It has been said that Liberals ask “How can government solve the problem, ” where as Libertarians ask “How can the individual solve the problem?”.  If it is any sign that there is truth in that statement, one need only look at the Throne Speech from Kathleen Wynne.  After having expanded her cabinet to include 27 ministers, it is hard to see how anyone can believe she will actually make the tough decisions needed to get the economy back on track.

Some of the most interesting phrases in this speech included “The tools of progress must be forged in the fire of our collective will” (On twitter @LukewSavage questioned if that was an intentional shout out to Lenin).  She speech also said “We all gaze upon different skylines”.  Another beautiful image, though I question its relevance.  There was also mention of a new youth advisory council.

In short, the speech had many beautiful words and symbols, but lacked on meaningful content and solid plans.  As the new Premier-Agriculture Minister her speech lacked real content about agriculture.  The Liberals did not tell us how government would solve the problem, however they vaguely alluded to job creation, and various changes that would be good for Ontario.  Unfortunately, they did not leave much room for the individual to solve the problem either.

Tim Hudak, leader of the official opposition said his party would vote against the speech: “A little bit of PC, a little bit of NDP and a whole lot of Dalton McGuinty isn’t going to get us out of this mess . . . we’re not going to be supporting the throne speech.”  Andrea Horwath, leader of the NDP, seemed open to compromise.  Regardless, the deciding factor will be the budget.  With a shaky minority government, and a new Premier, Ontario could be headed into an election any time now.  We know that Tim Hudak wants an election, as the PC’s have nominated most of their candidates.  We certainly know that Kathleen Wynne wants to hold onto power.  The only question is the NDPs. Do they want to pick up a few seats, or exert their influence over the Liberals and shift the budget to the left?  Horwath is seeking a job-subsidy program for youth employment, corporate tax reform, a reduction in car insurance rates, and improved home care for seniors.  Over the next few weeks Ontario will see if she is asking too much, or if it’s the cost of compromise for Ontario’s Liberal Party.

The first item has been all over various Toronto and national news media.  The Liberal Party of Ontario recently chose a new leader for the party, a lady named Kathleen Wynne.  As the Liberals are the governing party, she is automatically the Premier of Ontario, and the first female Premier of the Province.  The House has only just resumed sitting this week following the resignation of the former Premier, Dalton McGuinty and the convention to choose a new leader.  Some Honourable Members of the opposition parties are demanding Ms Wynne take a lie detector test.  I’ll tell you why.

During the campaign leading up to the last provincial election, the Liberal Party did something that appears to have had as its motive nothing more than political gain. During the campaign, Dalton McGuinty announced the cancellation of the contract for at least one new gas-fired electric plant.  The one plant I am sure about was in a riding held, at the time, by the Liberals, but the people living in that riding were very opposed to the plant being there.  To prevent that riding from voting for one of the other parties to punish the Liberals, (and possibly costing him a majority [which he didn’t get anyway]) he cancelled the plant.  According to government figures, the cancellation and relocation of the plant will cost taxpayers (me) approximately $230,000,000 however figures from both the opposition parties and outside sources peg the actual cost at double that.

Ms Wynne was part of the re-election team when that decision was made.  She maintains that while she was part of the planning team, she was not involved in that cancellation discussion or decision.  These Members from the benches opposite are demanding she take a lie detector test to prove that she didn’t know about the decision.  I’m not a fan of the Liberal Party of Ontario, but perhaps rather than just have the Premier of Ontario take a lie detector test, all Honourable Members of the House should so do.  Just sayin’.

The other item is one I heard on 680 News, a news radio station in Toronto.  The cab driver had that station on while he drove me home.  According to this report, after five years of DNA research and other genetic testing based on samples of hair and what I shall politely call bodily excretions, scientists have proven the existence of Bigfoot/Sasquatch/whatever you want to call him.  Apparently this creature is part of the Homo Sapiens family.  As I facetiously remarked to the cab driver, who is a friend and someone I drove with, “Having driven nights, I’m almost positive I had him in my cab one or two Saturday nights once the bars closed.”  So who knows – maybe those stories of dinosaurs still living in inaccessible parts of the world aren’t so far-fetched after all.

Enjoy your day and remember to hug an artist – we need love too.  And no, I wouldn’t want one living in my building.

