- With the continuing operational red ink at the LVEC, it is only a matter of time before Arcturus SMG says "adios." Probably at the end of their contract. Bet big money on that. Then the K-Rock Centre will cost us REALLY big money to operate, as the city takes it over.
- Kingston's downtown is getting emptier and emptier. With the infrastructure dig-up that is scheduled for spring/summer 2010 it will be harder and harder for tourists, never mind locals, to browse and buy in lower Princess Street. Already we miss the S & R. Vandervoort's has taken up a lot of the slack, but it still isn't the beautiful old building that S&R was in.
- So, what will happen to the S&R building? The city has called for expressions of interest to provide more municipal accomodation. Just remind yourself that the city is RENTING the old Whig building. Had it purchased it when it was available for purchase, we taxpayers would own it by about 2012, and not keep paying gigantic rental for it. This is called "shortsighted.'
- The old Police Station will be demolished, and used as a parking lot. Wonder how much contamination there is under that location.
- Have to wonder when the city will make some strides toward improving the skating area at the Market Square. Do you think any city employees take a look around the country to see what amenities other cities offer at their muncipal feature rink? Skate rentals? Lots of hot chocolate and food? More convenient bathrooms (have you put on your skates "down there" or had to take your child to the bathroom?)
- Let's just touch on "pedestrian crosswalks." The city's determination not to have them, is just a sign of stubbornness. And to cite that they are illegal is silly. How come Picton and Gananoque, to name just two communities, have them? And, people use them!!!
- Is there some time in the near future that the city will require citizens to shovel their walks, and stop doing it for them? Why do we pay for this, when people should be expected to look after a bit of sidewalk in front of their own house? Persons who require wheelchairs or scooters, to say nothing of those with walkers, are poorly served in Kingston. (We won't rant about the incomplete, short-sighted renovations to The Grand Theatre, wherein scooters can't get into the bathrooms). Is there NO community spirit here?
- And, speaking of community spirit, why is it that there was only ONE true volunteer on the Olympic Torch Relay Committee? Everyone except one person was there by virtue of their employment position in the community...on the base, a city employee, a city councillor, and on and on. Check the committees in other communities; they were full of volunteers. In one Canadian community in1988 when the torch went through the city, the committee had about 15 members, and virtually all of them were community volunteers. Don't get me started on Kingston's lack of community spirit.
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Kingston in 2009
Some notable events, thoughts, behind-the-scenes stuff in Kingston, and a few predictions......
Christmas 2009
Enjoying a visit to Calgary for Christmas. Used one of thse Wii Fitness games/tools for a while yesteerday. They sure are great, and fun.
Another Canadian soldier has died in Afghanistan, number 134. I hope that our forces can make a significant difference there before they leave in 19 months. They seem to think that they are helping, so that's great.
The World Junior Hockey Championships are on in Saskatoon, and the Canadian team is off to a good start, beating poor Latvia 15-0.
Another Canadian soldier has died in Afghanistan, number 134. I hope that our forces can make a significant difference there before they leave in 19 months. They seem to think that they are helping, so that's great.
The World Junior Hockey Championships are on in Saskatoon, and the Canadian team is off to a good start, beating poor Latvia 15-0.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Remembrance Day
A particular day to remember the final sacrifice of many who died in WW1 and WW2 and the Korean conflict as well as other theatres of conflict that Canadians have died in.
Stand for 2 minutes. Remember.
Stand for 2 minutes. Remember.
Sunday, November 08, 2009
Toronto to Host 2015 Pan Am Games!!
Wonderful!
In the bid process, there often is little focus on the competitions and the athletes. THEY are what the PAG are all about, as far as sports people are concerned.
There will be important and sorely needed facilities built or refurbished in the Toronto area.
Canada, and Ontario, need 50m pools desperately, and the PAG will result in an update for the Etobicoke Olympium and 2/3 additional pools.
Canada will continue to have a tough time internationally until we get sufficient facilities for our athletes to train in, whenther it is pools or tracks or fields, or gyms.....we are in desperate need of facilities.
Kingston City Council has put discussion of an indoor 50m pool on its farthest back burner, and instead (if you can believe it) is going to build an outdoor pool and all the trimmings that the current staff could think of, at the Memorial Centre. To the tune of $6million. Yup, 6 million, of which 2 million is purported to come from senior levels of government.
This for a season that, at its BEST, runds from around the long weekend in May, to some time in September. I know this. I swam outdoors from May 19th to October 2 this year, and I can tell you that even with heated water, only the keen will swim.
So, at best there are 3.5 months that this extravagent facility will be used. With 4 lanes. Good grief!
Let's hope that the city hires someone who knows how to program a facility like this! And for my councillor to talk about parents/caregivers sitting around the pool reading a book.....honestly. Incredible. Let's wait to hear the entrance fees and the rental fees and the cost of classes. Don't bet on a lot of people sitting around reading a book...on the only occasion that I swam at Henderson Pool late this summer, I had my own lane, my friend had her own lane, and there were about 6 others in the pool (at the "adult swim" time). One woman sat in the sun.
In the bid process, there often is little focus on the competitions and the athletes. THEY are what the PAG are all about, as far as sports people are concerned.
There will be important and sorely needed facilities built or refurbished in the Toronto area.
Canada, and Ontario, need 50m pools desperately, and the PAG will result in an update for the Etobicoke Olympium and 2/3 additional pools.
Canada will continue to have a tough time internationally until we get sufficient facilities for our athletes to train in, whenther it is pools or tracks or fields, or gyms.....we are in desperate need of facilities.
Kingston City Council has put discussion of an indoor 50m pool on its farthest back burner, and instead (if you can believe it) is going to build an outdoor pool and all the trimmings that the current staff could think of, at the Memorial Centre. To the tune of $6million. Yup, 6 million, of which 2 million is purported to come from senior levels of government.
This for a season that, at its BEST, runds from around the long weekend in May, to some time in September. I know this. I swam outdoors from May 19th to October 2 this year, and I can tell you that even with heated water, only the keen will swim.
So, at best there are 3.5 months that this extravagent facility will be used. With 4 lanes. Good grief!
Let's hope that the city hires someone who knows how to program a facility like this! And for my councillor to talk about parents/caregivers sitting around the pool reading a book.....honestly. Incredible. Let's wait to hear the entrance fees and the rental fees and the cost of classes. Don't bet on a lot of people sitting around reading a book...on the only occasion that I swam at Henderson Pool late this summer, I had my own lane, my friend had her own lane, and there were about 6 others in the pool (at the "adult swim" time). One woman sat in the sun.
Friday, November 06, 2009
2015 Pan Am Games
PASO decides this afternoon if Lima, Bogota or Toronto gets the PAG.
One should keep the comment of IOC member Richard Pound in mind: North Americans don't really know 'how to play the game.'
This decision, like all Games decisions, will be (has been???) made in the backrooms.
One should keep the comment of IOC member Richard Pound in mind: North Americans don't really know 'how to play the game.'
This decision, like all Games decisions, will be (has been???) made in the backrooms.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Sports Columnist Bruce Dowbiggen
Bruce writes for The Globe and Mail.
He used to be on the radio, and perhaps still is, but not in these parts.
His column usually hits a couple of nails on the head. Since I'm not a hockey fan (never was and never will be....oh, if they cut the violence by 100% I could be persuaded to watch) his comments about the game are not of great interest to me.
Remarks about media, television, behaviour, Olympics, etc are interesting, and the least I do is scan his column.
He is much better in print than on air. On air, he comes across as a know-it-all smarty pants, and the content gets lost in the delivery.
Worth reading, from a sociological perspective.
He used to be on the radio, and perhaps still is, but not in these parts.
His column usually hits a couple of nails on the head. Since I'm not a hockey fan (never was and never will be....oh, if they cut the violence by 100% I could be persuaded to watch) his comments about the game are not of great interest to me.
Remarks about media, television, behaviour, Olympics, etc are interesting, and the least I do is scan his column.
He is much better in print than on air. On air, he comes across as a know-it-all smarty pants, and the content gets lost in the delivery.
Worth reading, from a sociological perspective.
Saturday, October 24, 2009
From the Man Who Promised Honour and Integrity.....
http://www.chequerepublic.ca/
Here is where you can write a cheque to your friends and family, with the dreaded Tory logo on the upper left corner.
This government, and this Prime Minister, have no shame.
Here is where you can write a cheque to your friends and family, with the dreaded Tory logo on the upper left corner.
This government, and this Prime Minister, have no shame.
Friday, October 23, 2009
A few ......
Reports early this morning that one of VANOC's keenest supporters has died.
JACK POOLE was part of the Olympic dream for Vancouver from its earliest moment.
He'll be missed by many people in the organization.
