ROBIN WILL HIDE HIS HEAD UNDER HIS WING,POOR THING

TAnonymous has left a new comment on your post "WAR HAS NO WINNERS": 

Why is anybody surprised by Sajan. After all he is a Liberal. The party that gave us a cabinet minister hailed to be from Afghanistan but actually born in Iran or better yet Jag Bhaduria.

Posted by Anonymous to  Our Town and Its Business at 30 April 2017 at 09:23

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And there was  Jean Augustine: came  to Canada as a domestic and left children in the care of her mother. 

Soon she quit domestic service job ,brought her children to Canada and claimed welfare assistance. While living off the state, she acquired education sufficient to become an elementary school teacher and from there was appointed school principal in very short order. 

Jean Chretien chose her as a candidate for a  riding predominantly Jamaican. Upon election, the Prime Minister appointed her Minister of State for Canadian Women's Affairs.

When Jag Bhaduria brought disrepute upon the Liberal Party and was expelled, Augustine and one other person of colour accused the government of racism. 

She retained her cabinet post. 

Bhaduria also kept his seat despite petitions in his riding demanding he be fired.  

He travelled extensively at government expense and competed for the nomination in the next election,

surrounded  by Sikh supporters. 

Not much sign there of an understanding of Canadian culture or traditions. 

Augustine's later bio did not include particulars of early beginnings  in Canada. 

Except for reporting the accusation against the party that gave her high opportunity ,no 

critical comment or editorial surfaced: nothing at all to indicate absent judgement.

No worse  than a cabinet minister lying about personal participation in a military expedition and 

despite clear evidence of complete lack of integrity or any understanding of any expected standard,

He is also apparently being allowed to keep his cabinet post. 

Politics is no worse and no better than any other profession. There are good guys and bad. The

difference is, if leaders don't do what they should ,voters most likely will and the good will be 

shoveled out with the bad .

Eventually, no decent candidates will put their names forward. We may be close to that point in 

Canada. 

We may have all the freedom of a democratic society but if there's nothing to choose between; 

When the North Wind Blows and we have nothing but snow, what will  Robin do then,poor thing?

WAR HAS NO WINNERS

I had given up on a response to my last post. Under the circumstance , it was  hard not to conclude the topic was without interest 

 

So...the comment was welcome on two scores. Someone else was interested and vastly better informed on the topic. 

My focus is on the lives at risk and family devastation.

It still is. 

I can't imagine when and where the protective devices listed in the comment may have been tested and proved effective in actual battle. 

I don't trust the military easily. 

I grew up during the Second World War. I believe,more than anything else, propaganda and Winston Churchill sustained the British long enough to outlast the Germans. 

It certainly wasn't Americans alongside. 

Poles rode out on horses to meet German tanks. The French had the Maginot Line which was never utilised because the Quisling government signed an early Concordat with the Nazis. 

The British were totally unprepared. Churchill had been dismissed as a warmonger until the day war was declared. 

 After it was over, books and movies mostly told of epic battles and stories of individual bravery. There was no shortage of material. Much of it could not be told during the hostilities. 

I was an avid reader and movies were a favourite past time. Even when there was no heat in the cinemas and regular power outages meant the movie was cut off. 

Oh how the misery lasted  for years after. 

Long ago, I came to my own private conclusion, there are no winners in war: no genius is employed. 

Losers are decided by whichever side makes the most or last mistake and resources  are exhausted.

And of course,  hundreds of thousands of dead, on all sides. 

At the end, German boys were taken from their classrooms, put Into uniform and sent to the Russian front. Allied soldiers were shooting German children. 

Hostilities between the States and Japan ended when the Atom Bomb was dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the full horror was realised. 

When the war  ended in Europe, the Americans brought German scientists to the States to continue 

the race to be first to develop the atom bomb

The lessons unevenly learned, are long forgotten. 

As far as  Trump and the American military are concerned, the Second World War and it's dreadful consequences might never have taken place. 

There were no winners : no gold, silver or bronze medalists.

