If there ever was a question that "Father Goosee" McGuinty is anti-grey, then look no further

Ontario moves to protect young teachers’ jobs

Having been on the threshold of, and contributed mightily to, nearly every social benefit program we have today, Medicare, OHIP, Old Age Security, etc., it is disparaging to realize that I have now been relegated to the dust bin by a pipsqueak who has made a bollocks of running a government.

McGuinty's record regarding seniors has been nothing short of abysmal, as follows:

• Upon assuming office, the first thing he did was rescind legislation already passed by Ernie Eves granting seniors as property tax exemption
• He then took the cap of hydro rates so that the cost of electricity has more than tripled in the past seven years.
• Although he made a great todo about lowering insurance rates, the legislation merely gave the insurance companies an incentive if they kept rate increases to 10%.
• His much touted benefits package, aimed at helping lower income groups, provided an annual $1,500 subsidy for children (later raised by $1,000), and a $500 Senior's Property Tax Grant. However, the seniors' grant was geared to income so that my grant amounted to $23.00.

Now he is trying to force a pay freeze on teachers by pitting younger teachers against older ones. See:
Ontario moves to protect young teachers’ jobs. For example: "The OECTA deal does not include a general wage increase, though it allows for pay increases for newer teachers who are still moving up the salary grid. That increase is funded by all teachers taking three unpaid days off in the second year of the contract."

The guy is political hack, and if Liberals are elected in the bi-elections of Vaughan and Kichener-Waterloo, then the voters in those two ridings deserve what they get.

An update:

Elementary teachers will take their chances with individual boards

“Never have we seen such an insidious assault of this magnitude,” he said. “No government in Ontario, of any political stripe, has ever, ever made this kind of blunt force strike at the heart of any of its public sector workers.”

Words for teenagers and lazy adults ... Get a job...

This may be the Rosetta Stone of child rearing.

Northland College principal John Tapene has offered the following words from a judge who regularly deals with youth. "Always we hear the cry from teenagers 'what can we do, where can we go?'

"My answer is this: Go home, mow  the lawn, wash the windows, learn to cook, built a raft, get a job, visit the sick, study your lessons and after you've finished, read a book. YOUR TOWN DOES NOT OWE YOU A  RECREATIONAL FACILITIES AND YOUR PARENTS DO NOT OWE YOU FUN.

"The world does not owe you a living, you owe the world something. You owe your time, energy and talent so that no one will be at ward, in sickness and lonely again. In other words grow up, stop being a cry baby, get out of your dream world and develop a backbone not a wishbone. Start behaving like a responsible person. You are important and you are needed. It's too late to sit around and wait for somebody to do something someday. Someday is no and that somebody is you!"

Thank you Dalton McGuinty. My "Seniors' Property Tax Reduction Grant" gave me a good laugh.

The other day I received my Seniors' Property Tax Grant, the program that Dalton "Father Goose" McGuinty touted as being such a benevolence for seniors. Of course he didn't mention that the very first thing he did when he took office was the rescind Ernie Eves' property tax exemption for seniors. McGuinty has a talent for forgetting things like that. Anyway, here's how my benevolent tax grant worked out on a property tax bill of $2,000:

Basic grant: $500.00

Less: Reduction for income: $477.00

Net grant: $23.00 

Okay. It's something, and I suppose I shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth, but compare this to what the McGuinty government provides for a child.

• A basic, no-questions-asked annual grant of $2,500 per child.
• A per-month child benefit payment
• Dental expenses
• subsidized child care
• etc., etc.

Oh, I guess I needn't mention he has two, school-age children of his own.

After much thought I've decided to donate my $23.00 to one of the opposition parties.

ORNGE: Health minister pleads ignorance ... Or should it be "stupidity"

Health minister Deb Mathews appeared before the Accounts Committee today, and used those old, 'protect thy ass' standbys for doing just that. She accused the 'other guy', former CEO Chris Mazza, claimed ignorance of important correspondence, and browbeat any and all who challenged her. She also tried that other tactic of talking over the questioner.

Now all of this is politics as usual, except we are talking about hundred-of-millions-of-dollars belonging to the tax-paying public, and which may never be recovered. From this perspective it is arrogance of an astonishing level, and shameful if not negligent behaviour on the part of a minister of the crown.

Here, thanks to Tanya Talaga of the Toronto Star Newspaper, is what took place.

The memo was from Malcom Bates, director of the ministry’s emergency health services branch, dated June 29, 2011.

The letter warns senior ministry staff that the government may have to step in and assume massing debt at ORNGE. It also mentions a $4.3 million loan receivable where “taxpayer dollars” have been lent out and it discusses the jump in ORNGE’s capital assets. They rose from $96.4 million to $264 million and cite “assets under construction” as the reason for the rise.

