Happy Canada Day everyone. I can truly say that I am grateful to be living in Canada - what I consider to be the greatest country in the world. Unlike our neighbours to the south Canadians don't wear their patriotism on their sleeves which I think is a great thing. If it's one thing I've learned in life is that being humble is a great way to live.
The great (I sure am using the word great a lot) thing about Canada is that we are a nation of people who respect each other and each other's ideas, beliefs, etc. We pretty much believe that you can do and believe what you want as long as you don't try to jam it down our throats. Not all our citizens are like this but I'd say a high majority are.
My grandparents came here in the early 20th century to form a new life. Fortunately they landed here prior to the Holocaust in Europe. Immigrant Jews - as many immigrants do they worked hard to give their children the things they did not have. My Dad's dad, Morris Marder, opened up the Model Shoe store in Oshawa to support his family. (http://localhistory.oshawalibrary.ca/pdfportal/pdfskins/Vernon1928/vernon1928.pdf) He also was one one of the founding members of the Beth Zion Synagogue which is still a vibrant part of the Durham Region Jewish community to this day. I remember sitting beside him in synagogue as a child and I would have to repeat the page numbers the rabbi announced to him because he was hard of hearing. His wife Sarah was from Austria, under the Hapsburgs, and was a big part of the Jewish community as well.
My Mom's parents came from Poland. The family lore is that the day my Zadi (Yiddish for grandfather) landed in Canada in 1939 there was an earthquake. My Bubi (Yiddish for grandmother) would join him shortly after. My Zadi had a ton of jobs from garbage truck driver to store owner. He didn't join a synagogue but made sure his two daughters had a proper Jewish upbringing (when they weren't hiding under the bed when the Hebrew School teacher showed up). My Bubi and Zadi were the only ones left on my Mom's side of the family as all of their family was murdered in the Holocaust. I can remember my Bubi crying on a regular basis. I didn't learn until I was older that she was crying for the family she had lost.
My Dad and Mom (and their siblings) went on to become vibrant Canadians and passed their values and beliefs down to myself, my siblings and my cousins and we in turn pass those beliefs and values down to our own kids. Canada is a country where people from different religions, crees, colours, sexual orientations, etc. can come together in mutual respect and get along.
Canada may have it's problems but they are dealt with in a civil and democratic way. We are a nation of people respected world-wide which is why many Americans put our flags on their backpacks when they travel the world. We were one of the only countries whose banks didn't blow up in the 2008 financial crisis. We love to say sorry even when we're not at fault. We were the first in North America to legalize gay marriage. We love our hockey, our beer and we do say "eh".
Our political spectrum spans the left to the right but no one wants to kill one another over our ideas (at least literally). We may disagree on how to help those in need but we do help them. We may disagree on our education curriculum but we try out best to prepare our children for the future. We may disagree on how to pay for health care and what to pay for but everyone is able to see a doctor when they are in need and not have to worry about paying for the visit. We may disagree on which hockey team is better but we don't punch each other out when our team loses (although the odd riot does seem to break out). Heck we're a country whose allowed a political party to take office whose sole mission is to break up the country. Now that's mellow - or as some would say Canadian.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY CANADA!!!!
Sunday, June 30, 2013
Friday, June 14, 2013
Broken Promises from McGuinty to Wynne with an Endorsement from Horwath
Since the Liberals (or as most rational people now refer to them the Fiberals) came to power in 2003 they have had a long list of broken promises entwined in an enigma of scandals (don't know if the word enigma is appropriate for that sentence but it sounds damn good). I'll let you in on a little secret I actually voted for Dalton McGuinty in the 2003 election. I actually believed him when he promised no new taxes. Granted, I was an active alcoholic and crack head at the time and therefore in a state of insanity so I can hardly be blamed. But even before I sobered up I could tell that something was amiss with the McGuinty government. He started his legacy of broken promises right from the start with the passing of his first budget.
