDIA
Most of Ontario's Grade 10 students have passed this year's provincial literacy test but they aren't getting any better.
Of the students taking the Education Quality and Accountability Office's Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test for the first time, 84% passed.
That's the same percentage as last year, and the first time since 2002 the overall pass rate hasn't risen.
The province needs to examine why the test results haven't risen, Education Minister Kathleen Wynne said.
"Those are the questions we have to ask," Wynne said. "We need to look at what's going on there. I see it as an opportunity."
More than 146,000 Grade 10 students in Ontario wrote the test in March.
"In order to see growth in the future, we must not only solidify the gains we've made but also use the testing data to focus support on those not yet meeting the standard," said Jerry Ponikvar, vice-chairman of EQAO's board of directors.
Literacy at a standstill
Grade 10 marks haven't improved
By KEVIN CONNOR, SUN MEDIA
Most of Ontario's Grade 10 students have passed this year's provincial literacy test but they aren't getting any better.
Of the students taking the Education Quality and Accountability Office's Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test for the first time, 84% passed.
That's the same percentage as last year, and the first time since 2002 the overall pass rate hasn't risen.
The province needs to examine why the test results haven't risen, Education Minister Kathleen Wynne said.
"Those are the questions we have to ask," Wynne said. "We need to look at what's going on there. I see it as an opportunity."
More than 146,000 Grade 10 students in Ontario wrote the test in March.
"In order to see growth in the future, we must not only solidify the gains we've made but also use the testing data to focus support on those not yet meeting the standard," said Jerry Ponikvar, vice-chairman of EQAO's board of directors.
A Normal Day In Toronto The Good
Sunflashes
By SUN STAFF
BODY FOUND IN BURNING CAR
Police are investigating an early morning car fire in Pickering which led to the discovery of a dead body in the driver's seat.
Pickering Fire platoon chief Geoff Nicholson said fire crews arrived at 680 Granite Ct. in the Whites Rd. and Hwy. 401 area at 1 a.m. yesterday to find a car fully engulfed.
When the fire was put out, fire crews discovered a body in the driver's seat.
SAM'S FLAGSHIP TO CLOSE
The flagship Sam the Record Man store on Yonge St. will close next month, but the famous name is expected to live on.
Jason and Bobby Sniderman, sons of founder Sam Sniderman, announced the store, which opened in 1961, will close June 30.
"We are very open to re-establishing this brand in some other manner," Bobby Sniderman said yesterday.
There are calls to save Sam's flashy neon sign.
MORE HOV LANE USE?
City officials are looking at allowing people on motorcycles and scooters to use HOV (high-occupancy vehicle) lanes on streets such as Bay St. and Eglinton Ave.
The city's public works committee yesterday directed city officials to look at the prospect of giving motorcycles and scooters the green light to use lanes reserved for HOVs.
PAIR CARJACK AUTO
Cops are looking for a male and two females who robbed a man and stole his car.
The car-jacking happened Tuesday at about 8:45 p.m. in the Royal York Rd. and Cavell Ave. area. Police said the 42-year-old victim was about to enter his vehicle when a male and two females approached. The male took the victim's wallet and keys and all three fled in the victim's car. The victim wasn't injured.
YORKDALE MALL MUGGING
Police are hoping to nab thugs who swarmed a man at Yorkdale Mall. The victim, 24, was returning to his car in the parking lot Tuesday at 7 p.m. when he was approached by eight assailants. One of the attackers punched the victim in the face, causing him to fall. The robbers took the victim's jewelry, wallet and sunglasses, police said.
By SUN STAFF
BODY FOUND IN BURNING CAR
Police are investigating an early morning car fire in Pickering which led to the discovery of a dead body in the driver's seat.
Pickering Fire platoon chief Geoff Nicholson said fire crews arrived at 680 Granite Ct. in the Whites Rd. and Hwy. 401 area at 1 a.m. yesterday to find a car fully engulfed.
When the fire was put out, fire crews discovered a body in the driver's seat.
SAM'S FLAGSHIP TO CLOSE
The flagship Sam the Record Man store on Yonge St. will close next month, but the famous name is expected to live on.
Jason and Bobby Sniderman, sons of founder Sam Sniderman, announced the store, which opened in 1961, will close June 30.
"We are very open to re-establishing this brand in some other manner," Bobby Sniderman said yesterday.
There are calls to save Sam's flashy neon sign.
MORE HOV LANE USE?
City officials are looking at allowing people on motorcycles and scooters to use HOV (high-occupancy vehicle) lanes on streets such as Bay St. and Eglinton Ave.
The city's public works committee yesterday directed city officials to look at the prospect of giving motorcycles and scooters the green light to use lanes reserved for HOVs.
PAIR CARJACK AUTO
Cops are looking for a male and two females who robbed a man and stole his car.
The car-jacking happened Tuesday at about 8:45 p.m. in the Royal York Rd. and Cavell Ave. area. Police said the 42-year-old victim was about to enter his vehicle when a male and two females approached. The male took the victim's wallet and keys and all three fled in the victim's car. The victim wasn't injured.
YORKDALE MALL MUGGING
Police are hoping to nab thugs who swarmed a man at Yorkdale Mall. The victim, 24, was returning to his car in the parking lot Tuesday at 7 p.m. when he was approached by eight assailants. One of the attackers punched the victim in the face, causing him to fall. The robbers took the victim's jewelry, wallet and sunglasses, police said.
It Is Not The Leader But Rather The Party.....
You have got Dion, Charest, McGinty, et al and they all seem to go out of their way to make themselves look foolish.......
Human Rights & Equality Set Aside
For members of the designated groups. Personally I see their point, although I am not sure what they are ashamed of, but I wonder what would happen if I refused entry to one of the chosen few?
Montreal gay bar under fire for barring women
Updated Wed. May. 30 2007 7:44 PM ET
CTV.ca News Staff
A "truly manly meat market" in Montreal has been slapped with a human rights complaint for barring women from the premises.
Bar Le Stud -- it offers the above description in an online Yellow Pages ad -- has operated in Montreal's gay village for the past 11 years.
Audrey Vachon recently went there with her father Gilles and sat down on the patio with him for a drink. A bar staffer told him that women weren't allowed, not even on the patio.
"On the spot I didn't believe it, I thought it was a bad joke," Audrey told The Canadian Press on Wednesday. "I didn't say a word until I'd left. I was too shocked. I was embarrassed, I was humiliated, I felt guilty that I'd even gone there, like I'd done something wrong."
Vachon said it's the first time she's been asked to leave someplace because she's a woman. She has filed a complaint with Quebec's Human Rights Tribunal.
Jean-Marc Cardinal, a gay man who works next to the bar, was okay with the policy.
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
What Is Stephane Up To These Days?
Stephane at a labour protest and Stephane in the House Of Commons........he makes Mr. Dithers look like Captain Marvel.Dion heckled off stage at Ottawa labour rally
Updated Wed. May. 30 2007 4:28 PM ET
Canadian Press
OTTAWA -- Liberal Leader Stephane Dion has been heckled off the stage at a labour protest rally in Ottawa.
Dion was taunted by several thousand unionized workers as he spoke on Parliament Hill, and was eventually drowned out by chanting.
There were loud boos from the crowd as he left the gathering, with many people complaining about the Liberal party's stand against anti-scab legislation.
Jake Lombardo of Hamilton, Ont., accused Dion of double-speak as he taunted the Liberal leader.
Lombardo blamed the Liberals for launching policies that he says are costing Canadians jobs.
The demonstration was organized to protest the loss of thousands of manufacturing jobs, particularly in Ontario and Quebec.
Liberals push Tories on G8 climate stance
Updated Tue. May. 29 2007 6:06 PM ET
CTV.ca News Staff
The Liberals continued to question the Conservatives about the climate issue at the upcoming G8 meeting on a day when the U.S. openly broke with the European Union.
James Connaughton, chairman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, said Tuesday that the U.S. rejects the European Union's all-encompassing target for cutting carbon emissions.
The U.S. -- the world's biggest emitter of carbon -- favours "setting targets in the context of national circumstances," he said.
The EU's position is that global emissions have to be cut by 50 per cent below 1990 levels by 2050 in order to hold global warming below two degrees Celsius.
Above two degrees, the damage to the climate and eventually, humanity, become progressively more severe.
In Parliament's question period, Liberal Leader Stephane Dion asked whether the Conservative government wants to see the final G8 communique contain a specific reference to absolute GHG reductions.
Let's Get The Leadership First
And fix the "broken windows" before we go cap in hand to the provincial and federal governments. Remember there is only ONE taxpayer and thanks to McGinty they are now exposed to the leeches at the local level.
New urban vision for troubled city
May 28, 2007
The city once known as Toronto the Good rarely merits that title now. The shooting of a 15-year-old boy last week in a north Toronto high school was only the most recent symptom of innocence lost. Repeated eruptions of blatant violence, including the 2005 Boxing Day slaying of Jane Creba, 15, and Toronto's grim "summer of the gun" a few months earlier, have brought fear to a city that was once self-assured.
Other tears show in Toronto's urban fabric. More cars and trucks jam local streets each year making the simple act of travelling within or near the city ever harder. A growing number of smog days make even breathing difficult in the heat of summer. Poverty remains a blight. Homelessness, that distilled essence of misery, has become commonplace with panhandlers begging for coins on major streets.
Local roads are deteriorating faster than they are being repaired. And, despite some improvement in recent years, Toronto remains more litter-strewn than when actor Peter Ustinov declared the then-tidy municipality "New York run by the Swiss." Like the phrase: Toronto the Good, that description doesn't much apply any more.
Yet the city has a bigger, richer population than at any time in its past. The skyline bristles with imposing buildings. Toronto is more diverse, more accepting, more culturally vibrant and vastly more interesting than in the 1950s when this smug burg was simply deemed "good." There is pride here. There are strong neighbourhoods and, for many residents, a remarkably high quality of life.
But something was lost in the evolution from Hogtown to Canada's largest urban area. Torontonians used to be confident about their municipality's role and its future. That firm grounding has slipped away. Now Toronto tilts from global dreams and aspirations of New York sophistication to worry about bankruptcy and decline. There is uncertainty, rising alienation and a sense that the city has lost its way.
Most importantly, what is lost is that sense of boldness, that vision of the future, that once made Toronto a city to be envied the world over.
Today, there is a golden opportunity to regain that international prominence. But the way forward is not to chase validation of some vague and difficult-to-define world-class status. Rather, it is to return to what Toronto was – a place celebrated for being good.
Clearly, though, it must be good in a different and better way, retaining all the diversity, creativity and intellectual sparkle that ornament the city today. Measures key to that transformation have already been proposed. But the will and the money to make them happen are lacking. Toronto needs bold leadership, more support from Ottawa and Queen's Park, and renewed commitment from its residents.
First, more effort must be put into combating poverty, especially through strong investment in low-income housing. It may seem overly simplistic, but the best way to end homelessness is to provide the destitute with a place to live. Scores of homeless people displaced in the clearing of a notorious tent city on Cherry St. a few years ago, made remarkable progress when given clean, affordable accommodation. Equally important are more recreation, job, and treatment programs for at-risk populations, especially disaffected youth prone to crime.
Second, development of Toronto's waterfront is vital, but progress has been slow. Plans call for building clean, green neighbourhoods on more than 800 hectares of underused space and industrial wasteland. Grand parks are planned, as well as 40,000 homes. And existing parks, which have been become increasingly neglected, need greening up.
