GUELPH POLITICAST #39 - Kornelis Klevering and Robocalls

In so much as people wanted someone found and prosecuted for committing the robocall fraud perpetuated against Guelph and other ridings on May 2, 2011, there was also the matter of principle. How could we be sure that the person elected was the right person elected if so many people got a call that told them to go some place where they couldn't vote? Did they all make it to their actual polling stating? How many decided to not to vote at all? It was a Charter issue. Everyone that can vote, should vote, and when the robocall story broke in 2012, that's the angle that Kornelis Klevering decided to pursue.

GUELPH POLITICAST #23 - Miguel Figueroa, Leader, Communist Party of Canada

Party leaders don't come to Guelph a lot, and its rarer still that you get a chance to do a sit down interview with said leader. Welcome to the Communist Party of Canada. On Thursday, Miguel Figueroa, leader of the CPC, was in Guelph to support his local candidate Tristan Dineen, and to talk candidly with young people at the University of Guelph about society's ills about how the ideals of communism might be the cure.

Guelph Will Now Get a Fringe Festival Too

Here's a great idea. Guelph is already home to music, dance, comedy, and film festivals, so what's been missing? How about something a bit more theatrical? Prepare to say hello to the brand new Guelph Fringe Festival later this fall.

PRESS RELEASE - Target Calls it Quits in Canada

Well that didn't last long (relatively speaking). Not even two years after Target arrived in Canada with the fanfare of a conquering hero, the U.S.-based chain announced this morning in a sudden and surprising move that they were wrapping up their Canadian operations and closing all 133 stores in this country. The Guelph store, the manager of which got the news of the closure - I'm told - from the news itself, was one of the first Targets to open in Canada, complete with frenzied line-up of eager shoppers as pictured above. Almost immediately those same shoppers were underwhelmed with what they saw, and that underwhelmed feeling seeemed to never wore off, and now, over 17,000 people nationw-wide will be out of a job sometime over the next several months.

Thank God That's Over

Really. If you don't live or die by hockey, or scrum together a false sense of superiority from seeing your country beat other countries at sports that only matter every four years, the last 16 days have been excruciating. That's not to demean or denounce the importance of sport, or the mean athletic feats of human beings in peak physical performance, but the degree to which we've been bombarded by news of something euphemistically, and simply, called "The Games" is insane. These Olympics more than most, even the last one's held in our own backyard, seemed particularly insufferable. And as the rest of the day's news fills with stories of people under fire, under pressure and debating issues of ongoing, and far-reaching importance, we've spent the last two weeks breaking in over what is, really, just a bunch of games.

Highlights from the 2014 Federal Budget

Booooooooooring. It's called the "Boring Budget," but the 2014 Federal Budget has a great many interesting implications for the nation was he head into an election year in 2015.  

Klevering SCOC Appeal Denied

Since things seem relatively quiet on the election front (for the moment), we can pause to reflect on a story or two that we might have missed over the holidays. For instance, the Supreme Court of Canada decided that they didn't want to hear from Kornelis Klevering on the matter of 2011 Federal Election results in Guelph. The Marijuana Party candidate wanted the election results overturned because of the fraudulent robocalls made to Guelph voters on election day, but SCOC seems satisfied in the constitutionality of the 2011 results.

Farewell Mandela

Though he had spent much of the year ill and in hospital, it still comes as something of a gut check that Nelson Mandela passed away yesterday at the age of 95. The man who became both the face and a symbol of the South African struggle against apartheid, would later become the driving force for peace and reconciliation, walking a very fine line between fulfilling the ambitions of the black population and not scaring off the white elites to create the new "Rainbow Nation" of South Africa.

Are You in One of Canada's Best Provinces, or One of the Worst?

As we come back from the Canada Day long weekend, it seems apropos to ponder the question, is your province one of Canada's worst, or one of Canada's best?

On Victoria Day...

I have long railed about the bastardization of Victoria Day by those who call it "May 2-4," if only to avoid pratfalls like the one that had befallen by boss a few weeks ago when he was trying to book time off at a resort up north for the May 24th weekend. And while that is a weekend off, you have to be an American citizen or resident to enjoy it, because this current weekend, in Canada, is the holiday weekend. 

Apparently there's a petition going around to change the name of Victoria Day, and while I'm thankful it's not for it to officially be changed to "May 2-4," I still have my doubts. A group, including such notable names as Margaret Atwood, Elizabeth May and Gordon Pinsent, want to rename the holiday “Victoria and First Peoples Day.”

And There's Still a Senate, Why...?

There's been no shortage of scandal involving the Harper government, from robocalls to high-priced fighter jets to back-bench revolts and that $3 billion to combat terrorism that got lost in the cushions. I wonder though, when we look back at the prime ministership of Stephen Harper will it be the actions of the senators he appointed that will reflect the most badly on him?

