Toronto to Windsor in under two hours? That's the promise in this morning's announcement that high speed rail is coming to southern Ontario and the Golden Horseshoe by 2031 at a cost of just over $20 billion. But can it be done in the timeline proposed and for the amount of money suggested, or is the Province of Ontario reaching beyond its grasp?
That splash you heard this morning was the Province of Ontario finally answering the call of thousands of community activists to finally doing something about companies taking millions of gallons of water per day for a pittance and shipping it out of town.
So this story isn't quite local, or relevant, but with my background in student newspapers, it did speak to me. According to the Imprint, the University of Waterloo's student newspaper, they are being evicted from their space in the Student Life Centre by the Federation of Students board of directors. Without warning, and with apparently no cause, the Federation has decided that the Imprint will be moving to a smaller space on the first floor after nearly four decades in its current space.
Although they came to the Royal City via Stoney Creek, Lindsay, Ottawa and Kingston, Bob Moore and his wife, Jane, have called Guelph home for 10 years now, living near the intersection of London and Edinburgh in the middle of Ward 3. Moore recently retired after more than 25 years of experience as an administrator in both secondary and elementary schools. He has also served on the Boards and Committees of a wide range of community and educational organizations, such as Hope House, and the Julien Project. When he's not serving on committees, or building furniture, Bob researches and writes articles of historic interest, and has published articles on pioneer immigration, genealogical searches, colonial government, and Quaker history. He recently published an article on the University of Guelph's Professor Zavitz for the Guelph Historical Society. Now he's making a run for a seat on city council, and he took some time to answer the Guelph Politico Candidate Quesitonnaire.
Ever since the breaking of the robocall scandal back in March, the former members of the Marty Burke campaign, including Burke himself, have gone into silent running mode, including Burke's Deputy Campaign Manager Andrew Prescott.
If there's a reason that Prescott's silence stuck out a little more than Michael Sona's, Ken Morgan's or even Burke's himself it's because Prescott is (or was) a fairly active blogger under the handle Christian Conservative. The last post on that blog was dated February 5th, at least a month and a half before the robocall issue went full tilt national scandal, at which point Guelph specifically, and the Burke campaign team even more specifically, went under the microscope. On blogs and on social media, Guelph's Christian Conservative's been eerily silent.
It should come as no surprise that the Ontario Budget passed this morning, and that a potential election has been, for now, averted. But even before the so-called "breakthrough" was made between Premier Dalton McGuinty and NDP leader Andrea Horwath was announced yesterday, there was about as much of a chance of another Ontario election as there is for severe winter weather in southern Ontario this late in April, which is to say a small chance, but generally speaking not very likely.
The new budget now has a 2 per cent wealth surtax on 23,000 Ontarians earning $500,000 or more a year, raising $470 million next
year, which will all go towards paying down the $15.2 billion deficit, while the levy, which costs someone making $600,000 an extra $3,120
annually, will be in place until Ontario balances the budget, now
scheduled for 2017-18. The Liberals have also added $242 million
in funding for child care, $20 million for northern and rural hospitals,
and boosted welfare and disability benefits by 1 per cent at a cost of
$55 million.
Not a great day to be in the market for fighter jets, it seems, as the Federal government has hit another road block in its quest to buy new planes. A report issued today by Auditor-General Michael Ferguson said basically that the entire endeavour to this point has over-budget and less than transparent. The purchase of 65 fifth generation Joint Strike Fighters
made to Lockheed Martin has been fraught with Parliamentarians getting misleading information which understated the problems the program was
experiencing and provided artificially low cost estimates, according to Reuters.
There were a number of cuts announced in the recent Federal budget, but perhaps none as controversial, or as partisan, as those cuts made to the CBC. Canada's public broadcaster is a joy to millions, but a waste of taxpayers' money to millions more, and for those that fall into the category of the former, the announced three year cuts to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation are the fulfillment of a doom-filled prophecy they've been waiting for since Stephen Harper first took office.