Third, the city's population of 2.5 million is expected to grow by almost 400,000 over the next 15 years. To avoid permanent gridlock, and help reduce choking smog, Toronto must provide practical alternatives to using cars. Plans have been developed for a $6 billion light rail network, using new electric streetcars, serving virtually every neighbourhood. Also needed is a new subway line to York University and York Region, aggressive GO Transit expansion.
Fourth, more job and recreational opportunities and school support must be provided for at-risk youth, especially in high-crime areas.
Fifth, the city must adopt an aggressive recycling program.
None of this will happen without more money from the federal and provincial governments. Toronto City Council must provide more effective leadership and better services. And residents should do their share by accepting the higher costs necessary to transform their city.
Toronto has the potential to serve as a model for 21st-century urban development. It could become a place where most people can leave their cars at home and walk or ride to where they want to go; where the sting of poverty is eased; violence abated, and where green space and energy-efficient areas set a standard for the rest of Canada to emulate.
When that happens, this city will be worthy of the name it once had.
It could again become Toronto the Good.
Rosie On Panhandling
No, no! Not the douche bag. Our very own Rosie Dimanno.......but in retrospect is it any surprise panhandling has got out of control when you look at how our city is being managed and Comrade Miller's Plan B.
Protect citizens from panhandlers
May 30, 2007
Rosie DiManno
Whilst on a dawn campaign stroll with Mayor David Miller last November, an accompanying reporter asked His Eminence about the problem of aggressive panhandlers.
"They're people too," the mayor admonished.
Taken aback by the condescending tone, the reporter mumbled: "And here I thought they were giraffes.''
Miller, acutely sympathetic to the destitute constituency, has done a great deal to alleviate their circumstances, most especially through the Streets to Homes initiative, with its emphasis on "social inclusion."
But in the process, this city council has turned a deaf ear to the complaints of exasperated Torontonians, particularly those who live and work in downtown neighbourhoods that are shared business and residential districts.
The issue is peaceful coexistence.
Mendicants do not have a superior claim to sidewalks and doorways, even with a Canadian charter that has interpreted public begging as "expressive conduct which conveys meaning relating to a person's impoverished condition and need for assistance," thus protected by freedom of expression.
There are, nevertheless, avenues for obtaining relief from unwanted and intrusive appeals for money.
A court challenge of Ontario's Safe Streets Act narrowly upheld the specific section that prohibits a person on a roadway from soliciting from a person who is in a stopped, standing or parked vehicle. At the very least, pedestrians should enjoy the same protections. What makes motorists so special?
Yet city staff legal advisers who were consulted on a task force proposal put to Toronto's executive committee this week began with the operating premise that a generic bylaw to curb panhandling wouldn't fly, constitutionally. Instead, the committee voted unanimously to launch a pilot project – from July 3 to September 17 – that would seek input from business people on addressing the conundrum.
This might result – don't hold your breath – in some kind of accommodation for tourist areas besieged by panhandlers, as these seem to be the primary areas of concern. It does nothing for ordinary Toronto residents who have to navigate entire stretches of the downtown core where panhandlers are a menace, sometimes threatening and routinely abusive.
Those with hyperactive social consciences – say, suburbanites who cluck their tongues at the sad existence of Toronto's poor and homeless and why doesn't somebody do something – will likely rise to the defense of panhandlers, so long as they don't pester them in their cars or come out to their nice, tidy communities.
The facts, however, as compiled last year by the city in a Street Needs Assessment, paint a much different picture of who's cadging and why: fewer than one in five panhandlers are homeless.
The vast majority takes to the curb ostensibly to make ends meet, some to buy food, some to buy drugs and some to buy booze.
There are ample, if perhaps insufficient programs, to feed the hungry. No city should allow any person to scrounge for food.
But if authorities wish to meet other needs – drugs and alcohol — they should say so frankly and not pass the buck (or quarter or dime) to pedestrians, to be repeatedly accosted by legions of supplicants. If tourists are to be spared, then why not the rest of us, who live and work here?
The city draws a distinction between "passive'' and "aggressive'' panhandlers, with Miller asserting the Safe Streets Act already exists to address the latter. This is a crock because police rarely act on such complaints.
In any event, if a panhandler is cited, what are the odds he or she will pay the fine? Attacking their wallets is silly, a useless rubric.
We all share the public space. Those who don't beg shouldn't be beggared for mercy from city hall.
Rosie DiManno usually appears Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. rdimanno@thestar.ca
Toronto The Good DESPITE Our Idiot Politicians
Surprised by Toronto the Good TheStar.com - Acts of Kindness - Surprised by Toronto the Good
May 30, 2007
thestar.com staff
Small things can often mean a great deal. If you'd like to tell us your story, please use the form on the right side of this page.
We moved to Toronto last month from a much smaller city. The move was uneventful, but [we] were exhausted from the seemingly endless chore of unpacking.
On top of it, we had just purchased a large dining room suite with hutch – a private sale in Oakville. We had no idea how we would get this very heavy set to our new home in the east end.
Meanwhile I answered an email [seeking] a donation of paint which was needed for a shelter. Two individuals came to pick up my paint. They had a van, and on the spur of the moment I asked if we could rent their services to help us pick up our furniture.
They readily agreed and set off with us to Oakville. Not only did they load the furniture into their van, and set it up for us here, they refused to let us help carry the items, saying they were used to this kind of thing and didn’t want us to get in the way.
When I offered to pay them for their time and labour, they refused, saying this was their way of giving back. Finally I urged them to accept gas money, which they reluctantly did. After hearing horror stories about the arrogance of big city people, we were converts to a new appreciation of how wonderful Torontonians can be!
Grace Ross, Toronto
In 1975, I arrived as a new bride in Canada. My husband John and I were supposed to be picked up by his friend at Pearson airport. We waited for hours, while John kept calling his friend. It seemed like the friend had forgotten about us.
John went out to the taxis and asked how much it would cost for a ride to Burlington. We didn't have enough cash, and the only bank branch inside the airport was already closed. We sat outside a doughnut shop, contemplating our next move.
The lady who worked at the shop asked us what was wrong, as we had sat there for a long time. John explained our situation, and she offered to drive to Burlington as she was closing up.
Even though Elaine Smith lived in Milton, she went out of her way to drive us home. When John offered her money, she refused and told us to give it to someone who would need it.
Whenever my family in Hong Kong asks why I love living in Canada so much, I always tell them the story of my first day in my new home.
Georgia Chow, Burlington
[Some years ago] my husband was laid off before Christmas, so money was very tight. I made a conscious effort to buy the cheapest items for our Christmas meal.
I bought everything canned to save money. Canned corn, canned cranberry sauce, canned vegetables. After doing a quick count, I realized I was over budget. Reluctantly, I started putting things back on the shelves, like the icing for a cake, and the cake mix itself. My kids were clearly disappointed, but I put on a brave face and told them that good times were ahead.
One of the stock boys saw this, and asked if I picked up the returned items from the special cart. I told him no. He dropped the boxes on the floor, and marked them "damaged." He said the items were now half off.
I know that he would have got into a lot of trouble for that, so I thanked him. My family had a wonderful Christmas meal, with all the trimmings. Thank you young man. Jenine Lipka, Toronto
It was 21 years ago I was young and had a new baby. I had very little cash and struggled with the price of formula, diapers and just the cost of life in general.
I had the most amazing doctor who had the best nurse in the world. I would go for a check up and she would give me formula saying it came from the salesmen and 'Take it, or it will go to waste.'
She never made me feel like I was taking a handout. Another time she handed me an envelope and said not to open it until I got home. It had some money in it. I tried to pay her back and she told me to just pay it forward.
This act of kindness left me with a lifetime of respect for her. I think of her often and if I find myself in the position of being able to help someone I do and smile to myself and say if only she knew how much has come from her kind actions.
Lisa Rice, Mississauga
I am in my eighties, and sometimes find riding the T.T.C. somewhat of a challenge.
On one occasion, after I boarded a very crowded bus and no one offered a seat, the driver got up from his seat, turned to face the passengers and said, "If someone doesn't give this lady a seat, I am going to give her mine.”
Needless to say, I was no longer standing, and there were smiles all around.
Grace Cramer, Scarborough
A number of years ago, I took my daughter and left an abusive relationship.
I moved into an apartment, just barely able to pay the rent. I ran out of money and the superintendent and landlord kept asking for the rent, and rightly so. One stressful day, I broke down in the hallway, crying and begging them not to send my baby and I into the streets. They left, saying they would be seeking an eviction order.
Days passed, but no eviction notice came. I managed to save up a bit of money and said I could make smaller payments.
The landlord said I had a guardian angel on my floor. One of my neighbours overheard the commotion and later paid off the amount I owed. That person would only do so if he remained anonymous.
I left a note and batch of cookies for my guardian. I am now back on my feet and trying to help others at every opportunity. My little girl 25 and a social worker. She decided to become one after I told her the story of how one person could make a difference.
God bless you, whoever you are. Your act of kindness will always be remembered.
Jasmin Norwood, Toronto
More and more and more......
May 30, 2007
thestar.com staff
Small things can often mean a great deal. If you'd like to tell us your story, please use the form on the right side of this page.
We moved to Toronto last month from a much smaller city. The move was uneventful, but [we] were exhausted from the seemingly endless chore of unpacking.
On top of it, we had just purchased a large dining room suite with hutch – a private sale in Oakville. We had no idea how we would get this very heavy set to our new home in the east end.
Meanwhile I answered an email [seeking] a donation of paint which was needed for a shelter. Two individuals came to pick up my paint. They had a van, and on the spur of the moment I asked if we could rent their services to help us pick up our furniture.
They readily agreed and set off with us to Oakville. Not only did they load the furniture into their van, and set it up for us here, they refused to let us help carry the items, saying they were used to this kind of thing and didn’t want us to get in the way.
When I offered to pay them for their time and labour, they refused, saying this was their way of giving back. Finally I urged them to accept gas money, which they reluctantly did. After hearing horror stories about the arrogance of big city people, we were converts to a new appreciation of how wonderful Torontonians can be!
Grace Ross, Toronto
In 1975, I arrived as a new bride in Canada. My husband John and I were supposed to be picked up by his friend at Pearson airport. We waited for hours, while John kept calling his friend. It seemed like the friend had forgotten about us.
John went out to the taxis and asked how much it would cost for a ride to Burlington. We didn't have enough cash, and the only bank branch inside the airport was already closed. We sat outside a doughnut shop, contemplating our next move.
The lady who worked at the shop asked us what was wrong, as we had sat there for a long time. John explained our situation, and she offered to drive to Burlington as she was closing up.
Even though Elaine Smith lived in Milton, she went out of her way to drive us home. When John offered her money, she refused and told us to give it to someone who would need it.
Whenever my family in Hong Kong asks why I love living in Canada so much, I always tell them the story of my first day in my new home.
Georgia Chow, Burlington
[Some years ago] my husband was laid off before Christmas, so money was very tight. I made a conscious effort to buy the cheapest items for our Christmas meal.
I bought everything canned to save money. Canned corn, canned cranberry sauce, canned vegetables. After doing a quick count, I realized I was over budget. Reluctantly, I started putting things back on the shelves, like the icing for a cake, and the cake mix itself. My kids were clearly disappointed, but I put on a brave face and told them that good times were ahead.
One of the stock boys saw this, and asked if I picked up the returned items from the special cart. I told him no. He dropped the boxes on the floor, and marked them "damaged." He said the items were now half off.