------------------
The Prime Minister, as well as not honouring Parliament's longest-serving Speaker, has told Canadians that he doesn't watch Canadian news on TV because "he doesn't want to see himself on tv."
There are a lot of things that we could say, but none of them should be in the public domain.
------------------
JACK POOLE was part of the Olympic dream for Vancouver from its earliest moment.
He'll be missed by many people in the organization.
------------------
The Prime Minister, as well as not honouring Parliament's longest-serving Speaker, has told Canadians that he doesn't watch Canadian news on TV because "he doesn't want to see himself on tv."
There are a lot of things that we could say, but none of them should be in the public domain.
------------------
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Once a small man, always a small man
Once again, Prime Minister Harper has shown what a small man he is.
Yesterday in the House, all party leaders rose to congratulate Speaker Peter Milliken on his long service to Parliamanet.
Oh, no. Mr Harper didn't.
How petty.
Yesterday in the House, all party leaders rose to congratulate Speaker Peter Milliken on his long service to Parliamanet.
Oh, no. Mr Harper didn't.
How petty.
Monday, September 28, 2009
Who does he think he is?
The Parliament of Canada starts a new session today.
The Prime Minister will be in Saint John, NB delivering some sort of "report card" on the economy.
His distain for Parliament is palpable. He is only the PM, not some sort of tin pot dictator.
The sooner we get to the polls, the better.
The Prime Minister will be in Saint John, NB delivering some sort of "report card" on the economy.
His distain for Parliament is palpable. He is only the PM, not some sort of tin pot dictator.
The sooner we get to the polls, the better.
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Trudeau Stories
......a one person show about friendship between Brooke Johnson and Pierre Elliott Trudeau.
This short, warm and wonderful play is on at the Playhouse Theatre in Gananoque till Septmeber 19th.
It will warm your heart, make you think about friends, make you think about what matters, the importance of keeping in touch, and the depth of loss when a friend dies.
Lots of laughs, much warmth, and joy.
Don't miss it.
This short, warm and wonderful play is on at the Playhouse Theatre in Gananoque till Septmeber 19th.
It will warm your heart, make you think about friends, make you think about what matters, the importance of keeping in touch, and the depth of loss when a friend dies.
Lots of laughs, much warmth, and joy.
Don't miss it.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
He's smoking something that's waaaay to strong for him!
from cbc.ca on September 9, 2009 at 10.21pm.......
"Prime Minister Stephen Harper believes a majority government "is within reach" for the Conservative party the next time Canadians go to the polls for a federal election."
What can we say? He's deluded? He's a dreamer? He's out of touch with Canadians?
Not only all this, but he is reported to have said, last week, while in Quebec, that he is only responsible to God. This man is incredible.
"Prime Minister Stephen Harper believes a majority government "is within reach" for the Conservative party the next time Canadians go to the polls for a federal election."
What can we say? He's deluded? He's a dreamer? He's out of touch with Canadians?
Not only all this, but he is reported to have said, last week, while in Quebec, that he is only responsible to God. This man is incredible.
Wednesday, September 09, 2009
How do we teach our children to obey the law........
.......if the Prime Minister knowlingly breaks it?
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Many transgressions....
This is going to be the appointment to the Senate of Stephen Harper's best friends. And, it's happening today.
Let's get to the polls!!!
Let's get to the polls!!!
Another Transgression.....
This from the PMO no less.....misspelling of the town of IQALUIT.
The PMO thinks it's spelled IQUALUIT.
Did anyone in his office take Social Skills 101?
The PMO thinks it's spelled IQUALUIT.
Did anyone in his office take Social Skills 101?
Thursday, July 30, 2009
The Greatest Achievement in 2009
Without a doubt, bar none.........the Canadian Women's Water Polo team playing for the gold medal at the World Aquatics Championships in Rome.
These women deserve our greatest applause for their accomplishment. Whether they win the gold or silver is less important.
We salute you!
These women deserve our greatest applause for their accomplishment. Whether they win the gold or silver is less important.
We salute you!
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Good Enough for the Olympics, but .........
The piece below is an opinion column written by a former Sports Ed, and now a higher-up at The Whig. It cannot go unchallenged.
The most unfortunate part of Mr Scilley's column is that he casts aspersions on all members of the hall, in his effort to elevate Mr Leduc. Most people consider it unworthy of someone to "put down" others in order to gain ground.
Just take a look at Canadian politics. When one of our politicans puts down a politician in another party, the comments posted on the website where this happens, are scathing. We've had lots of recent examples of this.
Secondly, Mr Scilley could have written to the board or the President or an individual board member, to express his view. As far as I know, he did not do that, and I am a member of the Board. Had he done that, we could have discussed this at a board meeting.
Mark Leduc was a superior boxer. To win an Olympic medal is an extraordinary achievement, and in my view, Olympic medallists deserve to be in their local sports hall of fame.
It is indeed unfortunate that Mr Scilley appears to have written in anger. Perhaps another route would have been more appropriate, and more productive. I am reminded of an article in The Globe within the last few days, in which a writer offers ways to get a 'big corporation' to address an issue that is small to it, but large to the complainent. He says in no uncertain terms that an issue is more likely to be resolved in the person's favour if they are polite.
--------------------
Good enough for the Olympics, but not for Kingston's sports hall of fame
By CLAUDE SCILLEY
Kingston Whig Standard, July 25, 2009
It is to the utter shame of the Kingston and District Sports Hall of Fame that Mark Leduc died this week before being inducted into its dubiously hallowed midst.
Leduc, then a member of the Kingston Youth Boxing Club, won a silver medal for Canada at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona. He died this week in Toronto at the age of 47.
For the better part of the last 10 years, Leduc's nomination has been in the hands of the selection committee. It is perennially rejected -- for no good reason whatsoever.
Leduc learned the craft from Kingston coaches Ken and Colin MacPhail. He won 130 of 153 amateur fights. He was Canada's amateur welterweight champion four times and was a member of numerous national teams that competed abroad. He was Kingston's amateur athlete of the year in 1992 and after he turned professional, he rose to become Canada's super lightweight champion.
Re-read those credentials. By the competitive standard set by Mark Leduc, half of the honoured members of the hall aren't fit to carry his gloves. Of the 124 members of the hall, there are only three Olympic athletes. Only one of them ever won a medal.
After Leduc retired as a fighter, he publicly acknowledged that he was gay. For the rest of his life, he volunteered at a Toronto AIDS centre, but that can't possibly have kept him out of the local sports hall of fame. There is no box on the nomination form for sexual orientation.
Leduc came to Kingston because he was convicted of a crime and he was sent here to serve his sentence, but that can't possibly be keeping him out of the hall, because a CPIC check isn't required of its nominees either. Besides, there's at least one convicted criminal in the hall already, and one man who was once suspended by his sport's governing body for falsifying game reports.
Leduc was a young man who did wrong, was punished and turned his life around, largely through sport. He visited schools because he knew young people needed positive, encouraging role models -- and perhaps because he never had them himself.
That's the way the world is supposed to work, isn't it? Why would you not want to reward his example? Why would you not want his story to be part of your hall's legacy?
That he was not born here is irrelevant; a high percentage of inductees come from elsewhere and made their mark after arriving, as he did. Leduc proclaimed Kingston to be his "hometown" many times; he was always Mark Leduc from Kingston, wherever he competed. He insisted his first pro fight had to be here.
In a hall rife with people whose biggest claim to fame is sandlot ball and organizing house leagues, it is beyond belief that an Olympic silver medalist could be snubbed, year after year.
Clearly there was never a good reason for Mark Leduc to be excluded from the hall. Now it's too late. A posthumous induction, after years of looking the other way, will be a hollow gesture indeed.
No one selected from this day forward should accept induction into the local hall until Mark Leduc finds his rightful place. There simply is no one more worthy.
It would be appropriate for the Kingston and District Sports Hall of Fame to suspend its selection committee for a year and, in an Olympic year, make Leduc its sole inductee in 2010.
It's the only way to make it right.
----------30--------------
Claude Scilley is the former sports editor of the Whig-Standard. He nominated Mark Leduc for the Kingston and District Sports Hall of Fame in 2000.
The most unfortunate part of Mr Scilley's column is that he casts aspersions on all members of the hall, in his effort to elevate Mr Leduc. Most people consider it unworthy of someone to "put down" others in order to gain ground.
Just take a look at Canadian politics. When one of our politicans puts down a politician in another party, the comments posted on the website where this happens, are scathing. We've had lots of recent examples of this.
Secondly, Mr Scilley could have written to the board or the President or an individual board member, to express his view. As far as I know, he did not do that, and I am a member of the Board. Had he done that, we could have discussed this at a board meeting.
