It all adds up to a nasty billof goods

Adam son of Colin Vaughan,is the one skulking on the edge snatching at  the scraps. He's nothing like  his Dad.

It's not easy to sort out who's who in Toronto Politics any more. If we were interested ,we  could have a better idea who's who in Egypt.

Maybe  that's what the Toronto Star is up to. Keep throwing buckets of it over Ford so that nothing else  gets  the public's attention. 

 I don't know how  well I would get along with the Ford brothers. How could I know without being part  of  City Council

But with Deputy Mayor Doug Holyday  and their team, they have undertaken a monumental task. I admire that. 

A recent clip on  T,V, showed  a series of  separate incidents of the Mayor stumbling and tripping and  generally being physically maladroit.

Think about that. 

If a teacher  or anyone else did that to the  fat kid in class , would  there be a problem identifying  the sigificance?

I don't think so.

And I don't think the people of Toronto are misled by it either.

WHAT'S THE TORONTO STAR UP TO?

It would be interesting to know what's behind The Toronto Star's relentless attacks on  Toronto's Mayor.

We heard yesterday about a video offered for sale by drug dealers. Robyn Doolittle, a reporter at the Star, said she had seen it. She saw  someone who looked like the Mayor with the sun shining full on him and he was smoking a glass pipe. 

What   purported to be the video was shown earlier. It looked like the Mayor with the sun shining on him being held up on both sides  by a couple of guys who looked like they might be drug dealers if it can  be said  that drug dealers look like drug dealers .

In fact, if I were really cynical, I'd say it looked like a life sized cardboard cut out of the Mayor being held up by a couple of mean looking guys with beards and bandanas

He wasn't sitting at a table. He wasn't smoking a glass pipe. If there was "crack"in the vicinity, it wasn't

recognizable.

What does  crack look like anyway when it's being smoked in a glass pipe . I know cocaine is a 

white powder. I understand crack cocane is ersatz. So what does it look like and how would it differ from anything else being smoked in a glass pipe?

Robyn Doolittle, is a pretty little thing.  Wholesome. Young.  She bobbed her head to illustrate smoke being  suckedin and puffed  out and talked quite dispassionately.

The decision to publish the story would not have been hers.

Probably the same person who decided on the last scandalous assertion  attributed to a Councillor 

hostile to the Mayor. 

Then there was the  story from an erstwhile Mayoralty candidate who complained ,but not really , that the Mayor had  behaved inappropriately but she wasn't sure. Didn't she say she had to check her facts with Wikipedia?

So why would Robyn Doolittle be the one giving an interview?

For a  facade of innocence perhaps ? To pretend  The Toronto Star is not doing relentlessly what The Toronto Star is  relentlessly doing ?

You have to wonder ? Who  might it be at the Toronto Star who hates  the Mayor so much they are prepared  to  risk credibility? Or doesn't that matter either any more. 

Could there be a connection to Provincial politics? Toronto is  every bit as Tory Blue as  the Ford brothers epitomise.

Then of course there's  always Colin Vaughan skulking about on the edges snatching at  the  scraps.

And  Michael Layton . And Olivia Chow. 

Maybe Paul Godfrey ,now that he's returning to his managerial role at the National Post, will  turn his 

attention to the Toronto scene. 

Rob Ford's brother Doug has declared himself a candidate in the next Provincial election. A few weeks ago on Focus Ontario, he laughingly responded to John Tory's question; "will you be a candidate for  leadership?  "

He  answered    "Will you be my campaign manager?"

He most certainly looks like he would be a passionate and vigorous candidate.

Now, there's a serious thought. 

Maybe  Ontario  Conservatives will re-discover the formual for leadership that kept the Liberals  in the wilderness for  thirty-five years. 

The Times We LIve In

The  media says the government is refusing to release the formula for calculating  casino hosting fees. 

Well of course they are.They don't have a formula. The Premier jumped in with both feet 

when she heard  Ottawa Mayor's yelping discontent  and poclaimed all cities woukd be treated equally, The word formula was not used.

Monday morning would have been soon enough to respond to Ottawa's Mayor. After a few relevant queries  had been made. Te first being why is the business of gaming and lotteries managed  by a board rather than by politicians. 

Ottawa Mayor's reaction to the hosting fees offered to Toronto is a perfect example., 

It's  also  why there needs to be a formula. and an apolitical body to create  and implement it.

and all the other management policies needed to govern the gambling industry.