I know that he would have got into a lot of trouble for that, so I thanked him. My family had a wonderful Christmas meal, with all the trimmings. Thank you young man. Jenine Lipka, Toronto
It was 21 years ago I was young and had a new baby. I had very little cash and struggled with the price of formula, diapers and just the cost of life in general.
I had the most amazing doctor who had the best nurse in the world. I would go for a check up and she would give me formula saying it came from the salesmen and 'Take it, or it will go to waste.'
She never made me feel like I was taking a handout. Another time she handed me an envelope and said not to open it until I got home. It had some money in it. I tried to pay her back and she told me to just pay it forward.
This act of kindness left me with a lifetime of respect for her. I think of her often and if I find myself in the position of being able to help someone I do and smile to myself and say if only she knew how much has come from her kind actions.
Lisa Rice, Mississauga
I am in my eighties, and sometimes find riding the T.T.C. somewhat of a challenge.
On one occasion, after I boarded a very crowded bus and no one offered a seat, the driver got up from his seat, turned to face the passengers and said, "If someone doesn't give this lady a seat, I am going to give her mine.”
Needless to say, I was no longer standing, and there were smiles all around.
Grace Cramer, Scarborough
A number of years ago, I took my daughter and left an abusive relationship.
I moved into an apartment, just barely able to pay the rent. I ran out of money and the superintendent and landlord kept asking for the rent, and rightly so. One stressful day, I broke down in the hallway, crying and begging them not to send my baby and I into the streets. They left, saying they would be seeking an eviction order.
Days passed, but no eviction notice came. I managed to save up a bit of money and said I could make smaller payments.
The landlord said I had a guardian angel on my floor. One of my neighbours overheard the commotion and later paid off the amount I owed. That person would only do so if he remained anonymous.
I left a note and batch of cookies for my guardian. I am now back on my feet and trying to help others at every opportunity. My little girl 25 and a social worker. She decided to become one after I told her the story of how one person could make a difference.
God bless you, whoever you are. Your act of kindness will always be remembered.
Jasmin Norwood, Toronto
More and more and more......
Teachers & Trustees Are To Blame
The minute teachers and trustees decided that the relationship between teacher and student had to change from one where authority ruled to one where teachers and students became buddies IMO the system fell apart. Think about it....under the Mr. Kotter system of education how many students became successful?
Teacher's letter about school shocks
By IAN ROBERTSON
Teacher Sandra Fusco is being lauded for her courageous call for better security and discipline at a North York high school in which a student was murdered.
The former teacher at C.W. Jefferys wrote the Sun after Jordan Manners was shot last week about her experiences.
"Our e-mail has been flooded in response to Fusco's column -- almost all of it backing the former C.W. Jefferys teacher," editorial page editor Rob Granatstein said.
Published Saturday, "her story took readers on a trip inside the hallways and classrooms of today's schools and our readers were shocked by the journey," he said. "Few had realized how bad the situation had become at some of our public schools."
He said readers "are outraged by the abusive students and the complete lack of respect shown for teachers and the school system."
'I THINK SHE'S RIGHT'
Outside a Keele St. funeral home where visitations for Manners began yesterday, Desislava Bashkova, 19, who graduated last year and had been in Fusco's class, said, "I think she's right."
Bashkova said "the school should be protected more. There are so many fights and nobody seems to care.
"If you hang out with the right people and have nice friends, you'll be okay," she said. "If you don't bother anyone, they don't bother you."
Standing outside C.W. Jefferys, Grade 12 student Hijal DeSarkar said, "people come into this school all the time."
Never comfortable there, classmate Carla Carrilo, 17, said "there were a lot of little gangsters." Most fights involve boys, but "sometimes girls fight in the cafeteria."
A student who only gave his first name, Jaime, said, "I've seen fights, but a lot worse in other schools. I didn't feel unsafe in this school."
Fusco blamed "apathetic administrators" and the TDSB "which is hesitant to administer effective consequences to misbehaviour for fear of legal repercussions.
'A GOOD SCHOOL'
Board boss Donna Quan said "this is a good school" and Fusco's issues could have been addressed if she had confided her concerns.
"An article like this harms the students," she said. Then, while reading the column, added Fusco "has some important things to say. If she has some valid suggestions, then I wish to hear from her."
Jefferys lawless: Teacher
IAIN MARLOW May 30, 2007
C.W. Jefferys Collegiate is a school wracked by lawlessness, where students swear, threaten violence, and throw textbooks at teachers who do not have authority to keep order, say some present and former teachers.
Teacher's letter about school shocks
By IAN ROBERTSON
Teacher Sandra Fusco is being lauded for her courageous call for better security and discipline at a North York high school in which a student was murdered.
The former teacher at C.W. Jefferys wrote the Sun after Jordan Manners was shot last week about her experiences.
"Our e-mail has been flooded in response to Fusco's column -- almost all of it backing the former C.W. Jefferys teacher," editorial page editor Rob Granatstein said.
Published Saturday, "her story took readers on a trip inside the hallways and classrooms of today's schools and our readers were shocked by the journey," he said. "Few had realized how bad the situation had become at some of our public schools."
He said readers "are outraged by the abusive students and the complete lack of respect shown for teachers and the school system."
'I THINK SHE'S RIGHT'
Outside a Keele St. funeral home where visitations for Manners began yesterday, Desislava Bashkova, 19, who graduated last year and had been in Fusco's class, said, "I think she's right."
Bashkova said "the school should be protected more. There are so many fights and nobody seems to care.
"If you hang out with the right people and have nice friends, you'll be okay," she said. "If you don't bother anyone, they don't bother you."
Standing outside C.W. Jefferys, Grade 12 student Hijal DeSarkar said, "people come into this school all the time."
Never comfortable there, classmate Carla Carrilo, 17, said "there were a lot of little gangsters." Most fights involve boys, but "sometimes girls fight in the cafeteria."
A student who only gave his first name, Jaime, said, "I've seen fights, but a lot worse in other schools. I didn't feel unsafe in this school."
Fusco blamed "apathetic administrators" and the TDSB "which is hesitant to administer effective consequences to misbehaviour for fear of legal repercussions.
'A GOOD SCHOOL'
Board boss Donna Quan said "this is a good school" and Fusco's issues could have been addressed if she had confided her concerns.
"An article like this harms the students," she said. Then, while reading the column, added Fusco "has some important things to say. If she has some valid suggestions, then I wish to hear from her."
Jefferys lawless: Teacher
IAIN MARLOW May 30, 2007
C.W. Jefferys Collegiate is a school wracked by lawlessness, where students swear, threaten violence, and throw textbooks at teachers who do not have authority to keep order, say some present and former teachers.
Donato & I Don't Have To Look Far To Make Miller Look An Idiot
He seems to go out of his way to do so.......
This Happened On The Liberal Watch
Youth crime law is a farce
By Lorrie Goldstein
The murder of a 15-year-old student inside a Toronto high school illustrates why the Youth Criminal Justice Act is worse than the Young Offenders Act it replaced.
Following this week's arrest of two 17-year-olds charged with the first-degree murder of Jordan Manners, police praised members of the public for providing information that led to the arrests.
Ironically, that could be the last time the public hears anything meaningful about this case.
Under the YCJA, which came into effect, appropriately, on April Fools' Day 2003, the identities of these youths will only be revealed if they are convicted AND sentenced to "adult" time.
Even under the highly secretive YOA, a case like this would almost certainly have been held in adult court, with the identities of all parties made public.
In fact, the YCJA is so untransparent, it can create cases where the identity of the accused, victim and witnesses are never made public, if they are under 18.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled last year that judges can't factor in deterrence when sentencing under the YCJA, because it contains no provisions for doing so. When it drafted the law, the previous Liberal government ignored warnings from victims' rights advocates that omitting deterrence in sentencing would prove to be a disaster.
Under the YCJA, adult sentences, even for murder, are to be applied "sparingly" according to the feds' own explanation of their legislation when it was passed.
Conceivably, then, a youth can be convicted of murder and remain anonymous because he doesn't receive an "adult" sentence.
The YCJA was sold to Canadians as being tougher on serious youth crime than the YOA.
This is nonsense. In many ways, it's worse.
Its major flaw is that, like its predecessor, the YCJA doesn't distinguish between major crimes such as murder, where the public has a right to know the names of those responsible, and minor ones, such as petty vandalism, where protecting the youth's identity, particularly for a first offence, might make sense.
Trust our politicians not to know the difference.
By Lorrie Goldstein
The murder of a 15-year-old student inside a Toronto high school illustrates why the Youth Criminal Justice Act is worse than the Young Offenders Act it replaced.
Following this week's arrest of two 17-year-olds charged with the first-degree murder of Jordan Manners, police praised members of the public for providing information that led to the arrests.
Ironically, that could be the last time the public hears anything meaningful about this case.
Under the YCJA, which came into effect, appropriately, on April Fools' Day 2003, the identities of these youths will only be revealed if they are convicted AND sentenced to "adult" time.
Even under the highly secretive YOA, a case like this would almost certainly have been held in adult court, with the identities of all parties made public.
In fact, the YCJA is so untransparent, it can create cases where the identity of the accused, victim and witnesses are never made public, if they are under 18.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled last year that judges can't factor in deterrence when sentencing under the YCJA, because it contains no provisions for doing so. When it drafted the law, the previous Liberal government ignored warnings from victims' rights advocates that omitting deterrence in sentencing would prove to be a disaster.
Under the YCJA, adult sentences, even for murder, are to be applied "sparingly" according to the feds' own explanation of their legislation when it was passed.
Conceivably, then, a youth can be convicted of murder and remain anonymous because he doesn't receive an "adult" sentence.
The YCJA was sold to Canadians as being tougher on serious youth crime than the YOA.
This is nonsense. In many ways, it's worse.
Its major flaw is that, like its predecessor, the YCJA doesn't distinguish between major crimes such as murder, where the public has a right to know the names of those responsible, and minor ones, such as petty vandalism, where protecting the youth's identity, particularly for a first offence, might make sense.
Trust our politicians not to know the difference.
So Much For Getting Tough On Street Racing
Has our justice system become a matter of semantics. Two drivers going in the same direction, side by side at 140 Km/Hr were NOT racing they were just going fast. What a load of crap.......
Men escape jail terms in crash that killed cabbie
toronto.ctv.ca
Two young Toronto men will not serve any jail time in the January 2006 death of taxi driver Tahir Kahn, who was killed in a crash on Mount Pleasant Road.
Alexander Ryazanov and Wang-Piao Dumani Ross, both 20, received a one-year house arrest term on Tuesday. After that, they must abide by a curfew for another year.
The two university students received a four-year driving ban. They must also complete 150 hours of community service and serve two years probation. During their year of house arrest, they can still attend university or work.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Come On People This Is Just Payback Time
I recall another obese ball breaker who made a fortune and a career by catering to the low esteem of many obese people so this story is no surprise......
Judge just doesn't see failure to treat people with dignity, respect
The District Judge Elizabeth Halverson saga is starting to creep beyond the borders of Nevada and into the California news media, while locally the docudrama is the first thing many of us read each day. When they make a TV special of it, I'd like to suggest a name: Power and Paranoia.
Halverson spent nine years as a fairly lowly law clerk. (I always assumed the 425-pound woman, according to her driver's license, stayed as long as she could for the county's health insurance coverage.) After she was fired, she ran for one judgeship, lost, but in 2006 won on her second try.
Before long, stories started coming out of the Regional Justice Center about her contemptuous behavior toward her staff, particularly her bailiff, Johnny Jordan. Halverson, who had never had real power, was relishing it, throwing a pencil on the floor and ordering him to pick it up. Jordan was ordered to give her foot rubs and back massages. He has since filed a complaint against his former boss alleging discrimination based on sex and race. He is black and says she treated him like a "house boy."
