TRASH TALK …

 

As in GARBAGE and who should be the next Mayor of the City of Ottawa.

Ottawa, like many other municipalities in Ontario have gone to garbage pickup once every two weeks and I simply hate it.

Of the half dozen core functions of municipal government I would place garbage pickup 3rd right behind fire and police protection.

And yet, Garbage seems to be getting the dirty end of the stick, if I may be so bold to say.

We have black boxes, blue boxes, green boxes and yes – every two weeks – actual garbage pickup.

When I was a kid in Brighton we had garbage pickup two times a week – on Tuesday and again on Friday and now with much more taxes and much less service that basic function has been cut by 75%.

We have money for the arts, for the countless non-profits, for rainbow flags …for just about everything but the basics.

What gives?

I rather like our current Mayor – Jim-bo Watson, even though he is a left winger.

After the fiasco of Mayor O’Brien – aka Rob Ford lite – Watson was and is a breath of fresh air – he is distinguished and has brought civility back to a most fractious council.

But …. but I am prepared to vote for another if the other is a contender and would bring back weekly pickup.

The Green Bin can be picked up weekly – why not real trash?

Every two weeks I struggle to fit a two weeks of garbage in the bin and simply dread the thought of missing a pickup and having to wait a month to unload the trash.

So on to the Fall Municipal Election Jim-bo and be aware there is something you can do to assure my vote.

Get back to basics and pickup the trash.

As I see it…

‘K.D. Galagher’

Why and How …

 

As in, Why did Jim Flaherty quit as Canada’s Minister of Finance and How did he do during his 8 year term?

Let’s look first at why he did not quit:

1. It was not due to his health, since by all accounts he is well on the mend – plus the heavy lifting in his Portfolio was over …he could have simply cruised to an Election Surplus Budget.
2. It was not because he wanted more time with his wife – since she is a busy Tory MPP in Ontario and is gearing up for a possible Spring Election – and, appears to have plans to try to replace Hudak should he falter in that election.  Not much family time on the horizon for dear Jim.
3. And it is not to give the Prime Minister time to break in his replacement in advance of the 2015 Election.  He has consistently stated that he was in for the long term – i.e. he was determined to stand in his place for his final budget to declare officially that he had at last balanced the budget.
4. And it was not the result of a big job offer on Bay Street.  As a former Finance Minister for the Province of Ontario and now having completed 8 years in the same role for the Feds – the guy could name his price anytime he wants – now or a year from now.

The bottom-line here is that Flaherty is on record as saying he will be in place as Finance Minister for Canada when the 2015 Budget comes now announcing a surplus.  None of numbers 1 to 4 adequately explain his change of heart.

So if not for these reasons,  – then what?

Jason Kenny that’s what.

The two have been duking it out for the P.M.s approval, and dear reader – Jim Flaherty lost that fight.

Two recent examples – first was the tongue lashing Flaherty gave to Kenny for suggesting out loud that Jim’s good friend – bozo Rob Ford was … a bozo.

And more recently, Flaherty opined that the Tory promise to split the incomes of married folks with children, was dead in the water.

Kenny differed on this, even in the face of Harper appearing to side with his Finance Minister.  It then went to caucus and Kenny emerged the winner.

It was then obvious, even to Flaherty, that his star was on the decline.

That dear reader is the reason Flaherty took the bitter walk in the snow… and I suspect it was bitter since in Flaherty’s mind, he had positioned Canada’s economy to be the best in the G-8 or now G-7 and that is the thanks he got.  It had to be a bitter pill for him to swallow.

Plus, in this respect, his health issues may have proved to be partly responsible in that they had to have reduced his resilience and thereby made his decision to abruptly call it quits, in the face of such a humiliation, all the more understandable.

So that is Why…now How did the guy do during his 8 year tenure?

Here are the main pluses from my perspective and they are significant:

1. He reduced the GST from 7 to 5%.
2. He split the pension income of seniors.
3. He brought in the very popular Tax Free Savings Account.