Now there's none. Paul Godfrey was asked  to resign for doing his job as it needed to be done and the entire board has resigned , not only in support of Godfrey but a Board  like that can only do its job without political interference.

Andrea Horwath is going to hold a press conference on Tuesday and tell us if  there's going to be a Spring election. 

The Premier is hoping  there won't. 

Councillor Ballard wants the town to ask Go to send a train north on a Saturday so Toronto Touristos will visit  Aurora Farmer's market. 

Town staff are  directed  to seek dispute resolution with Bell on the Cell tower even though it was activated on  April 29th.

And Pamela Wallen has decided to sit as an "Independent" Senator and continue to collect salary and expenses. 

The Day Will Come

By resigning from the conservative caucus , Duffy  has  no  role to play in the  Senate.  He still keeps a seat and the salary that goes with it. I'm not sure  he can be fired. 

A federal riding in Markham had an M.P. once who was expelled from the Liberal caucus.  His name was Jag Badhuria.He became an embarrassment to  the government because of his conduct. 

But he could not be  expelled from Parliament. Markham  voters collected petitions for him to be removed as their member and a by election held. But that  never  happened. He had been elected to the seat and there he stayed until the next elecition.

He even went on a trip to Asia at  public expense  while having no role to play in the House of Commons. 

In the next election, he  again sought the  Liberal nomination. 

I'm not sure I've  ever heard of a Senator being  removed.  A retirement age  of seventy-five was introduced  a number of years ago. 

A recent retirement of a Senator who was suffering from Alzheimer's   was in  the news  but that  probably only happened when the facts became public.

Duffy's situation may be  enlightening to us all.

The Prime Minister's handling of the situaition has not been impressive so far. How long he can turn a blind eye to the situation remains to be seen. 

I don't think the story is going away soon. 

Contrast it with the firing of Paul Godfrey and  resignations of eight members of the Ontario Gaming and Lottery Board. 

Not much grace was attached to that.  The Premier blunders in to the question of an equalising factor between cities. She declared on a Sunday night that Ottawa would receive the same as Toronto. It's unlikely she paused to discover the facts. 

Now we hear it was Charles Sousa who fired Godfrey and then the story was leaked. 

Charles Sousa was a rival candidate for the leadership. He is a provincial member from Mississuaga 

Probably knew all about the cancellation of the generating plants. Formerly associated with the Royal Bank of Canada.

Paul Godfrey was probably paid an adequate salary for the job of Chairman of OLG. Still the job was a public service. 

Dalton McGuinty saw fit to keep hm in the job. His performance  must have been satisfactory. 

Paul Godfrey started as an alderman in North York. His successful career has been  very public. He is an icon in the Jewish community.

There's something mean-spirited in the Kathleen Wynne government that couldn't handle the separation  with  more class. It's not worthy of a government. 

They may rue the day.

Truth and Consequences

Paul Godfrey is out as Chairman of Ontario Lottery and  Gaming, Government confirms.

 That was Kathleen Wynne's first blooper.

Ottawa's Mayor  demanded equality in hosting fees between  cities .  Without waiting to see how things work  the brand spanking  new premier  assured Hottawa  there would be.equality. 

As f the two cities are the same. 

Right there ,  ignorance and recklessness sounded a warning knell. 

Even with Toronto Mayor's support ,the vote for a casino  was not a slam dunk.  

The deal had to appeal  With a good deal ,the Fords could easily persuade the  people of  the merits of a casino outweigh the negatives. 

Jobs and revenue  and  jobs are  always good persuaders. 

The government is refusing to release the formula forhosting fees. Of course they are.  It would  certainly show wrong the Premier was, when she  charged into the discussion without  first consulting with the agency in charge. 

Chairman Godfrey out  on the eve of a strike at the LCBO   cannot be seen as a plus. 

An election now   would  mean  the Liberals  tossed for certain sure.  

No business can take confidence from this performance.  

All the elaborate planning for McGuinty to  step aside to escape  consequences for a political decision that cost  Ontario's taxpayers and hydro users  millions  of wasted resources. 

I heard ion Focus Ontario, most of the money  squandered  for an extra seat to keep the Liberals in power must be recovered in higher hydro costs,

The consumer pays.  Of course we wll. Don't we always?

If Andrea Horvath votes to keep them in  power in the  face of cmplete incompetence , the NDP will carry the  overflowing can.  .

Kathleen's winning smile will not  help Ontario's voters  to forget  their  troubles. 

The entire OLG board has resigned with the ouster of Paul Godfrey. 

Oh dearie me . 