Her court clerk, Katherine Streuber, said the judge's behavior was "vile, angry, degrading to anyone within her path." Streuber also objected to being called "the evil one" and "the anti-Christ" by the judge. (We in the news business hear that every other day, but courthouse employees are unaccustomed.)
Judge just doesn't see failure to treat people with dignity, respect
The District Judge Elizabeth Halverson saga is starting to creep beyond the borders of Nevada and into the California news media, while locally the docudrama is the first thing many of us read each day. When they make a TV special of it, I'd like to suggest a name: Power and Paranoia.
Halverson spent nine years as a fairly lowly law clerk. (I always assumed the 425-pound woman, according to her driver's license, stayed as long as she could for the county's health insurance coverage.) After she was fired, she ran for one judgeship, lost, but in 2006 won on her second try.
Before long, stories started coming out of the Regional Justice Center about her contemptuous behavior toward her staff, particularly her bailiff, Johnny Jordan. Halverson, who had never had real power, was relishing it, throwing a pencil on the floor and ordering him to pick it up. Jordan was ordered to give her foot rubs and back massages. He has since filed a complaint against his former boss alleging discrimination based on sex and race. He is black and says she treated him like a "house boy."
Her court clerk, Katherine Streuber, said the judge's behavior was "vile, angry, degrading to anyone within her path." Streuber also objected to being called "the evil one" and "the anti-Christ" by the judge. (We in the news business hear that every other day, but courthouse employees are unaccustomed.)
An Insight Into The Politboro's New Taxes
We say it's time to fight City Hall
Mayor Miller poised to place new tax burden on Torontonians
By LINDA LEATHERDALE, TORONTO SUN
Read our lips: No more taxes.
So, let the revolt begin:
This time we're storming City Hall, where Mayor Big Spender plans to fleece over-taxed Torontonians of their very last hard-earned penny.
And who handed David Miller the keys to the tax war chest?
Why that would be Premier Big Spender, the FIBeral leader who once again is violating Ontario's Taxpayer Protection Act, a piece of legislation I fought hard for, to give birth to the Respect for Municipalities Act.
In the words of small business crusader Judith Andrew, it should be called the "Disrespect for Taxpayers Act."
With his new City of Toronto Act, Dalton McGuinty (who ramped up spending by $22 billion since coming to power and gave himself a 25% pay hike), has given sweeping taxing powers to Miller (who also ramped up spending by $1.5 billion and gave himself a 9% pay hike).
And if we don't fight back now we're going to pay big time.
On top of already paying some of the highest taxes in the industrialized world, here's what Torontonians are in for:
Average households with 2.5 people can expect to fork out an extra $1,182 a year, with a new tax grab that targets everything from beer and spirits to tickets, to new road tolls, higher vehicle taxes and a new land transfer tax.
"The average household cannot afford to carry this extra burden," said Kevin Gaudet, Ontario director for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF).
He points out the burden is worse for a family of four, growing to almost $2,000 a year. "Families already find it tough to make ends meet without the mayor and council sticking them with extra taxes," Gaudet said.
Toronto is already one of the most expensive cities in which to buy a home, and the last thing we need is to push housing affordability further out of reach. But that's what Miller has in mind.
Even if he held his proposed municipal land transfer tax rate at 0.5%, for an average Toronto home priced at $378,000 it would add another $1,900 onto Queen's Park's $4,200 land transfer tax. That's a total tax grab of $6,100, and that's only the land transfer tax on homes, which are already highly taxed.
It also flies in the face of Queen's Park's land transfer tax rebate to help first-time buyers of brand new homes.
"Make no mistake, a second land transfer tax is nothing short of a home-buying tax. Put another way, this would be like telling a consumer that they have to pay the GST twice every time they go to the cash register," said Dorothy Mason, president of the Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB), in a letter to Miller.
TAX WILL KILL JOBS
TREB is among a number of organizations who are warning higher taxes will hurt small businesses, kill jobs and force people into the 905-corridor.
"Toronto's already in economic decline," said Judith Andrew, Ontario vice-president of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB).
She points to a CFIB study which shows Toronto lost 100,000 jobs in the past decade, while the 905-corridor gained 800,000 net new jobs. "Toronto is becoming a bedroom city for the 905," she said.
Rob Evans, CEO of the Ontario Restaurant, Hotel and Motel Association, points out Toronto's hospitality and tourism sector still hasn't recovered from the blows of 9/11 and SARs, and this new tax grab will strike another blow.
The CFIB has launched its protest campaign, called "Toronto Taxes -- Not A Penny More," and you can join at cfib.ca.
The Beer Store workers are also fighting back with a petition campaign in its Toronto stores called Enough is Enough at nodrinktax.ca.
$140 A YEAR EXTRA
The campaign points out up to 58% of what we pay for beer, wine and spirits is pure tax -- making Ontario drinkers among the most highly taxed in the world. And with Miller's proposed tax, it could mean a higher tax burden of $140 a year for 70% of Toronto's households.
"No other municipality in Ontario or Canada charges a tax on alcohol beverages, why should Toronto residents pay more?" asks Robert Edwards, president of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 12R24.
This is how greedy the taxman is when it comes to beer: We pay PST, GST, Ontario basic tax, Ontario volume tax and a federal excise duty, meaning a 50.8% tax burden for a case of 24 at $24, and 40.4% for a regular case of 24 at $33.95.
Edwards ended his letter: "Our members are not only Beer Store employees, they are consumers, taxpayers and beer drinkers. They are average people living on average incomes in one of the costliest cities in the nation. To tax these invidividuals $1.50 to $3 more per case of beer is simply unfair and unreasonable."
I say let 'em drink beer. No new taxes.
Mayor Miller poised to place new tax burden on Torontonians
By LINDA LEATHERDALE, TORONTO SUN
Read our lips: No more taxes.
So, let the revolt begin:
This time we're storming City Hall, where Mayor Big Spender plans to fleece over-taxed Torontonians of their very last hard-earned penny.
And who handed David Miller the keys to the tax war chest?
Why that would be Premier Big Spender, the FIBeral leader who once again is violating Ontario's Taxpayer Protection Act, a piece of legislation I fought hard for, to give birth to the Respect for Municipalities Act.
In the words of small business crusader Judith Andrew, it should be called the "Disrespect for Taxpayers Act."
With his new City of Toronto Act, Dalton McGuinty (who ramped up spending by $22 billion since coming to power and gave himself a 25% pay hike), has given sweeping taxing powers to Miller (who also ramped up spending by $1.5 billion and gave himself a 9% pay hike).
And if we don't fight back now we're going to pay big time.
On top of already paying some of the highest taxes in the industrialized world, here's what Torontonians are in for:
Average households with 2.5 people can expect to fork out an extra $1,182 a year, with a new tax grab that targets everything from beer and spirits to tickets, to new road tolls, higher vehicle taxes and a new land transfer tax.
"The average household cannot afford to carry this extra burden," said Kevin Gaudet, Ontario director for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF).
He points out the burden is worse for a family of four, growing to almost $2,000 a year. "Families already find it tough to make ends meet without the mayor and council sticking them with extra taxes," Gaudet said.
Toronto is already one of the most expensive cities in which to buy a home, and the last thing we need is to push housing affordability further out of reach. But that's what Miller has in mind.
Even if he held his proposed municipal land transfer tax rate at 0.5%, for an average Toronto home priced at $378,000 it would add another $1,900 onto Queen's Park's $4,200 land transfer tax. That's a total tax grab of $6,100, and that's only the land transfer tax on homes, which are already highly taxed.
It also flies in the face of Queen's Park's land transfer tax rebate to help first-time buyers of brand new homes.
"Make no mistake, a second land transfer tax is nothing short of a home-buying tax. Put another way, this would be like telling a consumer that they have to pay the GST twice every time they go to the cash register," said Dorothy Mason, president of the Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB), in a letter to Miller.
TAX WILL KILL JOBS
TREB is among a number of organizations who are warning higher taxes will hurt small businesses, kill jobs and force people into the 905-corridor.
"Toronto's already in economic decline," said Judith Andrew, Ontario vice-president of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB).
She points to a CFIB study which shows Toronto lost 100,000 jobs in the past decade, while the 905-corridor gained 800,000 net new jobs. "Toronto is becoming a bedroom city for the 905," she said.
Rob Evans, CEO of the Ontario Restaurant, Hotel and Motel Association, points out Toronto's hospitality and tourism sector still hasn't recovered from the blows of 9/11 and SARs, and this new tax grab will strike another blow.
The CFIB has launched its protest campaign, called "Toronto Taxes -- Not A Penny More," and you can join at cfib.ca.
The Beer Store workers are also fighting back with a petition campaign in its Toronto stores called Enough is Enough at nodrinktax.ca.
$140 A YEAR EXTRA
The campaign points out up to 58% of what we pay for beer, wine and spirits is pure tax -- making Ontario drinkers among the most highly taxed in the world. And with Miller's proposed tax, it could mean a higher tax burden of $140 a year for 70% of Toronto's households.
"No other municipality in Ontario or Canada charges a tax on alcohol beverages, why should Toronto residents pay more?" asks Robert Edwards, president of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 12R24.
This is how greedy the taxman is when it comes to beer: We pay PST, GST, Ontario basic tax, Ontario volume tax and a federal excise duty, meaning a 50.8% tax burden for a case of 24 at $24, and 40.4% for a regular case of 24 at $33.95.
Edwards ended his letter: "Our members are not only Beer Store employees, they are consumers, taxpayers and beer drinkers. They are average people living on average incomes in one of the costliest cities in the nation. To tax these invidividuals $1.50 to $3 more per case of beer is simply unfair and unreasonable."
I say let 'em drink beer. No new taxes.
Where Did The Murderers Of Jordan Get The Gun
That should be the first target of the Soldiers Of Change...then they can expend their energy at the government for not implementing long and hard time sentences for possession and sale of unregistered weapons.
March planned to force government action on gun violence
By JONATHAN JENKINS
Stung by the loss of his nephew, Greg Stokes wants to enlist an army of marchers to campaign against a government he charges has turned its back on kids like Jordan Manners.
"If you are angered by and tired of the senseless death of youth, guns coming across our borders and ending up in the hands of our children and a system (that) has failed our children, then join us," Stokes wrote on a Facebook site called Soldiers of Change.
"Come forward and fight."
Stokes, who has assumed the role of spokesman for his sister Laureen Small since Jordan was shot dead last week, is organizing a massive march under the Soldiers of Change banner, set for June 10. The march starts at the Jane-Sheppard Mall at 1 p.m.
"You are needed to help turn this wave around and bring it crashing on to the door of Parliament and all forms of government," he wrote. More information is at www.myspace.com/breakawayreliefcare.
March planned to force government action on gun violence
By JONATHAN JENKINS
Stung by the loss of his nephew, Greg Stokes wants to enlist an army of marchers to campaign against a government he charges has turned its back on kids like Jordan Manners.
"If you are angered by and tired of the senseless death of youth, guns coming across our borders and ending up in the hands of our children and a system (that) has failed our children, then join us," Stokes wrote on a Facebook site called Soldiers of Change.
"Come forward and fight."
Stokes, who has assumed the role of spokesman for his sister Laureen Small since Jordan was shot dead last week, is organizing a massive march under the Soldiers of Change banner, set for June 10. The march starts at the Jane-Sheppard Mall at 1 p.m.