Mark Leduc was a superior boxer. To win an Olympic medal is an extraordinary achievement, and in my view, Olympic medallists deserve to be in their local sports hall of fame.
It is indeed unfortunate that Mr Scilley appears to have written in anger. Perhaps another route would have been more appropriate, and more productive. I am reminded of an article in The Globe within the last few days, in which a writer offers ways to get a 'big corporation' to address an issue that is small to it, but large to the complainent. He says in no uncertain terms that an issue is more likely to be resolved in the person's favour if they are polite.
--------------------
Good enough for the Olympics, but not for Kingston's sports hall of fame
By CLAUDE SCILLEY
Kingston Whig Standard, July 25, 2009
It is to the utter shame of the Kingston and District Sports Hall of Fame that Mark Leduc died this week before being inducted into its dubiously hallowed midst.
Leduc, then a member of the Kingston Youth Boxing Club, won a silver medal for Canada at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona. He died this week in Toronto at the age of 47.
For the better part of the last 10 years, Leduc's nomination has been in the hands of the selection committee. It is perennially rejected -- for no good reason whatsoever.
Leduc learned the craft from Kingston coaches Ken and Colin MacPhail. He won 130 of 153 amateur fights. He was Canada's amateur welterweight champion four times and was a member of numerous national teams that competed abroad. He was Kingston's amateur athlete of the year in 1992 and after he turned professional, he rose to become Canada's super lightweight champion.
Re-read those credentials. By the competitive standard set by Mark Leduc, half of the honoured members of the hall aren't fit to carry his gloves. Of the 124 members of the hall, there are only three Olympic athletes. Only one of them ever won a medal.
After Leduc retired as a fighter, he publicly acknowledged that he was gay. For the rest of his life, he volunteered at a Toronto AIDS centre, but that can't possibly have kept him out of the local sports hall of fame. There is no box on the nomination form for sexual orientation.
Leduc came to Kingston because he was convicted of a crime and he was sent here to serve his sentence, but that can't possibly be keeping him out of the hall, because a CPIC check isn't required of its nominees either. Besides, there's at least one convicted criminal in the hall already, and one man who was once suspended by his sport's governing body for falsifying game reports.
Leduc was a young man who did wrong, was punished and turned his life around, largely through sport. He visited schools because he knew young people needed positive, encouraging role models -- and perhaps because he never had them himself.
That's the way the world is supposed to work, isn't it? Why would you not want to reward his example? Why would you not want his story to be part of your hall's legacy?
That he was not born here is irrelevant; a high percentage of inductees come from elsewhere and made their mark after arriving, as he did. Leduc proclaimed Kingston to be his "hometown" many times; he was always Mark Leduc from Kingston, wherever he competed. He insisted his first pro fight had to be here.
In a hall rife with people whose biggest claim to fame is sandlot ball and organizing house leagues, it is beyond belief that an Olympic silver medalist could be snubbed, year after year.
Clearly there was never a good reason for Mark Leduc to be excluded from the hall. Now it's too late. A posthumous induction, after years of looking the other way, will be a hollow gesture indeed.
No one selected from this day forward should accept induction into the local hall until Mark Leduc finds his rightful place. There simply is no one more worthy.
It would be appropriate for the Kingston and District Sports Hall of Fame to suspend its selection committee for a year and, in an Olympic year, make Leduc its sole inductee in 2010.
It's the only way to make it right.
----------30--------------
Claude Scilley is the former sports editor of the Whig-Standard. He nominated Mark Leduc for the Kingston and District Sports Hall of Fame in 2000.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Tuesday, June 09, 2009
A Late Start at a List of Transgressions
Oh dear....where to start!
It's late in the "transgressions" game, but at least we can go from here....it's going to be a long list of stupid mistakes made by people who are impressed with their positions......
1. Minister Raitt (one of Harper's ministers) leaves cabinet documents in a CTV studio after an interview (week of June 1, 2009)
2. Same minister is recorded saying that is's "sexy" and "cool" that there are NO isotopes being produced at Chalk River, and it will be a good election issue when she "fixes" it.
3. Minister John Baird (also in the Harper cabinet) tells Toronto that they don't know how to fill in an application for infrastructure funding (June 9, 2009), and uses what most people would call "gutter language" to describe Toronto and its Mayor. It's always been evident that he is well beyond his capability, and enjoys the limelight. No one is sure what he has done since he was elected, including his time as Environment Minister. Now THAT was a ministry in neutral.
It's late in the "transgressions" game, but at least we can go from here....it's going to be a long list of stupid mistakes made by people who are impressed with their positions......
1. Minister Raitt (one of Harper's ministers) leaves cabinet documents in a CTV studio after an interview (week of June 1, 2009)
2. Same minister is recorded saying that is's "sexy" and "cool" that there are NO isotopes being produced at Chalk River, and it will be a good election issue when she "fixes" it.
3. Minister John Baird (also in the Harper cabinet) tells Toronto that they don't know how to fill in an application for infrastructure funding (June 9, 2009), and uses what most people would call "gutter language" to describe Toronto and its Mayor. It's always been evident that he is well beyond his capability, and enjoys the limelight. No one is sure what he has done since he was elected, including his time as Environment Minister. Now THAT was a ministry in neutral.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
And some of us thought he'd gone as low as possible...
PM threatens Ignatieff with old tapes
TheStar.com - Canada -
PM threatens Ignatieff with old tapes
`Every day that goes by he's more like Richard Nixon,' Liberal leader says after Harper comment
May 28, 2009 Richard J. Brennan,OTTAWA BUREAU
OTTAWA–In a move described as "Nixonian," Prime Minister Stephen Harper suggested he would release potentially damaging videotapes of Michael Ignatieff after the Liberal leader called on Harper to fire Finance Minister Jim Flaherty.
During question period yesterday, Harper told the Commons he had lots of videotapes featuring Ignatieff, raising the spectre of using them to discredit the opposition leader before and during the next election campaign.
"I cannot fire the Leader of the Opposition and with all the tapes I have on him, I do not want to," he said.
Ignatieff described the comment as the "most Nixonian" of Harper's many remarks to him. "Every day that goes by, he's more like Richard Nixon," Ignatieff told reporters.
While U.S. president, Nixon installed secret audio recording systems in the Oval Office, his cabinet room and at Camp David and surreptitiously recorded hundreds of conversations from February 1971 through July 1973.
"We are in the middle of the most serious economic crisis since the Second World War and the Prime Minister ... is wasting his time listening to tapes of me," Ignatieff said.
Yesterday, Ignatieff called for Flaherty to be fired after he announced Tuesday that the federal budget deficit will be more than $50 billion, up from his projection of $34 billion earlier this year.
Ignatieff is the target of Tory political attack ads focusing on comments he made before he entered politics and criticizing him for living out of the country for 34 years.
"I will not be intimidated by the Prime Minister. I've got a job to do, which is to hold him to account," Ignatieff said.
The Conservatives are reported to have hundreds of hours of video clips of Ignatieff speeches and interviews and hope to mine a lifetime of his musings from his career as a journalist, author and public intellectual.
New Democrat MP Pat Martin (Winnipeg Centre) told the Star all Harper has left is "mudslinging" to divert the public's attention away from "the appalling economic situation he's got all of us in.
"We have really stooped to a new low in Canadian politics if that's what it comes down to in the time of economic crisis," Martin said.
"His tone implied something sinister on Ignatieff. It is the cheapest kind of mudslinging because it invokes suspicion without any real substance."
TheStar.com - Canada -
PM threatens Ignatieff with old tapes
`Every day that goes by he's more like Richard Nixon,' Liberal leader says after Harper comment
May 28, 2009 Richard J. Brennan,OTTAWA BUREAU
OTTAWA–In a move described as "Nixonian," Prime Minister Stephen Harper suggested he would release potentially damaging videotapes of Michael Ignatieff after the Liberal leader called on Harper to fire Finance Minister Jim Flaherty.
During question period yesterday, Harper told the Commons he had lots of videotapes featuring Ignatieff, raising the spectre of using them to discredit the opposition leader before and during the next election campaign.
"I cannot fire the Leader of the Opposition and with all the tapes I have on him, I do not want to," he said.
Ignatieff described the comment as the "most Nixonian" of Harper's many remarks to him. "Every day that goes by, he's more like Richard Nixon," Ignatieff told reporters.
While U.S. president, Nixon installed secret audio recording systems in the Oval Office, his cabinet room and at Camp David and surreptitiously recorded hundreds of conversations from February 1971 through July 1973.
"We are in the middle of the most serious economic crisis since the Second World War and the Prime Minister ... is wasting his time listening to tapes of me," Ignatieff said.
Yesterday, Ignatieff called for Flaherty to be fired after he announced Tuesday that the federal budget deficit will be more than $50 billion, up from his projection of $34 billion earlier this year.