'Tis not so much the season for political announcements, but in a fundraising e-mail today, James Gordon tells local NDP supporters that he'll be running again in the next provincial election.
"With a minority government, we are never sure when the election will
be, but I will be running to win; I want to be your MPP," writes Gordon. "To do this, I’m
setting an ambitious but achievable fundraising goal to match the PCs
and Liberals dollar for dollar. This campaign, we proved we could do it,
and over the coming months, I’d like to show that we can make change
for the better in Guelph."
Gordon isn't the first candidate from the recently concluded Provincial election to declare his desire to run in the next election. After the campaign wrapped in a minority government for Dalton McGuinty, Progressive Conservative candidate Greg Schirk said that it was his intention to run again as well.
The optics look good for Gordon, who added over 4,200 votes to the NDP's count, and came within 800 votes of tying Schirk for second place.
"For the first time, we were able to close in on the PCs and
Liberals," the e-mail continues. "While voter turnout was at an all time low, creating challenges for all the parties, the NDP was the only
party to increase its number of votes. [P]eople are hungry for our
approach: a positive, practical and progressive way of doing things."
Everyone knows that the University of Guelph attracts some of the best in the world, so it might come as little surprise that a U of G professor could be brought in to an important position like the junior minister for agriculture in the Italian government.
But like a political satire in the vein of Canadian Bacon or Wag the Dog, the presence of Francesco Braga was not demanded in Rome, but rather it was Francesco Braga who was the new junior agricultural minister. Confused yet? So were a lot of people manning the offices of the fledgling Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti.
The story broke today in the Toronto Star. U of G's Braga, willfully talking to The Star unlike other public figures, about his whirlwind experience being a highly sought after member of the Italian government. Long story short, Italian Agriculture Minister Mario Catania told the Italian news agency ANSA that he didn't know his new junior minister personally, but knew he was a business professor at the U of G. Braga, in his Guelph home, started being pelted with calls from not just the Italian government, but the Italian media as well.
But soon the powers that be realized that the professors who's spent 28 years living and teaching in Canada may not be the guy they were referring to. Instead, Franco Braga, a civil engineer that specializes in earthquakes, was the man of the hour. He had been
recommended for the infrastructure ministry, but ended up shuffled to
agriculture instead.
To make things even more screwy, apparently, the "real" Francesco Braga hasn't been seen and has yet to be sworn in to his new position. The U of G version of Francesco Braga, meanwhile, continues teaching and marking papers in his basement office at home during off hours.
By far one of the most contentious moves by the Harper government, and let's be honest because that is really saying something, is the Safe Streets and Communities Act. The SSC is an aggressive new addendum to the Criminal Code that will replace pardons with "record suspensions," hand out mandatory minimums for some drug and sexual related offenses, increase prison terms for those charged with marijuana-related crimes and roll back the ability of judges to sentence offenders to house arrest.
The controversial act has been called out by many who believe that some of the bill's more draconian measures are taking us down a road of extreme crime and punishment more in line with the U.S., which I believe currently has over 7 million people under correctional supervision (in jail, on parole, or probation). The United States, as reported in a 2008 article in the New York Times, has five per cent of the world population, but 25 per cent of the world's prisoners. In fact, in 2008 the U.S. had 2.3 million people in prison, which was about 700,000 more people than China had incarcerated. China.
Needless to say, the building and administration of prisons in the U.S. is an industry, and that seems to be the idea the Harper government wants to bring to Canada. Perhaps between the combination of the jobs created and the people incarcerated unemployment rates will really go down. But I digress.
You know who else isn't a fan of The Safe Streets and Communities Act? Our own MP Frank Valeriote. Valeriote is putting together a petition for the consideration of the House of Commons and rallied some local support for the cause. Check out the press release from Valeriote's office below.
Heading into these last few days of the campaign, we've been offered some of the dirtiest tricks yet played in this relatively squeaky clean election.