Cat.

Just an observation on my recent posting “Stick to the topic”, which dealt with the fact spam rarely has any bearing on the actual content of the posting it is intended as a comment for.  I must have really tagged it well, for I just deleted another 12 spam messages intended as comments on that.  And they all prove my point.

C.

Hope she’ll make teachers happy~

Low expectations.~

Prorogation – that’s a funny little word, but it means that someone has suspended your Democracy. In the case of Harper before and McGuinty today, prorogation of our Governments has been by men who didn’t have the votes of a majority of voters to give them the authority to act as majority governments. And when in the election process did they tell us that they would prorogue government – what ever happen to mandate of governments to act as they have outlined in their election platforms? Another plank of Democracy is destroyed by men who care for nothing for our Democracy, but only act to keep their asses out of the fire they themselves had built.

What corrupt and inadequate government gives one man such power to act in such corruption of freedoms and rights? I will answer, a system that has been much too long in use.

Who is outraged by this anti-democratic action? Who wants to do more than to moan and bellyache? Is there no one today that knows what Democracy is? Is there no one who knows how to act free?

Contact me if you refuse to be just another sheep that is done upon. Contact me if you want to retain your right to agency to act freely.  pushinback@yahoo.ca , or 519-697-5839

The announcement came at an emergency dinner-hour cabinet meeting at Queen’s Park.

“It is time for the next Liberal premier of Ontario,” McGuinty said, his voice breaking as he sat on the stage before his caucus. “It is time for renewal.”

McGuinty said he has asked the Liberal party president to organize a leadership convention as soon as possible, and he said he would remain as MPP of his Ottawa-area riding until the next general election.

“I’m very surprised,” said University of Windsor political science professor Lydia Miljan.”My sense of these things is that usually when a leader does poorly on an election campaign that a few days after the campaign they talk with their advisers and decide to step down.”

Liberal MPPs and staffers appeared shocked by the decision, with many of the latter standing outside the caucus meeting wearing grim expressions.

The premier’s announcement came after he spent several minutes extolling the record of his government, which won strong majorities in his first two elections but was reduced to a minority in 2011.

Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty, left, embraces his wife Terri McGuinty, right, after announcing he is stepping down from his post in Toronto on Monday, October 15, 2012. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Michelle Siu

He then said he sought prorogation because the government needs time to either work with public-sector unions in negotiating wage freezes, or to find a compromise with either the opposition PCs or NDP on a legislative solution.

But that decision came mere hours after McGuinty’s finance minister and Windsor-Tecumseh MPP Dwight Duncan delivered a fall economic update in which he was upbeat about the prospect of working something out with the Tories.

“The fact that we are a year into this government and he’s deciding to do it at this point is highly unusual,” said Miljan.

“Also the way it’s been done, it looks like everyone’s been caught off guard. There haven’t been any trial balloons out there or any grumblings in the back. I’m very curious as to the rationale for it.”

Windsor Mayor Eddie Francis interrupted city council Monday night with the news from Queen’s Park.

“Premier McGuinty has been a real good friend to the City of Windsor,” Francis said.

He said the Liberal leader came through for Windsorites “during our darkest hour,” with large amounts of economic stimulus spending. The decision to invest in the $1.4-billion Windsor-Essex Parkway also “came at a time when we needed it most.”

The casino expansion and convention centre was another large-scale project that helped the Windsor economy and for which Francis gave thanks to the premier.

“It was a surprise, obviously it wasn’t expected,” Francis said of the resignation.

Speculation had already begun Monday night about McGuinty’s successor, with Duncan being a possible candidate.

A spokeswoman from his office said Duncan would not be commenting on McGuinty’s resignation, nor Duncan’s leadership ambitions,  Monday night.

Former Essex Liberal federal riding president and provincial riding director Richard Hartley said he hopes Duncan goes for the leadership.

“I hope he does,” said Hartley.
“He’s a fine man and has contributed a lot to Ontario in the last few years and I think he could do a good job.”

But Miljan wonders whether Duncan is too closely associated with McGuinty and the government’s troubles.