SECOND THOUGHTS

USS Carl Vinson is the aircraft carrier the American president claimed was heading in an Armada to 

North Korea. He was kidding. The ship was nowhere near Korea. 

Officials as usual, were left to explain the difference between facts and the President running -off at the mouth. 

The Chinese are not amused . The crazy coot in power in North Korea is threatening to sink USS Carl Vinson. it would seem to be a logical response . 

It wouldn't even call for a nuclear option. Plain old-fashioned TNT,in sufficient quantity, would likely do the trick in short order. 

It seems likely for North Koreans not to sit and wait for the Americans to board the ninety-five planes and helicopters on the carrier and scoot over to drop bombs on their heads. 

How often did we hear the clown in the Oval Office talk about the foolishness of letting the

enemy know intent  beforehand? 

As noted, the Chinese are reported to be angry. 

There's a Joker in the White House. A Joker in Pyongyang .No Batman. 

 6,000 young Americans  on the USS Carl Vinson wherever she is at the moment. 

Seems likely they will need to be on board to bring the cruiser off the coast of Korea . 

A nuclear submarine is to join the fleet.

More young Americans on board : fathers ,sons,brothers,maybe mothers,daughters and sisters. 

6,000 souls and then some. 

At home, mothers,fathers,wives,children,siblings....waiting.

AS THINGS CHANGE,THEY REMAIN THE SAME

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "THERE'S ALWAYS ANOTHER SIDE":

I appreciate and respect the work and service firefighters provide to all of us. They truly are the first responders to an emergency. I've witnessed numerous emergencies where police haven't been around and had to respond and act as both firefighter and cop. Unfortunately their political influence has always been immeasurable to all politians along with the police, teachers and many other government unions. It should be of no surprise how their "collective" agreements are signed. 
Posted by Anonymous to  Our Town and Its Business at 14 April 2017 at 09:37

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Political influence of firefighters has deeper roots and less to do with the union than most realise.

Historically, for most of Ontario,Volunteer  Brigades were the initial and only organisation within 

a community. 

There may even still be small communities  in the Province dependent on Volunteer Firefighters 

for  programs that bring a community together ; from fire protection, organising baseball,support for widows and orphans and anything else that might require a collective effort. 

When I was first elected in Aurora, the Mayor and several Councillors were former Volunteers.

I soon learned that had been the ongoing pattern since the beginning of settlement.Everything grew out of that initial organisation. 

In my time the  Fire Chief was on the town's payroll. He was chosen from the membership by the 

Volunteers. He was in his mid-seventies, showing no signs of retirement. 

Firefighters were paid once a year; $5. a call. 

Council was organized in Standing Committees. Finance ,Works, Parks , Police ,Fire  and Bylaws.

Citizens served on boards and Commissions;Planning Board, Recreation Commission . A council member represented the town on these independent bodies. The library board was appointed by Boards of Education .The  Mayor was Council's representative. 

Aurora's  Reeve and Deputy Reeve represented the town at York County  and a town appointee served on the Holland Valley Conservation Authority. 

Standing committees numbered two members and a chair. 

Most Councillors chaired a committee and served as vice chair or member on another. 

All members were entitled to attend and participate in discussion at  committee level. Only

appointed members could vote. 

Members received staff advice at Committee level and recommended to Council.Only Councillors participated in Council debate .  Committee Reports and recommendations were presented by the Chair. The Chair  had to be prepared to respond to questions and support recommendations. 

The town was responsible only for services to property. Councillors soon learned what they needed to know to be accountable for  decisions made. The public were kept informed through the grape vine and two newspapers. Editorials  were published weekly.

Council meetings were not televised. Committee meetings were in camera. 

With ten times the population and elections reduced from once a year, to one in four,

turn-out was pretty much the same now as it was then.

THERE'S ALWAYS ANOTHER SIDE

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "THE ROOT OF THE PROBLEM": 

Maybe if they only fight fires 18 minutes a year, we really don't need them. It is worth the potential loss in property and lives I think to save that kind of money.  