A lot of the talk the last few days has been the M-word. As in "minority." Of course, the possibility has existed since the writ was dropped; with such a close race it was in the back of everyone's head, and we discussed the possibility on "Beyond the Ballot Box" the Monday before the election began. But in the last couple of days, PC leader Tim Hudak has tried to use it in the presumption that it will give his party the same edge his Federal colleagues got in the spring. However, Hudak misunderstands one thing when it comes to playing the M-card, Harper's Conservatives had the inside track to former the government either way, minority or majority.
Which raises another question: In the Federal election, Harper and his candidates made the case that in a fragile economic environment, voting for another minority Conservative government, or, heaven forfend, a coalition government of some kind, was dangerously disruptive. So why didn't Dalton McGuinty make this case? While his policies may not have sat well with all, as do many of Harper's policy, isn't there not still a skittish economy out there? Isn't the greater gamble on an inexperienced government in the midst of an economic recovery?
It would have played well into McGuinty's theme that despite the bumps, his government has done a great deal of good for the Province of Ontario. Given the fact that people seem pretty evenly divided on who to vote for, it might have even given McGuinty an extra edge in the campaign. After all, stability had more to do with the Conservative victory than an overwhelming endorsement by Canadians of the Harper platform.
As for McGuinty's opponent, the one issue that's not going to help Hudak in these final hours is the matter of the homophobic flyer that was passed around in a Brampton riding this past week, and the fact that he can't be moved off his support of it. Furthermore, the fact that PC staff physically intervened to stop reporters from asking about while in Brampton Monday conjures the very worst image of modern conservative politics. And where as social conservatism suits the Federal party well, it's only because the Western wing of the party supports that tact. In Ontario, Conservatives here struggle with those ideals, wanting to support their national party, but being themselves frightened by some of the core ideals so far as social policy is concerned.
Basically, in these final days, Hudak has done himself no favours by reaching into the past, finding something that was patently untrue to begin with and eventually abandoned by the Liberals in any case, and tried to turn it into the closing argument for why he, not McGuinty, should be Premier of Ontario. In St. George's Square today, while waiting for Andrea Horwath, people were unsure whether to hate Hudak for trying to capitalize on homophobia, or pity him for his desperation.
As it stands, it's probably still too close to call. Or at least it's too close to call as to whether we get a Liberal minority, a slight Liberal majority, a PC minority, or maybe even a slight PC majority. It will either be quite apparent by bed time or it's going to be a long night. I guess we'll find out at 9 tomorrow.
The news last week that Jack Layton was taking some time off to fight another bout of cancer cams as shocking to a lot of politicos cross-country. This man is a lion. He defeated the strain of pancreatic cancer he was diagnosed with in February, had hip surgery in March, and then got out on the campaign trail in April, leading his party to its biggest victory ever in May. You know the old marine motto about doing more before 6 am… Well Jack Layton may not be a marine, but by any standard, that is a pretty eventful spring.
Now, I’m not a doctor, but anecdotally-speaking some of Layton’s recent public appearances have not painted the picture of a man who’s got a full health bar, to use video game parlance. Of course the stress of a major illness and a cross-country Federal campaign doesn’t do much for one’s stress levels, but all-in-all Layton’s physical struggles seems to have not damped even slightly the man’s vigour and commitment to leading his party to heights never before thought possible. At least until now that is.
Now it’s not all bad news. Layton intends to be back in time for the recommencement of Parliament in mid-September. In the meantime, Hull-Aylmer MP Nycole Turmelhas was Layton’s personal selection for interim leader. She’s a rookie MP and part of the NDP’s “Orange Revolution” during May’s Federal Election, and on the face of things, politically, that makes a lot of sense. But the selection of Turmelhas, no matter how temporary, is odd because she leap-frogged over deputy leaders Thomas Mulcair and Libby Davies, as well as party stalwart Paul Dewar. And all things being equal, the NDP hasn’t had a lot of luck when one of their freshmen class is thrust into the spotlight.
And make no mistake, leadership matters. Could the NDP have made the gains they have without Layton at the helm? Possibly, but not probably. Layton’s miracle with the NDP is that he was able to play on even-keel with the two traditional main party leaders, and in recent years, even best them in national debates. He wasn’t whiny, he wasn’t resentful, and he came across as completely forthright, confident and ready to serve. Cogito ergo sum. Despite his small caucus he believed he was a national leader, therefore he was a national leader.