“He’s also associated with the fiscal mess we are in right now,” said Miljan.
“He can hardly claim that he’s the fiscal marvel that brought us into balanced books. He’s the one that oversaw this huge fiscal crisis we’re in so I think he certainly has the name recognition but I think he’s just as much a liability as the premier in terms of having to take the blame for the fiscal problems or perceptions of fiscal problems.”

Miljan said Duncan’s success will also depend on how many enter the race.

“These things, it really depends on who else is running at the same time,” said Miljan.
“I’m not sure what the backroom story is, if they have somebody already in place, if it’s just going to be a coronation. A lot will depend on who enters the race and how long that race will be. My sense is that this is all going to happen rather quickly given the nature of this announcement. The field is going to be relatively narrow, and that is not a good thing for the Liberal party.”

University of Windsor political science professor Cheryl Collier said Duncan is too closely associated with McGuinty and the party’s best shot might be from outside its ranks.

“It’s really hard to renew the party when your finance minister takes over,” said Collier.

“It depends on who comes in to want to take over. Ideally for the party somebody from the outside comes in if they really want to renew. I’m not saying that that person’s going to have a better shot but at least it gives a sense of renewal. I don’t think Dwight Duncan would give that sense at all.”

Ed Kobrosly, former president of the federal Liberal riding association of Windsor West, said he was surprised to hear about McGuinty’s resignation.

“Personally, I think he wants to retire and has had enough of politics,” said Kobrosly. “I think it’s a good thing for the party to rejuvenate and get some new leaders and new ideas.”

He said Duncan should step up to run as leader of the party.

“He seems to be doing really good for us as minister of finance. He’s holding down the fort pretty good,” said Kobrosly. “I think he would make a great leader.”

Tory Premier Mike Harris resigned mid-term in October 2001, but Miljan said the circumstances were quite different.

“Mike Harris resigned due to family reasons,” said Miljan.

“He certainly didn’t prorogue the legislature to do it. He announced that he was no longer going to be in politics and they would have their normal course with their normal leadership race. It’s not unusual. It has to happen. Unless you get voted out of office, you’re going to be resigning during your tenure, while you’re still in government, and that’s the best way to do it so you can leave the next leader with something strong.”

That’s not what has happened with McGuinty, Miljan said.

“Either they’re very panicked or there is something big that we haven’t really got wind of yet as to why is he so much under threat,” said Miljan.

“What is the real threat to the party and to him at this time that is different than a year ago or even during the byelections?”

- with files from Rebecca Wright and Postmedia News

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The last two weeks of my life have been cuh-razy.  Two weeks ago this Thursday, I came home from a strike vote, (even though we won’t likely be striking because McGuinty has legislated that away….but I digress) to the sound of our daughter screaming.

My daughter has two kinds of screams.  One has a particular pitch and fervour that makes my mommy spidey-senses prickle.  This was one of those screams.  When I arrived in the house, my husband assured me that she had only started screaming again when she saw me pull in the driveway.  This, combined with our daughter’s insistance that her arm was fine, (“REALLY Mommy, I promise it’s FINE!!!”), led me to get some ice and let her sit and watch some t.v. with her friend who was at our house playing with her when she fell.

But my mommy senses were prickling.  I kept on going back over to her to ask her how she was.  Every time I tried to question her about her arm, she became quite upset and asked me to just leave her alone (insert more spidey-pricklies here).  She begged me not to touch it and “just let (her) calm down.”  I should mention that less than 10 months ago, she broke her right radius and had to wear a cast for six weeks.  The novelty of cast wearing has completely worn off for her.  This bears mentioning.

After about 45 minutes of sitting with the ice pack, she said in a wobbly voice, “Mommy?  Daddy?  I think my friend should go home and I am going to go upstairs and just be alone for a while to try to calm down.”  (This elevated my pricklies to full-out porcupine.)  This was the last straw.  Her little friend was brought home and our daughter was ushered into the car, complete with the sling she wore on her right arm last year.  I was convinced it was broken.

We arrived at the Emergency Department at close to 6 p.m.  We sat and waited, and waited and sat.  Six hours later, she still had not been seen.  I approached the nursing station using my very sweetest mother voice.  ”I realize that you are incredibly jammed here tonight…and you are SO short staffed….but I know for sure my daughter has a broken arm….so I NEED to know when she is going to be seen….because if it isn’t really soon, I am going to take her home and come back tomorrow.  She’ll be much more comfortable in her own bed with a broken arm than sitting in a plastic chair with a broken arm all night long.”  I said it so nicely.  I was really impressed with myself.  Because inside my head the Momma Bear was going postal.  I made that bear hibernate and turned on the charm instead.  Suddenly, amazingly, we were next.

