IT AIN'T NECESSARILY SO

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "IT MAY BE ABOUT HAVING FRIENDS IN THE RIGHT PLACE....": 

Geez, off to another OMB hearing we go. 

Posted by Anonymous to  Our Town and Its Business at 17 September 2016 at 12:15

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I read  Brock Weir's  news story again to be sure I had details straight. 

The addition to a two storey building is four not two. The proposal would triple height and size. 

The Committee  of Adjustment is an independent body. 

The  town must be informed and application for variance  must be advertised as soon as a date is set .  

In tnis instance ,Councillor Gaertner went the extra step and made sure the neighbours were aware. 

That too is a Councillor's responsibility. 

The C of A must notify relevant public agencies for professional input re impact of the variance. 

Council ,as Planning Board, is an agency.  Planning Board  input is required. 

The application is not for a change in use. 

The  use conforms.

The question is ,can they cram 78 more units onto this  site?

 Can they change location of the driveway and reduce a neighbour's property enjoyment?

Can they replace a two storey building with a building three times the height in a stabilized neighbourhood? 

CofA members are appointed residents required to adjudicate.

Councillors also are elected residents obliged to exercise authority. 

The question of going up four storeys in height and changing access for delivery trucks,garbage 

trucks and increase ambulance traffic without interfering with continued enjoyment of  neighbours' property is not insignificant. 

The need  for more is not public business. 

Murray and Seaton Drive are not Yonge Street. 

The site is not a vacant parcel of land subject to a plan of subdivision. 

The application is for a variance. Not a change in use. 

No planning arguments support the need for a variance. 

Institutions for senior care  is a lucrative and fast growing industry . The argument in support of adding seventy-eight units to an inadequate site is strictly economic. 

This council has removed several parcels of property from the revenue sector of the ledger during this term. They can hardly argued over-use of an inadequate site in an inappropriate location is in the public interest. 

Exploitation for private gain  is not a public function. 

Approval is contra- indicated.

Whether sufficient grounds exist for successful appeal of a  negative CofA decision, is a matter for the applicant to decide. 

He won't know that until the decision is made. 

IT MAY BE ABOUT HAVING FRIENDS IN THE RIGHT PLACE.

There's a wrinkle  to a news story in The Auroran this week. 

Planning staff have been working with a property owner on Murray Drive to double square footage of 

a retirement centre and add seventy-eight units,more than double the current accommodation. 

No change in zoning is required. The current facility blends nicely with the neighbourhood. 

Two large schools in the vicinity generate substantial traffic. Both have doubled in size since  

first built. Buses, family and staff cars generate heavy traffic and parking on the street. 

 A town park completes the campus. Soccer and baseball facilities also generate heavy traffic.

On -street parking  frequently reduces one road to single lane traffic. 

Frontage of the proposed building expansion is on a major traffic collector. 

Area resources are stretched to the limit. You  have to live in the neighbourhood to appreciate the 

circumstance. 

 

Neighbours are rightfully concerned the proposal will create additional problems.

They have the impression, they have no right to be heard. 

Town staff explained they have been working with the applicant since May. Time limit for a decision has expired and there's a right to an OMB appeal. 

Therein lies information witheld. 

Because the site is inadequate approval of a variance is necessary for the plan to proceed. 

The Committee of Adjustment must hold a hearing. 

Neighbours are entitled to be heard . 

No reference is made to timing of the hearing . 

No advice given on the right to be heard. 

Council has a right to oppose the application. 

The news account  indicates no intention to do so. 

Contrast this account with this Council's response to neighbours of a nearby disused golf course. 

And  $3 million plus spent  on an unnecessary park in Mavrinac neighbourhood. 

GET WITH THE PROGRAM

It gets harder to find anything  interesting or entertaining to watch on television.

The Mentalist has been replaced with a Martha Stewart cooking.

The Mentalist was on it's third or fourth re-runs. The last of the series was soppiest but easier to watch than Martha Stewart cooking. 

My grandchildren don't watch television any more. They talk politics though. They get tneir

news from Facebook, U-tubes and other computer devices. That's scary. Accuracy or deliberate 

misrepresentation, you can never be certain. 

I find myself surfing  cable channels more than ever.  I don't expect to miss Peter Mansbridge no matter who replaces him. 

Stephen Corbett is currently celebrating his first year replacing David Letterman. 

Letterman's  retirement was timely. He had a harder time hiding distaste for vacuous performance of many interviewees . It was uncomfortable to watch. 

