I have a very active Facebook group page for Perspective Ottawa where many comments are posted (http://www.facebook.com/groups/perspectiveottawa/).
You can also now directly post the group wall by sending at email to this address: perspectiveottawa@groups.facebook.com.
If you are not yet a member of the group, please join. And if you are, please share this note with your friends so they too can participate in the discussions.
Thanks.
Blake
With the election a mere 17 days away, the provincial Progressive Conservative party has not yet plainly defined the ballot question: Are you happy with the programs and policies of Dalton McGuinty and the governing Liberals with the full understanding that if re-elected you will pay more in taxes and fees to support these policies or do you want to stop the growth in the tax burden on you and make government prioritize and spend more smartly?
Simply put, do you want to vote to pay more taxes to keep growing …
I should have written about this last month but didn’t get around to it so I’m doing it now. I want to say congratulations to Councillor Maria McRae, city staff, the staff at Ottawa Community Housing and in particular, Jo-Anne Poirier. Remember the blow up over the new pavilion in Ledbury Banff community? A new building was provided by the city but they opened it up to the surrounding area which meant that the local summer programs were squeezed out of its use. It wasn’t until a very public scene …
Lately, City Hall has been listing to the nanny state side. After opening up to the ideas of bar patios, they are now looking at more smoking restrictions and potentially more late night restrictions in the Byward market on restaurants and bars.
But I think there is a little bit of hope. Councillor Tim Tierney actually asked how much the new smoking restriction would cost the city in terms of enforcement, staffing and signage. Good question! That’s the first question every councillor should ask.
I’ve long been a proponent of every motion …
The headline in today’s Ottawa Sun (online edition) is Byward booze out of hand: Cop board boss. I hope this doesn’t lead to a confrontation between the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) and local bar owners.
It is very important that local entertainment venues in Ottawa abide by the laws and regulations of the city and province but in the same vein, government should support a thriving and dynamic industry in the nation’s capital. The Byward market is no more densely populated with bars than are some areas in …
According to David Reevely of the Ottawa Citizen and a couple of friends who called me yesterday, my previous post (2nd worst premier leads in polls), was over top. Okay, I’ll agree begrudgingly.
I should not have said that Premier Dalton McGuinty is purposefully trying to make Ontario the worst economic performer in Canada. I’m sure that he is not trying to do this. But for all his programs and promises and taxes, the province is trending that way.
The tendency in politics lately has been to not fight politics on a …
The issue in this provincial election cannot be more clear. Does the economy and taxes matter to you, the voter?
Yesterday, two stories were published that make the answer to that question seem unclear. First, a new Ipsos-Reid shows McGuinty ahead in the polls. Juxtapose that to yesterday’s Fraser Institute report that shows that Dalton McGuinty has the second worst economic record of all premiers. Does that mean that Ontario voters like being second last? I don’t think so.
The point is that the Liberal strategy is to promise spending programs to …
Fellow blogger A Guy Watching Politics recently published a blog that visually depicts what the Liberal and Progressive Conservative leaders are saying but he did it by looking at how many times they used key words. Using a process called a word cloud, it quickly shows what are the important issues each leader is putting forward.
Very nice Guy!
You can read his blog here: A campaign underway and more Hudak clouds
As recently reported, Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson sent out five questions to local candidates on a number of city issues and asking how they and their party stand on each item. Responses are to be published before the end of September I think. I have no problem with Mayor Watson sending out questionnaires to all candidates about their positions on city related files such as transit and shares social costs. The question is how is he planning on using it? If the plan is to hold elected MPPs to their …
OMG. Sorry I’m so late posting my blog today but I really couldn’t stop laughing long enough to type.
Yesterday, the CBC posted a news story where the Liberal finance minister, Dwight Duncan made a promise that if re-elected in October, the Liberals will guarantee that they will not raise taxes or implement new fees.