McGuinty introduced the health care premium. He said that he had inherited an large, unknown, deficit, from the Harris government. This broke his "no new taxes" promises despite him trying to deceive us by calling it a health care premium. He probably thought, who can argue with money for health care? Well maybe that would have some merit if the money didn't go into general revenues. Currently we face the highest deficit the Province of Ontario has ever had. Despite this lack of funds the Liberals instituted all day kindergarten which we cannot afford. It broke a recent promise of freezing public sector wages by giving a raise to the Elementary School Teachers plus a load of other benefits we can ill afford. The Liberals would continue to blame the previous Harris government for many of its blunders even 10 years after Harris was out of power.
At the same time that McGuinty broke his "no new tax" promise he also broke his promise that he would protect our health care system by delisting OHIP payments for optometry, chiropractic and physiotherapy services. While on the subject of health care let us not forget the billion dollar E-Health scandal. Not only is the amount of money spent on this failure a gross injustice but the lack of oversight of what the money was actually going towards was ridiculous. The government was outsourcing much of the work to consultants and allowing these consultants to hire consultants for themselves (some of those were consultants hiring themselves as their own consultants). I know - my head is still spinning over that one. Despite the billion dollars spent, the wasted money on consultants, Ontarians still do not have a functioning E-Health system.
Let's look at the Ontario Lottery and Gaming (OLG) Corporation. Does anyone remember the scandals that came up week after week after week whereby retailers were stealing winning tickets from unsuspecting people? Plus - why is the government in the business of running gambling enterprises anyway? On one hand they are trying to deal with problem gamblers and on the other hand they are advertising for people to play. (I know this isn't just a Liberal issue but an issue for all parties, provinces and not just Canada but I thought I'd throw it in anyways). These casinos have a list that problem gamblers can put themselves in that bars them from entering a casino but the list is largely ignored. Until a gambler who is on the list, but got into the casino, wins then they are quickly identified and have to return their winnings. Crazy!!!
Then there was another no tax promise where McGuinty implemented a new tire fee - he said it's a fee not a tax. Did he think we are idiots? I guess so since he kept getting re-elected. Speaking of taxes remember when the HST came in and Ontario tax collectors lost their jobs but were rehired immediately by the feds. Well they all got a $45,000 severance package for that seamless job change. Basically they do the exact same thing but works for the feds instead of the province. Most Ontarians would love to make that much money on an annual basis and here are the Liberals just giving it away. In fact public sector unions if not in the "dreaded one per cent" are pretty damn close. Teachers can make up to $90,000 a year and yet they still complain and take sick days off when they're not sick because they're worse whiners then the kids they purport to instill morals and education into.
For years McGuinty insisted that the government was not there to bail out pension funds because a majority of Ontarians don't have pensions. He quickly broke that promise by bailing out GM pensioners and Nortel pensioners.
Let's look at energy. McGuinty has brought in a total failure of an energy plan. He first promised to shut down all coal fired power plants by 2007 - with no plan in place to replace them. When he realized what a fiasco this was he broke the promise and said they would all be shut down by 2009. After shutting some down we didn't have enough power so we started buying power from US power plants - but not just any power plants - COAL FIRED POWER PLANTS. Can we say hypocrites. Continuing on with his green energy scam he pays prices for green energy way over what the actual cost should be. McGuinty forced Ontario households to have smart meters installed in their homes. He said it would save money but, of course, it didn't. Not only did it not save money but he added on a fee for the service (not a tax mind you but a fee).
Let's look at how McGuinty's Liberals brought in a two tier justice system to our glorious province. Natives illegally took over land, committed crimes on an on-going basis (and continue to do so) but scared of a little blow back he has allowed one justice system for natives (do anything you want we won't say anything) and one for the rest of Caledonians citizens. I don't know about you but in my Ontairo (and Canada) we're all equal regardless of race, cree, colour or religion but not in a Fiberal Ontario.
Back to money wasting. Under McGuinty's leadership he made post-secondary tuition the highest in the country. Now I wouldn't be so upset at that, as I feel students shouldn't get a free ride, but for the fact that he gave away free tuition to foreign students. Let's not forget that this is the guy who dubbed himself the Education Premier.
