1. People
of blue and orange stripes have to stop acting as if the Apocalypse is upon us
in Ontario as a result of Premier McGuinty….a little perspective folks! Most of us have been to Third World
countries, have seen abject poverty and have seen or read about the oppression
that exists in different parts of the world (Syria as an example). This is not our reality in Ontario or Canada
for that matter. In the grand scheme of
things, compared to people living in different regions of countries in Asia,
Africa and elsewhere, we are doing ok.
2. People
need to stop acting as if the McGuinty government should be nicknamed the “Job
Killers”. The bottom line is that the
current unemployment rate in Ontario is 7.9% which is less than 1% higher than
it was the year Premier Harris resigned in 2002 (7.2%) and lower than the 8.5%
unemployment rate during Bob Rae’s last year in 1995. The unemployment rate prior to the crash of
late 2008 was 6.5% in Ontario. I’m not defending
Premier McGuinty and the decisions his government has made that impacted
Northern Ontario businesses and families, all I’m pointing out for the “barber
shop political experts” out there, is that you need to do better than argue
that unemployment has “exploded” under McGuinty…it hasn’t.
3. Many
people are pissed at the McGuinty government for its decisions that have
negatively impacted Northern Ontario such as the ONTC, the closure of
provincial parks, etc. You should be
pissed…so am I! However, ultimately
every government has to either make cuts, increase taxes, often times both, to
offset the costs of running the government and the services the government is
responsible for. In 99% of cases, a provincial
premier who is required to make cuts will do so in areas where he/she feels
they will take the smallest possible political “hit”. In McGuinty’s case this was Northern Ontario.
Northern Ontario only represents roughly
6% of the province’s population and includes only 11 of the over 100 seats at
Queen’s Park. Add this to the fact that
most of the people in Southern Ontario do not give a flying hippo about what
happens north of Barrie and it becomes clear why it has become so easy for
McGuinty to make the decisions he’s made regarding Northern Ontario. It does not mean it is fair…it does not mean
the people of Northern Ontario have to like it and it certainly does not mean
that we should be quiet over it. All I’m
saying is that no matter the political stripe of the governing party and the
promises they make during a provincial election campaign; the bottom line is
that if pushed into a corner on politically sensitive decisions, Northern
Ontario will get the short end of the stick more often than not. It’s politics.
4. If
the people of Northern Ontario and throughout the province have such an issue
with the way the McGuinty government has governed over years than I wonder why
the voter turnout has decreased steadily over the past number of years. In 2011, the voter turnout in the province
was roughly 49.2% and the turnout in Timmins-James Bay was even lower than
that. The first argument I get when I
raise those numbers is usually that the people have stopped voting because they
are discouraged with the government.
Bullshit…people have not stopped voting because of the McGuinty
government, they have stopped voting because they have gotten tired of the
endless bickering that exists at all levels of government. I don’t care what party you are from, no
matter who forms the next provincial government, the other parties will be at
your neck within days and the initial defense of the new government will be
something along the lines of: “…well we
would have kept all of our campaign promises but we had really no idea just how
bad the situation was in certain areas. “
It happens following EVERY election, will not be any different in the
next Ontario election. The politicians
of all stripes have managed to alienate the majority of the Ontario electorate
and all three parties would have to work together to change. Otherwise, in today’s digital age, the
bickering will continue to be so non-stop in becomes numbing.
5. Finally…if
Northern Ontario wants to grow its voice at Queens Park…where are the “all-star”
candidates in the region? No disrespect
to Mr. Bartolucci or Mr. Bisson but I’m not sure either of these men would
generate much excitement if we were to elect a “flag bearer” for Northern
Ontario. In the last election, the
Conservatives of Timmins-James Bay ran one of the most recognizable municipal leaders
in the region as their candidate and he lost to a man who has been in office
for over 20 years and, if you were to listen in most coffee shops between
elections, a man many people claim to hate as their MPP. My suggestion, rather than waste time posting
stories or comments on Facebook every time Mr. McGuinty or one of his minister’s
goes to the washroom, it would be best for the local riding associations to
further grow their grass roots support and go from there.
Local Rants:
·
Being a taxpayer does NOT give you the right to
yell at City employees when they are on the job in the community. City staff members do not work for you, they
work for the Corporation of the City of Timmins. You elect Councillors to speak on your behalf
and who give direction to Senior Management who then pass on direction to their
departments. In short, no point yelling
at the guy filling the potholes in your neighbourhood, he has no control over
your taxes…he is a taxpayer too!
·
The people of Timmins need to become more
engaged in the Timmins 2020 Strategic Plan process. This plan can only become a “waste of
taxpayer money” or “just another consultant report that will sit on a shelf
somewhere” if the people of Timmins let it happen. It is easy to sit at Tim Hortons and complain
about “stuff” but that “stuff” will not change if people do not get involved.