"You are needed to help turn this wave around and bring it crashing on to the door of Parliament and all forms of government," he wrote. More information is at www.myspace.com/breakawayreliefcare.
We Have Bike Lanes But Still Have Cyclists On Sidewalks
Let's start enforcing the Highway Traffic Act with cyclists with the same passion as it is enforced against motorists and I will bet there are more jaywalking tickets than tickets for improper cycling.
War Between Cyclists & Drivers Heats Up With Good Weather
Monday May 28, 2007
There are all kinds of natural enemies in the world - cats vs. dogs, Liberals vs. Conservatives and Leaf fans vs. Senators supporters. But of all the opposing forces that you contend with every day, few appear to produce the same vitriol as the one between motorists and bike riders.
The situation is especially intense in the always busy downtown core, where there simply isn't enough space for everyone who wants to squeeze by. Drivers complain cyclists don't obey street signs and traffic lights and are too militant on their two wheels. Bike riders counter that those behind the wheel are in too much of a hurry and refuse to share the road with their less powerful counterparts. And never, it would seem, the twain shall meet.
Mayor David Miller is encouraging Torontonians to trade in their four-wheels for two and participate in Bike Week, but many avid cyclists complain there's just not enough bike lanes to make riding downtown safe. There are currently 370 kilometres of bike lanes in Toronto and the city plans to add more before winter. "Our goal this year is to get 30 new kilometres of bike lanes designated throughout the city for the pretty good even spread east, north, south and west as well," said Adrian Heaps, Toronto Cycling Committee.
Relevant Links:
Check out what the Ontario Highway Act has to say about the penalties for a host of infractions.
War Between Cyclists & Drivers Heats Up With Good Weather
Monday May 28, 2007
There are all kinds of natural enemies in the world - cats vs. dogs, Liberals vs. Conservatives and Leaf fans vs. Senators supporters. But of all the opposing forces that you contend with every day, few appear to produce the same vitriol as the one between motorists and bike riders.
The situation is especially intense in the always busy downtown core, where there simply isn't enough space for everyone who wants to squeeze by. Drivers complain cyclists don't obey street signs and traffic lights and are too militant on their two wheels. Bike riders counter that those behind the wheel are in too much of a hurry and refuse to share the road with their less powerful counterparts. And never, it would seem, the twain shall meet.
Mayor David Miller is encouraging Torontonians to trade in their four-wheels for two and participate in Bike Week, but many avid cyclists complain there's just not enough bike lanes to make riding downtown safe. There are currently 370 kilometres of bike lanes in Toronto and the city plans to add more before winter. "Our goal this year is to get 30 new kilometres of bike lanes designated throughout the city for the pretty good even spread east, north, south and west as well," said Adrian Heaps, Toronto Cycling Committee.
Relevant Links:
Check out what the Ontario Highway Act has to say about the penalties for a host of infractions.
Naturally His Family Won't Pay More.......
......he seems to leave most of his garbage at Toronto City Hall. I have no problem paying my way but I can see an increase in dumping which will increase costs, there is a bureaucracy which is going to cost us, there are times when the amount being put out increases and how will they handle that, how many garbagegestapo will they be hiring............
Homeowners to be charged based on trash output
toronto.ctv.ca
The City of Toronto has unveiled a plan to reduce the amount of garbage going to landfills by charging households different fees depending on how much trash they put out at the curb.
A number of different-sized bins will be offered to residents and pickup costs will vary.
"We've created a system where, depending on the size of garbage can you put out, you pay more money if you put out more garbage, so if you're a super recycler, you'll pay nothing," said Councillor Glenn De Baeremaeker.
"I know my family personally, we will have the smallest container. We won't pay a penny more."
Trash tax grab in works
'Tax increase by stealth'
The Grinning Planet
Monday, May 28, 2007
One Question Still Outstanding On Safe Injection Sites
Maybe Counciller Rae can answer that question; "Where do the drug addicts get the money to buy the drugs they inject in the safety of the SIS?" Is the funding coming from a program similar to one in the City Of Toronto where they budget taxpayer $$$ to supply alchohol to homeless drunks?
Injection 'myths' shot by ministry
Vancouver site; Document issued just days before permit denied
Peter O'Neil
CanWest News Service
Monday, May 28, 2007
OTTAWA - The top policy advisor to Tony Clement, the Minister of Health, ordered federal officials to debunk five "myths" about Vancouver's Safe Injection Site, just before Mr. Clement announced his refusal last year to extend the site's permit.
The facility called Insite opened in 2003 as a safe place for drug addicts to inject.
The "Debunking the Myths" document was delivered to Jo Kennelly, Mr. Clement's senior policy advisor, only days after other Health Canada internal briefing notes and media analysis described the facility's progress and public support in positive terms.
The document obtained by The Vancouver Sun declared there were five widely held but false public views: that safe injection sites are "commonly used" in other countries; they operate "all across Canada;" they are legal; they present "a complete solution" to drug-use harms; and that the SIS site "has the complete support of the community."
Each of the "myths" -- there is no indication which individuals or groups were espousing these views --are all then shot down.
Injection 'myths' shot by ministry
Vancouver site; Document issued just days before permit denied
Peter O'Neil
CanWest News Service
Monday, May 28, 2007
OTTAWA - The top policy advisor to Tony Clement, the Minister of Health, ordered federal officials to debunk five "myths" about Vancouver's Safe Injection Site, just before Mr. Clement announced his refusal last year to extend the site's permit.
The facility called Insite opened in 2003 as a safe place for drug addicts to inject.
The "Debunking the Myths" document was delivered to Jo Kennelly, Mr. Clement's senior policy advisor, only days after other Health Canada internal briefing notes and media analysis described the facility's progress and public support in positive terms.
The document obtained by The Vancouver Sun declared there were five widely held but false public views: that safe injection sites are "commonly used" in other countries; they operate "all across Canada;" they are legal; they present "a complete solution" to drug-use harms; and that the SIS site "has the complete support of the community."
Each of the "myths" -- there is no indication which individuals or groups were espousing these views --are all then shot down.
Homegrown Terrorism Tactics 101
Coming soon to your backyard............
They saw an iron road not runnin' from sea to the sea
The native peoples are on to something. Normal protests? Out! Useless! A law-abiding, wimpy protest march? That will get you two lines of bored media coverage. Placards don't cut it any more. But how about shutting down half the country's shunting railway system? MORE..
They saw an iron road not runnin' from sea to the sea
The native peoples are on to something. Normal protests? Out! Useless! A law-abiding, wimpy protest march? That will get you two lines of bored media coverage. Placards don't cut it any more. But how about shutting down half the country's shunting railway system? MORE..
I Ask The Same Question Everyday
Blame urban culture, not urban guns
Sometimes I wonder whether Toronto Mayor David Miller actually listens to himself talk. Probably not. Nothing original ever issues forth from the man's mouth. Instead, he seems only to function as a funnel for every fashionable theory about "root causes" and social engineering advanced in the past quarter century. MORE...
Another Of Those Hmmmmm Topics
I am not a bar person so this doesn't mean a rat's ass to me but it does raise a question about whether if I did own a bar whether I or my patrons could decide to bar gays? I doubt it very much sooooooooooooooo........
Jonathan Kay: Heterosexuals not allowed
Here's an interesting story out of Australia: The Victorian state civil and administrative tribunal (which appears to be some kind of human-rights panel) has ruled that a gay pub — the Peel Hotel — has the right to ban straights from the premises.
Proponents of the club's right to keep out straight folk say the case is about protecting homosexuals from abuse. But freedom from annoyance seems to be a big factor, as well: Apparently, a lot of local women were coming to the bar in big packs ("hen parties") because they liked hanging out with gay men.
By my observation, this is a pretty common phenomenon in most large cities: Male gay bars allow women to hang out with members of the opposite sex without being groped or hit on. According to stereotype, the men also tend to be better-looking and -dressed, as well.
Although I'm not usually a big fan of politically correct human rights tribunals, I think I would support this decision: It must be annoying to be a gay man trying to enjoy yourself at a gay bar, but all the while you're being treated as some kind of hip, aesthetic night-life prop by a bunch of tipsy lady folk.
The ruling applies as much to straight men as straight women, however. This raises the obvious question in the case of the former: How can the bouncers tell whether you're gay. I suppose there are a bunch of phallometric tests that could be administered — but none of them seem suitable for the vestibule of a bar (or for discussion on a National Post blog for that matter).
jkay@nationalpost.com
Jonathan Kay: Heterosexuals not allowed
Here's an interesting story out of Australia: The Victorian state civil and administrative tribunal (which appears to be some kind of human-rights panel) has ruled that a gay pub — the Peel Hotel — has the right to ban straights from the premises.
Proponents of the club's right to keep out straight folk say the case is about protecting homosexuals from abuse. But freedom from annoyance seems to be a big factor, as well: Apparently, a lot of local women were coming to the bar in big packs ("hen parties") because they liked hanging out with gay men.
By my observation, this is a pretty common phenomenon in most large cities: Male gay bars allow women to hang out with members of the opposite sex without being groped or hit on. According to stereotype, the men also tend to be better-looking and -dressed, as well.
Although I'm not usually a big fan of politically correct human rights tribunals, I think I would support this decision: It must be annoying to be a gay man trying to enjoy yourself at a gay bar, but all the while you're being treated as some kind of hip, aesthetic night-life prop by a bunch of tipsy lady folk.
The ruling applies as much to straight men as straight women, however. This raises the obvious question in the case of the former: How can the bouncers tell whether you're gay. I suppose there are a bunch of phallometric tests that could be administered — but none of them seem suitable for the vestibule of a bar (or for discussion on a National Post blog for that matter).
jkay@nationalpost.com
It Is Easy To Be The Best If You Max Out Your Visa
David working on his budget.......
But eventually you need to to start paying more than the minimum and hoping Uncle Harry will help you is not an acceptable way to manage your money.
City's top-ranked services come at a cost, study shows
Our expenses among Ontario's highest; Peel Region most efficient of 15 studied
May 28, 2007
Royson James
City hall Columnist
If you want a nursing home bed, great transit, world-class libraries, and don't mind paying a premium to protect yourself, divert waste and go green, Toronto is the place to be.
But if keeping a tight leash on spending is your preference, go west to Mississauga, Brampton and Caledon – where saving a buck is, apparently, a virtue.
Peel Region is the most efficient provider of city services in the GTA and likely the province, an analysis of Ontario's major municipalities shows.
And while Toronto's costs are among the highest in Ontario, the provincial capital lives up to its reputation for Cadillac services, easily ranking first in service levels.
But for Durham Region – the eight cities and towns from Pickering to Clarington and up to Lake Scugog – the findings are bleak. Of the 15 cities and regions compared, Durham ranked 13th in efficiency and tied for 10th in service levels.
The Star's analysis is based on an unprecedented voluntary collection of data by 15 major municipalities stretching across southern Ontario and up to Thunder Bay. The study was based on more than 300 pages of technical definitions and reveals how the municipalities rank in service levels, customer service, efficiency and community impact.
Another Wait & See Initiative
I commend the youth that are organizing this event but I have some questions. How many gang members will be at the event? Will they be addressing the need to fight the gangs or will this be another give us $$$$ event? Will they be addressing the need for the community, young and old, coming forward when violence occurs. Does anyone really believe that there were not members of the community who did not know who shot Justin?
Moving positivity into the Malvern area
By SHARON LEM, SUN MEDIA
Success is possible even in a neighbourhood like Malvern, which has often been labelled as crime-ridden, community leaders say.
