Sunday, February 26, 2012

Canada We have a Problem here

I haven't entirely made my mind up about the robo-call scandal.  I've got a feeling it's going to get worse. (I hope I'm wrong about that)   But one thing is for sure; we have a problem here.

The Liberals are leveling some very serious allegations of corruption, and tampering as it comes to last year's federal election.  The scheme involved  Edmonton marketing firm placing robo-calls on behalf of the Conservative Party misdirecting voters to different polls.  The Conservatives have admitted it happened in 9 ridings, and have fired what Prime Minister Harper calls one rogue worker. the Liberals place that number of ridings affected much higher at 27 and have added accusations of voter harassment.  

It's worth repeating; Canada we have a problem here.  I've worked for Elections Canada enough to know a bit about the ins and outs on how the agency works.  At a polling station for example nothing happens without the Deputy Return Officer (D.R.O.)If they should step away for any reason business shuts down.  Another example; If a scrutineer gets too rough in any way with voters D.R.O.'s can ask them to leave,  and I in serious cases can have them arrested.  Another rule; candidate representatives or signs representing any candidate aren't allowed within a certain distance of the polling station. This makes me wonder how the Conservative election worker could come that close to voters as Bob Rae and the Liberals allege in today's Toronto Star.

The scandal looks bad for Canadian politics in general, worse for the Conservative Party.   If I were Harper, I'd appoint the most anti-Conservative judge I could find and call an Inquiry.  I'd give him some teeth, and find a way to do it outside Ottawa in order to keep the political games to a minimum. If the worst is true of the party I would immediately call by-elections for all ridings affected.

 This won't go away simply because Harper fired the person allegedly responsible, and kind of admitted he was wrong.  This is our electoral system, and Harper is the guy in charge.  He first needs to admit there is a serious problem here, and address it quickly.  His political future could depend on it.


Thursday, February 23, 2012

As The T.T.C.Turns

It's getting to be quite the soap opera isn't it? The latest developments involve Premier McGuinty and the firing of the system's General Manager Gary Webster.

Webster as we all know has been fired without cause, and Toronto taxpayers will likely be on the hook for somewhere between 500-750 thousand in severance.  There's no getting around it; the firing had blatant political overtones and very likely had political motives behind it.  Webster wasn't backing Ford's subway plan, and if speculation is to be believed may have maneuvered Karen Stintz into her motion. Regardless, if Ford had fired Webster a year ago he probably would've gotten away with it- when a regime changes everybody expects some personnel to change.  What makes uglier than normal is it's coming now after Stintz got her motion passed.

When you take the politics, and intrigue out of it, was Gary Webster doing his job?  Can anyone name one thing he's done besides taking ridership to new heights? Because I can't.  I think the T.T.C. is pretty much a system stuck in the '80's, and it shows.  Why didn't he try and automate the system? Or introduce new pass options. I'd find a 10-ride pass quite helpful for example; it would be a new way of making money.  He could've done so much with the system and didn't.  Ford may have been wrong to fire him the way he did, and with his timing but it probably needed to be done.

The ongoing drama at the T.T.C. prompted Premier McGuinty comment on his government's growing frustration with the situation saying in the press yesterday: we're running out of patience, I think the people of Toronto are running out of patience."  This is as firm as I've heard McGuinty speak on the subject.  It's also got a ring of truth to it; Torontonians are getting a little fed up with the dithering and want something done.

What does McGuinty really mean? Who knows.  There is speculation it means Metrolinx will be asked to take over and sort the whole thing out.  That would make sense- the provincial body could take over, and create one single broad cohesive system from Toronto to Hamilton.  I'm sure the exact meaning will become to clear in the next installment of as the T.T.C. turns.

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Thoughts on Bill C-30

Much has been made the last week of bill C-30, or its more formal title: Investigating and preventing Criminal Electronic Communications Act.  I had a look at the summary page of it and I don't really find anything wrong with the first part of it.  Part 1 looks like an attempt to  formalize relations between police and Internet Service Providers (I.S.P.) as it comes to gathering information for criminal investigations.  It's at least the start of reigning in the so-called lawless Internet.

Part two of the bill goes way too far.  Our system is built on checks and balances; the judges check the police for example. Bill C-30 gives police too much power, and judges not enough to check them.  According to the charter of rights and freedoms, Canadians have the right to a fair trial; to be seen as equal before and under the law.  Part 2 of the legislation violates that.  It gets rid  of the fairness angle of it because it allows a warrant to be valid for up to a year.  In addition clause C requires the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness to report on the interceptions of private communications made without authorizations.  Assuming the Minister the ultimate authority on Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, who checks his authority?

