This Week in Press Releases - January 8-12, 2018

Every week, the City of Guelph and other groups send out notices to announce new events, imperatives, and information that you need to know. Here is this week in press releases.

So What's the Deal with the Community Energy Initiative?

Monday's action-packed council meeting will include a presentation about updating the Community Energy Initiative, a plan created by various stakeholders in the Royal City to make Guelph more energy efficient from now on through 2031. The report coming to council though has come attached now with a bit of controversy thanks to some comments Mayor Cam Guthrie made at the Governance Committee earlier this month. So what is the CEI, and what so controversial about it?

My Picks for the BTBB Awards 2015

It's that time of year again. Christmas! And the Beyond the Ballot Box Awards. Fitting for the final episode of the Gang of Four, we salute the real heroes: the politicians and news stories we talk about weekly. If you were listening to the radio, you will have heard my picks already, but in case my justifications weren't clear, I decided to write them out in long form below. It was a very busy year in politics, and there were a lot of darts and laurels (mostly darts) to go around, but after considering all the factors and contenders, here are my choices for Best Politician, Worst and Dumpster Fire of the Year. 

Doug Ford Gets At Least One Endorsement

Last night, on his HBO series Last Week Tonight, comedian John Oliver gave the first and only endorsement for Doug Ford. I don't think it's to be taken seriously.

This Municipal Election Year is an Animal Farm

From CTV Kitchener

 George Orwell's 1945 political satire Animal Farm was about a group of animals who take over their farm from the drunk and inept Mr. Jones and enjoy success until the pigs that led the revolution become corrupt and human-like. Orwell was commenting on the Russian Revolution, but Animal Farm may be somewhat prescient in terms of the way the municipal election is shaking out in some quarters. You see, the animals are making a play to take over.

In Case You Aren't Getting Enough Elections...

I guess all of Kathleen Wynne's tough talk regarding Stephen Harper and his negative effect on Ontario has made the Prime Minister itchy for some election action of his own. That might be why four federal by-elections are now scheduled for June 30, just over three weeks after the Ontario general election on June 12.

The Mayoral Fringe Division

Tonight is the first televised Toronto mayoral debate, and the first one to feature all five of the main candidates who, as of a couple of weeks ago, had officially announced their candidacy for Toronto's top job. Olivia Chow, Rob Ford, David Soknacki, Karen Stintz, and John Tory are considered the so-called establishment candidates, meaning that they stand the best chance of winning, but there are also 39 other people up for the job with their names currently registered on the ballot. Who are these people that make up the so-called "fringe" slate of mayoral candidates? They may not have the clout, the fundraising power, or media reach of your Chows, Fords, Soknackis, Stintzes or Torys, but that doesn't mean that they don't have anything interesting to say. (And it's worth nothing that both Robyn Doolittle and The Grid have written on the subject.) Let's take a look at some of the people who find themselves cast on the political fringe.

The Question of the Day: Taxpayer or Citizen?

If Rob Ford has enjoyed any success, it's framing the idea that he represents "taxpayers," a nondescript group of people of work hard for their money and don't want their share of taxes paid going to the benefit of those who pay nothing into the system. In the U.S., this has been digested down to the phrase, "Makers and Takers," but Ford Nation and associated constituencies do it better by distilling it down to one word, "Taxpayer."

This vision narrows the complexities of governing on any level to utterly simplistic terms: taxes are fees for service, and we should pay the absolute minimum to get the services we want and just the services we want.  That means garbage collection, hydro and water services, police, emergency responders, and clean and easy to navigate roads. Public transit, the arts, cultural events, environmental initiatives, and sustainable planning are luxuries, investments desired by the leftie elites who want to use the blood, sweat and tears of the "Taxpayer" as seed money.