The Malvern Community Coalition is hoping a June 9 conference for everyone who lives in the area will have a positive and lasting impact.
"Malvern's got a bad rap in the media about gangs, gun warfare and crime and the Malvern Community Coalition wanted to do something uplifting to empower residents to develop learning skills to achieve success," said Carl Anthony John, a youth volunteer with the third-annual Malvern in Motion conference.
"For this year's conference there's a shift in the event towards youth, but adults are invited. I'm a Grade 12 student and I'm co-chairing it. It's an event for youth organized by youth," John said.
Moving positivity into the Malvern area
By SHARON LEM, SUN MEDIA
Success is possible even in a neighbourhood like Malvern, which has often been labelled as crime-ridden, community leaders say.
The Malvern Community Coalition is hoping a June 9 conference for everyone who lives in the area will have a positive and lasting impact.
"Malvern's got a bad rap in the media about gangs, gun warfare and crime and the Malvern Community Coalition wanted to do something uplifting to empower residents to develop learning skills to achieve success," said Carl Anthony John, a youth volunteer with the third-annual Malvern in Motion conference.
"For this year's conference there's a shift in the event towards youth, but adults are invited. I'm a Grade 12 student and I'm co-chairing it. It's an event for youth organized by youth," John said.
$20 Million To Probably Whitewash Homegrown Terrorism
I will wait and see but based on past performance I doubt whether will deal with the fact that people who put themselves in harms way by ignoring the law should expect to suffer some consequences.
The Ipperwash legacy
Judge's report on inquiry is out this week but will it help with policing native standoffs?
By CHRISTINA BLIZZARD, TORONTO SUN
Almost 12 years in the making, the human toll so far is this: There have been two untimely deaths. In bald numbers, there have been 139 witnesses and more than 23 months of testimony at a cost of more than $20 million. At one point, it was costing taxpayers more than half a million dollars a month -- mostly in lawyers' fees for all the disparate groups that had standing.
Finally, on Thursday, Justice Sidney Linden will release his long-anticipated report of the judicial inquiry into the 1995 death of native protester Dudley George at Ipperwash Provincial Park.
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Throwing A Temper Trantrum Works
Disruption railroads Tory government
From the Native point of view, this blockade was anything but counter-productive
By TED BYFIELD
There's an old saying, often repeated by my wife in dealing with children -- or sometimes with me -- that goes: "Successful behaviour will be repeated."
Most people eventually come to understand it, but apparently our federal government is not among them.
The saying means, of course, that if a certain behaviour gets people what they want, they naturally will tend to use it again. The kid may yell and go into a tantrum to get something. Admonish him as you will for this conduct, what will determine whether he does it again is whether it works.
Did he get what he was after? If, despite your disapproval, you gave it to him, you can expect further such performances. Successful behaviour will repeat itself.
From the Native point of view, this blockade was anything but counter-productive
By TED BYFIELD
There's an old saying, often repeated by my wife in dealing with children -- or sometimes with me -- that goes: "Successful behaviour will be repeated."
Most people eventually come to understand it, but apparently our federal government is not among them.
The saying means, of course, that if a certain behaviour gets people what they want, they naturally will tend to use it again. The kid may yell and go into a tantrum to get something. Admonish him as you will for this conduct, what will determine whether he does it again is whether it works.
Did he get what he was after? If, despite your disapproval, you gave it to him, you can expect further such performances. Successful behaviour will repeat itself.
Hey Jack! You Don't Have An Exclusive On Sorrow
If you are that adamant that Canada not fulfill it's obligations in Afganhistan all you have to do is get the bloc and liberals to support your withdrawal proposal and put it to a vote.........have you forgotten that Harper has a minority in the House Of Commons?
NDP leader wants new approach in Afghanistan following soldier's death
By SEAN PATRICK SULLIVAN
TORONTO (CP) - Following the death of yet another Canadian soldier in Afghanistan, NDP Leader Jack Layton says he hopes Canadians will ask the government to take a different approach to combat in the war-torn country.
Cpl. Matthew McCully, 25, was killed by a roadside bomb on Friday in the Zhari district of Kandahar province.
In an interview with The Canadian Press in Toronto, Layton said his heart goes out to the family and friends of the fallen soldier, but stressed the need for a continued debate about the mission in Afghanistan.
"Our soldiers will risk their lives, according to what we request them to do. We saw yesterday the profound reality of that commitment," he said.
Layton said his party is concerned about what he calls an "aggressive" counter-insurgency campaign being waged by Canadian forces.
McCully was participating in Operation Hoover, a major anti-Taliban offensive, alongside Afghan and Portugeuse troops when he stepped on an anti-tank mine that instantly killed him.
On Saturday, eight members of McCully's squadron carried his flag-drapped coffin into a Hercules aircraft that would take him home to Ontario.
It was the first Canadian death since mid-April, when eight soldiers were killed by a massive roadside bomb.
Layton said it is "distressing" that the prime minister has opened the door to a prolonged mission in Afghanistan, where 55 Canadian soldiers have been killed since 2002.
In a surprise visit to Afghanistan last week, Prime Minister Stephen Harper told troops it would be wrong to guarantee a pull-out date in advance.
"You know that your work is not complete," Harper told the assembled troops. "You know that we can't just put down our weapons and hope for peace."
The NDP has called for an immediate withdrawal, while the Liberals want Canada to pull its troops when the current mission expires in 2009.
Citing the rising costs - both human and financial - Layton said multibillion-dollar purchases of tanks and helicopters could have been avoided if the military was not engaged in a "search and destroy mission."
"I think many Canadians are asking themselves whether Mr. Harper hasn't lost track of the priorities of Canadians," said Layton.
Friends, family members, and fellow soldiers are remembering McCully as a good friend who was enthusiastic about his tour in Afghanistan.
McCully's sister, Shannon McGrady, said the 25-year-old was a role model who acted a father figure to his younger siblings while growing up in Orangeville, Ont. He was also a soldier who loved his job, she said.
"I thought he was crazy. He loved the army," McGrady said. "If he was asked to do this all over again, he wouldn't change it."
NDP leader wants new approach in Afghanistan following soldier's death
By SEAN PATRICK SULLIVAN
TORONTO (CP) - Following the death of yet another Canadian soldier in Afghanistan, NDP Leader Jack Layton says he hopes Canadians will ask the government to take a different approach to combat in the war-torn country.
Cpl. Matthew McCully, 25, was killed by a roadside bomb on Friday in the Zhari district of Kandahar province.
In an interview with The Canadian Press in Toronto, Layton said his heart goes out to the family and friends of the fallen soldier, but stressed the need for a continued debate about the mission in Afghanistan.
"Our soldiers will risk their lives, according to what we request them to do. We saw yesterday the profound reality of that commitment," he said.
Layton said his party is concerned about what he calls an "aggressive" counter-insurgency campaign being waged by Canadian forces.
McCully was participating in Operation Hoover, a major anti-Taliban offensive, alongside Afghan and Portugeuse troops when he stepped on an anti-tank mine that instantly killed him.
On Saturday, eight members of McCully's squadron carried his flag-drapped coffin into a Hercules aircraft that would take him home to Ontario.
It was the first Canadian death since mid-April, when eight soldiers were killed by a massive roadside bomb.
Layton said it is "distressing" that the prime minister has opened the door to a prolonged mission in Afghanistan, where 55 Canadian soldiers have been killed since 2002.
In a surprise visit to Afghanistan last week, Prime Minister Stephen Harper told troops it would be wrong to guarantee a pull-out date in advance.
"You know that your work is not complete," Harper told the assembled troops. "You know that we can't just put down our weapons and hope for peace."
The NDP has called for an immediate withdrawal, while the Liberals want Canada to pull its troops when the current mission expires in 2009.
Citing the rising costs - both human and financial - Layton said multibillion-dollar purchases of tanks and helicopters could have been avoided if the military was not engaged in a "search and destroy mission."
"I think many Canadians are asking themselves whether Mr. Harper hasn't lost track of the priorities of Canadians," said Layton.
Friends, family members, and fellow soldiers are remembering McCully as a good friend who was enthusiastic about his tour in Afghanistan.
McCully's sister, Shannon McGrady, said the 25-year-old was a role model who acted a father figure to his younger siblings while growing up in Orangeville, Ont. He was also a soldier who loved his job, she said.
"I thought he was crazy. He loved the army," McGrady said. "If he was asked to do this all over again, he wouldn't change it."
NO Blue Lemon...You Are Not The Only One
Is It Just Me or Is Toronto City Council Moronic
I've used the word Moron three times in the last three days - one each for Moron Miller and Moron McGuinty relative to their using the death of a child to push their political agendas.
This time I'm pleased to provide this as an honorific to all members of Toronto City Council for THIS.
Fez Batik, in an earlier iteration (Santa Fe) was the second bar established in the Entertainment District (just after the Amsterdam Brew Pub). Many many nights pre and post 1989 were spent in the place. The bar staff became friends, and the patio like a second home. It almost deserves heritage building designation in my mind.
Now City Council will spend three times market value to turn the place into a homeless shelter.
I guess they figure that this will make it easier for the bums to get loonies from drunken passersby.
You Are Not Too Far Off The Mark Sue-Ann
I have said it a number of times......Comrade Miller is nothing but a panhandler in a button down suit and he has an affinity for begging. Please tell me of a time when Miller proposes/says he going to do something his remarks aren't prefaced with "Hey buddy do you have any loose change!"
Who needs a study on panhandling?
Another summer will be gone before action
By SUE-ANN LEVY, TORONTO SUN
I guess the reason Mayor David Miller won't even consider an anti-panhandling bylaw for this city is because he'd have to curtail his own incessant pleas for handouts from the public trough.
Yes, Toronto's chief panhandler -- our mayor -- does indeed have an affinity with the pesky beggars who ply their trade on every downtown street corner.
He may wear sportier attire but his less than remarkable campaign to claim 1 cents of the federal GST -- plus the many creative ways he intends to suck money from Toronto taxpayers -- have grown far more wearisome, I dare say, than the phalanx of beggars that line the city streets with their signs and their caps.
My theory might sound farfetched. But it's no less ridiculous than a report that will be before Miller's handpicked executive committee tomorrow to supposedly "address panhandling" in specific areas of the downtown core.
In typical socialist fashion, the report proposes that passive panhandlers -- who are housed but nevertheless ply their trade in an area bounded by Spadina, Dundas, Jarvis and Queen's Quay -- be studied by a team of city outreach workers from July 3 to Sept. 17 to find out their needs.
I kid you not. According to the report, even though they have a place to live, passive panhandlers may beg because they are hungry, they need to support loved ones or they need to fuel drug or alcohol addictions.
Shelter housing general manager Phil Brown said his outreach team will be engaged in an intense "social service response" -- which is "definitely" more than just studying the passive panhandlers. "We want to help them improve their circumstances," he said.
Asked how his team would deal with people who panhandle because it's a lifestyle, he was at a loss for words. "I can't comment on that ... I think people panhandle to meet needs," he said.
The aggressive panhandlers -- those deemed to be using abusive language or threats -- are virtually dismissed in the report as a police matter under the Safe Streets Act, even though I know full well the police won't touch them unless there is the political will to do so from the Millerites.
Quotes like this one seem to suggest otherwise. "As a compassionate city, Toronto can provide assistance that is more appropriate than punishing people for their poverty and need," the report says.
Yikes! Why don't we all just hug them while filling up their caps with loose change and be done with it.
