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.
------------------
Friday, October 23, 2009
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!
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Admiral Landymore
I REMEMBER: BILL LANDYMORE
As captain of HMCS Iroquois, he knew every sailor by name
CHRISTOPHER PRATT
December 27, 2008
Christopher Pratt, captain (RCN) retired, writes about Admiral Bill Landymore, whose obituary appeared Dec. 15.
Not one person who knew him would be able to write a full memoir of Bill Landymore's long and eventful life. Although short in stature (as many admirals seem to have been), he was oversized in every other dimension, from the depth of his parade ground voice to the breadth of his generous heart. His classmates at RMC nicknamed him "shadow," but he was no shadow in real life, in which he was always the embodiment of all three elements of the RMC motto: "Truth, Duty, Valour."
Above all, he lived in the knowledge that morale is the key to success. No "popularity Jack," he was instead imbued with the "Nelson touch," that ability to motivate and bring out the very best in his men. He worked in subtle ways to make the rigours of life at sea more tolerable. While in command of HMCS Iroquois in Korean waters, he could address every sailor on board by name and knew their family circumstances.
Small wonder that his sudden forced retirement came as a shock to the fleet. After defence minister Paul Hellyer told him to retire, he considered taking drastic action. On the flight back to Halifax, he told me that he had thought of asking for a court martial, which would have brought the whole conflict into the open. He was prevented by the thought that might result in destroying the very thing he was trying to preserve - the identity of the navy during the process of unification.
Nobody who was there will forget the scene in the Halifax dockyard on the day of his departure. Had he so much as lifted a finger, the sailors would have walked ashore in protest. Instead, in his farewell message (I still have his handwritten draft), he told the sailors to stand fast and do their best to keep the naval spirit alive. The sendoff was tumultuous. Flags flew from every yardarm, sailors cheered and the band played. It was a day in history.
Lacking self importance, he laid aside his rank after his retirement and asked to be called Bill. And behind his bluff exterior lay a mind that was always ready to have some fun. One time, he startled a meeting of the staid Naval Officers Association in Toronto by arriving in a Beatles wig.
He spent his retirement on his farm overlooking the sea, and gave himself to raising funds for charities and serving on a hospital board. And even when he himself became a hospital patient, with his hearing gone and his memory sometimes failing, his courtesy never failed. Not long ago, a friend of mine who is a retired chief petty officer stopped by to pay a visit. The admiral looked at him and announced, "McBride ... radar plotter ... Iroquois."
Fraser McKee of Toronto also writes about Bill Landymore.
About three years after his spectacular firing by Paul Hellyer, I was serving as the local president of the Naval Officers Association and decided to call Adm. Landymore to see if he would be a speaker at a forthcoming dinner and review his feelings after events.
I spoke to Mrs. Landymore in Nova Scotia who said he wasn't available just then. When pressed, she advised that he was at Grace Hospital in Halifax. When I expressed concern, she laughed and said he was working in the laundry. It seems the hospital services staff were on strike, and the board members, including the admiral, were voluntarily filling in.
When I did reach him a few days later, he said he no longer discussed unification publicly. "That would simply cause problems for the current maritime commander," he told me. "I've made my point, and the commander's job is difficult enough without me adding fuel to the fire."
Not only was Bill Landymore a dedicated naval commander, but he was prepared to step in and help at any level and yet not contribute to the difficulties of others.
from The Globe and Mail, December 27 2008.
---------------
I well remember my father speaking of Bill Landymore. Landymore was at RMC at the same time that my father was. In fact, Landymore might have been my father's "recruit." In those days, the senior cadets took recruits under their wing for a year, to help them acclimatize to RMC, and to offer guidance. Perhaps they still do that.
Landymore had a reputation, not of being "bad" but of being one who undertook/led schinnagans! He also was well-regarded by the class that my father was in.
The remembrances in The Globe are interesting. Pratt's comment that Landymore knew that "morale is the key to success" is a useful thought that today's Canadian leaders might keep in mind.
As captain of HMCS Iroquois, he knew every sailor by name
CHRISTOPHER PRATT
December 27, 2008
Christopher Pratt, captain (RCN) retired, writes about Admiral Bill Landymore, whose obituary appeared Dec. 15.
Not one person who knew him would be able to write a full memoir of Bill Landymore's long and eventful life. Although short in stature (as many admirals seem to have been), he was oversized in every other dimension, from the depth of his parade ground voice to the breadth of his generous heart. His classmates at RMC nicknamed him "shadow," but he was no shadow in real life, in which he was always the embodiment of all three elements of the RMC motto: "Truth, Duty, Valour."
Above all, he lived in the knowledge that morale is the key to success. No "popularity Jack," he was instead imbued with the "Nelson touch," that ability to motivate and bring out the very best in his men. He worked in subtle ways to make the rigours of life at sea more tolerable. While in command of HMCS Iroquois in Korean waters, he could address every sailor on board by name and knew their family circumstances.