The consultants that are
working on Timmins 2020 are smart enough that they will rarely, if ever,
publicly acknowledge projects that would benefit the community but that they do
not know how to fund. They will only
bring forth projects that they know they already have funds for or for which
they can easily get government funding.
It will then seem like the Timmins 2020 plan is accomplishing all of its
key objectives when in fact all that is being accomplished are “quick wins” or
the completion of projects that could have been funded regardless of whether
there was a Timmins 2020 plan in place or not.
There is nothing wrong with this approach unless the people of Timmins
decide they want more. It is up to us…get
engaged in the process!!
Random Thoughts
·
I love Canada but I have to admit that I get
disgusted when the State of Pennsylvania can put former Penn State University
football coach Jerry Sandusky to jail for a minimum of 30 years for assaulting
young men that were participating in activities put on by a charity created by
Sandusky while in Canada, Graham James gets two years for assaulting players
whose careers and futures he held over their heads.
·
Like everyone else, I was devastated when I read
the story of Amanda Todd who put up a Youtube video chronicling the bullying
she had endured and almost begging for help only to commit suicide last
week. I read a bunch of message posted
on Twitter regarding Amanda’s tragic story and one guy raised a point that I am
having trouble wrapping my head around.
He pointed out that the outpouring of love and attention that Amanda has
received since her death might make suicide an even more feasible solution to
other young people that are being bullied and are craving the love and support
that Amanda has received since her death.
I’ve re-read that guy’s message about 20 times and it is the stupidest
thing I have ever heard but makes a lot of sense at the same time. Maybe time will give me more clarity on his
comments.
·
I would be curious to know how many “fender
benders” happen in shopping mall/grocery store parking lots every year…people
just seem to drive stupid in parking lots.
·
I spend very little time worrying about the
Royal Family but I find it somewhat bizarre just how much attention seems to be
paid on an almost daily basis on websites like Yahoo as to whether or not Kate
Middleton is pregnant. I realize that
when she does get pregnant the child will either be the future King or Queen of
England but do the media really have to speculate on a weekly basis about
it. By the time the media finally get it
right it will be so anti-climactic anyway!
·
I engaged in a “debate” a few weeks ago with an
“old school” marketing guy who seems convinced that social media is not a
driver of traffic for businesses. He
views social media as a part of the marketing mix but is steadfast that
traditional media is still the way to go.
I agree with him if you are Tim Hortons or Canadian Tire and you can
essentially blanket traditional media sources because of the sheer size of your
marketing budget. Don’t get me wrong, I
would tell any client to advertise between periods on Hockey Night in Canada
(…well, maybe not right now) if they could afford it. However, for smaller businesses that have
minimal marketing budgets, traditional media can be expensive and the ROI
(return on investment) is not nearly what it used to be. Local media sales people will pull all types
of statistics out to prove that advertising on radio, TV or in the daily
newspaper is still the only way to go.
But what about guys like me…I generally listen to satellite radio for
the variety, I get my local news online with headlines from Twitter and only go
in to read the articles I am interested in, and I can get the same programming offered
by our local TV station on 14 other stations on satellite TV. Smaller businesses are often getting lost in
the noise of traditional media. Their
best bet is to create a strong social media presence and grow their community
and client base from there. It will soon
be the only way they can really compete.
·
So…um…where was I during the first 5 seasons of
The Big Bang Theory? Love that show!!!
·
So…Felix Baumgartner brought doing something
with style to a whole new level on the weekend.
He did freefall from 37KM in the air and landed the jump on his
feet! Show off! J
·
So…this summer I made a concerted effort to get
back “into the loop” when it came to today’s Top 40 music. Not sure that this was the best decision I’ve
ever made. I became a fairly consistent
listener of “Hits 1” on Sirius/XM Radio.
I swear to God that they play the same 20 songs all day long. Anyhow…the one song that stood out during the
summer was a song by a young lady who first got noticed by finishing in the top
5 of Canadian Idol a few years back. Her
career had progressed slowly until a certain Justin Bieber heard one of her
songs on the radio on one of his trips back to Canada and he mentioned it on
Twitter. The rest as they say…is history. Carly Rae Jepsen’s “Call Me Maybe” was
probably the most overplayed song of the summer but it did lead to a strange
phenomenon…the song was covered and “lip-dubbed” by so many different people
and groups. Here is my top 5:
·
If you cut me off by turning out in front of me
only to turn again a block further, I retain the right to follow you and kick
you in the ass when you get out of your car!
·
I would be curious to know how many “fender
benders” happen in shopping mall/grocery store parking lots every year…people
just seem to drive stupid in parking lots.
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