By comparison, think of the former leader of the Ontario wing of the NDP, Howard Hampton. I remember exactly two things that Hampton did in the 2003 Provincial campaign: 1) he tried nailing Jell-O to a wall, and 2) he had several huge dollar sign sacs on a flat bed truck be driven down a Toronto street as a visual aid during a speech. I can’t remember what either of those things were supposed to symbolize, but I remember that Hampton did them, and along with then-Premier Ernie Eves’ “reptilian kitten eater” comment, they probably painted Dalton McGuinty as the sanest choice for Queen’s Park.
Sadly appearances matter, and in the case of Jack Layton the appearance was of a man working hard to get your vote. Since his first election as party leader in 2004, Layton has led the NDP to posting a bigger share of the popular vote, even if their total number of seats didn’t increase; his predecessor Alexa McDonough didn’t post better than 11.05 per cent in the 1997 election. It’s why commentators were hesitant to call Layton’s ascension to Official Opposition leader an overnight success. It was a victory eight years in the making, and if the intention was to form an NDP government then they’re one more move shy of their goals.
But if Layton’s health continues to be an issue, then a question of more permanent leadership will have to be addressed, and like of all the major Federal parties, no clear successor is obvious. And the NDP is painted in a tight corner too. While the tenor of Quebecers and their new found allegiance to the NDP may not be fly-by-night, they’ll want to see progress on what the Orange can do for them. At the same time though, none of the new 59 NDP MPs from Quebec are probably leadership ready, though do the residents of “La belle province” have expectations that way? I doubt it.
Either way, Layton will be a tough act to follow in Ottawa. Not that we want anyone to follow him yet. He’s worked too long and hard to get that seat directly across from the Prime Minister, and I have a feeling that even Stephen Harper is relishing a real challenge in the Commons. Get well soon, Jack.
In a move to... I don't know - spice things up a little - Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced today that he was moving around the chairs in the cabinet room a little. It's nothing special, unless you consider that two high-profile Conservative MPs were elevated to high-profile cabinet positions in what could be seen as a cynical attempt to bolster support in a region that the Conservatives had yet to enjoy much success in as preparation for a potential spring election. But like I said, no big deal.
In a political game of musical chairs, Peter Kent has been moved to the Environmental portfolio, replacing the retired Calgary MP Jim Prentice. Replacing Kent as Minister of State of Foreign Affairs is another Calgary MP Diane Ablonczy. Then, replacing Ablonczy as Minister of State for Seniors is newly elected MP Julian Fantino, who many people thought would get the Minister of Public Safety slot, which didn't turn out to be the case. Additionally, Alberta MP Ted Menzies gets to leave the back-bench behind to serve as Minister of State for Finance.
And that's about it. A lot of hype for not a lot of movement. It feels like Harper's put Fantino upfront in a temp cabinet position until something better opens up. Kent, meanwhile, has the unenviable task of defending the government's pro-oil sands/questioning global warming stand on the environment, but I doubt he'll bring anything to the job that would separate him from his predecessors. (He is, after all, the fifth Conservative Environment Minister in five years.)
So is that new election smell in the air? I don't think so, but I guess we'll see when Parliament's back.
I know the Federal Conservatives are quite proud of themselves. Not only did they wrestle the Vaughan, ON seat owned by the Liberals for 22 years away from the Grits, but that new Conservative MP also happened to be the former Toronto Police Chief, former OPP Commish, and all around, take no guff law man Julian Fantino. Getting Fantino as a candidate, let alone as a rookie MP, was quite the coup for the Conservatives since to many Fantino is both well-known and well-liked. So it was only a matter of time until the claws came out...
During a CBC interview following his election, Fantino said of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms that "In some cases, the Charter has been exploited and the rulings that have followed have, in fact, benefited some criminals, absolutely [...] The Supreme Court of Canada and other court rulings are trying to change some of the misinterpretations that have been given as to the reason, the purpose, and the mechanisms of the Charter."