Corbett tries very hard and that's the problem. Contrivance kills the lurking  humour. 

At least ten hosts people late night T.V.  All trying too hard. It's a surfeit of endeavour.  

Larry Wilmore's show was terminated. After the White House Press dinner I thought the powers 

would  pick the moment. The sight of TWO black Americans openly sharing satisfaction was  too 

much for them.

When surfing, I stop at Don Lemon on CNN to watch, in horrible fascination, how bias

dominates.

 

Last night, five days into it, CNN was still talking about Hillary Clinton's non -transparency in health 

matters. Collapsing in the heat from pneumonia could not  be a fault. So they kept on playing  the video and accusing her of keeping it secret. 

News of the bellicose billionaire cheating on the rules for charitable foundations came to light but wasn't allowed to overtake juicy details about Hillary's triglycerides and cholesterol counts. 

The author of a book on misuse of Trump Foundation funds was Lemon's guest. The host  was attempting to switch from Trump's disgusting behaviour  to Hillary, when the guest interrupted  and demanded he....

 Stick to the point...this is not about Clinton....we are discussing Trump and his mis-use of  funds. 

If CNN ever has to review their coverage of this presidential election, most of them will have a hard time watching the re-runs. They otta be ashamed. 

Which brings me back to how news is garnered these days by The  Young. 

I have sought to obtain answers fromThe Source, straight from the horse's mouth, so to speak.

I've lobbed questions at Kyle Peterson who is one of two Honourable Members representing Aurora 

in Canada's Parliament. He posts on Facebook and contributes a column in The Auroran. 

What can he tell us about a Bill put forward by Cabinet Member John McCallum, to provide refugees with immediate right to voting privilege  and about Canada's adoption of a section of Sharia law ?

Is it true and if so, what section and why?

Mr. Peterson has asked that I e-mail him personally.  Which at the very least, seems to be lost opportunity. 

WHO IS COLIN POWELL?

 Former Secretary of State, Colin Powell's e-mails have been hacked. 

He is revealed . He's not what we thought. 

Colin Powell is clearly an ambitious personality. 

Did he make his mark as Secretary of State ?  Not notably. Vice President Dick Cheney was much

in the forefront. Donald Rumsfeldt was also prominent . Colin Powell seemed to have been a cipher appointed for appearances. 

Oh-la -de-da ...why should that surprise ?

Colin Powell  did not reach heights achieved as an army wallah without really trying. 

He was Secretary of State when the U.S. invaded  Iraq. That decision has proven to be cataclysmic. 

Did he ever accept responsibility? Not that I recall. 

He was touted as  potential Republican presidential nominee. It never went any further. He had a good image but no political background or backers apparently. 

His career in public service seems to be  ended. 

He probably commands  substantial speaker fees. 

He's not old. He's not worn out. He is not likely content. 

Colin Powell may even be harbouring an element of bitterness. Envy perhaps of people in the game.

 Idling his time with  e-mails to friends like former Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice. 

Making uncomplimentary remarks about challengers  in a race he didn't get a chance to run. 

I think his reported e-mail comments reveal things about Colin Powell . 

Human weakness best  kept private. 

BIAS IS VALUE ADDED

I shared a post on Facebook that provides the properties of margarine and a dozen reasons why it should not be eaten by turkeys or people. 

It was apparently first produced to fatten turkeys and killed them instead. 

A few things were added and  people are still using it . 

I confess  to a powerful bias. Without being aware of all the negatives I always hated margarine. 

It's how I know I am capable of  strong bias.

I must have butter on my bread. I don't like dry bread or mayonnaise on my bread. I like enough butter 

to know it's there. 

I don't use skimmed milk . Milk is 90% water. Skimmed milk is milky water. 

Fat free sour cream is a misnomer. Real cream can not be fat free. 

Cream is all fat. Fat free can not be cream. It's a scam.

2% fat Greek yogurt is more expensive than yogurt with 9% fat. Why is that? 

Butter is separated cream. Cream cheese,whipped cream,coffee cream , all are deliciously 

rich with fat.

All are more expensive than milk. How can products with fat removed cost more? 

It's  about  marketing; telling people what they want to hear. 

Politicking is the same. When I was first elected ,I watched the old hands. One in particular. No I won't tell you his name. He's long gone and his story had a sad ending. 

He was a small man,a fast talker, a gambler and successful in politics for a long time.