“We do not have additional information on this — we assume this is planes that are not completed but are in progress,” the letter stated.

Matthews told the committee she has never seen Bates letter before.
Klees retorted back that he found it “passing strange” she had not seen it and questioned why.

“What are you hiding?” he questioned her.

Often, Liberal committee members jumped in to stop Klees as he questioned Matthews.
The health minister said Klees has a history of dropping information bombs that turn out to be untrue.

“On behalf of the frontline staff, the paramedics, pilots, the engineers, all 600 staff — would you stop running down the organization and be part of the solution? I am hungry for this committee to finish its work and write its report … I’d like the recommendations of the committee,” she said.

Klees shouted back his recommendations would be, “first of all start with your resignation.”

This is not surprising coming from the McGuinty administration, of course, for when it comes to arrogance, and downright lying there are few that can match McGuinty himself. In my opinion he and Mathews are birds of a feather that should be put on the endangered species list!

 

The ORNGE scandal ... A fiasco within a scandal!

It is enough to boggle the imagination! Hundreds of millions of dollars squandered by high flying bureaucrats running amok without any apparent accountability--not even to the provincial auditor.


Here is a list of scandalous activity so far.

For the last four months, an all-party provincial probe has heard of CEO Dr. Chris Mazza’s reign at ORNGE including the promotion of his water-ski instructor girlfriend to associate vice-president, of a Porsche-driving board chair who pocketed $200,000 in compensation, of a senior employee with drug problems and another who was told to fake an MBA because it would impress investors.

Then there were the dreams and schemes of now-defunct ORNGE spinoff companies, lavish business trips, a $6.7-million marketing services agreement that is being investigated by the Ontario Provincial Police, and a $275-million “bond issue” to pay for a fleet of helicopters and office space.

Throw in a speedboat, a law firm that billed 22,000 hours and a couple of customized orange motorcycles and you’ve got the latest scandal of an agency that seemed to fly off the government’s radar. Tanya Talaga, Toronto Star.

And yet the McGuinty administration goes acts as nothing untoward has taken place at all.

I mean, whats a few hundred million?

The following is the July 24th, 2012 editorial comment in the Toronto Sun Newspaper. See it at:  http://www.torontosun.com/2012/07/24/lame-response-to-gang-violence 

_____________________________

Torontonians can take no comfort from this week’s meetings on gang violence involving Mayor Rob Ford, Premier Dalton McGuinty and Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

They were dog-and-pony shows by politicians who treat us like mushrooms — covering us in manure and keeping us in the dark.

Ford’s meeting with Prime Minister Stephen Harper Tuesday had all the earmarks of a session organized just so the two could say they’d met.

After his meeting with McGuinty Monday, Ford declared victory without achieving anything. McGuinty’s promise to maintain current funding for police anti-gang initiatives — which has not stemmed this summer’s gang violence — was basically a commitment to do nothing other than continue doing what hasn’t worked.


Following Toronto’s infamous Summer of the Gun in 2005, 400 additional police officers were assigned to city streets through a combination of increased provincial funding — which McGuinty boasted about — and an internal redeployment of the force.

That led to a wave of arrests that helped stem the carnage.

Today, the Toronto force is down at least 175 officers due to budget cuts, but no one’s talking about bringing it up to its full complement.

Why? For Ford, it’s because he ordered those cuts in the first place and for his left-wing opponents on council, it’s because if they’d had their way, those cuts would have been even deeper.

So let’s not kid the troops about what’s really going on here. The real plan by both the mayor and his opponents, albeit for different reasons, is to rag the puck in hopes the recent outburst of gang violence abates on its own. But that’s not a plan. That’s crossing your fingers.

As for McGuinty’s advocacy of increased social spending to fight the root causes of gang crime, the reason he doesn’t have any of our money to spend on such programs is that he’s blown it on fiascoes like eHealth, Ornge and the Green Energy Act.

But even if McGuinty had the money to spend on anti-gang initiatives, and the wisdom to spend it effectively, those are long-term solutions that do nothing to help people caught in the cross fire today.

All our politicians — at all levels — are really telling them at the moment is “duck.”

x

It doesn't take a community to raise a child. It takes two dedicated parents who have the right values, themselves.

All around the mulberry bush

Well, the politicians (Mayor Rob Ford and Premier Dalton McGuinty), as well as top police officials met today for a much touted meeting of the minds--euphemistically dubbed the "Summit of the Gun." With lots of press hanging around, the politicians made plenty of noise about finding a solution, but in the end they merely spent another $5M (that's on top of the $10M of taxpayer's money already being spent), and went home.