Here's the thing, we're all "Taxpayers." You may not own a house, but you probably pay to use public transit, and city facilities. You probably also pay into CPP, EI and income tax. So are we not all "Taxpayers?" To push the metaphor, are we not all investors in the business enterprise called the places where we live. And as with all businesses there are big investors and there are small investors. Some departments make more money, and other departments need more money. There's a give and take, but the critical difference is that in business, you're in business to make money for investors. The city you live in though is in the business of making everyone's life better. And emphasize that word everyone.

Culture Vulture Can't Catch a Break

One might think that taking the weekend off to cover the Toronto ComiCon for Nerd Bastards would mean that one would not have to deal with political matters for a couple of days. If only. Nope there will little hints that political matters were always on the periphery all weekend, from protests downtown to jokes by celebrities at the expense of a certain Toronto political figure.

Ford Caps One of Those Weeks With a YouTube Return*

Why does he do the things he does? How does he get away with it? How does one man have enough gaffs to sink any 20 politicians, but can still stand well enough to be a contender and hold on to his job in the next election? I'm more than halfway though Robyn Dolittle's book Crazy Town, and I still don't know the answer to those questions and many more. What I do know is that no matter anything else that might be going on, Mayor Rob Ford just can't stop himself.

Meaning? Well, in a week that included the release of a not-so-flattering book that was all about him, the Mayor got busted jaywalking in Vancouver, got caught in repeated acts of drunken clubbing while supposedly being in B.C. to attend a memorial for a friend's mom, he proudly and pointedly stated his refusal to attend Pride 2014, and then made a fuss about the hoisting of a Pride flag at City Hall to protest Russia's anti-gay laws before taping up a Canadian flag in his office window in protest to the protest. And then today, there was this...

Confusing Process for Democracy

As Toronto City Hall went into meltdown earlier this week, many looked to a higher power to do something about the pending situation with Rob Ford and his stubborn refusal to step down, and that higher power was the Ontario Legislature led by Premier Kathleen Wynne. This is where politics get even more political though because when you have a left-leaning politician threatening to sanction a right-leaning politician, no matter how justified, fur is going to fly.

Of course, I think Wynne is far too shrewd to put herself in a position to set a precedent like having a Premier turf a duly-elected and sitting Mayor of Toronto, but that didn't stop Ford's allies from playing defense. Still, twice this week, I've heard both Cllr. Doug Ford and the Toronto Sun's Joe Warmington use the phrase "unelected premier," when talking about Wynne. It's a phrase I hadn't heard in a while, but it does two things, suggest that Wynne has no power, and if she does, then she has no authority to use it. I had thought we were past this because it's both silly and incorrect, but here we go again, confusing process for democracy. 

By-Election Polls Show a Red Wave Coming

This coming Monday, four ridings go to the polls to find a replacement for their recently departed Members of Parliament. From Montral's Bourassa and Toronto-Centre to Brandon-Souris and Provencher in Manitoba, voters will determine if it's time for change, or if they will stay the course and stick with the party that's represented them thus far. The NDP is looking to make gains in Quebec and Ontario, while the Conservatives hope that the senate scandal will not affect their chances in Manitoba. But what are the polls saying? Forum Research might have the answer.

Let this Be Your Last Rob Ford Article

It's getting so that keeping up with the goings on of embattled Toronto Mayor Rob Ford is a full-time job, In fact, I think the Toronto Star has 3 or 4 people on it. But just as today's debate in city hall, which at times seemed like a trial with 43 prosecutors, looked like it was coming in for a landing, a judge decided to throw napalm on the out-of-control fire that's burning in Ford Nation by un-redacting more of those police documents from the investigation into Ford's alliances, and the picture it paints ain't pretty. As Ford emphatically stated again and again that he was not an addict on the council floor, police documents recounted one night where the Mayor finished a 40 oz bottle of vodka, took Oxy, snorted coke, and consorted with a woman believed to be a sex worker while sexually harassing one staffer, and calling a taxi driver a "Paki." And you thought you partied hard.