We soon learned that, not only was her arm broken, the fracture was displaced and needed to be reset.  It was so bad that when I saw the xray I said, “SHIT” (which wasn’t very mommyish, but it was now 2 a.m. and I was out of gas.)

After learning she’d need an IV to give her a “procedural anaesthetic”, I requested that she be given an EMLA patch to numb the skin on her hand.  This seemed to annoy the nurse, who was already overworked, and when she came to gave her the patch we had some very restrained words.  These ended with me looking at her over our daughter’s head and saying through gritted teeth, “I am trying to manage my daughter’s pain and I would like you to understand that I am not trying to inconvenience you.”

We brought her into the procedure room and we were immediately asked to leave.  We stood our ground that we would leave her once she was sedated.  The anaesthetist injected a syringe into the IV.  Seconds later, when one of her pupils dilated to the size of a dime, I figured we were safe to leave her, even though it ripped my heart out to go.  It was so eerie to see her staring with unblinking eyes.  My husband and I went outside the door and I sat on the floor listening to it all, with tears streaming down my face.  We were told she would feel nothing.  There is a marked difference between a child who feels nothing, and one who will remember nothing.  There is no doubt in my mind that she felt every bit of those bones being reset.   I think I did too.  She moaned and screamed every time they manipulated her arm and I felt like I would climb out of my own skin.  The formerly angry nurse brought me a box of tissues, gave me a big hug and a kiss on the cheek, which was very sweet.  All forgiven.

Just a few minutes later, it was over, and we were allowed to come back in.  Our daughter was laying on the bed with her eyes wide but obviously not seeing anything.  I began to talk to her and she suddenly puckered her lips up, under her oxygen line, asking for a kiss.  This is something she often does when she is sleeping with us, and it warmed my heart to know she was okay.

The comedy routine then began.  She told us all, one by one, that we had four eyes, two noses and two mouths and that we were silly.  Ten seconds later, and ten seconds after that, she repeated the routine.   Over and over she would look at us all and declare, “You haaaave FOUR eyeeeees!”  She then noticed the chest monitor stickers and said, “Get theeeeese silly bugs offa meeeee….”  We were all giggling…and we sure ran the gamut of emotions that night.

Broken Promises

Dalton McGuinty is a liar and a thief.  It’s a sad fact that a politician can gain the trust of Ontario teachers with the statement, “We respect the bargaining process.  We are not in the business of tearing up collective agreements,” and less than one year later, rob us of our right to bargain, impose contract terms and tear up our past contracts. Within Bill 115, McGuinty even has the audacity to legislate restrictions to legal and constitutional recourse.  He clearly considers himself above the law and that is frightening.  Ontario has become a Draconian State. 

Shame, Shame, Shame, McGuinty.  You manufactured a crisis, in order to justify imposing your mandate upon us.  We never had a chance to get to the table, but you told the public that we were at an impasse and the elementary 2012-13 school year was in jeopardy.  We were prepared to bargain in a fiscally responsible manner but you never even let us get out of the gate.

Your legislation, supported by the Tories, has had a huge impact on my family’s financial future.  In freezing our grid, cutting sick days, mandating three unpaid days per year (obviously you actually care very little about the importance of Professional Development), and “vesting” the sick leave I have accumulated at current income value, you have brought white collar crime to a whole new level.  In good faith I bargained with our Board, and they bargained with me.  We signed a contract and I fulfilled my part of the bargain.  How can you, in any modicum of decency, retroactively alter the compensation terms of a contract?

See you at the polls.

Oh…and in the courthouse…now there’s a true waste of taxpayers’ money.

 

1 Now  a person from Ontario complained to me directly that an insurance for an older car is significantly , significantly much higher, exponentially higher,  in Ontario over that for the same car in Quebec? Now why is that?  is the government of Ontario trying to help Ontario citizens or rip them off?

July 3, 2012                        4:48 PM ET

Provincial police in Ontario have launched a criminal investigation into the deadly mall roof collapse in Elliot Lake.