Meanwhile, police officials and community activists (the "hug-a-thug" crowd) took the spotlight by hauling out their own list of threadbare, expensive ideas, which, for the most part, have all been tried before with varying degrees of success, i.e.:

• More funding for social services 
• Gun control
• More police officers

The problem with all these solutions is that they are all merely treating the symptoms. Putting salve on root rot isn't going to get to the heart of the problem. 

Nonetheless, since everyone is getting in on it, I suppose I may as well get my tax-dollars'-worth, too.

So here's my list:

• Full identification of the facts, including racial profiling of criminals.

It is almost impossible to choose a direction unless you know where you're at, and that requires a full identification of the facts. Prohibiting racial profiling of criminals is like blinding one eye. It is also incredibly naive. The first six pages of the newspaper is both an obituary and also racial profiling for anyone with eyes to see.

• If kids are old enough to have kids, they're old enough to raise them.

Having a baby? Congratulations! Now get a job to support it. Every kid that comes into this land (Ontario) goes on the public dole almost from its inception. Pre-natal care, gynaecological consultation, paediatrics, subsidized day care and nursery school, and when it gets old enough the school system takes over with all-day kindergarten. Meanwhile, for single parents ("baby moms" and "twink daddies") there's social assistance and a "pecker cheque" from Uncle Dalton McGuinty.


I'm single and childless, but I'm helping to raise a million-or-so.

 

• Hold parents responsible for the transgressions of their kids, and open the door to allow civil suits as well. 

I believe there is already legislation on the books that holds parents responsible for this sort of thing, but I have yet to hear of it every being applied. It falls under the category of "you had them, you look after them." It seems a dichotomy of thinking that a person can be held responsible for allowing a person to drink and drive, but enjoy carte blanc when it comes to their kids' actions.

• Tell religions that preach against birth control and abortion to mind their own 'beeswax.' Surely most of them have a backyard to clean up, first

The term "opiate of the masses" used to apply to organized religions (now it's iPods), but no one has bothered to tell them. Oh, sure, they make a feeble attempt to gain lost stature by slandering the GBLT community, but given their own record(s) it is laughable at best.

So there you have it. Gerry's list of "let's get real" solutions to gun warfare and gang violence.

Scarborough shootings: Rob Ford’s response to gang crime gets cool reception from premier....

Toronto Star, July 18, 2012.

The headline was with regard to the unprecedented shooting of two people, fatally, and the wounding of 23 more. Since then there have been four more shootings in The City of Toronto.

Naturally, Mayor Rob Ford is angry and upset with this level of violence and wants to call an end to it, so he has called upon the premier, Dalton McGuinty, and Prime Minister Stephen Harper for assistance. We haven't heard from Stephen Harper, but McGuinty's response was fairly typical for him.

In the above mentioned new story he is quoted as saying, “It’s a time for us to be reflective and not reflexive,” McGuinty said during a stop in his Ottawa riding Thursday."

He is also quoted as saying, "Political leaders should not so much to come to the table with demands of each other, but rather questions for ourselves that we need to ask.”

In other words, the most that is likely to come out of these meetings is talk--McGuinty's general approach to things. Mind you, he's quick to move if there's the prospect of votes to be had. Case in point: The moving of a generating plant from Mississauga (at a cost to taxpayer of $190M) to save votes in that city.

McGuinty fiddled while ORNGE officials danced and partied....

The more we learn about the ORNGE morass (Ontario's air ambulance service) the more appalling it becomes. The latest revelation is the astonishing salary increase given to the former chairman, Chris Mazza (a former emergency room doctor), i.e.,

"Back in 2007, Mazza’s annual salary was $298,000. That was the last year his salary was made public on the provincial sunshine list. The next year, ORNGE began creating for-profit companies and took the position that executive salaries would become secret.

Sometime in 2009, Mazza, a former emergency room doctor, told board chairman Rainer Beltzner and others that his skill and expertise had caught the attention of another company. Mazza did not identify the company and the board did not ask for proof. The Star has not been able to confirm that a company and job offer existed.

“He was being poached by a private firm, that’s what the board was told,” the source said. “His compensation had to be increased.”

More on the ORNGE investigation

Enter Luis Navas, a compensation specialist Mazza met when they both did their executive MBAs at the Richard Ivey business school in London, Ont.

Navas wore several hats at ORNGE over the years (he is now gone from the air ambulance firm). He was a board member, chair of the board’s compensation and governance committee, and eventually a paid executive (how much ORNGE will not say) working on international business in Florida.

In talks that involved Navas, a decision was made by the board to increase Mazza’s salary and bonus to $1.4 million in 2010. Also, in late 2010 and early 2011, Mazza was given an additional $1.2 million, made up of interest-free, no-term loans and a large cash advance against a future bonus. Some of that money went to purchase and renovate Mazza’s new home in Etobicoke. ORNGE has attempted to recover some of that money.