The key to his success was surprisingly simple. It wasn't about how much he knew.  

It was what the other fellow didn't that gave him the edge. 

It was an easy tactic that never appealed to me. I developed a bias. 

I wanted to be, the kind of politician, I wanted to have represent me.

I think bias is natural . If you think hard about something, you're bound to come down on one side or the other. 

Some bias are more reasonable than others. 

Some are just disgusting. 

Power makes the difference. 

SO MUCH MUSCULARITY IN THE MIX

Fareed Zakaria,host of a CNN show,writes a weekly column for the Washington Post.He's up there with Charlie Rose as a serious journalist. 

He was a guest on a show  last week. I tuned in, in time to hear him say , "We are in the last two minutes of the program and we are just beginning to talk about Hillary Clinton"

The rest of the program  had been taken up discussing  the male candidate.

The point was made for anyone  listening.  

Charlie Rose had several male journalist guests during the previous week to speak about the presidential race. 

One spoke of how the male candidate performs marvelously compared to Hillary who doesn't.

The preference was clearly for performance. No matter the content. 

Another day, Dan Balze, a senior journalist with the Washington Post cited the   "muscularity"

of the male performance as opposed to Hillary.  

Ian Bremner of the Eurasia Group and Mike Allan of Political exposed equally blatant bias and 

Charlie challenged none of them. 

Don Lemon had the new manager of the performer candidate as a guest on CNN. 

He referred to " all the crimes Clinton  has committed". Lemon stopped and made it clear, this was a T.V. Station and it had to be said , Hillary Clinton had never been charged with any crime. 

But the barracuda could be counted on to keep repeating the lies. It's clearly the reason for his 

appointment.  

Hillary has been diagnosed with pneumonia . She attended the Memorial for 9/11 anyway and was overwhelmed after ninety minutes in the heat. That she succumbed to the heat  is now added to the list of her failings. 

Refusing to submit. is just another example of  her lack of transparency. 

The woven orange mat flapping about his head. The total lack of integrity. The lies and distortions. The profanity and gutter level accusations. The cheating. The contradictions, flip flops and  frequent incitement to hatred and violence. And the refusal to release his tax returns . None of that disturbs the male equilibrium, so long as the performance is strong and weighted with muscularity. 

Systemic bias is a modern term. It describes bias that permeates a system in every sense.

Universal engagement means it's never acknowledged. 

There's little doubt the media,like the rest, is afflicted with systemic bias. Even the best are unaware. 

The challenge for Hillary is that much harder. 

Her courage and endurance that much more impressive.

The battle continues. 

DOWN ALONG THE ROCKY SHORE

Young family members are marrying and setting up homes . Yarn in baskets waits to be worked into afghans. 

A new generation of small children to knit and sew for and a cupboard with yarn and fabric. 

Small pieces of vintage furniture collected for the purpose wait to be restored and may or may 

not have a place of honour in a new home. 

Fall is almost upon us . Beautiful country drives are all around.Not far distant, in the opposite direction from the City, views are spectacular. 

On a recent Friday evening , daughter Heather and grandson Adam and I drove to Orangeville Fairgrounds to enjoy the RCMP Musical Ride. Out past Kettleby, through Pottageville,up 

to Schomberg and across hills and valley fields of harvest with well-maintained farm properties. 

It was a warm evening. The air was filled with scents of variety. Colours in the fields were precisely 

differentiated by ripening grain and produce. Fields of sunflowers nodded their heads in friendly greeting as we passed by. 

Stands of trees or a solitary shape outlined  the horizon. 

On the way home the sun was setting.

We used country roads, mostly paved, passing through, here and there ,small clusters of neat 

homes nicely separated by owners choice from the rest of humanity. 

The evening's event was a fund-raiser for a helping program for young people. The turn-out was

 very successful. 

The drive was a trip down memory lane except for obvious signs of greater affluence.

In the midst of goodwill, beauty, apparent tranquillity, abundance, joy and peace, it would 

be easy and  probably advisable to detach oneself from all the rest. 

My grandson Myles and Mary, have a new girl child this week. Number four in less than four years. She weighs 7lbs 14ozs. She has large strong hands. Her name is Neala. She will take her rightful place with all the rest. 

Certainly I could turn my back on the political clamour. Who has more right? 

I've never been more tempted and there are options galore. 

But....I think not. 

ASK AWAY

Anonymous  has left a new comment on your post "WHAT WAS THE QUESTION?": 

The town of Brampton has just laid off 25 "managers."