Canadians have a right to privacy as well under the charter.  The Minister of Public Safety; whomever that is shouldn't get the right to read my private email or check whatever websites I'm looking at. I'd imagine this legislation could be brought bear on journalists in a professional setting as well.  Hypothetically speaking, let's say I'm investigating a government scandal that could bring down a politician , and I'm emailing a source.  And using this legislation the government gets a hold of that email.  Does this mean that under Bill C-30 the government could find a way to kill my story?  When last I checked freedom of  the press was included in the charter as well. 

 Section 2 also provides for an amendment to the Criminal Code as it deals with hate speech.  The definition of hate speech is extremely vague... how about a discussion on that, and how it applies to regular law, before we apply it to the Internet?

Overall as it is now this bill gives me the chills. I'm glad it's been sent back to committee for further study and possible rewrites.  Members of Parliament looking at the legislation should have learned two things from the controversy about the bill.  One is that Canadians aren't stupid, we know when our rights and freedoms are being threatened.  Second is a quick reminder to read the Charter of Rights and Freedoms before proposing to change it in such a fundamental way as this legislation would.  People who forget these two lessons will be as thoroughly mocked as Vic Towes. 

Friday, February 17, 2012

A Cynic's View Of The Drummond Report

I was filled with a general sense of hopelessness as the Drummond Report was presented on Wednesday afternoon.  Implementing much of what the trusted economist recommended will take political will, and there isn't any at Queen's Park.

A public Sector wage freeze won't happen.  The ship sailed on that when McGuinty promised it before, and then selectively gave a wage hike anyway.  Besides one of the larger public sector Unions O.P.S.E.U (Ontario Public Service Employees Union) is soon going to be in a legal strike position, and you can probably guess what they'll be wanting...

 McGuinty wants to be known  as an education Premier so the likelihood of him delaying the implementation of or cancelling the full-day Kindergarten program is fairly slim.  The same can be said of the cancellation of the tuition grants for post-secondary education.  He's known as being friendly towards teachers too, so denying any employer rate increases to the Teacher's Pension Plan is probably out of the question as well. 

McGuinty also wants to be known for his Green Energy policies.  Cancelling the Green Energy Benefit probably isn't going to happen because giving people money is popular and might get votes.  It also goes against his image as an environmentally friendly premier.

Nobody has the guts to talk about making seniors pay more for drugs.   They're always seen as tone of the more vulnerable groups in society, which, for the most part makes sense.  Besides that, Seniors vote; any attempt to make them pay more for something will be punished at the ballot box.

Gamboling makes money for the government.  It probably makes enough money to make it a real revenue generator for the McGuinty Liberals, meaning guess what? Closing a casino in Niagara Falls isn't going to happen.  Closing its headquarters maybe... but even that won't make much of a difference because employees will likely make their way into other jobs within the provincial government.

Could Tim Hudak do better if he were elected Premier last October? I honestly don't know.  If he did win, he'd certainly be in a better position to implement the Drummond Report recommendations, because all policies affected are Liberal. It would have been natural for Hudak to stake out some different political territory and use the report as a means to do it.

McGuinty is in a no-win situation- he carries on as is and we're in a worse state in five years.  He does something and he could alienate key demographics he needs to win an election.  He probably ordered the Drummond Report in the first place to make it look like he was doing something.  He  never thought he would actually win last October. Now he's stuck trying to implement recommendations that call for him to go against many of his cornerstone policies and become unpopular.   And we all know how much this Premier hates to be unpopular.  

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Justin Trudeau: Genius or Jackass

On the surface he's a genius if he runs for leader.  His latest controversy has done three things.  First he positions himself as a National unity figure in Quebec, and a champion of traditional "Liberal"  Canadian Values to the rest of us.  Second, he gets attention for his party- a hard task that usually falls to Bob Rae. It further cements the Liberals as the unofficial opposition... has anyone heard from Turmel lately?  And third; it starts attacking Harper; another long-standing tactic of any political party attack the other guy instead of telling me what you will do for me.

Circumstances could still turn him into a jackass. Quebec Separatists are already spinning  Trudeau's latest remarks to their advantage.   A federalist, especially one with the last name of Trudeau saying under certain circumstances he would support a separate Quebec... well that's a veritable gold mine for the Parti Quebecois and Bloc Quebecois.  When taken with Charest's unpopularity, it could awaken the Quebec soveriegnist movement everyone thought was dying off.