If dress uniforms is an issue, why not take a page out of the military. The military provides standard work dress. Dress uniforms are purchased by the individual.  

Posted by Anonymous to  Our Town and Its Business at 13 April 2017 at 12:15

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The  argument is not that emergency services are not  essential. 

Fifty per cent of calls are for medical emergencies. 

Health care is a provincial responsibility. 

Local firefighting departments are obviously the agents capable of providing immeduate assistance. 

Cutting victims out of cars damaged in highway accidents is also the department's responsibility. 

Ongoing training is a priority and being prepared for natural disasters is also necessary. . 

There's no argument fire-fighters should not be adequately compensated for their  work. 

No contribution comes from the government level collecting resources from sin taxes to provide 

that service. 

That being said, the service is part of  larger organisation. Work conditions, pay and benefit 

packages are jealously regarded . Teachers, nurses, librarians, and top administrators are 

not  inclined to accept second place status and the race to the top has no finish line 

In Newmarket/Aurora, staff are engaged year round in e does rounds of "bargaining".

in arbitration.  

I think arbitration  is always lop-sided to the advantage of labour. But not to all. 

Arbitrated decision -makers are not accountable. 

Names are barely exchanged. 

In the  first police arbitration  in my experience ,the police received more than they requested.  

For decades ,municipal administrators have quietly,secretly,furtively, behind the scenes, for fear of offending our local  heroes and the public, petitioned successive Provincial governments , to no avail, to fix the "broken"  system of arbitration. 

Even while they themselves benefit exponentially from a process that bears no resemblance to 

bargaining in good faith. "Feeding at the public trough" is a phrase that echoes down the canyon 

over and over into the foreseeable future. 

 

It was no coincidence Dalton McGuinty was featured on the eve of his last campaign surrounded by 

firefighters in full firefighting gear holding up signs "Firefighters for Dalton McGuinty" . 

Police associations  are not permitted to participate in politics. They  don't have to. Firefighters do the job  for both. 

McGuinty had no shame. 

That  fellow O'Leary, candidate for leadership of the federal conservatives, has touched on the topic 

of generous pensions and long life expectancy.

It may be time for history to repeat itself.  

THE ROOT OF THE PROBLEM

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "AN OUTLINE OF FAILURE": 

14:04 - The money has already been spent by the Town and Region. I'm sure they've already ear marked the development money over at the Magna property and they're not moving out for another 5 yrs. 

Posted by Anonymous to  Our Town and Its Business at 10 April 2017 at 20:50

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That's a given. Provincial rules require five year master plans for every service provided .Development  charges arecalculated on the basis of the plans. That was the provincial solution to exercising control of municipal greed 

Just take it from developers. They can pay for it out of their profits. But of course they don't New home buyers pay for it. The. The rest of us pay for the operation of their facilities. There is no incentive to do 

more with less. 

For example, there's  far more down in arenas than time used. We used to rent prime  time to keep costs down for minor  hockey. We were up at 5 in the morning at the week-end with the youngest kids to play hockey. 

Nothing stands in the way of bureaucratic growth now.  It just grows and grows. 

An army of firefighters  are needed to man facilities paid for with DCs. Sleeping quarters, kitchens, recreation and lounge facilities must be provided for when they are not putting out fires. Which is ....almost always. 

Policemen do not sleep  in stations but they have cruisers,computers,uniforms, guns,boats snowmobiles helicopters and RVs and officers trained to operate all the toys. 

When I first participated  in public affairs, Professional Firefigters Association (the union) were in a labour dispute about firehall maintenance. I think it was in Scarborough. The argument was "professional firefighters " should not have to maintain firehalls. Competitions were held  between firehalls  for the nicest flower beds . It was how time was occupied while not fighting fires which was most of the time. 

When I was first elected, North York had recently carried out a study to determine how much time a firefighter actually spent fighting fires. It was 18 minutes in a year. The  question was posed, why were 

dress uniforms needed. They don't fight fires in dress uniforms. 

Now they spend four days living at the firehall and ten not working at all. Except for the private businesses operated in spare time to augment their living. 