Who and what their roles were in the managerial hierarchy isn't clear. What is apparently clear is that the town will save $2 million a year. On a strictly mathematical basis that's $80,000 per head.

What could Aurora do along this line?

Can we ask? Can we find out?

Posted by Anonymous to  Our Town and Its Business at 8 September 2016 at 19:24

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Brampton's population was forecast for 2016 to be 756,000. It has been a city since 1974. The operating budget in 2016 was $ 607 million. 

Brampton is not a comparator with Aurora .

 Aurora is a fraction of the size and a large percentage of our urban area has been transferred from private to public ownership so potential for revenue shrinks even more. 

No good planning is involved and certainly no advantage to the municipality's economy. 

Our  population is a tenth of Brampton's  and the budget is about the same factor. 

The question can certainly be asked. Relevant answers are unlikely.

 A reduction of managers will not realise immediate savings to Brampton.

Redundant employees are entitled to severance packages. Rule  of thumb is a month's wages for each year of employment. Twenty-four years of employment would  mean two years salary. 

The  municipality would have the expense without return. 

Savings from space,furnishings, equipment for each employee  are not realized. The expenditure is not recoverable. 

Vacation time, sick time, maternity leave, statutory holidays, birthdays, compassionate leave, benefit and pension plans and mat leave replacement are ancillary cost. Maternity leave can be taken by

both parents.

2016 is the second of a four year term. Cutting payroll costs may look good in campaign literature.

With a budget like Brampton, it's meaningless.

Brampton had a 1.2% increase  in 2016/ 2018 tax period. 

According to news reports, Aurora is considering 4% in 2017. 

WHAT WAS THE QUESTION?

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "LAW AND ORDER QUIVERS ON THE BRINK": 

What's the "REAL" difference between a referendum and an election, in practical terms?

With the one you end up with a DECISION, the ANSWER to a SINGLE QUESTION. There is discussion, debate, advertising, mud-slinging, name-calling, various camps composed of various opinions, as civilized or as nasty as you want.

With an election you are theoretically choosing between people of different political persuasions, some intelligent, some stupid, some opinionated left, right or centre. And in the parliamentary system the leader of the party winning the most seats gets to be something called 'prime minister.'

This person is usually fairly unpopular to all, his/her side and the other/s. But he/she gets to lead and do untold damage for up to four years. A referendum is 'bang bang' and then deal with the consequences.

Has the cause of whatever been advanced by the one event versus the other? I doubt it. 

Posted by Anonymous to  Our Town and Its Business at 6 September 2016 at 21:49

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A referendum and a general election are not the same thing. 

A report recently presented locally, in historical terms, spelled out terms of a referendum. 

My recollection is as follows: the answer must be Yes or No.

The question must be equally direct and without equivocation. 

Not all questions can be posited in simplistic terms.

It follows, a referendum is not a satisfactory device to obtain an answer to every question. 

It's less of a definitive answer than an opinion poll. 

A referendum vote must be a majority of electors entitled to vote. 

Not a majority of those who choose to vote. 

A referendum vote does not engender decision. 

The elected body has sole authority to pass legislation.  

They are accountable. 

For good or ill, they make decisions,right or wrong, for the nation .

I doubt your assessment of a Prime Minister or Premier's authority is widely shared.

LAW AND ORDER QUIVERS ON THE BRINK

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "LATINO CLUMP DUMPS TRUMP": 

You get what you deserve. 

Posted by Anonymous to  Our Town and Its Business at 6 September 2016 at 11:48

No facile, glib ,worn-out expression fits the nightmare scenario  loose in the United States in the current presidential election campaign. 

There's a malaise abroad. 

Public respect for law and order is all that separates nations.

It's paper thin. 

Nothing is so rock-hard secure, it can't be blown apart by the simple gesture of a solitary sports figure refusing to stand for the national anthem. 

No serious minded politician ever undervalues public respect for law and order. Nor can harm be underestimated, when the forces of law and order do not respect the cause they serve. 

I'm not sure how but since the Brexit vote in The U.K. I've been receiving a weekly briefing from The Guardian. The picture it presents of British governing is truly amazing. 

Because of an ill-thought referendum, decided without facts and slipped in by simple majority, the U.K. has not only had  a change in leadership, the party platform  on which the government was last elected has been reversed ...with seeming acquiessence from all quarters. 