But the report goes even further in its madness. It proposes that businesses and entertainment venues be asked to "formally document" and track the financial impact of panhandling on their establishments -- including the loss of repeat customers -- in the event a bylaw is actually pursued (not that it will be). It also suggests that business owners, their employees and the general public be educated about the tools and strategies they can use to address panhandling without requiring a call to the police.
Asked what that means, economic development general manager Don Eastwood said they'll be establishing a dialogue with the downtown business operators to give them an "awareness" of the dimensions of the problem. (Yeah, right. I suspect they'll try to indoctrinate businesses so they'll appreciate why panhandlers are parked outside their doors.)
Needless to say, Councillor Case Ootes, who has courageously tried to revive the idea of an anti-panhandling bylaw, is "disappointed" and "frustrated" with the report.
"I want action ... the summer will pass before anything will happen," he told me last week. (If anything does happen.)
As far as Ootes is concerned all three major downtown business associations, the Toronto Entertainment District Association, tour guides and restaurateurs who contribute to the city's economy have already come together and made a case that "panhandling is detrimental to their business." But they, along with the public who patronize these establishments, seem to be forgotten in the report, he said.
Councillor Karen Stintz agreed the issue needs urgent attention with a proper bylaw. She doesn't understand the difference either between aggressive and passive panhandling.
"Both represent sidewalk intimidation," she said. "Residents and visitors to Toronto shouldn't be interfered with by people begging for money."
You Want A Reason For Gun Crime Apathy Lorrie
A partial answer is "we," the people who don't live at "jane & finch," are sick and tired of left wing social in-activists and so called leaders of the black community blaming "whitey" for everything. None of my ancestors were involved in the slave trade, I don't stand in the way of anyone getting an education or getting a job, I get sad when I see a single mother with a small child trying to make ends meet and that sadness is not measured by whether the child is black, brown, white and I never lose sight of the fact the majority of people, whether they live in "poverty" or at the top of the economic pyramid don't commit crimes.
Our dirty secret: Apartheid-lite
Toronto's real attitude on Jane-Finch? Out of sight, out of mind
By LORRIE GOLDSTEIN, TORONTO SUN
Funny how things change. There was a time when the Sun was condemned by liberal politicians, pundits, activists and academics for not waiting until a shooting victim was buried before making "knee-jerk" calls for tougher laws.
Now the liberals do it, in their own way, as evidenced by the knee-jerk calls from Mayor David Miller and Premier Dalton McGuinty that we "ban" handguns, in the immediate aftermath of last week's fatal shooting of 15-year-old Jordan Manners inside C.W. Jefferys Collegiate. On Friday, Toronto's Police Services Board joined in.
But as veteran Sun police reporter Rob Lamberti has wisely observed, it's not the "hardware" that's the problem. It's the "software" inside someone's head that causes them to gun down a 15-year-old in a school.
And it doesn't matter if Jordan was an angel or troublemaker -- heck, most kids are a bit of both. But no one, and for God's sake no child, deserves to die like that.
As for McGuinty, Miller, et al., let them reflect on one of the two best columns written in Toronto last week following Jordan's death.
The first was by our Queen's Park columnist, Christina Blizzard, and the headline put it perfectly: "Turning murder into politics -- An open letter from McGuinty to the feds pushing for tougher gun laws screams of electioneering." Exactly.
The second was by our education columnist, Moira MacDonald, who wrote nothing will change until we all look at gun violence as "our" problem -- Toronto's problem -- and not just the problem of a few troubled communities like Jane-Finch, where Jordan was murdered.
Nothing will change until those of us who don't live in Jane-Finch identify with Jordan Manners in the same way we did Jane Creba, after she was gunned down in another senseless shooting at Yonge and Dundas on Boxing Day, 2005.
We all felt the murder of that 15-year-old in our hearts, because that was a place any of us, or our kids, could have been. But Jane-Finch? Please. Who goes there? Who lives there, except people who don't have a choice? C'mon. We all know it's true. Race and class still separate "us" from "them." It's Toronto's dirty little secret, our very own "apartheid-lite." We say we feel their pain. We don't.
Of course Prime Minister Stephen Harper is right to push for mandatory minimum sentences for gun crimes.
But the fact is our existing sentences are tough enough, if only our judges would apply them.
But they don't and won't. Most judges don't live in Jane-Finch. Most judges are white and affluent, while the people dying are overwhelmingly black and poor. Most judges just don't get it.
Meanwhile, we blame everything -- handguns, no security cameras -- instead of what we should blame: The shooter. And amid all the shouting, we forget what's working.
For example, we have a tough, smart, politically-astute police chief in Bill Blair, who has come up with a strategy -- now that he finally has the flexibility provided by the hiring of 400 more officers -- that appears to be reducing gun crime, centred on dismantling gangs.
And despite its pointless call for a handgun ban, we have a police board with otherwise intelligent people like Hamlin Grange on it, who understand that their job is civilian oversight, not interfering in day-to-day police operations, or implying the force is racist every other week. We weren't always so lucky.
But police can't do this alone. If they are the only representatives of the state people in Jane-Finch and similar communities regularly see, why wouldn't they conclude, wrongly, that they live in a police state?
Where are the rest of us? Why don't we care? Why don't we demand action? Why don't we offer to help?
We wouldn't tolerate this level of carnage in Rosedale, Forest Hill or Moore Park for a day. Why do we tolerate it in Jane-Finch? Most of all, why don't we think of Jordan Manners as our son, in the same way we did Jane Creba as our daughter?
Our dirty secret: Apartheid-lite
Toronto's real attitude on Jane-Finch? Out of sight, out of mind
By LORRIE GOLDSTEIN, TORONTO SUN
Funny how things change. There was a time when the Sun was condemned by liberal politicians, pundits, activists and academics for not waiting until a shooting victim was buried before making "knee-jerk" calls for tougher laws.
Now the liberals do it, in their own way, as evidenced by the knee-jerk calls from Mayor David Miller and Premier Dalton McGuinty that we "ban" handguns, in the immediate aftermath of last week's fatal shooting of 15-year-old Jordan Manners inside C.W. Jefferys Collegiate. On Friday, Toronto's Police Services Board joined in.
But as veteran Sun police reporter Rob Lamberti has wisely observed, it's not the "hardware" that's the problem. It's the "software" inside someone's head that causes them to gun down a 15-year-old in a school.
And it doesn't matter if Jordan was an angel or troublemaker -- heck, most kids are a bit of both. But no one, and for God's sake no child, deserves to die like that.
As for McGuinty, Miller, et al., let them reflect on one of the two best columns written in Toronto last week following Jordan's death.
The first was by our Queen's Park columnist, Christina Blizzard, and the headline put it perfectly: "Turning murder into politics -- An open letter from McGuinty to the feds pushing for tougher gun laws screams of electioneering." Exactly.
The second was by our education columnist, Moira MacDonald, who wrote nothing will change until we all look at gun violence as "our" problem -- Toronto's problem -- and not just the problem of a few troubled communities like Jane-Finch, where Jordan was murdered.
Nothing will change until those of us who don't live in Jane-Finch identify with Jordan Manners in the same way we did Jane Creba, after she was gunned down in another senseless shooting at Yonge and Dundas on Boxing Day, 2005.
We all felt the murder of that 15-year-old in our hearts, because that was a place any of us, or our kids, could have been. But Jane-Finch? Please. Who goes there? Who lives there, except people who don't have a choice? C'mon. We all know it's true. Race and class still separate "us" from "them." It's Toronto's dirty little secret, our very own "apartheid-lite." We say we feel their pain. We don't.
Of course Prime Minister Stephen Harper is right to push for mandatory minimum sentences for gun crimes.
But the fact is our existing sentences are tough enough, if only our judges would apply them.
But they don't and won't. Most judges don't live in Jane-Finch. Most judges are white and affluent, while the people dying are overwhelmingly black and poor. Most judges just don't get it.
Meanwhile, we blame everything -- handguns, no security cameras -- instead of what we should blame: The shooter. And amid all the shouting, we forget what's working.
For example, we have a tough, smart, politically-astute police chief in Bill Blair, who has come up with a strategy -- now that he finally has the flexibility provided by the hiring of 400 more officers -- that appears to be reducing gun crime, centred on dismantling gangs.
And despite its pointless call for a handgun ban, we have a police board with otherwise intelligent people like Hamlin Grange on it, who understand that their job is civilian oversight, not interfering in day-to-day police operations, or implying the force is racist every other week. We weren't always so lucky.
But police can't do this alone. If they are the only representatives of the state people in Jane-Finch and similar communities regularly see, why wouldn't they conclude, wrongly, that they live in a police state?
Where are the rest of us? Why don't we care? Why don't we demand action? Why don't we offer to help?
We wouldn't tolerate this level of carnage in Rosedale, Forest Hill or Moore Park for a day. Why do we tolerate it in Jane-Finch? Most of all, why don't we think of Jordan Manners as our son, in the same way we did Jane Creba as our daughter?
Miller's Ban US Guns Farce Spawns Cottage Industry
Homemade firearms seized after boy shoots himself
Canadian Press
TORONTO — Halton police have seized five homemade guns after a youth accidentally shot himself in the hand this week.
Police say a 17-year-old boy was attempting to load a .22-calibre bullet into a firearm he had built himself from scraps of metal when the gun fired and the bullet went through his hand.
The boy's father turned the handgun over to police.
Upon searching the boy's home, police discovered three more homemade guns, as well as a fourth at another residence.
Police say the guns were made out of scraps of metal and other commonly accessible materials.
Charges are pending.
Canadian Press
TORONTO — Halton police have seized five homemade guns after a youth accidentally shot himself in the hand this week.
Police say a 17-year-old boy was attempting to load a .22-calibre bullet into a firearm he had built himself from scraps of metal when the gun fired and the bullet went through his hand.
The boy's father turned the handgun over to police.
Upon searching the boy's home, police discovered three more homemade guns, as well as a fourth at another residence.
Police say the guns were made out of scraps of metal and other commonly accessible materials.
Charges are pending.
Saturday, May 26, 2007
Is This A Case Of The Nut Not Falling Far From The Tree
Just what is up with Cullis-Suzuki's Skyfish Project?
The Skyfish Project is an "internet thinktank" set up by Severn Cullis-Suzuki, David Suzuki's daughter. But it is really a parked domain with spammy links for alien t-shirts and bizarre pseudo-Catholic end-of-time prophecies.
The Skyfish Project is an "internet thinktank" set up by Severn Cullis-Suzuki, David Suzuki's daughter. But it is really a parked domain with spammy links for alien t-shirts and bizarre pseudo-Catholic end-of-time prophecies.
THAT'S ALL, FOLKS!
If only we could count on that.........
O'Donnell Will Not Be Back on 'The View'
ABC Announces Early Departure for Host
I can see one of the networks bringing her back to compete with the redneck bounty hunter and his family.
O'Donnell Will Not Be Back on 'The View'
ABC Announces Early Departure for Host
I can see one of the networks bringing her back to compete with the redneck bounty hunter and his family.
Shoot The Messenger
That is the message Comrade Miller and his flunkies is sending......
Frugality probe goes ahead
May 25.
Everything that is wrong with Toronto's city council was encapsulated in the 24-14 vote that approved an investigation into the frugal spending habits of Councillors Doug Holyday and Rob Ford. Arguments that the low use of the annual $53,100 office budget allocated to each councillor by these two councillors might potentially conceal some form of corruption or permit a wealthy councillor an unfair advantage are stunning and defy common sense.