Ignatieff is the target of Tory political attack ads focusing on comments he made before he entered politics and criticizing him for living out of the country for 34 years.
"I will not be intimidated by the Prime Minister. I've got a job to do, which is to hold him to account," Ignatieff said.
The Conservatives are reported to have hundreds of hours of video clips of Ignatieff speeches and interviews and hope to mine a lifetime of his musings from his career as a journalist, author and public intellectual.
New Democrat MP Pat Martin (Winnipeg Centre) told the Star all Harper has left is "mudslinging" to divert the public's attention away from "the appalling economic situation he's got all of us in.
"We have really stooped to a new low in Canadian politics if that's what it comes down to in the time of economic crisis," Martin said.
"His tone implied something sinister on Ignatieff. It is the cheapest kind of mudslinging because it invokes suspicion without any real substance."
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Nearing the Finish Line
In sports jargon, Stephen Harper is nearing the finish line as head of the Conservative Party (note not the "leader", but the head)
We can see it coming, and he probably has it planned.
The most frightening thing is to contemplate his successor: Jim Flaherty?
Spare us!
We can see it coming, and he probably has it planned.
The most frightening thing is to contemplate his successor: Jim Flaherty?
Spare us!
Friday, May 15, 2009
Raging duplicity
It's been a long time since Canadians were treated to two examples of duplicity at the same time.
Watching and listening to the Oliphant Inquiry, and reading about the NHL's braintrust spinning their dealings about the Phoenix Coyotes is almost more that the average person can stomach.
There's no doubt that Mr Mulroney is a master spinner and that Mr S, his nemesis, is (shall we say, just to be charitable) a prevaricator. And the NHL's version of events, and their repeated claims that the Coyotes were not in financial trouble are both incredible.
One wonders just how long Mr Mulroney and the NHL brass think we will believe them. Few do at this point, and this only goes to show that they are so far out of touch with the people, that they'll never be believed again.
And, to add to these two shows, the Conservative Party is starting "attack ads" against the Liberal leader.
Now, as the best example of incredible behaviour, this takes the cake.
Mr Mulroney described yesterday how well shielded the PM is. Should this be true, it explains why the current PM would put attack ads on the TV. He's out of touch and badly thought of. And hasn't any way of knowing it. So much for one's most favoured advisors.
Watching and listening to the Oliphant Inquiry, and reading about the NHL's braintrust spinning their dealings about the Phoenix Coyotes is almost more that the average person can stomach.
There's no doubt that Mr Mulroney is a master spinner and that Mr S, his nemesis, is (shall we say, just to be charitable) a prevaricator. And the NHL's version of events, and their repeated claims that the Coyotes were not in financial trouble are both incredible.
One wonders just how long Mr Mulroney and the NHL brass think we will believe them. Few do at this point, and this only goes to show that they are so far out of touch with the people, that they'll never be believed again.
And, to add to these two shows, the Conservative Party is starting "attack ads" against the Liberal leader.
Now, as the best example of incredible behaviour, this takes the cake.
Mr Mulroney described yesterday how well shielded the PM is. Should this be true, it explains why the current PM would put attack ads on the TV. He's out of touch and badly thought of. And hasn't any way of knowing it. So much for one's most favoured advisors.
Saturday, May 02, 2009
2009 Sports Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony
Coach locks up honour
HALL OF FAME CEREMONY: Since his parents didn't have enough money for him to play hockey, Tom Mastantuono turned to wrestling and fell in love with the sport
Posted 1 hour ago
Twenty-five years ago, when Tom Mastantuono started high school wrestling, he never imagined it would begin a path to the Kingston and District Sports Hall of Fame.
Mastantuono said last night at the 14th induction ceremony at the Ambassador Conference Resort that he was just combining the things he loved to do -- wrestling and coaching.
"If you told me six months ago I would be (going into the hall of fame), I would said, 'No way.' I didn't even think of this stuff," Mastantuono, one of six people inducted last night, said.
"I was doing it because I loved the kids. I loved the fact I was coaching wrestling."
Three of the newest inductees, Leonard Coyle, Bill Fitsell and Mastantuono, were recognized in the builders category.
Mary Skeggs and Sean Reade were inducted for their athletic accomplishments, while Aldo Popazzi, who played soccer and now continues to coach, entered as an athlete/builder.
"I am very honoured to be amongst some of these legends that I've seen in the past," said Mastantuono, 53, who was born in Tufo, Italy.
He said he turned to wrestling in his youth because his parents couldn't afford to enrol him in hockey.
"When I got to wrestling I said, 'Hey, this sport is for me.' I saw that the harder I worked, the more opportunities it might get to win medals," Mastantuono said.
It was that same hard-work approach Mastantuono, a teacher for 25 years at Regiopolis- Notre Dame, handed to his wrestlers. He founded the Regi wrestling team in 1984 and over the tears his athletes won 20 Eastern Ontario Secondary Schools Athletic Association titles.
"Some of those kids who weren't big enough or maybe tall enough to play other sports really fit in well with our program," Mastantuono said.
"Some of them grew to become stronger and went on to excel in other sports."
Mastantuono founded the Kingston and Area Olympic Wrestling Club in 1985 and out of it would come Olympic wrester Paul Ragusa and Canadian university champions Cleopas Ncube and Terri McNutt.
"Tonight, I'm thinking about a lot of those kids. This honour has given me an opportunity to pause and reflect (on) the 25 years I spent with some of these great kids,'' he said.
"There were kids too that maybe weren't great athletes, but just great kids. Those are the kids I admire very much."
Reade, a high school track and football star at Sydenham High School 20 years ago, returned for his induction from Houston, where he now works in the gas and oil industry.
Reade, 35, was in awe walking around reading the stories of the athletes and builders already in the Kingston Sports Hall of Fame.
"To go around the room and see all those inductees, it really is an hour to be amongst them," Reade said.
"There are a lot of individual memories that are coming back. I remember the high school football championships and the 1994 championship (Vanier Cup) with Western.
Hockey historian W. J. (Bill) Fitsell said coming to Kingston in 1953 from his native Lindsay and working as a reporter forThe Kingston Whig-Standardallowed him to seek and unravel the roots of hockey.
"A scribe going into the hall with real athletes and builders," said Fitsell, who made a pitch for some forgotten Kingston athletes to be included in the hall in the near future.
The historian also showed his knowledge of current events when he pointed out two proud hall members who were key builders for the Kingston Kimco Voyageurs, Scotty Martin and Bill Reason.
With the Vees headed off to the RBC Cup Canadian junior A championship in Victoria, Fitsell led more than 300 people in attendance in a special shout-out.
Instead of the signature thumbs up of Don Cherry, another hall of fame member, Fitsell asked for a 'double Vee' salute from peoples' hands.
"Go Vees Go," he said, adding, "that's to prove historians aren't always in the past."
Copyright © 2009 The Whig Standard
-30-
Article in the May 2, 2009 Whig Standard, written by Doug Graham
HALL OF FAME CEREMONY: Since his parents didn't have enough money for him to play hockey, Tom Mastantuono turned to wrestling and fell in love with the sport
Posted 1 hour ago
Twenty-five years ago, when Tom Mastantuono started high school wrestling, he never imagined it would begin a path to the Kingston and District Sports Hall of Fame.
Mastantuono said last night at the 14th induction ceremony at the Ambassador Conference Resort that he was just combining the things he loved to do -- wrestling and coaching.
"If you told me six months ago I would be (going into the hall of fame), I would said, 'No way.' I didn't even think of this stuff," Mastantuono, one of six people inducted last night, said.
"I was doing it because I loved the kids. I loved the fact I was coaching wrestling."
Three of the newest inductees, Leonard Coyle, Bill Fitsell and Mastantuono, were recognized in the builders category.
Mary Skeggs and Sean Reade were inducted for their athletic accomplishments, while Aldo Popazzi, who played soccer and now continues to coach, entered as an athlete/builder.
"I am very honoured to be amongst some of these legends that I've seen in the past," said Mastantuono, 53, who was born in Tufo, Italy.
He said he turned to wrestling in his youth because his parents couldn't afford to enrol him in hockey.
"When I got to wrestling I said, 'Hey, this sport is for me.' I saw that the harder I worked, the more opportunities it might get to win medals," Mastantuono said.
It was that same hard-work approach Mastantuono, a teacher for 25 years at Regiopolis- Notre Dame, handed to his wrestlers. He founded the Regi wrestling team in 1984 and over the tears his athletes won 20 Eastern Ontario Secondary Schools Athletic Association titles.
"Some of those kids who weren't big enough or maybe tall enough to play other sports really fit in well with our program," Mastantuono said.
"Some of them grew to become stronger and went on to excel in other sports."