Prime Minister David Cameron who created the debacle went to the Queen and said :

I made a boo-boo ,please accept my resignation and let me out. 

And the Queen said :  O.K. ...on your way, Silly-Billy. 

If ever there was an occasion for a Monarch to use judgement for the good of the nation, this was it. 

Cameron and his Party were elected to govern for four years. An election is final. 

Nothing  happened to relieve him of the responsibility. 

The Queen should have said : I'll take it under advisement and get back to you on that Mr.Smooth-faced  Baby-boy Prime  Minister. 

Advice should have been:  a general election was held, Cameron was elected on a particular platform. We're stuck with that. 

No half-assed referendum changes it. 

Nothing does. 

Cameron  made the mess,Cameron must clean it up. 

No  formal vote of non-confidence brought the government down. 

The government stands. 

If ever the Monarchy had purpose and meaning, this was the moment. 

The moment has passed.

History may record it as the last gasp. 

And so it should .

Did the people deserve it. 

It's not what they voted for. 

LATINO CLUMP DUMPS TRUMP

Saturday: 

Leaders of a recently formed Latino Stump for Trump group publicly dumped Trump 

The question is .....what made them clump for him in the firstplace? Who paid them ? 

Maybe money was left-over from the fund-raiser  for veterans.The  bully-of -the-town had that after offending them soon after kick-off. 

He  said he likes people who don't get captured. 

A few characters ID as veterans joined him on stage for photo ops soon after. 

Sunday: Rudy Giuliani, on CNN, interpreted the candidate's policy on immigration. 

Basically,Giuliani said the candidate didn't mean what he said, he really meant what Giuliani

said .

The candidate offered contradictory versions of the policy, depending on the venue.

Giuliani's version didn't fit any. 

No more than the candidate fit into a singing black congregation in Detroit on Sunday. 

Maybe they had a building fund that needed a boost . 

On Saturday , CNN  also noted it was  270 days since Hillary Clinton  held a press conference. 

On Sunday, they  referred to the number of times(30)  a detail could not be recalled out of  fifteen-thousand unidentified e-mails. 

Fifteen thousand unidentified e-mails... Fifteen thousand. 

How is that imaginable let alone conclusive of guilt?

CNN has a policy that  every time they report something negative about the Beast from the Nether  World,they have to match it with something negative about Hilary Clinton to maintain balanced reporting...probably  a panel decision. 

So what, if she doesn't hold a press conference  ? 

Who cares? 

Who is served by a press conference?

Why should she trust them ?  ....the steely-eyed Wolf Blitzers, Anderson Coopers, carefully coiffed Jake Tapper and others.

All more intent on competing  for recognition for ferociousness in their own field, than anything they contribute to the grace of the nation. 

It's a squalid, crass and ugly mess. 

It was never going to be anything else since the circus performer entered the race for President.

And the  press decided it was entertainment.  

The humor industry entered the fray with gusto. 

The obscenity ,like Topsy, just grows and grows. 

THE ANSWER , MY FRIEND...WE NEED TO KNOW

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "WHAT DO THE CANCER FUNDS ACCOMPLISH ?": 

If you look into the petition, the drug is approved by Health Canada but not approved for subsidy until each province body approves it.  

Drugs are expensive. No question, perhaps some of the money raised by people walking, running, biking, etc. should be directed to a fund that pays for expensive drugs.  

Posted by Anonymous to  Our Town and Its Business at 1 September 2016 at 08:19

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My impression is Health Canada has approved trials in Canada. The Provinces have not approved payment of the drugs during trials. 

My questions are twofold.

Why are the drugs so horrendously expensive? It's almost like taking hostage.

Would they be so expensive if governments and health benefit plans were not paying bills ? 

And...how much if any...are the Canadian Cancer Society and Health Canada contributing to 

Research? 

Certainly the impression of  devoted volunteers is that they are raising funds to find a cure.If that's not true,why do they believe it. Why are many dying, when there's a drug that can save them ? 

If Pfizer is free to charge thousands of dollars for one dose of the drug,does that mean they paid one hundred per cent of research costs . 

If they did, and found a cure, what is being accomplished by the millions  of dollars contributed by the volunteers ,here, in the States and elsewhere?

I don't know these answers . All I know is, year after year ,millions,if not billions , are being funneled into the hands of government and the Cancer Society  and when a cure is found, the cost  is prohibitive to  patients who need it for survival. 

I think that question needs to be answered .