This propmpted Justin Trudeau to jump on the bait (and justifiably so given the fact that the Charter is arguably his father's greatest legacy) saying "Once you become a representative of the people and you are not a cop any more... you have to start thinking about everyone's rights and freedoms. And sometimes that means thinking about the rights of some people you don't particularly like," said Trudeau. "That's the strength of our Charter; that's the strength of Canada as a country."
Fantino wasn't going to take that lying down, and retorted, “You know what, here’s me with 42 years of working night shifts and facing people with loaded guns and dealing with murderers and rapists... and I get a lecture from a newbie. C’mon.”
Actually Mr. Fantino, I think you're the newbie in the House of Commons. Unless, of course, you mean that Trudeau is a newbie at "facing people with loaded guns and dealing with murderers and rapists" then yeah, Trudeau's a "newbie." Whatever that means.
I do think what he does mean however, and it's right there in a piece of alliteration that would make Karl Rove proud, is that Trudeau was "promoting the hug-a-thug philosophy." Meaning that trying an accused criminal as per the laws and procedures recognized by the Criminal Code of Canada and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms is for pinko bike riders, to borrow a euphemism from another Conservative Nobel laureate in the making. Who cares if he's cut his public policy chops on Hockey Night in Canada.
Yes, more often than not, in the conservative school of thought, protecting rights is synonymous with "soft on crime." It's part of a culture that's been perpetuated with help from shows like "Law & Order", that all defendants are guilty and all the lawyers that represent them are greedy/ambulance chasers/fame hungry/self-promoting/criminal themselves/all the above. Unfortunately, that way of thinking discounts the fact that in our system of justice, the onus is on the state to prove guilt, not on the defense to prove innocence.
And while you can salute someone for their public service, like Fantino's four decade-plus tenure in various police services across Ontario, "The Chief" is hardly incorruptible. Let alone the recent questions about unaccounted for $8.4 million from the OPP's G8/G20 responsibilities, from illegal wiretaps to being accused of homophobia to the Shawn Brant controversy, if Fantino had run as a Liberal, the Conservative tar and feather machine wouldn't have let him out alive. And while we're on the subject, though I'm sure the Liberals had put in some phone calls to court the province's former top cop, was one of the police chiefs that's spoken out so strongly against the long gun registry going to sign up with the party that whipped its own members into supporting it? I hardly think so.
Bottom line, many of my Conservative friends are seeing Fantino's sweep in Vaughan as a sign of improving Conservative fortunes nationally. Of course, many note that Fantino's election is a better sign that name cache still trumps more traditional forms of campaigning, like showing up to debates:
But seriously, there were two other by-elections on November 29th, the one in Dauphin-Swan River-Marquette stayed Conservative, while Winnipeg North saw Liberal Kevin Lamoureux take the riding for his team after 13 years of representation by NDP MP Judy Wasylycia-Leis. In other words, in terms of federal politics, the country just as schizophrenic as it ever was.
An article in the Guelph Mercury today examined an unusual bit of bipartisanship:
Progressive Conservative MPP Peter Shurman suggested [Liz] Sandals missed getting a cabinet position in favour of less-experienced politicians during Wednesday’s cabinet shuffle.
“Liz Sandals, who has been an MPP for seven years, was once again passed over for cabinet by MPPs elected less than one year ago,” the Thornhill MPP wrote in a press release.
Sandals holds the position of parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care, but I suppose it's always nice to be affirmed by others, especially in the esteemed opposition, that you've got potential to be more than a parliamentary assistant.
That wasn't all Shurman had to say about the cabinet shuffle. On CTV.ca, Shurman is quoted as saying that instead of overhauling his cabinet, Premier Dalton McGuinty opted for "cosmetic changes that won't provide any relief for taxpayers" with the creation of new ministers. "What he's doing for Ontario is acting like a speeding train -- going in the wrong direction," Shurman said. "And the two new faces represent an additional opportunity to tax and spend."