I’ll wait for you to stop laughing and to regain your composure…
This is the same government that said in 2007 that they would hold the line on taxes then introduced the HST and tried to introduce the …
Elections are times for people to discuss key issues and push for what they believe in. I believe that this Ontario election should be about the future of Ontario’s Social Safety Net and Welfare state. But lets first lets look at elsewhere this debate is happening. In South Korea the conservative mayor of Seoul has stepped down after failing to pass his version of state funded school lunch program. His proposed idea would see an increase of support to only hose who are in need of the program, while leaving …
Mayor Jim Watson is right to prod the PC Leader Tim Hudak about honouring the commitment that the current premier has made to Ottawa and other cities. Ottawa is banking on the costs of certain services being uploaded to the province. If some future costs are not offset by provincial dollars, it would mean having to make cuts somewhere in the city budget or raising property taxes. An Ottawa Sun article (City, Grits to Hudak: Will Tories upload costs?) puts the facts out on the table from the city’s point …
Today is writ day.
On October 6th, Ontarians will get to decide who they want to govern Ontario over the next four years.
The fact is, however, many Ontario voters are not even aware that an election is in the air (Ottawans barely aware of election). Even though a number of candidates have been campaigning for months, many people are just not tuned in. At least they don’t realize that they are.
Every time I fill up with gas, I am reminded that the Dalton McGuinty government is responsible for around ten cents …
This letter was recently posted:
Dear Friends,
Tens of thousands of Canadians have written to me in recent weeks to wish me well. I want to thank each and every one of you for your thoughtful, inspiring and often beautiful notes, cards and gifts. Your spirit and love have lit up my home, my spirit, and my determination.
Unfortunately my treatment has not worked out as I hoped. So I am giving this letter to my partner Olivia to share with you in the circumstance in which I cannot continue.
I recommend that Hull-Aylmer …
Sad news today about NDP leader Jack Layton. He was a fighter to the very end.
Many of us knew things were bad when In July when Jack stepped aside to take on up his second fight with cancer. The rapidity from the opening day of parliament (June 3) to that news conference on July 25 gave many of us concern about his prognosis. But he fought his personal fight the way that he fought his political fights; with grace and focus and determination.
You don’t have to agree with his politics …
The Ottawa Police Service has published a Racial Profiling Policy. If one takes the time to read it, you would see that it’s not an earth shattering policy announcement but more a guideline of common sense. It is also not a knee jerk reaction to the recent spate of allegations of police misconduct. In fact, it is the result of an on-going process that started more than a year ago.
Remember the famous November 2010 racial diversity discussions that deteriorated into a screaming match about Stacy Bonds? Well, that meeting was …
Yes…Super Councillor Diane Holmes can stop passed motions in a single process review (or many little ones).
If there was any doubt that Councillor Diane Holmes doesn’t have any clout in her ward, then this blog should clear up that issue. Since passing a resolution giving permission to MacClaren’s on Elgin to install a patio in November 2010, a most beautiful summer has come and gone and the patio is built but yet to open to the public.
I don’t know all the details but I bet that Councillor Holmes office has …
The Gulags of old Russia may be gone but a new Gulag holds everyone in a prison. Every time I hear an elitist say we can’t go back I cringe and grind my teeth until my wife insists I stop that irritating sound. Debt is the prison and we are the prisoners. We are the slaves. There was a time and place in history when personal and government debt did not exist.
In the early 20th century with the advent of electric washing machines, electric stoves and toasters you could put …
A Guy Watching Politics makes the point Canada risks going the way of the Tea Party politics. I’m not sure Canada is espousing the same type of politics as in the US but as usual, it a thoughtful read.
And The Other Harper takes us totally away from politics and into the fanciful world of soap operas and their turn to the Truman Show-esque turn to product placement as a way to survive dwindling ratings.
The World Famous Dan Shields is always good for the laugh. By the time you read this, …
Many times, politicians use the two phrases interchangeably and they are not. The drive to bring taxes down, as in the US, to the lowest possible and to get government out of the job of providing certain safety net services is far different than the desire to root out waste in the government and to use tax dollars sparingly.
The current debate in the US is about what the government should do versus what should be left to private industry. There is a certain faction of the politico in the US …