There are many more scandals, like the Samsung Scandal (Google it) that I could get into but I think, at least I hope, you get the point. Fast forward to this past week where lots of broken promises and hypocritical stances were taken. McGuinty no longer Premier had said he would remain as a sitting MPP until the next election. Well he couldn't leave politics without one more lie - he has resigned. At least McGuinty can always be counted on to break a promise.
Enter Kathleen Wynne. Our first woman Premier - that's great. Our first lesbian Premier - also great. But the accolades must stop there. She continued on with the Liberal tradition of lying to the public. She was a key player in the election team of McGuinty in the last election - yet she says she had no idea about the decision regarding the cancellation of the gas plants (another wasted $500 million). If that is true than she must be pretty incompetent. Which would you rather have a liar or an incompetent person as your Premier?
But wait - the fun does not stop there. This week the public found out that the Liberals broke a law that they brought in themselves by deleting pertinent e-mails regarding the gas plant cancellations. Laws, mind you, that have no repercussion but broken still. Which brings us to the leader of the NDP - Andrea Horwath. In the morning she's calling the Liberals corrupt and in the afternoon she's propping them up by helping them to bring in their budget. First she delayed voting on the budget by a couple weeks while she "gaged public opinion" then she kept these Fiberals in power instead of giving them a vote of non-confidence which the Tim Hudak's Tories did. Let's remember that Wynne is not an elected Premier - she has not been given a mandate by the citizens of Ontario. Yet Horwath ignored public opinion and voted yes anyway. She then had the gall to defend her actions saying the longer she helps keep the Liberals in power the more the public can find out how corrupt the Liberals really are. I don't know about you but I think I have enough knowledge of their corruptness and don't need to wait any longer.
Dave the Dude
McGuinty introduced the health care premium. He said that he had inherited an large, unknown, deficit, from the Harris government. This broke his "no new taxes" promises despite him trying to deceive us by calling it a health care premium. He probably thought, who can argue with money for health care? Well maybe that would have some merit if the money didn't go into general revenues. Currently we face the highest deficit the Province of Ontario has ever had. Despite this lack of funds the Liberals instituted all day kindergarten which we cannot afford. It broke a recent promise of freezing public sector wages by giving a raise to the Elementary School Teachers plus a load of other benefits we can ill afford. The Liberals would continue to blame the previous Harris government for many of its blunders even 10 years after Harris was out of power.
At the same time that McGuinty broke his "no new tax" promise he also broke his promise that he would protect our health care system by delisting OHIP payments for optometry, chiropractic and physiotherapy services. While on the subject of health care let us not forget the billion dollar E-Health scandal. Not only is the amount of money spent on this failure a gross injustice but the lack of oversight of what the money was actually going towards was ridiculous. The government was outsourcing much of the work to consultants and allowing these consultants to hire consultants for themselves (some of those were consultants hiring themselves as their own consultants). I know - my head is still spinning over that one. Despite the billion dollars spent, the wasted money on consultants, Ontarians still do not have a functioning E-Health system.
Let's look at the Ontario Lottery and Gaming (OLG) Corporation. Does anyone remember the scandals that came up week after week after week whereby retailers were stealing winning tickets from unsuspecting people? Plus - why is the government in the business of running gambling enterprises anyway? On one hand they are trying to deal with problem gamblers and on the other hand they are advertising for people to play. (I know this isn't just a Liberal issue but an issue for all parties, provinces and not just Canada but I thought I'd throw it in anyways). These casinos have a list that problem gamblers can put themselves in that bars them from entering a casino but the list is largely ignored. Until a gambler who is on the list, but got into the casino, wins then they are quickly identified and have to return their winnings. Crazy!!!