Fake Citizens Make Real News for Sun TV

When Norm MacDonald used to host "Weekend Update" on Saturday Night Live he would always begin by saying, "Here is the fake news." Of course, a lot of the news he talked about wasn't fake, rather just skewered or being skewered, going for the punchline or an obligatory Frank Stallone reference. Well maybe tagging what is and is not "fake news" is something that Sun TV should look into. The embattled news channel, sometimes referred to as "Fox News North" has gone where even it's U.S. cousin has had the good taste not to go: staging the news.

Summer Editorial Series – The List

There’s nothing like a little time out of town to give you perspective and appreciation. Last weekend, I was in downtown Indianapolis for GenCon, a convention of gamers that’s the largest of its kind in North America. This was the weekend after that whole debt ceiling nonsense had been resolved and the same weekend that saw the United States lose its prestigious AAA credit rating, which it had possessed for nearly 95 years.

But on the streets of Indiana’s state capital, where a homeless individual or other needy person seemed to be taking up residence on every corner at the intersection of Washington and Capital, none of that mattered. Better still, none of that seemed to matter to the people handing out postcards outside the convention centre, advising people going in of the importance of living, and if necessary dying, by the word of The Bible. Perhaps they hadn’t heard that connections between Dungeons & Dragons and Satanism had been debunked decades ago.

In the back of my mind was the comfort that I has heading back to Canada; where people were smarter, where they were more caring, and where radical Christianity hasn’t gotten a stranglehold. When I woke up Monday, it was literally morning in Canada. And then I saw the front of the Toronto Sun. Handed down from on high, or wherever it is that their editorial board meets, were the three main focuses that they thought should make the top of Mayor Rob Ford’s to-do pile: licensing bikes, panhandling, and getting rid of surcharges for plastic bags.

Now, I can’t for the life of me understand the appeal of Mayor Ford; he has all the personality of Boss Tweed, but has the extreme misfortune of being a politician in the Information Age. (Guy can’t even flip the bird at cautionary citizen pointing out his law violating Blackberry use behind the wheel without making CP24.) Still, he won the election, he’s the mayor for three-and-a-half more years at least, but should these really be the three most important things he needs to get immediately?

Certainly, the Sun thinks so. After Monday’s cover story, they launched into a week-long series of covers demanding, practically ordering, that something be done about panhandlers. First of all, what’s the urgency? Second of all, can one get rid of the poor like they’re overstock cookies at a bake sale? Solving the problem of all the poor people on the street requires one of two solutions: social spending to help these people out with the programs and services they need (which I’m sure would tick Sun editors off) or two, rounding them up in debtors’ prison and poor houses like the social welfare state never came into effect in the first place.

What about licensing bikes? Were does that come from? Actually, I know where it’s coming from, the recent, well-publicized traffic incidents involving cyclists. Incidents, mind you, where the cyclist was usually at fault. That is regrettable, and while I don’t necessarily disagree with the notion that a bike should be licensed, should making it so really be in the Top 3 of Mayoral priorities in Canada’s biggest city. Besides the whole thing smacks of “Summer of the Shark” syndrome, something’s made the news a couple of times in quick succession, which means a clear and present danger is there and it needs to addressed. It’s the chicken and the egg problem of the modern media: Problem A is in the news because it’s an immediate threat, and it’s an immediate threat because it’s in the news.

Last, but certainly least, is the matter of paying a nickel for a plastic bag at the grocery store. Aside from sorting your recyclables and being mindful of much electricity you use, it’s literally the least you can for the environment. No Frills has been doing it for years, I wonder if Ford pushes through on this and the by-law is repealed, will Toronto take the grocery store chain to court? What am I talking about, it’s not like they’re Guelph.

But seriously, this is a matter of world-crumbling urgency? How can you fault a law that encourages people to be more environmentally conscious, while making them pay a premium for using something that harms us and the planet? Doesn’t the Sun know there’s a big floating pile of plastic in the Pacific the size of some larger U.S. states? What am I talking about? They’re too busy swearing under their breath trying to find pocket change for a plastic grocery bag.

Perhaps once the immediate problems of these three issues are resolved, Ford can get busy working on other issues. For instance, there are trees in Toronto with too many leaves. Doesn’t he know people are going to have to rake them up in another month? Also the TTC subway trains make too much noise, but we don’t want to pay more for quiet trains. Maybe you should be writing this down…

First Look at PM Harper on Murdoch Mysteries

Stephen Harper is living the dream, and that dream belongs to a Canadian actor. The Huffington Post Canada posted some pictures from next week's episode of the CityTV retro crime series Murdoch Mysteries, otherwise known as the one with Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

In this episode of the series, the PM plays a hapless desk Sergeant that doesn't recognize then-Prime Minister Wilfred Laurier when he walks into the police station. Murdoch Mysteries follows the adventures of Insp. William Murdoch, who solves crimes in Victorian Toronto using then revolutionary forensic science.

I may not agree with the Prime Minister's politics, but I've got to admit he can play things pretty cool. Harper has also appeared on the Canadian sitcom Corner Gas, and been a guest on political sketch shows like This Hour Has 22 Minutes, Rick Mercer Report and Royal Canadian Air Farce. 

Murdoch Mysteries airs Wednesday at 10 pm on CityTV.