According to the recent testimony of Beltzner, the ORNGE board hired “independent external consultants to conduct an exhaustive study and provide recommendations to the board on compensation for both ORNGE executives and the board.”

Beltzner, in his testimony, did not mention Mazza’s job offer as a catalyst for increased pay.

But Beltzner did say that in late 2011, with storm clouds circling around ORNGE, he “became aware that Dr. Mazza’s professional corporation was being paid substantial amounts for services apparently not being provided. I took immediate steps to stop these payments and informed the ministry’s internal auditor.”

Beltzner was paid $200,000 a year as chairman. The person who replaced him as chair does the job as a volunteer." Kevin Donovan, Toronto Star.

Not bad, eh? Wouldn't you like to have a salary increase of 245% in a time of recession? Meanwhile, McGuinty smugly complains about the cost of doctor's compensation in Ontario. Can you believe it! The man has absolutely no shame whatsoever.

Dalton McGuinty and Hydro One (OPG) ... A study in incompetence!

Specifically: It is a study of incompetence, waste, greed and downright stupidity on the part of Hydro One and various politicians--including Ernie Eves and Dalton McGuinty.

Consider this: In 2002 the then Chairman of Hydro One, Eleanor Clitheroe, was fired because she: "used credit cards contrary to company policy. They [Ontario Power Group Board] said she also obtained club memberships at the company's expense. Many of those memberships had no business-related purpose, the board said. Clitheroe is also said to have used Hydro One service providers to do renovations to her home."

At the time she made over $2.2 million, including $174,000 for a car and $172,000 in vacation pay. Clitheroe also stood to get $6 million in cash if she left Hydro One for any reason, and she stood to receive an annual pension of up to $1 million."

During Clitheroe’s tenure, no bookkeeper, accountant, civil servant or administrative chief at Hydro One ever noticed that the same employee costing us $330,000 in limousine rides was taking some $214,000 in car allowances. If any of them did notice, they kept mum. During the entire Clitheroe reign, there were no enterprising reporters ringing alarm bells.

Oh, and by the way, she got a $6.5M severance package and a $300,000+ annual pension when she went out the door.

And if that isn't bad enough, her replacement chair, Tom Parkinson 'resigned' after it was disclosed that he improperly charged his secretary's credit card with $45,000 of expenses.

The then Minister of Energy, Dwight Duncan, (now Minister of Finance) wouldn't reveal the exact amount Parkinson was paid to walk away, but Parkinson was Ontario's highest paid public employee, earning $1.6 million in salary and bonuses last year. His severance package could have been worth as much as $3 million.

So, if you want to know why hydro bills went up an average of $4.00 per month, take a long hard look at the above.

Gerry Burnie

PS. Has anyone any idea how much money has been collected through the "debt retirement charge?"

***

And while we're on the topic of Debt Retirement Charge...

Anyone know what "defeased" means? In the Ontario Electricity Financial Corporation's statement it reads: “The Electricity Act, 1998, provides for the Debt Retirement Charge (DRC) to be paid by consumers until the stranded debt is defeased.” see: http://www.oefc.on.ca/debtmanage.html. However, I've checked two dictionaries, i.e. Webster's and Oxford, and I can't find it.

I opt for another election in Ontario...

If that is what it takes to get rid of Dalton McGuinty!

And here's $1B reasons why:

DO WE NEED MORE REASON THAN THIS?

Some bureaucrats are just overpaid, insensitive jerks...What do you think?

Take this case in point.

I recently returned from an out-of-country vacation. Not an easy feat for a man of 76 years curtailed to a walker (due to a failed hip operation), and a mild form of Parkinson's Syndrome. 

Now, to get back into the country Canada Customs and Revenue Agency (the same folks that collect our income taxes) requires you to fill out a declaration stating that you are:

• Not importing guns or other weapons into Canada (even after being thoroughly searched by US security before boarding)
• Not bringing agricultural products (such as forest of trees) on your walker
• And that you are not carrying money in excess of $10,000 dollars (I wish!).

That’s all fine and dandy, and If I could I would, but the reality is that I can hardly hold a pen let alone write with it.

So picture this: There I am with two pieces of luggage on my lap, holding my walker in front of me, while an airline assistant pushes me along on wheelchair. We approach this hulk of a man who is doing nothing but looking surly, and his first words are “You haven’t completed your declaration … You MUST complete the declaration.” I then explain my dilemma and ask him politely if he would do it for me. Well … You’d think that I’d asked him for a loan of $10,000 so I could carry it across the border by the way he rolled his eyes and threw pencils about.

So what do you call a guy like this? He obviously hasn't any respect or compassion toward a senior citizen, or a person who is obviously physically handicapped even if my Parkinson's isn't visible.  Therefore, "a Jerk" maybe only a mild epithet.

How about a few suggestions? Add you comments below