Then there was another no tax promise where McGuinty implemented a new tire fee - he said it's a fee not a tax. Did he think we are idiots? I guess so since he kept getting re-elected. Speaking of taxes remember when the HST came in and Ontario tax collectors lost their jobs but were rehired immediately by the feds. Well they all got a $45,000 severance package for that seamless job change. Basically they do the exact same thing but works for the feds instead of the province. Most Ontarians would love to make that much money on an annual basis and here are the Liberals just giving it away. In fact public sector unions if not in the "dreaded one per cent" are pretty damn close. Teachers can make up to $90,000 a year and yet they still complain and take sick days off when they're not sick because they're worse whiners then the kids they purport to instill morals and education into.
For years McGuinty insisted that the government was not there to bail out pension funds because a majority of Ontarians don't have pensions. He quickly broke that promise by bailing out GM pensioners and Nortel pensioners.
Let's look at energy. McGuinty has brought in a total failure of an energy plan. He first promised to shut down all coal fired power plants by 2007 - with no plan in place to replace them. When he realized what a fiasco this was he broke the promise and said they would all be shut down by 2009. After shutting some down we didn't have enough power so we started buying power from US power plants - but not just any power plants - COAL FIRED POWER PLANTS. Can we say hypocrites. Continuing on with his green energy scam he pays prices for green energy way over what the actual cost should be. McGuinty forced Ontario households to have smart meters installed in their homes. He said it would save money but, of course, it didn't. Not only did it not save money but he added on a fee for the service (not a tax mind you but a fee).
Let's look at how McGuinty's Liberals brought in a two tier justice system to our glorious province. Natives illegally took over land, committed crimes on an on-going basis (and continue to do so) but scared of a little blow back he has allowed one justice system for natives (do anything you want we won't say anything) and one for the rest of Caledonians citizens. I don't know about you but in my Ontairo (and Canada) we're all equal regardless of race, cree, colour or religion but not in a Fiberal Ontario.
Back to money wasting. Under McGuinty's leadership he made post-secondary tuition the highest in the country. Now I wouldn't be so upset at that, as I feel students shouldn't get a free ride, but for the fact that he gave away free tuition to foreign students. Let's not forget that this is the guy who dubbed himself the Education Premier.
There are many more scandals, like the Samsung Scandal (Google it) that I could get into but I think, at least I hope, you get the point. Fast forward to this past week where lots of broken promises and hypocritical stances were taken. McGuinty no longer Premier had said he would remain as a sitting MPP until the next election. Well he couldn't leave politics without one more lie - he has resigned. At least McGuinty can always be counted on to break a promise.
Enter Kathleen Wynne. Our first woman Premier - that's great. Our first lesbian Premier - also great. But the accolades must stop there. She continued on with the Liberal tradition of lying to the public. She was a key player in the election team of McGuinty in the last election - yet she says she had no idea about the decision regarding the cancellation of the gas plants (another wasted $500 million). If that is true than she must be pretty incompetent. Which would you rather have a liar or an incompetent person as your Premier?
But wait - the fun does not stop there. This week the public found out that the Liberals broke a law that they brought in themselves by deleting pertinent e-mails regarding the gas plant cancellations. Laws, mind you, that have no repercussion but broken still. Which brings us to the leader of the NDP - Andrea Horwath. In the morning she's calling the Liberals corrupt and in the afternoon she's propping them up by helping them to bring in their budget. First she delayed voting on the budget by a couple weeks while she "gaged public opinion" then she kept these Fiberals in power instead of giving them a vote of non-confidence which the Tim Hudak's Tories did. Let's remember that Wynne is not an elected Premier - she has not been given a mandate by the citizens of Ontario. Yet Horwath ignored public opinion and voted yes anyway. She then had the gall to defend her actions saying the longer she helps keep the Liberals in power the more the public can find out how corrupt the Liberals really are. I don't know about you but I think I have enough knowledge of their corruptness and don't need to wait any longer.
Dave the Dude
Saturday, June 1, 2013
One Dave At A Time: High School Years
One Dave At A Time: High School Years: I don't know if it's a trend to say one hated high school but I sure hear a lot of people saying that. I seem to be in the minority ...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)