The Deed Is Done

Several pots are simmering  on the fire  and that's a good thing. Too many cooks spoil the broth  they say but when there's more than one potage  it should   be O.K.

Yesterday I posted  a  preference in the federal election. Instantly received a volley of abuse. Comical when one considers the circumstance. It's my blog. I can say what I like.

Mr.Spock wrote  last night," You are  the only one who believes what you write".

Why do these people  log in to my blog. Several  have started blogging. some with a pseudonym, some without.   Guess What !!!

I don't read them.

This is my soap box.  I will decide who shares it with me.

We finished  the  tortuous round table discussion on  the budget on Tuesday.

There was a smattering of applause.

I did not join in

My home is modest. It fits in the neighbourhood. Market value has taken the assessment to slightly above average. Fixed income of  Canada pension, Old Age Security and Gains is little more than $12Ks a  year. Even people with private pensions are not much higher. Public sector pensions are a different
story.

I know people who are unemployed  through no fault of their own at a time in their lives when  it will  hard to be re-employed and living on unemployment insurance and desperately hoping to find a job before the UIC runs out. I believe  their income is not much better than a pension .

Their homes may be modest like mine. They may be of higher value. Light and heat are essential. You can cut down. You can't do without. A mortgage is likely. Possibly dependent children still.

This year's expense for taxes and water , only two of the essentials of  living in  a  modest home  in Aurora, will be $4562.54  That's an increase of more than $200.

Next year it will be closer to $5 Ks.

From a possible  income from pensions or  unemployment insurance  of approximately $13Ks.

The town will purchase culture on our behalf to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars .

Platinum sponsorships of several thousand will be purchased to help provide employment for musicians of a particular genre.

 $87 ks  for  contracts to  create  planting beds suitable for seeds  not natural to our environment.

Hundreds of thousands  for expertise on staff, plus  thousands more on consultants  to assist them in their labours.

Millions are planned to be spent on grandiose facilities  to make room for all the employees we have and are  planning  to hire.   Operating  costs will balloon commensurately.

Salaries will continue to rise as well as  being  re-evaluated  to cost even more.

Water meters will continue to be used to convey the  impression that what you use is what you pay for
Well that's false.

User fees will continue to be waived for groups with  political influence. But not for those without clout.

Heritage planning staff will be carried , while consultants are hired at $60ks a crack to protect a particular portion of  town heritage at the request of a group with a foundation of three.

Fees have been  paid  to finance litigation  by a politician against citizens,  in an  amount of $60 Ks.

And the beat goes on ..La...di...ya ...  di...ya.

At the end,  around the table, in the rarified atmosphere of  the town hall , there was applause at the  prospect .

I do not applaud the budget.

I understand why recipients of   largesse dispensed by Council are pleased by the outcome.

Visions of sugar plums dance in their heads.

While the spectre of  food bank is the lot of a growing number of others.

Gross inequity is not the basis of a just society.