Two women were killed on June 23 when the roof of the Algo Centre Mall caved in and plummeted two floors down into the building in the Northern Ontario community.

Ontario Provincial Police announced Tuesday they have started a criminal investigation.

The force is asking anyone who believes they have information that may be important to the investigation to contact a special information line that has been established at 1-855-677-4636 (1-855-OPP-INFO).

The Office of the Chief Coroner for Ontario and the Ontario Ministry of Labour are also conducting investigations. Both the coroner’s office and the ministry are fully co-operating with the investigation, OPP said.

Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty announced a public inquiry into the mall collapse Friday following public outcry about why search-and-rescue efforts were called off two days after the collapse, only to be restarted hours later after an appeal from McGuinty.

Doloris Perizzolo, 70, and Lucie Aylwin, 37, were killed in the collapse.

from:  http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2012/07/03/elliot-lake-roof-collapse-opp.html

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Gary Gendron, the fiancé of Lucie Aylwin, one of the victims of the partial collapse of the Algo Centre Mall in Ellliot Lake, Ont, is to talk with the media today.

Aylwin, a worker at a lottery kiosk at the main shopping mall in Elliot Lake, and longtime resident Doloris Perizzolo are the two people who were killed in the tragedy, CBC News confirmed Thursday.

The bodies of Aylwin, 37, and Perizzolo, 70, were pulled Wednesday from the rubble of the mall during an intense search effort involving special heavy machinery that carefully dismantled parts of the building.

Alywin had apparently taken on the part-time mall job to save money for her wedding. Perizzolo, a mother of two daughters, reportedly worked at a hospital until she retired, and her husband died last year.

The latest news in a tragedy that started when the roof-top parking lot caved in and debris crashed through two storeys of the mall on Saturday afternoon comes as work crews are cordoning off areas of the mall so Ontario Provincial Police can start a criminal probe.

Lucie Aylwin, 37, was working at a lottery kiosk in Algo Centre Mall at the time the roof of the building caved in.

Residents are seeking answers to why the tragedy happened and why equipment that proved vital to search efforts wasn’t brought in sooner.

Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty, who has promised a “thorough review” of the emergency response to the mall roof collapse, met with Elliot Lake Mayor Rick Hamilton on Wednesday morning to discuss an aid plan to help the community cope with economic and emotional loss.

McGuinty said he and Hamilton aim to figure out how to relocate some of the businesses and social services that were in the mall. The premier also said he wanted to clear up some misconceptions during the search and recovery work.

“It was unfortunate the impression created was somehow they [searchers] were putting down tools, when in fact what they wanted to do was, having come up against a wall literally in some sense, they were exploring a new option.

“It’s really important that people understand that these people in this community together with the search and rescue team were always committed to doing everything they possibly could and never at any point in time considered abandoning the search.”

MPP wants independent inquiry

Meanwhile, NDP MPP Mike Mantha, who represents Elliot Lake, said a review of the tragedy isn’t enough, and he wants a full public inquiry.

Mantha said the families of the victims need and deserve answers, and while he praised the work of emergency workers, he said it’s important to learn from the disaster.

“Canadians united behind Elliot Lake this week in a dark time,” Mantha said. “Now, we owe it to the families of the victims and the community to take every step we can to get answers and to ensure this doesn’t happen again. An independent public inquiry will ensure that no stone is left unturned.”

But for residents of the former mining community of 11,000 that is located about 150 kilometres west of Sudbury, the answers can’t come soon enough.

Fiancé held on to hope

In an interview with CBC News earlier this week, before the first body was recovered Wednesday morning, Gendron said he held hope Aylwin would be found alive among the rubble.

He said he had breakfast with Aylwin on Saturday morning before she left for work at the mall, and hadn’t seen her since.

“She’s a good-hearted person just like the way I am and she is always willing to help out everybody,” he said. “We’ve been together over two years …”

Residents, meanwhile, are still expressing shock over the tragedy, and the way it was handled.

“It’s just been very frustrating,” said Kimberly Lilley Valley, 48. “There’s been tears, there’s been laughter, there’s been hugs. It’s just emotionally very draining.”