Mastantuono founded the Kingston and Area Olympic Wrestling Club in 1985 and out of it would come Olympic wrester Paul Ragusa and Canadian university champions Cleopas Ncube and Terri McNutt.
"Tonight, I'm thinking about a lot of those kids. This honour has given me an opportunity to pause and reflect (on) the 25 years I spent with some of these great kids,'' he said.
"There were kids too that maybe weren't great athletes, but just great kids. Those are the kids I admire very much."
Reade, a high school track and football star at Sydenham High School 20 years ago, returned for his induction from Houston, where he now works in the gas and oil industry.
Reade, 35, was in awe walking around reading the stories of the athletes and builders already in the Kingston Sports Hall of Fame.
"To go around the room and see all those inductees, it really is an hour to be amongst them," Reade said.
"There are a lot of individual memories that are coming back. I remember the high school football championships and the 1994 championship (Vanier Cup) with Western.
Hockey historian W. J. (Bill) Fitsell said coming to Kingston in 1953 from his native Lindsay and working as a reporter forThe Kingston Whig-Standardallowed him to seek and unravel the roots of hockey.
"A scribe going into the hall with real athletes and builders," said Fitsell, who made a pitch for some forgotten Kingston athletes to be included in the hall in the near future.
The historian also showed his knowledge of current events when he pointed out two proud hall members who were key builders for the Kingston Kimco Voyageurs, Scotty Martin and Bill Reason.
With the Vees headed off to the RBC Cup Canadian junior A championship in Victoria, Fitsell led more than 300 people in attendance in a special shout-out.
Instead of the signature thumbs up of Don Cherry, another hall of fame member, Fitsell asked for a 'double Vee' salute from peoples' hands.
"Go Vees Go," he said, adding, "that's to prove historians aren't always in the past."
Copyright © 2009 The Whig Standard
-30-
Article in the May 2, 2009 Whig Standard, written by Doug Graham
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Another Sports Icon Dies
CBC website, April 30, 2009, 7.30am
If there's a group Jim Hughson would like to hang around with in Canada's sports past, it's those old-time broadcasters and writers who seemed to follow the big events around the world in a single pack.
Another of those iconic figures died Tuesday — Ted Reynolds — a man who made a long career of turning general assignment into an art form behind the sports microphone.
Reynolds, 84, spent more than 50 years calling the action for at least 23 sports and at 10 Olympic Games. He did 35 of those years at the CBC and kept working right up to his 80s.
He was, fans and fellow journalists agree, part of an impressive group of sports pioneers now passed that has included Don Chevrier and Don Whitman, writers Milt Dunnell, Jim Hunt and Jim Proudfoot, and a handful of others.
They all brought the same skill — the ability to do everything.
"It would have been pretty neat to have been around in the days where there weren't that many people working in the industry and they all travelled together and worked the same events together," said Hughson, a Hockey Night in Canada broadcaster who grew up in northern British Columbia when there was only one station — the CBC.
"And it was the same 10 guys who were the national writers and the national broadcasters who were at every big event everywhere in the world."
Reynolds, born in Grand Forks, B.C., was a West Vancouver resident who leaves behind his second wife, Joan, of 34 years (his first wife passed away in the early 1970s), four children, eight grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
He worked for three different media outlets in B.C., starting from his first job at a radio station in Kamloops right after the Second World War.
In a chat with Fred Walker, another Canadian sports journalism icon, on the occasion of winning a prestigious award in 2003 from Sports Media Canada, Reynolds remembered migrating to CFHC in Victoria in 1949.
"I met one of my mentors, the great Lester Patrick, who had returned to Victoria from New York to introduce the Victoria Cougars to the Western Hockey League," he said.
Patrick wanted him to do play-by-play for the Cougars, and that spot lasted eight years.
It acted as a springboard to a varied career that included Grey Cups, the Vancouver Canucks (he called the club's first game in 1970), equestrian, figure-skating and dozens of Olympic events including Nancy Greene's Olympic gold medal in skiing at the 1968 Winter Games in Grenoble, France.
What Reynolds will likely be most remembered for, however, is his work poolside, where he called so many historic events, including Elaine Tanner's two silver medals in 1968 in Mexico, Mark Spitz's seven wins in Munich in 1972 and, above all, a special week at the Los Angeles Games in 1984.
Baumann was special
Ted "always told the story without a bias," said swimming commentator and former Olympian Byron McDonald, who worked next to Reynolds for many years.
"But deep down inside, when he was able to call Alex Baumann's gold medals in 1984, it was extra special for him."
That was because Reynolds knew and understood the sport so well, having himself been a competitive swimmer in his youth before joining the air force in the Second World War, and because he had called so many of the country's pool performances up to that point, McDonald says.
Watching Baumann win in world record time in both the 200 metre free and 400 metre individual medley (the latter was Canada's first swimming gold since 1912) was a crowning moment. Especially when added to Victor Davis's gold in the 200 metre breast stroke and one from Anne Ottenbrite in the same event on the women's side.
Most of all, McDonald says, the broadcaster was a professional, able to handle with aplomb whatever was thrown at him — such as the time the pair were doing a live introduction and had been told it could be a minute, or three.
"And all of a sudden someone came into our headsets and said '10 seconds — gotta throw to a commercial,' and I'm listening to this thinking, 'There's no way he's going to get out of this,' " McDonald remembers.
"We're on a story and Ted's relating it and all of a sudden he brings it back down to say, 'Of course this pool was named for the Queen,' and he was out, right on cue."
Big shoes to fill
As Hughson points out, there aren't too many broadcasters in this age of specialization who even have the chance to call a lot of different events. One of those, the CBC's Scott Russell, feels the responsibility of following in such footsteps.
"Ted was an inspiration to me as I embarked on my career in broadcasting," Russell said. "He was very helpful and kind when I first encountered him at the Canada Games in Cape Breton in 1987.
"It is an honour to call the play-by-play of the sports he made into staples in every Canadian household, namely show jumping and figure-skating."
CBC Sports head Scott Moore summed up Reynolds's career thus: "To describe Ted Reynolds's style is to try and put a finger on the intangible quality of elegance."
-30-
And to this I say......The Golden Age of CBC Sports Olympic coverage: Don Wittman & Geoff Gowan, and Ted Reynolds & Byron MacDonald. They were unforgettable teams. We learned so much, and enjoyed the Games because of them . So many memories.
If there's a group Jim Hughson would like to hang around with in Canada's sports past, it's those old-time broadcasters and writers who seemed to follow the big events around the world in a single pack.
Another of those iconic figures died Tuesday — Ted Reynolds — a man who made a long career of turning general assignment into an art form behind the sports microphone.
Reynolds, 84, spent more than 50 years calling the action for at least 23 sports and at 10 Olympic Games. He did 35 of those years at the CBC and kept working right up to his 80s.
He was, fans and fellow journalists agree, part of an impressive group of sports pioneers now passed that has included Don Chevrier and Don Whitman, writers Milt Dunnell, Jim Hunt and Jim Proudfoot, and a handful of others.
They all brought the same skill — the ability to do everything.
"It would have been pretty neat to have been around in the days where there weren't that many people working in the industry and they all travelled together and worked the same events together," said Hughson, a Hockey Night in Canada broadcaster who grew up in northern British Columbia when there was only one station — the CBC.
"And it was the same 10 guys who were the national writers and the national broadcasters who were at every big event everywhere in the world."
Reynolds, born in Grand Forks, B.C., was a West Vancouver resident who leaves behind his second wife, Joan, of 34 years (his first wife passed away in the early 1970s), four children, eight grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
He worked for three different media outlets in B.C., starting from his first job at a radio station in Kamloops right after the Second World War.
In a chat with Fred Walker, another Canadian sports journalism icon, on the occasion of winning a prestigious award in 2003 from Sports Media Canada, Reynolds remembered migrating to CFHC in Victoria in 1949.
"I met one of my mentors, the great Lester Patrick, who had returned to Victoria from New York to introduce the Victoria Cougars to the Western Hockey League," he said.
Patrick wanted him to do play-by-play for the Cougars, and that spot lasted eight years.
It acted as a springboard to a varied career that included Grey Cups, the Vancouver Canucks (he called the club's first game in 1970), equestrian, figure-skating and dozens of Olympic events including Nancy Greene's Olympic gold medal in skiing at the 1968 Winter Games in Grenoble, France.
What Reynolds will likely be most remembered for, however, is his work poolside, where he called so many historic events, including Elaine Tanner's two silver medals in 1968 in Mexico, Mark Spitz's seven wins in Munich in 1972 and, above all, a special week at the Los Angeles Games in 1984.
Baumann was special
Ted "always told the story without a bias," said swimming commentator and former Olympian Byron McDonald, who worked next to Reynolds for many years.