On the negative ledger, there are a number of important matters as well:

1. He cancelled Income Trusts.  He was forced into this since a number of corporations were beginning to unfairly take advantage of this tax reducing provision however, he could have cancelled the program generally but kept it in place for the oil and gas industry which it was initially intended for and for which most investors ?
2. He needlessly plunged Canada into massive Debt / Deficits ostensibly to survive the US / European Financial melt down of 2008.  Canada was virtually untouched by the melt down – for instance only one of our six main Banks was heavily invested in US worthless mortgage bonds – the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce. He could have pulled a Jean Chretien and go through the motions without actually committing any money to the folly.  That he didn’t and that it has taken most of his tenure to undo the damage that he did is testimony to this folly.
3. He interfered with our Financial Institutions ability to lend mortgage money on at least 4 separate occasions. Again this was to cool off the housing industry which was not hot in the first place – he was confusing the American situation where huge mortgage funds were loaned to migrant workers based on their misguided Government’s Policy.
4. He participated in the massive Auto Bailout of 2008 which admittedly helped GM and Chrysler out of bankruptcy but in so doing  was not fair to other Canadian Auto Taxpayers . Ford, Toyota, Honda, Volkswagen, Hyundai, Kia etc etc.

Throughout all this Flaherty holds himself out to be a Conservative …in reality he is a Liberal and in that regard have you noticed that the kindest comments for Flaherty, upon hearing of his leaving, have come from the Grits, the Dippers and of course the left leaning Media.

That said, I would give dear Jim an overall mark of B- .

Hopefully the new guy will do much better – the Tory future is dependent upon it.

As I see it…

‘K.D. Galagher’

The Big Smoke …

 

As in our ‘Big Smoke’ – Toronto and more specifically, in regard to its upcoming municipal election on October 27, 2014.

For those interested, there are a number of large cities throughout the world referred to as the Big Smoke.  The common theory is that the term relates to an earlier time – at least in the Northern Hemisphere, when major cities were pollution and smoke ridden.

Be that as it may, I want to focus today on TO’s upcoming election and who – dear reader – might we expect to win it.

Currently, there are three legitimate candidates in the race and I use the term ‘legitimate’ rather loosely:

Current disgraced and Mayor lite – Rob Ford, along with John Tory and Olivia Chow M.P..

Ford, simply stated, is a buffoon and of the three it would be a great travesty if he was to win.

Tory, is a Red Tory and a three time loser in the field of politics – at all three levels of government.  He has shown time and again, that he has about as much political sense as fellow red tory.Joe Clark.  As such, Johnny does not deserve to win.  Full stop.

And then we have Olivia Chow, widow of the late Jack Layton and until a day or two ago was Member of Parliament for Toronto Riding Trinity Spadina. Of all three, she deserves to win the most.  Her only defect is that, as an NDPer, she is a left wing loon and would greatly increase spending. 

Fortunately for Chow, there are a lot of left wing loons in the big City.

So who will win Galagher?

Let’s do it by odds:

10 to 1 for Ford;

3 to one for Tory; and,

Even money 1:1 for Chow.

The only way Ford can win is if Tory and Chow split the anti Ford vote between them and Robbie comes up the middle. This will not happen though since Tory will not be strong enough to split the anti Ford vote.

The only way Tory can win is if Ford and Chow split the vote allowing Johnny to come down the middle with enough votes to take the crown.  This is a possibility hence the 3:1 odds I have given him.

So that leaves Chow to secure the left wing loony vote – no big deal, while Ford and Tory split the right. I also believe that many moderates will go with Chow as well if for no other reason than they are sick and tired of the circus that has been going on since the time of the last election with Ford being the ring master.  Hence the even money on her.

So it is Olivia’s to lose; she will bring a dignified presence to the office – it is just to bad that she is a loon.

So who would you vote for Galagher, if you were a resident of the Big Smoke?

• I would not vote for Ford.
• I would not vote for Chow given her NDP credentials but would be okay to see her win.
• I would hold my nose and vote for Tory since he holds himself out to be a Tory.

It is just too bad Chow is a Dipper.

 

As I see it…

‘K.D. Galagher’