‘We will look into negligence; there is the possibility of charges if warranted.’—Marc Depatie, OPP spokesman

Some residents are also asking about the condition of the mall prior to the collapse, saying it had problems with leaks.

The mall’s manager, Rhonda Bear, told CBC News that it had been undergoing repair and maintenance work on parts of its roof, but not on the section that collapsed. She also said an engineering study of the 30-year-old building turned up nothing.

“It’ll never be open again, I hope not anyway,” said resident Ellas Williams as he sat across from the parking lot of the Algo Centre Mall. “Tear it down, leave the piece of land as it is.”

Search efforts were halted on Monday after officials deemed the building to be unsafe, even though workers had detected signs of life within the rubble. Parts of the building were unstable, leading to fears of a second collapse.

The decision drew widespread anger in the community and prompted an appeal from McGuinty for rescue workers to consider all available options. A specialized crane was brought Tuesday to remove sections of the mall’s facade to gain safe entry into the site.

Townspeople applaud rescue team

That equipment should have been brought in sooner, said Catrina Briffett.

“I think they should have done a better job, they should have called these people as soon as they could,” she said.

Residents of Elliot Lake listen to Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty speak regarding recovery efforts at Algo Centre Mall on Wednesday. McGuinty has promised a full review.

CBC’s Natalie Kalata reported from Elliot Lake on Thursday morning that work crews have put a fence up around the mall in light of the criminal investigation by the OPP, who are assisting the Ministry of Labour and the coroner’s office.

OPP spokesman Marc Depatie said the criminal investigation was started “from the onset.

“We will look into negligence; there is the possibility of charges if warranted,” he said, cautioning that the probe is in its early stages and there’s still “lots of work ahead.”

Bill Neadles, of the Heavy Urban Search and Rescue unit in Toronto, said during a briefing Wednesday following the recovery of the two bodies that the “hardest thing” was dealing with the perception from residents that his team had given up prior to the equipment arriving.

“That you thought we were going to pack up and go home. That was devastating,” Neadles said at a Wednesday press conference. “We would stay another four to five weeks if we had to.”

The audience, made up of townspeople, began to clap as Neadles finished his remarks and stood up to give him and his team, who are all volunteers and unpaid for the work, the applause.

Community members are also working to help some of the estimated 300 people who either work or own businesses in the mall.

“These are acquaintances,” said Dawn Morissette, who helped organize the Elliot Lake Relief Fund. “These are people who have helped me in the mall. These are people that I grew up with and run into when I moved back into town, so these are faces that I’m used to seeing on a regular basis.”

Donations can be made at a number of financial institutions, including Bank of Montreal, Scotiabank, TD, CIBC, Royal Bank of Canada and the Northern Credit Union.

from:  http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2012/06/28/elliot-lake-community.html

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comprehensive summary and list of predictions for 2012:

http://predictionsyear2012.com/

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http://numerologybasics.com/

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Speakers at the Helmets to Hardhats dinner included the organization’s new executive director, a member of the Canadian Forces, the Canadian Minister of Veterans Affairs, Steven Blanley, and Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty. There were heart moving speeches and enchanting music. It was inspirational.

Helmets to Hard Hats was established to connect transitioning active-duty military members with quality career training and employment opportunities within the construction industry. I urge you to consider the website of this wonderful organisation- http://info.helmetstohardhats.org/content/infocenter/

Related articles

• For Some Vets, Military Skills are Translating to Civilian Jobs (wnyc.org)

Today, I honestly didn’t have the heart to laugh in her face when she told me the news:  Dalton McGuinty, the “Education Premier,” finally pulled the rug out from under the teachers.  You are now turning on your biggest supporters, bullying elementary and secondary school teachers so you can reduce costs. (I don’t see you pulling money from any of your other public sector jobs.)Granted, you have put a lot of money into the education sector. However, that’s a given. You should be putting a lot of money in that area: YOU ARE EDUCATING THE FUTURE.

These people have the responsibility to teach these students. Teachers have to create lesson plans, teach students, and mark assignments. This is not as easy as it sounds. I don’t know any teacher right now that is both serious about their work and has an active personal life. Many teachers have to listen to many students problems, and act as a counsellor to them. Teachers are expected to inspire the youth and connect with them.