"But deep down inside, when he was able to call Alex Baumann's gold medals in 1984, it was extra special for him."
That was because Reynolds knew and understood the sport so well, having himself been a competitive swimmer in his youth before joining the air force in the Second World War, and because he had called so many of the country's pool performances up to that point, McDonald says.
Watching Baumann win in world record time in both the 200 metre free and 400 metre individual medley (the latter was Canada's first swimming gold since 1912) was a crowning moment. Especially when added to Victor Davis's gold in the 200 metre breast stroke and one from Anne Ottenbrite in the same event on the women's side.
Most of all, McDonald says, the broadcaster was a professional, able to handle with aplomb whatever was thrown at him — such as the time the pair were doing a live introduction and had been told it could be a minute, or three.
"And all of a sudden someone came into our headsets and said '10 seconds — gotta throw to a commercial,' and I'm listening to this thinking, 'There's no way he's going to get out of this,' " McDonald remembers.
"We're on a story and Ted's relating it and all of a sudden he brings it back down to say, 'Of course this pool was named for the Queen,' and he was out, right on cue."
Big shoes to fill
As Hughson points out, there aren't too many broadcasters in this age of specialization who even have the chance to call a lot of different events. One of those, the CBC's Scott Russell, feels the responsibility of following in such footsteps.
"Ted was an inspiration to me as I embarked on my career in broadcasting," Russell said. "He was very helpful and kind when I first encountered him at the Canada Games in Cape Breton in 1987.
"It is an honour to call the play-by-play of the sports he made into staples in every Canadian household, namely show jumping and figure-skating."
CBC Sports head Scott Moore summed up Reynolds's career thus: "To describe Ted Reynolds's style is to try and put a finger on the intangible quality of elegance."
-30-
And to this I say......The Golden Age of CBC Sports Olympic coverage: Don Wittman & Geoff Gowan, and Ted Reynolds & Byron MacDonald. They were unforgettable teams. We learned so much, and enjoyed the Games because of them . So many memories.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
S & R Closing
The soon-to-be closure of the S & R in downtown Kingston is the best indicator that Kingston isn't recession-proof, as many of the local "champions" say.
This store is the heart of downtown Kingston. No question.
Comments in The Whig on-line reflect many 'reasons' for the closure, including the economy, the incredible taxes that the owner pays (if they are anything like the taxes that we pay on our residences in the downtown, they are gigantic!!), not changing with the times....and more.
We probably own't know the real reasons that Michael Robinson has, partly because he won't want to have the mayor and council and the downtown business association look bad. Nevertheless, the taxes that he pays on that property must be incredible.
Kingston is the poorer for the loss of the S & R. It is a landmark, a fixture, an experience.
This store is the heart of downtown Kingston. No question.
Comments in The Whig on-line reflect many 'reasons' for the closure, including the economy, the incredible taxes that the owner pays (if they are anything like the taxes that we pay on our residences in the downtown, they are gigantic!!), not changing with the times....and more.
We probably own't know the real reasons that Michael Robinson has, partly because he won't want to have the mayor and council and the downtown business association look bad. Nevertheless, the taxes that he pays on that property must be incredible.
Kingston is the poorer for the loss of the S & R. It is a landmark, a fixture, an experience.
Friday, April 10, 2009
Where is the Respect?
First things first....no one would ever consider me to be a conservative. Never. Ever.
But one has to wonder at the apparent treatment of former PM Mulroney by the new Conservative Party. Gives plenty of reason for the resurgence of the old PC party.
If nothing else, Mr Mulroney should be treated with the same respect that the present PM should. It pains me to say that! However, if we still want to to be a country that is the envy of other countries, one of the values that we must continue to exhibit is respect for each other. That does not mean that we have to like the person or agree with their opinions. It does mean that each person deserves fair and honourable treatment from others.
Somehow, on this Good Friday morning, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" seems fitting.
Our PM should demand respectful behaviour from his staff and party members, and demonstrate it himself.
But one has to wonder at the apparent treatment of former PM Mulroney by the new Conservative Party. Gives plenty of reason for the resurgence of the old PC party.
If nothing else, Mr Mulroney should be treated with the same respect that the present PM should. It pains me to say that! However, if we still want to to be a country that is the envy of other countries, one of the values that we must continue to exhibit is respect for each other. That does not mean that we have to like the person or agree with their opinions. It does mean that each person deserves fair and honourable treatment from others.
Somehow, on this Good Friday morning, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" seems fitting.
Our PM should demand respectful behaviour from his staff and party members, and demonstrate it himself.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Why People Came Out in Droves
This letter to the Editor in The Globe pretty well sums it up. February 21, 2009.
-------------------------------------------------
Ottawa -- The reason I got myself out to Parliament Hill this week to greet U.S. President Barack Obama was not due to some mindless Beatlemania mentality (In Awe Of Obama - letters, Feb. 19), but rather to make a public show of support - to Prime Minister Stephen Harper and to the rest of the world - for Mr. Obama's policies and the need for change that he stands for. The more this public wave of support continues, the less likely that Mr. Obama's momentum will be prematurely cut short by countervailing powers.
Laurie Pelly
-------------------------------------------------
So, let's continue to show that Canada too needs change, and that our leaders need to lead.
-------------------------------------------------
Ottawa -- The reason I got myself out to Parliament Hill this week to greet U.S. President Barack Obama was not due to some mindless Beatlemania mentality (In Awe Of Obama - letters, Feb. 19), but rather to make a public show of support - to Prime Minister Stephen Harper and to the rest of the world - for Mr. Obama's policies and the need for change that he stands for. The more this public wave of support continues, the less likely that Mr. Obama's momentum will be prematurely cut short by countervailing powers.
Laurie Pelly
-------------------------------------------------
So, let's continue to show that Canada too needs change, and that our leaders need to lead.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Today is the Day
President Obama comes to Canada.
Well, it's jsut a "pit stop" as one wag put it.
Mr Harper, who has been lower than a well-tromped carpet lately, will meet and discuss a few issues with him.
There 's no doubt that they will get along well-enough to be civil, but no one can possibly think that they will "like" each other. Like oil and water.
Mr Harper continues his mean-spirited ways, by arranging lunch in the dining room of the Speaker of the Senate, not the House. The Speaker of the House, of course, is a Liberal, and Harper wouldn't want to give the Liberals any more air time with the President than he can get away with. And, to that end, he has cut the meeting time of Michael Ignatieff and President Obama down to 15 minutes, from an earlier listing of half an hour.
As one letter-writer in The Globe and Mail said today, Mr Harper makes no effort to connect with Canadian voters/citizens, about as far away from Obama's modus operandi as one can get.
What a sad, frustrated, and out-of-touch example Stephen Harper is. No leader there.
One would think that with a new leader in the USA, it might be a positive thing to take a positive, concensus-building attitude to this country. That, however, is out of character for the PM. Pity. And, WE are the losers.
Well, it's jsut a "pit stop" as one wag put it.
Mr Harper, who has been lower than a well-tromped carpet lately, will meet and discuss a few issues with him.
There 's no doubt that they will get along well-enough to be civil, but no one can possibly think that they will "like" each other. Like oil and water.
Mr Harper continues his mean-spirited ways, by arranging lunch in the dining room of the Speaker of the Senate, not the House. The Speaker of the House, of course, is a Liberal, and Harper wouldn't want to give the Liberals any more air time with the President than he can get away with. And, to that end, he has cut the meeting time of Michael Ignatieff and President Obama down to 15 minutes, from an earlier listing of half an hour.
As one letter-writer in The Globe and Mail said today, Mr Harper makes no effort to connect with Canadian voters/citizens, about as far away from Obama's modus operandi as one can get.
What a sad, frustrated, and out-of-touch example Stephen Harper is. No leader there.
One would think that with a new leader in the USA, it might be a positive thing to take a positive, concensus-building attitude to this country. That, however, is out of character for the PM. Pity. And, WE are the losers.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Absolutely disgraceful
I doubt that the NHL, or the CBC, really care why there are fewer people watching NHL hockey, but unless they missed it, here's a BIG reason: the chatters, the "analysts," the talking heads.
Don Cherry is one person that television can do without, but commentators like MIKE MILBURY are another. In the context of less violence in hockey, he referred to the "pansification" of the game.
This sort of macho drivel is not acceptable today, and never will be. Even when this word was more commonly used, anyone with a sense of respect for others, didn't use it. In fact, they shunned it.
Language definitely evolves; we agree to that. So, if the word has evolved, just what does he think it meant before, and what does it mean NOW?
Come on, Milbury, let's hear your explanation.
This macho, "it's-just-the-boys"-being-themselves stuff must stop. That is just an excuse for poor, disrespectful, thoughtless, self-serving bad behaviour.