People could also wake up and realize that guess what; this Prime Minister Stephen Harper guy isn't so bad.  It's been six years, and the country isn't that bad off.  The thing is every time the issues of abortion, and same sex marriage come up he has refused to re-open the issue.  He even quashed a private members bill on Abortion from his own party; what more does the guy have to do?

The jury is still out for me.  At the moment though, I'm putting him down as a genius, but circumstances can still make him a jackass. 

Monday, February 13, 2012

More Thoughts on Toronto Transit

My friend and I got talking yesterday about the whole transit mess in the City of Toronto.  We'd both been to London, UK and experienced the Oyster Card- think a re-loadable transit fare card that never expires.  We both dream of using a similar card everywhere we go in southern Ontario- good on the T.T.C, and good on GO transit.  The Presto Card is its equivalent, and transit systems are starting to adapt to that.

We both agreed Toronto fancies itself a world class city with a somewhat less than world class transit system.  We would both go ahead with Rob Ford's plan to bury the Light Rapid Transit (L.R.T) lines. It is possible to pay for it with little impact on the taxpayer simply through advertising.  In London for example, there are ads all over the place- on the floor, and along the walls going down to the train levels, why can't Toronto do something like that? The one thing that is arguably at a premium is advertising space.

I think Toronto has come to a sort of crossroads with the transit issue. Yes Ford still needs to find efficiencies, and save money.  But on some items I think you should spend money- and transit is one of them, if we are ever to take enough cars off the road to make a difference.  If he can work with Metrolinx on finding a way to do it for a decent price, why not let him?

It's a balancing act for Metrolinx too. But one thing I do wonder about is while they're busy trying to solve Toronto's transit woes, are we in the suburbs going to be stiffed? Milton for example has needed full-day Go Train service for at least the last 10 years if not longer, and so far as I know, it still hasn't happened yet... and I'm not really holding my breath on that one.


It takes vision, and healthy amount of bravery to scrap the status quo and look at doing something new.  Underneath it all I believe Toronto is a world class city.  Now I hope City Council is brave enough to build a transit system to make it one.


Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Toronto: A City of Wasted Potential?

I don't live in Toronto.  I rarely go to Scarborough,and when I do, it's usually by car.  Logically I shouldn't have any horse in this race,  but tonight I've been trying to figure out why I'm so annoyed with Toronto City Council's decision to go along with Karen Stintz's plan to build part of the Eglinton LRT (Light Rapid Transit) line above ground.

I think it's probably that even though I don't live there; I still love Toronto- it has the potential to be the world class city it wants to.  And that's what I can't stand- the city has potential, and it's never been realized.  Such is the case I think with Transit.

Essentially there are two options; the first- Transit City, featuring a mix of above ground light rapid transit (LRT), and underground LRT.  The first option; Stintz's plan is $2 billion under budget and would look at advancing other lines than the Eglinton.  She gets points for that; saving money is a huge bonus.  But I think it's fairly short-sighted.  It'll save  money now... but in the future will it? When completed the LRT above ground will be exposed to the elements; and that Toronto weather isn't the greatest, especially in winter.  One of my parents remembers looking out their office window and seeing the Scarborough Rapid Transit frozen solid between stations. They say that passengers were lowered to street levels by ladders.   I just don't think the added maintenance costs even it out.
 
Ford's plan is to bury the LRT by building Subways.  Subways are my transportation of choice while in Toronto. They will also cost a lot more to build, and inconvenience people for a lot longer while digging the tunnels.  But in the long run, I think they could save a lot of money too.  On his side Ford also has Metrolinx looking to do the work, for cheaper by outsourcing it.  He has signed

If it were up to me I'd pick subways.  Stintz is right about one thing; the city needs a solution quickly, and that could be where she's coming from with this. Transit City is established already with some limited provincial funding.  but it's a short-term fix.  Ford's idea of LRT subways  may inconvenience people for a while. But in the long run subways are underground; they don't block traffic or freeze during the winter.  Besides, subways are what Rob Ford said he was going to do; he was fairly blunt on that subject during the election.  And guess what? People still voted him in, meaning Subways are what the people want.  Isn't that what democracies are all about? Listen to the people... because what they want, and what's the easiest or cheapest solution isn't always the right one.

Toronto; you have potential.  Now smarten up and live up to it.  It's never too late to change your mind.