Teachers are breaking up fights, building school spirit, and conveying a sense of self-worth to students. Teachers are even practically parents to some children, as their legal parents are running after the Almighty Dollar. A summer off  and accumulated sick days are the least that they should get.

Teachers don’t have to worry about students alone. Many parents don’t join forces with teachers, choosing not to work with them, This hinders their son or daughter’s progress. Instead, they are either non-existent or they are at odds with the teacher.  Teachers are not simply babysitting. They are the support system of the schools.

Once upon a time, teachers could rely on the government for support. I’m asking you not to turn your back on our educators. I want you to stop the austerity proposal for all OSSTF/FEESO and EFTO bargaining units.  You have always promoted yourself as the “Education Premier.” Instead, you have been recently bullying elementary and secondary school teachers as a way to reduce costs.

Yes, teachers have benefitted from your government in the past, as teacher salaries have increased 34 percent over the past eight years and they have gained 50 percent more preparation time. I would think this is reasonable, considering we have things like inflation and other economic happenstance.

I think you have forgotten how much these educators have supported you. The thankful secondary teachers were one of many union groups that worked to re-elect the Liberals to a third consecutive election victory in October 2011. Instead of supporting teachers, you have attacked their employee benefits. While it is important to be cost-effective and to meet the provincial budget, making ridiculous demands is not the way to accomplish that. The ridiculous claims include the following:

1. Freezing wages for two years. If a teacher would be eligible to move up on the salary grid, they would have to forgo that for at least two years. How is it appropriate to freeze someone’s wages and suddenly change the rules concerning wages? If this isn’t a huge discouragement to teachers, I don’t know what is. Imagine you’ve worked hard, and you’re ready for your next promotion, and then your boss changes the rules of the game. Well, I would be pretty upset.
2. After the wage freeze, OSSTF/FEESO and EFTO members would not be given the opportunity to catch up to the correct position on the payment grid. So let me get this straight: If a teacher was eligible to move up on the salary grid, they would have to forgo that for at least two years.  If a teacher would have become eligible for a pay increase (within the pay freeze time frame), they would not be allowed to receive that increase in pay. That wage gap is completely unacceptable.
3. There would be a restructure of salary grids. Usually, teachers get an increase in pay for pre-determined qualifications. For example, getting an MBA, completing a certain amount of years as a teacher or taking a principal’s course would be considered an acceptable reason to apply for an increase in pay.  However, you wish to review the salary grids with the intention of limiting how experience and qualifications are recognized in moving through the new grid. This would make it more difficult for teachers to receive a fair amount of pay. So again, teachers are being paid less.
4. There would be a freezing of the retirement gratuity entitlement.  That means that the sick leave bank and retirement service, salary and eligibility would be frozen as of August 31, 2012. Each member would only get six sick days per year at 100% salary and then, short term disability for up to 24 weeks at 2/3 salary, none of which is accumulated or carried forward. 
5. There will be an Ontario Teacher Pension Plan valuation with a view to not increase governmental contribution.

These teachers are not in the private sector.  They are being forced to accept “benefits” similar to private sector teachers, without similar wages.  I’m sorry, but you cannot have your cake and eat it too. Forcing teachers to accept these terms is an infringement on their rights. Even if they do choose to strike, we all know that you have the power to order them back to work.

You have also used mainstream media to present an unfair view of teachers. Did you tell the media that you are only offering teachers six sick days? Did you mention the overall restructure of salary grids?Did you tell them that you’re giving these teachers only five months to prepare for all of these changes? All I keep hearing and reading in the news is the fact that teachers can accumulate sick days and that they get summers off. If that’s all the propaganda people ever hear, of course they’ll agree with your new decision.

Yes, teachers do get to bank up to 200 sick days (over their career) and get summers off. However, these are the same people that have to provide doctor’s notes if they miss two days of work.  These are the same people who struggle to book specialist appointments, as it may coincide with a teaching time. These are the same people who have to neglect their own families to teach and build influential relationships with their students.  These are the same people who have to keep going to school (during their summer break) or keep taking online classes in order to get an increase in pay. Still, despite all of this, we have the public, and you, giving these teachers a hard time.

The Liberal 2011-2015 has the following quote:

“Who can do the work? Where can we find the best-educated, most
innovative workers in the world? Who is committed to the education
of their people, not just today or on the eve of an election, but every day,
and for the long-term?”