Guelph Politicast Extra - Today's Ford News

So it turns out that when he said he didn't, he did. Today's revelation by Mayor Rob Ford that he did indeed smoke crack though he can't remember the circumstances or the fact that somebody filmed it, came as something as a shock. But it was secondary to the revelation that Ford, having admitted his mistake (finally!), refused to step down, either permanently or temporarily, as a result of his drug use. Between the doings in Toronto and the pending vote to suspend three senators in Ottawa, it's hard to imagine a busier news day, and it seems like a great chance to engage in some of this newfangled rich media like podcasting.

Mayoral Meltdown - UPDATED with Video

I don't know about you guys, but I find this video startling. If you haven't been following, or are following,the story, nearly 500 pages of documents from a police investigation of Alexander 'Sandro' Lisi are being released today, and the information reported so far indicates that Toronto Mayor Rob Ford kept pretty close company with Lisi as he was going about his business dealign drugs. This probably came as no surprise to the mayor judging by his reaction to the media encamped in his driveway this morning.

This Week In Rob Ford

Courtesy of the Torontoist

It's been a while since I wrote about Ol' Fordsie, but so much goes down with the Mayor of Toronto this can almost be a weekly, if not daily column. In fact, the "Morning Brew" feature on BlogTO is almost a clip-a-day slice of whatever controversy - major or minor - is presently marching through the Mayor's Office. For Rob Ford, the week began explaining some phone calls he was making, segued into losing his appeal to the Ontario Press Council, then he did a hatchet job on a city employee supposedly caught napping on the job, and is now wrapping up the week with the revelation that Ford wrote a character reference for his good friend Alessandro Lisi, part-time Ford driver, (alleged) full-time drug dealer. Just another week in Ford Nation.

Maple Leaf Politics

Professional hockey is back, and so is the idea that being Canadian and being a hockey fan are the exact same thing, synonymous and inseparable. This time last year though, there was no pro-hockey, and no one had any idea when there might be hockey. People were ticked, but that anger went away pretty quick when the millionaire athletes they both loved and hated finally took to the ice.

No place was that more true than a few miles down the road in Toronto, where Maple Leaf worship is devote and absolute, yet with far fewer miracles required to placate the faithful. In fact, Toronto is coming up on nearly half a century without a championship, and as teams in the United States, some of whom are recent champions, struggle to fill arenas, the Leafs remain the NHL's most profitable team. Actually, they're a quarter of a billion dollars more profitable than the number two team, the New York Rangers.

So what does any of this have to do with politics? Well, I would argue that fans of the Maple Leafs don't get a lot of return on their annual investment of $1 billion; no Stanley Cup in 46 years, one playoff bearth in 10, and even then they were put it out in the first round. It seems that if you're a Maple Leafs fan, you've not only come to expect a lot of disappoint, but you've become comfortable with the fact that you're going to get it. It sort of reminds me a lot of politics.

PM's Hockey Book Ready for Release

 Toronto Mayor Rob Ford gets a lot of flack for his love of coaching football, a hobby that seems to eat up a lot of his time, including time he should be working on important city matters. Well apparently other politicians aren't immune to sports-related hobbies either, as Prime Minister Stephen Harper's hockey book, a tome 10 years in the making, will finally be released on November 5th according to the Globe and Mail.

Does Something Smell With Garbage Truck Photo Op?

Last week, when this press event was held with Etobicoke-Lakeshore candidate Doug Holyday and Ontario PC leader Tim Hudak, something smelled funny.

It Takes a Village Idiot

Canada.com posed the question that maybe this whole Mayor's staffer calling in as a "Dave Q. Public" from Etobicoke, Scarborough and Georgetown is much ado about nothing. On the surface, they could be right. In an effort to keep Rob Ford and issues in the news, maybe the mainstream media is latching on to one sort of "scandal" or another in order to keep Ford, a figure of tremendous love or hate stature, in the news for sales and ratings. You'd have to be insane not to think that, but there is something real to this, relatively slight, controversy.