A few dibs and dabs

Grant funds are included in the town's budget.

Any Aurora group or individual  is entitld to make  an application for financial support from the fund.

There is criteria and if they qualify and there's money  in the budget they might be successful.

But only if they make an  application.

We often hear  criticism from  a food bank supporter for not providing funds to their charity.

The answer is simple.

Everything the  food bank receives   is by  voluntary donation  from the community.

The   region, province  and federal government  are responsible for adequacy of social services and assistance. Consideringthe vast majority of those on social assistance are children  I think it's scandalous  for there to  be reliance on a food bank.

During Tuesday's meeting ,Councillor Gallo referred to funds   for Councilors to pay for tickets and such to support various charitable organisations. He thought it was hypocritical to suggest ,it was not right to buy those tickets.

I had to remind Coucillors it is for the individual to decide wheher to appear to be supporting a charity and all the while using taxpayers money to do so.

I never have.

I do not criticise those who do.  The policy pemits it. But I don't care  to be called a hypocrite either.

BTW  nothing in the correspondence from the Craigs , Curator of  Georgina Military museum
indicates the museum is a charity.

The letter noted there had been generous support from  Georgina. At the  same time , his Wednesday missive acknwledged the answer to the request for funds would likely  have been  the same  had  the request for funds  come before Council.

That  only added to the mystery. 

Agenda Item 6

It was a memorandum requiring direction from Council.. Attached were two letters soliciting funds. One from  Georgina's Mayor and a second from an outfit claiming to be operating something called a military museum in Georgina.  After the meeting  I learned it occupies the burger and french fries stand  at the corner of the road turning into the Village of Sutton.. 

The request was for Aurora to purchase 100 tickets at $5. a shot and distribute them between Legion members and cadets.

I hadn't read the letters until  now.

It's a good thing. 

Councillor Ballard who seems to be a one man cult of all things  military was first up with a motion to 

buy tickets as requested by "The Craigs" 

Several  argued in support.  I didn't. The debate went around the table twice before it was settled with the motion defeated.

Today we received an e-mail from Mr.Craig. He is a Councillor in Georgina. He said the vote would  likely have been the same in Georgina Council. He was responding to an e-mail from an Aurora Councillor willing to buy ten tickets out of his own pocket and hoped others would do the same. 

I will not .

The Craig's letter promoting ticket sales was accompanied by  a letter from Georgina's Mayor Rob Grossi.  He said;

     "The chance  to visit our museum and take this memorable journey should not be missed by anyone. I invite you to seize the opportunity to view these extraordinary exhibits and celebrate with us onMay 5t for "Georgina Salutes".I would ask that you support the request of the museum's Curator and purchase the amount of tickets suggested, to distribute to associates and members of your community, so that they,too, can honour  the memory of our fallen soldiers."

That's what he  said. 

On the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of every year for close to a hundred years  people the world over have  remembered those who  paid the  ultimate  sacrifice in war.

Few homes  were unaffected. 

We do not  use artifacts of war to remember our dead or honour their memory

Thousaands of stories have never been told.  Veterans who saw active combat spent the rest of their lives  trying to escape the memories. 

Despite the sacrifice, its clear  no lessons were learned .

Nichola Goddard is a name that quickly comes to mind 

I FORGOT TO TELL YOU

A few months ago  Council received a report on a renegotiated contract with the Culture  Centre  Board.The  Recreation Director and town solicitor were occupied on the project for eight months I believe. 

Space was to be turned over for museum purposes. We understood the space might be available by May 1st. 

Later we had a consultant's report on the museum collection. That too took several months to complete. Mr.Downey was assigned to that  project as well..

I am not normally impressed with consultant studies. Most are  a compilation of information obtained from talking to staff. Public input  is usually provided by the same small group that take an interest in stuff like that. 

They are very well-meaning  people but their numbers are negligible and as   representative of the ccommunity, they are not.

The  report on the museum collection was substantial. An inventory was completed. The value of the collection was authenticated. The condition of textile artifacts were determined to be in dire need of attention. Some artifacts were determined to be missing. 

Storage was also determined to be  inadequate

The  building as a suitable repository and exhibition space was  determined to be exemplary. Which wasn't surprising considering we spent $2.3 million renovating it for a modern,state of the art home for the Aurora museum.

Good work was done  by the consultant, the director and a curator.  We were ready for next steps.

We did not take the step. After spending tens of thousands of  dollars on a study , we did not act. .

A majority vote, including the Mayor and Councillor Pirri ,decided no action  should be taken  until after the Culture Master Plan was completed. 