The answer to your question lies within the teaching profession. Teachers are among the best-educated and the most innovative. They are committed to education for the long-haul. Teaching is one of the most stressful jobs. It is difficult for newly trained teachers to gain employment. Employed teachers are continually asked to bend over backwards more and more for less and less pay. However, I think this new initiative of yours is going to be the straw that breaks the camel’s back. Teachers already have most of society, students and parents against them. They have been painted as lazy, incompetent and entitled. However, they expected more from you, McGuinty. Frankly, I expect more from you too.

How about you do yourself a favour: Stop blaming Alberta and teachers for your deficit problems, and work towards a positive solution.

Sincerely,

RaynaSybelle

Note: If you are a concerned citizen, I suggest that you do something as well.

You can sign a petition or you can contact the office of the Premier:

Mail

Dalton McGuinty, Premier
Legislative Building
Queen’s Park
Toronto ON M7A 1A1

Phone

416-325-3777

TTY/Teletypewriter (for the hearing impaired)

1-800-387-5559

The Office of the Premier’s Website

https://correspondence.premier.gov.on.ca/en/feedback/default.aspx

Warren Buffett  is going to sing in China during the Chinese New Year, on CNTV, the internet TV division of CCTV!  CCTV is the national state, China government TV broadcaster.  According to Xinhua, China’s national news service, ”We all know that Buffett is good at investment, but few knew he also did well in singing,” Wang Pingjiu, a production executive for the broadcast.

Once upon a time a silver-tongued political Grinch decided to renege on a promise and take away something he had given to all of us nature  lovers (Toronto Star article). The Grinch had promised us that Temagami would be a protected area and would no longer be threatened by other Grinches. Temagami is an 8000 sq. km. area with ten parks, which offer a broad range of experiences for nature lovers and canoers. It is also one of the last preserves of old growth red and white pine trees in the world. We in Whoville are now having this natural wonder threatened so that mining Grinches can strip the land for profit.

The Grinches used the cover of Christmas to try to sneak one over all lovers of pristine wilderness, but they were spotted by concerned little Cindy Lou’s who were awakened by the cries of wounded trees, concerned canoes and broken promises.

The Cindy Lou’s are now gathering and asking for your help in saving this wonderful wilderness area. Please re-tweet this article and include @Dalton_McGuinty in the tweet or send a tweet directly to Ontario’s premier of broken promises at @Dalton_McGuinty asking him to save Wolfe Lake.

Note: Francois Guay spent all of his childhood summers at his cottage in Temagami (he still spends as much time as possible there). His love of nature and all things Temagami make him a Cindy Lou of the first order.

Below are a few pictures of this amazing area. Please protect it for all.

The 250 year old red pines of Wolfe Lake

Morning mist on Wolfe Lake

“We’re launching this review because no parent should ever have to worry about losing their child to violence… if there is a way we can do even more to make children, schools and communities safer, and help young people make good choices, we have a continued responsibility to do everything we can.”
- Dalton McGuinty, Premier of Ontario

No.  I didn’t think so and you’re not alone.  Unfortunately the Ontario government is doing a poor job in promoting this website.  Someone in their Public Relations department dropped the ball.  And they dropped it hard.

This is a bad state of affairs as this site was developed to get at the root of the problem of youth violence.  Community leaders and politicians a like were saying, enough is enough and it’s time to make change.

The Roots of Youth Violence initiative was spear headed by the unimaginable death of a 15 year old student at a Toronto high school.  The student, Jordan Manners, was found dead in the hall at C.W. Jefferies Collegiate.  This unfortunate incident created a mass appeal from many members in the African-Canadian/Caribbean community; all asking for answers to the rise of youth violence.  After all, students do not go to school to die, they go to school to learn.

Dalton McGuinty, Premier of Ontario announced this new initiative on June 11, 2007 and since then, Ontarians more specifically Torontonians know little or nothing about this website.  This is unfortunate because this website aims to gather the opinions of the very people affected by youth violence. YOU!

If you want to change the way youth violence is handled in your community, log on to: http://www.rootsofyouthviolence.on.ca/english/survey.asp and do the short survey.  Your opinions are important and together we can make change in our communities.