My letter to the CBC is on its way. Send yours. Today.
----------------------
Gay rights group outraged by CBC's use of 'pansification'
WILLIAM HOUSTON
From Thursday's Globe and Mail
January 28, 2009 at 8:34 PM EST
A gay rights group has complained to the CBC about the use of the term "pansification" by Hockey Night in Canada commentators.
Hockey Night commentator Mike Milbury coined the expression to describe how the NHL would be softened should the league heed calls to ban fighting. He has used "pansification" at least twice on Hockey Night this season, in November and again on Jan. 17. His colleague, Don Cherry, has also made reference to it.
Egale Canada, a gay advocacy organization, protested last week. But Scott Moore, the head of CBC Sports, said through a network spokesman yesterday that commentators are free to make their own decisions whether to use the expression.
"That's ridiculous," said Helen Kennedy, the executive director of Egale Canada. "So it's okay for people to go around using these slurs — derogatory, stereotypical terms against a group in society? That's outrageous."
Network spokesman Jeff Keay said neither Milbury nor Cherry intended to offend homosexuals by using "pansification," a derivative of the word pansy.
"The point is, it was no way intended to be a reflection on or offensive to gay people," Keay said. "I think the colloquial use of the term was something they didn't associate with gay people. The way the language evolves over time, 20 or 30 years ago it would have been seen, reasonably enough, as a direct slur against gay people.
"But I think with usage now, I'm not sure the association is so immediate."
Kennedy wasn't buying the explanation.
"Words like pansification just further the stereotype and perpetuate the homophobic stereotype in our society," she said yesterday.
Milbury joined the CBC last summer after working as a hockey commentator for TSN. A former NHL player, coach and general manager, he is also a commentator for NBC, where he talked about the "pansification" of hockey on the Jan. 18 NHL telecast.
A Harris-Decima poll found that 54 per cent of Canadians believe the NHL should ban fighting, while 40 per cent favoured continuing to penalize it with five-minute major penalties.
Egale Canada does not have a position on fighting in the NHL. Egale is an acronym for Equality for Gays and Lesbians Everywhere. The Ottawa-based organization was founded in 1986 and reports a membership of more than 4,000.
Kennedy complained by telephone to network ombudsman Vince Carlin last week and said she followed up in writing. However, the ombudsman's office referred her to Moore's office.
"Programs always have the right to respond first," Carlin said. "And if the person is not happy with it, then they can ask for me to make an independent review."
Carlin said he isn't sure that he will address the issue. "To tell you the truth, it's on the margin," he said. "I generally handle journalism and tend not to handle sports. But there have been occasions where it is indeed journalism or something's been done. … To be honest, I haven't decided whether this is in my wheelhouse or not."
Don Cherry is one person that television can do without, but commentators like MIKE MILBURY are another. In the context of less violence in hockey, he referred to the "pansification" of the game.
This sort of macho drivel is not acceptable today, and never will be. Even when this word was more commonly used, anyone with a sense of respect for others, didn't use it. In fact, they shunned it.
Language definitely evolves; we agree to that. So, if the word has evolved, just what does he think it meant before, and what does it mean NOW?
Come on, Milbury, let's hear your explanation.
This macho, "it's-just-the-boys"-being-themselves stuff must stop. That is just an excuse for poor, disrespectful, thoughtless, self-serving bad behaviour.
My letter to the CBC is on its way. Send yours. Today.
----------------------
Gay rights group outraged by CBC's use of 'pansification'
WILLIAM HOUSTON
From Thursday's Globe and Mail
January 28, 2009 at 8:34 PM EST
A gay rights group has complained to the CBC about the use of the term "pansification" by Hockey Night in Canada commentators.
Hockey Night commentator Mike Milbury coined the expression to describe how the NHL would be softened should the league heed calls to ban fighting. He has used "pansification" at least twice on Hockey Night this season, in November and again on Jan. 17. His colleague, Don Cherry, has also made reference to it.
Egale Canada, a gay advocacy organization, protested last week. But Scott Moore, the head of CBC Sports, said through a network spokesman yesterday that commentators are free to make their own decisions whether to use the expression.
"That's ridiculous," said Helen Kennedy, the executive director of Egale Canada. "So it's okay for people to go around using these slurs — derogatory, stereotypical terms against a group in society? That's outrageous."
Network spokesman Jeff Keay said neither Milbury nor Cherry intended to offend homosexuals by using "pansification," a derivative of the word pansy.
"The point is, it was no way intended to be a reflection on or offensive to gay people," Keay said. "I think the colloquial use of the term was something they didn't associate with gay people. The way the language evolves over time, 20 or 30 years ago it would have been seen, reasonably enough, as a direct slur against gay people.
"But I think with usage now, I'm not sure the association is so immediate."
Kennedy wasn't buying the explanation.
"Words like pansification just further the stereotype and perpetuate the homophobic stereotype in our society," she said yesterday.
Milbury joined the CBC last summer after working as a hockey commentator for TSN. A former NHL player, coach and general manager, he is also a commentator for NBC, where he talked about the "pansification" of hockey on the Jan. 18 NHL telecast.
A Harris-Decima poll found that 54 per cent of Canadians believe the NHL should ban fighting, while 40 per cent favoured continuing to penalize it with five-minute major penalties.
Egale Canada does not have a position on fighting in the NHL. Egale is an acronym for Equality for Gays and Lesbians Everywhere. The Ottawa-based organization was founded in 1986 and reports a membership of more than 4,000.
Kennedy complained by telephone to network ombudsman Vince Carlin last week and said she followed up in writing. However, the ombudsman's office referred her to Moore's office.
"Programs always have the right to respond first," Carlin said. "And if the person is not happy with it, then they can ask for me to make an independent review."
Carlin said he isn't sure that he will address the issue. "To tell you the truth, it's on the margin," he said. "I generally handle journalism and tend not to handle sports. But there have been occasions where it is indeed journalism or something's been done. … To be honest, I haven't decided whether this is in my wheelhouse or not."
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Nearly Right......
Here's how Obama can raise Harper's game
by Lawrence Martin, the Globe and Mail, January 15, 2008.
Stephen Harper has about as little in common with Barack Obama as John Diefenbaker had with John Kennedy.
It's not just that one is liberal and the other conservative. They clash on myriad levels. One's a visionary, the other more of a plodder. One's a renowned communicator, the other spent almost his first term trying not to communicate.
The Obama approach is that of a consensus builder. The Harper approach is divide and conquer. The Obama world view is of one family. Mr. Harper inclines more toward the "clash of civilizations" template. The new president is about to shut down Guantanamo; the Prime Minister didn't have much of a problem with it. The new president is soon to shut down the Iraq war; Mr. Harper didn't have much of a problem with it.
In style, Mr. Obama is GQ, Mr. Harper Rotary Club. Mr. Obama is a fine wine, Mr. Harper lime juice. Mr. Obama is relaxed, Mr. Harper suspicious. One is inspirational, the other isn't. One makes Americans feel proud. The other makes Canadians - except when he's almost overthrowing his own government - feel indifferent.
Related Articles
Mr. Harper and other leaders suffer unfairly in comparison to Mr. Obama. The new president's gaining all these glorious notices without even having served a day on the job.
But what's striking about the incoming American leader is that he's probably closer to the Canadian mainstream than the Canadian leader, who's closer to the Calgary or Texas mainstream.
As might be expected, Mr. Obama has more similarities to Michael Ignatieff. From his years at Harvard and elsewhere, the Liberal Leader has several close contacts in the Obama camp and will no doubt, with time, be cultivating them.
Put it all together and you might get the impression that Mr. Harper is dreading the advent of Mr. Obama. But you could be wrong. Mr. Obama's arrival has Canadian Conservatives optimistic. In contrast to George W. Bush, who was a barnacle, the Democrat presents Mr. Harper with a big opportunity.
If the PM plays it properly, he can share in Mr. Obama's winds of change. By building rapport with the new president, he can establish for himself a more moderate, modern and attractive leadership personality.
Economic conditions are already forcing a commonality of approach from the two leaders. Deficit spending, stimulus spending and tax cuts are the way each is going. Mr. Harper's outlays will be more along the lines of a dime-store New Deal than Mr. Obama's, but that's because we don't need as much of an overhaul.
On the environment, each favours a cap-and-trade system to combat global warming. The PM has moved slowly on this issue, but Mr. Obama's arrival prompted him to quickly propose a mutual accord on the environment. If he can be seen to be at one with Mr. Obama on this issue, it will help Canadians forget his three years of foot-dragging.
On border barriers, a problem Mr. Harper unsuccessfully raised with Mr. Bush, he should be able to make more headway with the new president. Mr. Obama campaigned against Republican politics of fear, which has led to America's putting up walls around the wall, including along the Canadian border.