It wasn't even started,

Last night we approved reconsideration of that vote . It will happen at the next  meeting. 

But that's not what I wanted to tell you. 

An exhibit was hoped for on July1st. But a problem presented. The Culture Centre  does not open on

 Statutory   holidays wen people are free to recereate.

We learned the space allocated for the museum would not be available until after November. The Culture Centre  had accepted  a booking in November

The Farmers Market  will be accommodated  .

Free of cost. 

That's what  I forgot to  tell you.

Jesus wept. 

Humpty Dumpty sat on a stool. Humpty Dumpty was a greedy fool, Obviously

Robyn was here yesterday. Added a couple of apps to my ipad.

 So, I've been listening to news 

.

The updated story about the Illustrious Senator Mike Duffy. Who perched on a stool in the  loobby of Parliament for years and was acclaimed for his erudition by politicians of all stripes. 

The gilt has  worn off the gingerbead so-to-speak. Senator Humpty Dumpty Duffy turns out not to be  so  squeaky clean  as to justiufy his appointment to the August body of the Senate.

Seems  Prime Minister  Stephen Harper's  Chief  of staff made a gift  of $90.000 to Duffy to repay  the ill-gotten gains siphoned from the public treasury.

The  Prime Minister's Chief of Staff is apparently a multi-millionaire.  He just handed over a cheque as a gift. He's probably the one who advised the Prime Minister he needed a new image.  One with a personality. 

We had a conversation about that on Sunday at the family gathering. The consesus was the effort has failed.  Events  contrived to  create a warm and fuzzy feeling about Stephen Harper have  all been for nought.  Slightly nauseating in fact. He is still minus a personality.

Now we have  the Honorable Peter Van Loan making statements about Duffy having "shown leadership" by re-paying money he should not have claimed in the  first place. 

You have to wonder what kind of air freshener they us  in the  Halls of Parliament  that makes them think  people can be taken in  so easily. 

They continue to add insult to injury.

This  observation is not an  advertisement. It is not paid for by anyone .

It is written by me, myself, alone. 

What kind of fools do hey think we are? Or maybe they don't. Maybe they are just so G.D. arrogant they think they  don't need to worry about what wethink 

It's too much to bear

What a nightmare  for the family of the young father .

How will they ever come to terms with his death?

Magnificent Magnolia

We will return

The jury  was  to have been chosen tomorrow.  Wirnesses  might have been  called.
For a reason, not my business to release, it will not happen.

It will be November before it proceeds.

I believe I can say without repurcussion, the  most difficult  aspect of litigation is not being able to share the experience.

In November, it will be fifty months since Notice  of Intended  Action  was  delivered.

The second difficulty is not having control of the processs.

In the  meantime, there's Labrador, a lovely day with my family yesterday and summer ahead.

Tomorrow our attention will be re-directed.

Happy Mother's Day

I  received a comment yesterday that Council is a horror story. To the extent conversation on this blog might be  partially responsible for that impression,  because I am the story teller, I would like to correct it.

In contrast to the last Council, there really is no comparison .

I doubt there is a more transparent Council anywhere. We talk about everything. If the decision isn't going the way the Mayor wants it , there's  often a deferral and  the decision  nay well be reversed.

If Councillors allow themselves to be persuaded  by something that wasn't discussed in the open
that's transparent.

It's not hard to follow . I think  knowing about it is wholesome .

Councillors Gaertner, Gallo and Ballard ,for  a reason I cannot fathom, appear to be determined to past battles not their  own. Gallo not so much.

They were  elected on their own merits.  Voters chose them from a slate.

Other candidates  would not be  wasting  precious time trying to get them defeated. Their effort would be taken up trying to get themselves elected.

Why  the trio would squander opportunity continuing  to fight  battles lost is quite beyond
comprehension.

I run for office because I don't know anyone else who would represent me the way I want to be represented. Over the years. there  have  always been enough people to vote for me  to represent them  as well.

I revel in the opportunity. But I'm not there to generate a  slumber zone around me. I  like to feel
 electricity. It's how we all know we are alive.

So I contribute to the environment of Aurora Council. People adapt. As long as I'm there  everyone  gets  drawn  into the conversation and  we all have a jolly time fiercely or not ,   expounding  our various  views and no harm done.  Sometimes  meetings are  volatile but  mostly vigorous at least.

Why would anybody want it to be different ?

We are alive. Let's enjoy the experience .

It will not come again.

Happy Mother's Day!