Still, one appreciates Shurman's sentiment, but you have to wonder what the idea behind it was. I know it seems unusual in modern politics for people to do things out of the goodness of their own heart, but maybe Shurman's just looking out for a colleague. “Liz Sandals has been toiling away ... for a very long time,” Shurman said in a telephone interview with the Mercury Thursday. “She can take the compliment. Maybe she would have been a better choice.”
From the "Hey, maybe this will stifle some of those HST grumbles" file, comes word that the Government of Ontario and the City of Guelph has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in regards to the City's plan for the Guelph Innovation District. Now off the top, an MOU sounds a bit like when you tell your buddy that you'll get the next round when he buys your beer, but you say you've got to get home before it comes to that, but apparently, this is big news.
"The MOU signed today commits a portion of provincially-owned land in the district to the city’s plan to create this new, innovative employment area," said a joint press release. "This is part of the province’s Open Ontario Plan to help create clean, green jobs and support innovation."
But don't take some faceless press release's word for it:
“Moving Ontario toward a cleaner, brighter, more prosperous future is not only about generating new renewable energy, but about fostering research and innovation in cities like Guelph," said Brad Duguid, Minister of Energy and Infrastructure, who was actually in town for the announcement. "Today’s MOU signifies our commitment to working with the city of Guelph to bring an Innovation District to life on these lands.”
“Guelph residents will welcome this Memorandum of Understanding which sets out a joint vision for the future development of the provincial lands in Guelph’s York District," said our own MPP Liz Sandals. "The Guelph Innovation District plan brings together an exciting blend of green jobs, cutting edge innovation, and environmentally-friendly places to live and do business that will benefit our community for years to come.”
“Home to as many as 5000 people and 10,000 jobs, these lands will bring together the best and brightest minds to address provincial and global environmental and technological challenges," said Mayor Karen Farbridge. "As a carbon neutral LEED-Neighbourhood, this urban village will demonstrate new approaches and technologies to manage the urban environment redefining our experience of city living.”
The end game: The City of Guelph anticipates the District will accommodate 10,000 of the 32,400 jobs projected for the City by the year 2031. The Guelph Innovation District is bounded by York Road, Victoria Road South, the York-Watson Industrial Park and the City’s southern border and almost half of it is owned by the province.
Hitting the wire about an hour ago from CTV News, but it seems that a deal by a US firm to buy the W.C. Woods plant in Guelph has fallen through. This is a none-too-minor hit to local manufacturing and the employees that work at Woods, which has been on the proverbial bubble for much of the last year. The plant's even been receiving government funding to give employees paid days off due to lack of work.
What happens next is hazy at the moment. What's certain is that the business Woods' fate is now moving into a courtroom where the company's assets will be liquidated. The fate of employees meanwhile depends on who you ask. The Guelph Mercury out and out says that all 250 employees are out of work effective immediately, while 570 News says that 200 people will be laid off with the closure of Plant 2 and some employees being offered early retirement.
But more than that though, Woods is a Guelph institution, having made refrigerator and freezers in the Royal City for 75 years. Truly, this is a great loss in more ways thatn one.
Look for more info on this as the dust settles, apparently management will be talk to emplyees this afternoon. If you have any info or want to comment, just plug it in in the comments section below.
An article in the Guelph Mercury today examined an unusual bit of bipartisanship:
From the "Hey, maybe this will stifle some of those HST grumbles" file, comes word that the Government of Ontario and the City of Guelph has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in regards to the City's plan for the Guelph Innovation District. Now off the top, an MOU sounds a bit like when you tell your buddy that you'll get the next round when he buys your beer, but you say you've got to get home before it comes to that, but apparently, this is big news.
Hitting the wire about an hour ago from CTV News, but it seems that a deal by a US firm to buy the W.C. Woods plant in Guelph has fallen through. This is a none-too-minor hit to local manufacturing and the employees that work at Woods, which has been on the proverbial bubble for much of the last year. The plant's even been receiving government funding to give employees paid days off due to lack of work.
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