Mr. Obama has a vested interest in quickly building rapport with the Harper government. One of his priorities is getting Americans off their dependence on foreign oil from unstable states. For that, he needs Canada. His style is bipartisan, so he won't come at Mr. Harper with a closed mind.
The potential is there for Mr. Harper to bask in some of the Obama limelight for as long as it lasts. The two leaders will never be buddies. At root, Mr. Harper is too different for that to happen.
But if he can be seen as working shoulder to shoulder with the new president in fighting the great recession, he will succeed in doing what he cares about most -- scoring political points. His finding common cause with the exalted American liberal would be too much for Canadian Liberals to bear.
-30-
Harper won't be able to find a common thread.
Obama doesn't need to find a common thread.
Obama won't like Harper.
We'll see Harper's smarmy smile throughout. If he thinks that Obama won't see through him, his eyesight is impaired.
by Lawrence Martin, the Globe and Mail, January 15, 2008.
Stephen Harper has about as little in common with Barack Obama as John Diefenbaker had with John Kennedy.
It's not just that one is liberal and the other conservative. They clash on myriad levels. One's a visionary, the other more of a plodder. One's a renowned communicator, the other spent almost his first term trying not to communicate.
The Obama approach is that of a consensus builder. The Harper approach is divide and conquer. The Obama world view is of one family. Mr. Harper inclines more toward the "clash of civilizations" template. The new president is about to shut down Guantanamo; the Prime Minister didn't have much of a problem with it. The new president is soon to shut down the Iraq war; Mr. Harper didn't have much of a problem with it.
In style, Mr. Obama is GQ, Mr. Harper Rotary Club. Mr. Obama is a fine wine, Mr. Harper lime juice. Mr. Obama is relaxed, Mr. Harper suspicious. One is inspirational, the other isn't. One makes Americans feel proud. The other makes Canadians - except when he's almost overthrowing his own government - feel indifferent.
Related Articles
Mr. Harper and other leaders suffer unfairly in comparison to Mr. Obama. The new president's gaining all these glorious notices without even having served a day on the job.
But what's striking about the incoming American leader is that he's probably closer to the Canadian mainstream than the Canadian leader, who's closer to the Calgary or Texas mainstream.
As might be expected, Mr. Obama has more similarities to Michael Ignatieff. From his years at Harvard and elsewhere, the Liberal Leader has several close contacts in the Obama camp and will no doubt, with time, be cultivating them.
Put it all together and you might get the impression that Mr. Harper is dreading the advent of Mr. Obama. But you could be wrong. Mr. Obama's arrival has Canadian Conservatives optimistic. In contrast to George W. Bush, who was a barnacle, the Democrat presents Mr. Harper with a big opportunity.
If the PM plays it properly, he can share in Mr. Obama's winds of change. By building rapport with the new president, he can establish for himself a more moderate, modern and attractive leadership personality.
Economic conditions are already forcing a commonality of approach from the two leaders. Deficit spending, stimulus spending and tax cuts are the way each is going. Mr. Harper's outlays will be more along the lines of a dime-store New Deal than Mr. Obama's, but that's because we don't need as much of an overhaul.
On the environment, each favours a cap-and-trade system to combat global warming. The PM has moved slowly on this issue, but Mr. Obama's arrival prompted him to quickly propose a mutual accord on the environment. If he can be seen to be at one with Mr. Obama on this issue, it will help Canadians forget his three years of foot-dragging.
On border barriers, a problem Mr. Harper unsuccessfully raised with Mr. Bush, he should be able to make more headway with the new president. Mr. Obama campaigned against Republican politics of fear, which has led to America's putting up walls around the wall, including along the Canadian border.
Mr. Obama has a vested interest in quickly building rapport with the Harper government. One of his priorities is getting Americans off their dependence on foreign oil from unstable states. For that, he needs Canada. His style is bipartisan, so he won't come at Mr. Harper with a closed mind.
The potential is there for Mr. Harper to bask in some of the Obama limelight for as long as it lasts. The two leaders will never be buddies. At root, Mr. Harper is too different for that to happen.
But if he can be seen as working shoulder to shoulder with the new president in fighting the great recession, he will succeed in doing what he cares about most -- scoring political points. His finding common cause with the exalted American liberal would be too much for Canadian Liberals to bear.
-30-
Harper won't be able to find a common thread.
Obama doesn't need to find a common thread.
Obama won't like Harper.
We'll see Harper's smarmy smile throughout. If he thinks that Obama won't see through him, his eyesight is impaired.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Mr Harper, Meet Mr Obama
Time for Mr Harper to be on his best behaviour and to put on a genuine and warm smile.
Everyone seems to be offering Mr Harper a few tippers, so here goes:
1. Be genuine.
2. Be warm and friendly.
3. Don't fake a smile; when you do that, it comes across as patronizing
4. Invite Mr Obama back with his family, for a few days in Ottawa or at the lake....that's Harrington Lake.
5. Don't press any issues with him. This is a "getting to know my neighbour" visit, not a visit to lay down the law or press ANY point except that we are neighbours.
6. Relax!!!! Lighten up!
Further to to this...please don't wear that suit and tie that you recently wore in Vancouver. It is too formal, looks like your top-of-the-line power suit, and doesn't convey the right image for this occasion (did it in Vancouver?). And for heaven's sake don't wear BROWN!!!
Everyone seems to be offering Mr Harper a few tippers, so here goes:
1. Be genuine.
2. Be warm and friendly.
3. Don't fake a smile; when you do that, it comes across as patronizing
4. Invite Mr Obama back with his family, for a few days in Ottawa or at the lake....that's Harrington Lake.
5. Don't press any issues with him. This is a "getting to know my neighbour" visit, not a visit to lay down the law or press ANY point except that we are neighbours.
6. Relax!!!! Lighten up!
Further to to this...please don't wear that suit and tie that you recently wore in Vancouver. It is too formal, looks like your top-of-the-line power suit, and doesn't convey the right image for this occasion (did it in Vancouver?). And for heaven's sake don't wear BROWN!!!
Monday, January 12, 2009
Canadia Core Values
In a letter to the editor in The Globe and Mail this morning, a fellow named Owen Leitch writes from Toronto that "innocent people {are} dying by the hundreds {in Gaza}."
"We in Canada should stick to our core values of peace, tolerance and respect for human rights...."
How seldom we read in the newspapers about Canada's "core values." The word 'values' is bandied about, without the speaker/writer really knowing what he/she is talking about. It sounds nice, it seems to get attention, it apparently makes the speaker appear knowledgeable.
One definition of "values" is our "deeply held beliefs." And 'core values' are those few that are at the heart of a person or country (in this case). There aren't lot of core values; there are few. But Leitch hits it correctly when he says that there are three core values which are at the heart of this country: peace, tolerance and respect for human rights. Without these, we would not be what we have become.
And that is why some Canadians are so opposed to the change in our armed forces, from a group who act to maintain peace, to a group that far too often is the aggressor.
"We in Canada should stick to our core values of peace, tolerance and respect for human rights...."
How seldom we read in the newspapers about Canada's "core values." The word 'values' is bandied about, without the speaker/writer really knowing what he/she is talking about. It sounds nice, it seems to get attention, it apparently makes the speaker appear knowledgeable.
One definition of "values" is our "deeply held beliefs." And 'core values' are those few that are at the heart of a person or country (in this case). There aren't lot of core values; there are few. But Leitch hits it correctly when he says that there are three core values which are at the heart of this country: peace, tolerance and respect for human rights. Without these, we would not be what we have become.
And that is why some Canadians are so opposed to the change in our armed forces, from a group who act to maintain peace, to a group that far too often is the aggressor.
Tuesday, January 06, 2009
A Wonderful Respite
It was a blessing that Canadian politicians took a break over Christmas and the New Year holidays. It was refreshing not to hear complaints, criticism, political spin, and verbal beating on others.
And, last night, the victory of the Canadian men's under 20 hockey team at the World Junior Championships gave everyone a chance to be positive. The game was well-played, the enthusiasm of the young men almost contagious, and the patriotism palpable. What a great way to start 2009! Thanks to the athletes and all the support staff that assisted them through a long try-out period and training camp and training.
Let's hope that the litany of doom and gloom will be less, and politicians will realize how much we enjoyed their hiatus!
And, last night, the victory of the Canadian men's under 20 hockey team at the World Junior Championships gave everyone a chance to be positive. The game was well-played, the enthusiasm of the young men almost contagious, and the patriotism palpable. What a great way to start 2009! Thanks to the athletes and all the support staff that assisted them through a long try-out period and training camp and training.
Let's hope that the litany of doom and gloom will be less, and politicians will realize how much we enjoyed their hiatus!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)