I describe reality behind costs because police and firefighter service is the greatest expense, Wages and benefits , settled by arbitration. impact other compensation levels particularly at upper limits .

At lower  levels ,service by contract,people without benefits or security, working side by side are not treated equally. 

Development charges permeate the system of municipal services forever and a day and to the moon and back. 

A SLIP OF THE FINGER

RAnonymous has left a new comment on your post "AN OUTLINE OF FAILURE": 


Residential Development Charges Effective July 2016 - Single/Semi

Town of Aurora $20,977

Region of York 42,627

Education 4,340

$67,944 


Posted by Anonymous to  Our Town and Its Business at 10 April 2017 at 17:05

The  above comment is posted  here because my finger slipped and I wanted these figures public. 

If you read the page 13 Auroran story on development charges from beginning to end,the rational is clear. It doesn't  matter how big the screw-up  of the Joint Facility  project, it  doesn't really count 

because the money came from development charges,  not taxes. 

The Family Leisure Complex addition was also screwed-up. Work is still outstanding,

The contract wasn't finished on time. And it was over budget 

Apparently  no lessons were learned . 

On the other hand ,three previous capital projects were completed on time, within budget and under different supervision. Namely, Stronach Centre, Seniors'Centre and development of town-owned lands on Leslie Street. 

Director of Leisure Services was in charge of the first two. It was before half of his responsibilities were transferred to Director of Environment and Infrastructure,early in the Mormac regime, before Church Street School was spirited out from under heritage and culture centre to culture centre. 

Development of town owned land on Leslie Street came after Mormac became  history. Responsibility for supervision of the project was assigned to the Director of Recreation. 

Lessons  learned were obviously forgotten by the time the last two projects were undertaken. 

The CAO has since departed for greener pastures. The Director of Environment and Infrastructure 

Has since been terminated. 

If none of this makes any sense... It's because it doesn't .

But we do still have the elected body who carry ultimate responsibility. 

AN OUTLINE OF FAILURE

O" Meanwhile, the costs and funding of Aurora’s Joint Operations Centre is expected to come into focus on April 4 as Mr. Elliott presents a detailed financial summary of costs and work to date. In his new report to Council, he pegs the JOC coming in $103,027 further over budget which will continue to be funded through DCs.

The report also outlines “lessons learned” through the whole contentious process, recommending for the future “standardization of the Town’s internal project management framework, improved internal financing reporting and project management financial skills; that larger projects should have a financial analyst assigned to assist in the monitoring of project expenses; greater clarification of the roles of any steering or monitoring committee; improved clarity of project scope, inclusions and exclusions from the beginning with clarity for Council as well; improved understanding of the evolution of initial concept estimates through to final construction tender budgets; and clear separation of pre-construction costs and budgets (space needs, concept plans, location and site selection, and acquisition costs) from detailed design, construction and commissioning costs and budget.”

 

 Stephanie cut and copied the above from a four column story by Brock Weir. On page 13. of 

March 30 edition ,took up full width and half the length of the page. Mostly information.Except for the last two paragraphs . They are electric. 

The  chief financial officer reports to Council. 

Now that position was filled by the former chief administrative officer. No competition. No interview. No portfolio. Simply an announcement behind closed doors of an interim appointment made without authority or  knowledge of council. 

We later  learned the job was offered with coffee in a donut shop. The permanent  appointment was announced the same as the first.... behind closed doors. 

References to the Municipal Act's requirement of a competition and bylaw appointment were ignored.

Save for my own opposition, the decision was accepted as presented. 

That was ten years ago. Previously ,Aurora's new top financial officer  was employed for a year by a consultant and before that, served eleven years as treasurer, aka chief financial officer, in the town of Richmond Hill. 

Richmond Hill subsequently adopted a commission  system. The new top financial post was not offered to the treasurer. 

The paragraph copied from the Auroran contains  self -acknowledged absence of skills ordinarily and reasonably expected of the municipal financial officer. Remuneration is paid commensurate with required professional  attributes .

Sound judgement is expected with the package.