If a city councillor chooses to reach into his or her own pocket to carry out the duties of a councillor, we should be thankful for such generosity rather than trying to demonize such individuals. If a city councillor chooses to spend only a small portion of the annual office budget, we should be grateful that we have politicians who demonstrate an understanding of the need for fiscal responsibility.
Our city faces real challenges and real problems. However, with the launching of this probe, it is clear that we do not have a city council that is mature enough to solve those challenges and problems. Taken to its extreme, the probe into the expenditures – or lack thereof – by Holyday and Ford could be widened into an examination of the personal expenditures of every elected official. In such an investigation will be found, perhaps, a possible corruption needle in the haystack of a politician's personal expenditures. Every time a politician patronizes a particular store, there could be the potential that he or she is engaged in "vote buying."
Such a probe would be ridiculous, of course, but given the decisions coming out of city hall, this kind of investigation could be around the corner.
Stephen Thiele, Toronto Party, Toronto
Frugality probe goes ahead
May 25.
Everything that is wrong with Toronto's city council was encapsulated in the 24-14 vote that approved an investigation into the frugal spending habits of Councillors Doug Holyday and Rob Ford. Arguments that the low use of the annual $53,100 office budget allocated to each councillor by these two councillors might potentially conceal some form of corruption or permit a wealthy councillor an unfair advantage are stunning and defy common sense.
If a city councillor chooses to reach into his or her own pocket to carry out the duties of a councillor, we should be thankful for such generosity rather than trying to demonize such individuals. If a city councillor chooses to spend only a small portion of the annual office budget, we should be grateful that we have politicians who demonstrate an understanding of the need for fiscal responsibility.
Our city faces real challenges and real problems. However, with the launching of this probe, it is clear that we do not have a city council that is mature enough to solve those challenges and problems. Taken to its extreme, the probe into the expenditures – or lack thereof – by Holyday and Ford could be widened into an examination of the personal expenditures of every elected official. In such an investigation will be found, perhaps, a possible corruption needle in the haystack of a politician's personal expenditures. Every time a politician patronizes a particular store, there could be the potential that he or she is engaged in "vote buying."
Such a probe would be ridiculous, of course, but given the decisions coming out of city hall, this kind of investigation could be around the corner.
Stephen Thiele, Toronto Party, Toronto
Where Are The Efficencies Promised by McGinty
And the unions? I agree with the The Star the only way to get efficiencies is to bite the bullet and when you consider that about 60% of every tax $$$ spent goes to wages it is obvious what has to be done.
Unhealthy calculations
May 26, 2007
If only the world were as simple as Ontario Progressive Conservative Leader John Tory makes it out to be.
All Queen's Park has to do, he insists, is eliminate waste and inefficiency and it can spend more money on health while at the same time eliminating the $2.6 billion health tax Premier Dalton McGuinty's government brought in three years ago.
Government waste and inefficiency seem to be the favourite boogeymen of parties that lean to the right when they are in opposition.
But when they form governments, the massive savings from eliminating waste never seem to materialize unless, of course, programs such as social assistance and environmental protection are suddenly reclassified as waste, as they were when Mike Harris was premier.
Still, Tory says he will use the savings from efficiencies and the growing surpluses projected by the McGuinty government to help him both boost funding on health and get rid of the health tax.
The only problem is that the medium-term surpluses that McGuinty is projecting, which amount to $1.3 billion in the 2008-09 fiscal year and $1.6 billion in 2009-10, are themselves predicated on maintaining the $2.6 billion tax.
Take the health tax out of the equation and those surpluses suddenly become deficits.
So Tory is clearly double counting when he claims he can do it all.
But assume for the moment that his pledge to eliminate the health tax and boost spending on health care by $8.5 billion over the next four years is written in stone.
That can only mean that other government programs will suffer.
Would Tory underfund education?
Would he dump more responsibility on hard-pressed cities such as Toronto, which is already paying the price for the last attempt by Queen's Park to shift spending pressures onto the cities?
Would he cut environmental spending, which has not yet recovered from the last round of Conservative "waste and inefficiency" cuts?
In his speech in Hamilton outlining this health-care plan, Tory said he won't tolerate mediocrity.
If that's the case, he should find some new policy advisers who understand you cannot both spend surpluses and wipe out the tax revenues on which those surpluses depend.
Unhealthy calculations
May 26, 2007
If only the world were as simple as Ontario Progressive Conservative Leader John Tory makes it out to be.
All Queen's Park has to do, he insists, is eliminate waste and inefficiency and it can spend more money on health while at the same time eliminating the $2.6 billion health tax Premier Dalton McGuinty's government brought in three years ago.
Government waste and inefficiency seem to be the favourite boogeymen of parties that lean to the right when they are in opposition.
But when they form governments, the massive savings from eliminating waste never seem to materialize unless, of course, programs such as social assistance and environmental protection are suddenly reclassified as waste, as they were when Mike Harris was premier.
Still, Tory says he will use the savings from efficiencies and the growing surpluses projected by the McGuinty government to help him both boost funding on health and get rid of the health tax.
The only problem is that the medium-term surpluses that McGuinty is projecting, which amount to $1.3 billion in the 2008-09 fiscal year and $1.6 billion in 2009-10, are themselves predicated on maintaining the $2.6 billion tax.
Take the health tax out of the equation and those surpluses suddenly become deficits.
So Tory is clearly double counting when he claims he can do it all.
But assume for the moment that his pledge to eliminate the health tax and boost spending on health care by $8.5 billion over the next four years is written in stone.
That can only mean that other government programs will suffer.
Would Tory underfund education?
Would he dump more responsibility on hard-pressed cities such as Toronto, which is already paying the price for the last attempt by Queen's Park to shift spending pressures onto the cities?
Would he cut environmental spending, which has not yet recovered from the last round of Conservative "waste and inefficiency" cuts?
In his speech in Hamilton outlining this health-care plan, Tory said he won't tolerate mediocrity.
If that's the case, he should find some new policy advisers who understand you cannot both spend surpluses and wipe out the tax revenues on which those surpluses depend.
Neighbors Helping Neighbors
The other side of Trailer Park Boys.......
Cookout in Cooksville to help trailer park residents
May 26, 2007
Christian Cotroneo
staff reporter
Change is in the air at Greater Toronto's last urban trailer park.
And even on the ground, where small red ribbons have been appearing throughout the week.
With the 60-year-old property's sale to developers, and the forced eviction of some 100 people looming for next March, surveyors have been crawling all over the tiny park on a prime slice of Mississauga land.
Park resident Yvonne Carnerie spied the strangers a couple of days ago, stapling red markers at intervals into the ground.
"I was thinking of going out and pulling them out," she says, with a chuckle.
But others have been keeping a close eye on West End Motors & Trailer Park at Dundas St. W., near Hurontario. And thanks to them, something else will be in the air today – the scent of barbecued hot dogs and hamburgers, as residents of a neighbouring highrise plan a fundraiser.
Organizers Brenda Whitehall, Lorne Tyne and Glen Moffatt expect about 1,000 people to attend the one-day fundraiser, which runs from 11 a.m.to 6 p.m.
They've cut deals with local grocers and soft drink companies, getting mountains of supplies for the event, with all proceeds going to legal and moving costs for residents. Sponsors like M & M Meat Shops, West End Bakery, a potato chip company and a local convenience store are taking part in the drive.
"We just wanted to do something nice for them," says Whitehall, who has been handing out pamphlets, faxing potential sponsors and ordering supplies for the last three weeks. "We think it's pretty crappy that they're getting kicked out of their homes."
Indeed, many residents – pensioners, teachers, entrepreneurs – will be exchanging homes with yards and porches for anonymous apartments, nursing homes, or worse. They don't own the land, paying a small monthly rent instead. So when it's cleared in March, their sole compensation will be a $3,000 stipend to help them move their trailers. Only trouble is, the nearest park, Twin Pines at Dundas St. W. and Dixie Rd. won't accept old, ailing models. "A lot of these trailers have been here for as long as Cooksville's been around," Whitehall says. "These trailers will probably fall apart as soon as they try to uproot them. So they're going to lose their homes."
Cookout in Cooksville to help trailer park residents
May 26, 2007
Christian Cotroneo
staff reporter
Change is in the air at Greater Toronto's last urban trailer park.
And even on the ground, where small red ribbons have been appearing throughout the week.
With the 60-year-old property's sale to developers, and the forced eviction of some 100 people looming for next March, surveyors have been crawling all over the tiny park on a prime slice of Mississauga land.
Park resident Yvonne Carnerie spied the strangers a couple of days ago, stapling red markers at intervals into the ground.
"I was thinking of going out and pulling them out," she says, with a chuckle.
But others have been keeping a close eye on West End Motors & Trailer Park at Dundas St. W., near Hurontario. And thanks to them, something else will be in the air today – the scent of barbecued hot dogs and hamburgers, as residents of a neighbouring highrise plan a fundraiser.
Organizers Brenda Whitehall, Lorne Tyne and Glen Moffatt expect about 1,000 people to attend the one-day fundraiser, which runs from 11 a.m.to 6 p.m.
They've cut deals with local grocers and soft drink companies, getting mountains of supplies for the event, with all proceeds going to legal and moving costs for residents. Sponsors like M & M Meat Shops, West End Bakery, a potato chip company and a local convenience store are taking part in the drive.
"We just wanted to do something nice for them," says Whitehall, who has been handing out pamphlets, faxing potential sponsors and ordering supplies for the last three weeks. "We think it's pretty crappy that they're getting kicked out of their homes."
Indeed, many residents – pensioners, teachers, entrepreneurs – will be exchanging homes with yards and porches for anonymous apartments, nursing homes, or worse. They don't own the land, paying a small monthly rent instead. So when it's cleared in March, their sole compensation will be a $3,000 stipend to help them move their trailers. Only trouble is, the nearest park, Twin Pines at Dundas St. W. and Dixie Rd. won't accept old, ailing models. "A lot of these trailers have been here for as long as Cooksville's been around," Whitehall says. "These trailers will probably fall apart as soon as they try to uproot them. So they're going to lose their homes."
Step By Step! Step By Step!
The City Of Toronto is getting closer to the brink of bankruptcy. There is no money left for a rainy day. This is just another example of the fiscal stupidity of some members of Toronto City Council.
Councillors at odds over $17M land purchase
Indian artifacts stymie plans to build community centre on site
May 26, 2007
John Spears
CITY HALL BUREAU
Toronto councillors have voted to drain the city's entire land acquisition fund to buy a 7-hectare tract of parkland in northeast Scarborough from a developer for $17 million.
But while one of the arguments to buy the land was to provide a site for a community centre, council voted to leave the property in a "naturalized state" that would forbid construction of the centre.
Councillors opposing acquisition of the land – which contains the remains of an Indian village – argued that it cements the city's reputation for financial irresponsibility, because the purchase isn't in the city's five-year budget plan and exhausts yet another city reserve fund.
The city has balanced its budget for several years by funnelling money out of reserves, to the point where staff have said reserves are now exhausted.
But Councillor Glenn De Baeremaeker, who first proposed the acquisition, said the purchase is needed to protect important aboriginal artifacts.
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About Me
- Unhypentated Canadian
- I lean to the right but I still have a heart and if I have a mission it is to respond to attacks on people not available to protect themselves and to point out the hypocrisy of the left at every opportunity.MY MAJOR GOAL IS HIGHLIGHT THE HYPOCRISY AND STUPIDITY OF THE LEFTISTS ON TORONTO CITY COUNCIL. Last word: In the final analysis this blog is a relief valve for my rants/raves.