Small wonder that his sudden forced retirement came as a shock to the fleet. After defence minister Paul Hellyer told him to retire, he considered taking drastic action. On the flight back to Halifax, he told me that he had thought of asking for a court martial, which would have brought the whole conflict into the open. He was prevented by the thought that might result in destroying the very thing he was trying to preserve - the identity of the navy during the process of unification.
Nobody who was there will forget the scene in the Halifax dockyard on the day of his departure. Had he so much as lifted a finger, the sailors would have walked ashore in protest. Instead, in his farewell message (I still have his handwritten draft), he told the sailors to stand fast and do their best to keep the naval spirit alive. The sendoff was tumultuous. Flags flew from every yardarm, sailors cheered and the band played. It was a day in history.
Lacking self importance, he laid aside his rank after his retirement and asked to be called Bill. And behind his bluff exterior lay a mind that was always ready to have some fun. One time, he startled a meeting of the staid Naval Officers Association in Toronto by arriving in a Beatles wig.
He spent his retirement on his farm overlooking the sea, and gave himself to raising funds for charities and serving on a hospital board. And even when he himself became a hospital patient, with his hearing gone and his memory sometimes failing, his courtesy never failed. Not long ago, a friend of mine who is a retired chief petty officer stopped by to pay a visit. The admiral looked at him and announced, "McBride ... radar plotter ... Iroquois."
Fraser McKee of Toronto also writes about Bill Landymore.
About three years after his spectacular firing by Paul Hellyer, I was serving as the local president of the Naval Officers Association and decided to call Adm. Landymore to see if he would be a speaker at a forthcoming dinner and review his feelings after events.
I spoke to Mrs. Landymore in Nova Scotia who said he wasn't available just then. When pressed, she advised that he was at Grace Hospital in Halifax. When I expressed concern, she laughed and said he was working in the laundry. It seems the hospital services staff were on strike, and the board members, including the admiral, were voluntarily filling in.
When I did reach him a few days later, he said he no longer discussed unification publicly. "That would simply cause problems for the current maritime commander," he told me. "I've made my point, and the commander's job is difficult enough without me adding fuel to the fire."
Not only was Bill Landymore a dedicated naval commander, but he was prepared to step in and help at any level and yet not contribute to the difficulties of others.
from The Globe and Mail, December 27 2008.
---------------
I well remember my father speaking of Bill Landymore. Landymore was at RMC at the same time that my father was. In fact, Landymore might have been my father's "recruit." In those days, the senior cadets took recruits under their wing for a year, to help them acclimatize to RMC, and to offer guidance. Perhaps they still do that.
Landymore had a reputation, not of being "bad" but of being one who undertook/led schinnagans! He also was well-regarded by the class that my father was in.
The remembrances in The Globe are interesting. Pratt's comment that Landymore knew that "morale is the key to success" is a useful thought that today's Canadian leaders might keep in mind.
Friday, December 26, 2008
Christmas
Christmas is a special time, a religious holiday.
Pope Benedict's comments in his Christmas message are appalling. To liken homosexuality to global warming is probably the most amazing, and ridiculous comparison made in all 2008.
If he thinks there is sin in the first, perhaps he might comment upon sin in the latter. The idea that companies deposit very harmful emissions into the environment, and do this thoughtlesssly, is sinful. And do it all with little regard for others.
A person's orientation is private. Contributing to global warming is public. One has no impact upon others, while the other impacts others for generations.
One is a force for good, while the other is a force for bad.
Just think about it.
Pope Benedict's comments in his Christmas message are appalling. To liken homosexuality to global warming is probably the most amazing, and ridiculous comparison made in all 2008.
If he thinks there is sin in the first, perhaps he might comment upon sin in the latter. The idea that companies deposit very harmful emissions into the environment, and do this thoughtlesssly, is sinful. And do it all with little regard for others.
A person's orientation is private. Contributing to global warming is public. One has no impact upon others, while the other impacts others for generations.
One is a force for good, while the other is a force for bad.
Just think about it.
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
It's a Matter of Principle
OGL (Our Glorious Leader, according to John Doyle of The Globe) continues his unprincipled bossing around of Canadians.
This man said he would not appoint Senators; they had to be elected.
Yesterday, he appointed 18 new Senators, including two people who consider themselves (and are considered by others) to be journalists. It's no surprise that Wallin and Duffy are closet Conservatives, but it's pretty blatent not only to appoint them, but for them to accept appointment. Their status has plummeted in the eyes of Canadians.
One wonders what other countries think of Canada, if they think of the country at all.
There are few mentions of Canada on CBC Overnight, a fine program that brings news, commentary and info from other public broadcasters to Canadians on a daily basis. OGL would be well-advised to listen to the radio overnight for even one night, to hear what other countries, like Germany, Australia, Great Britain, are doing and thinking.
Canada is small potatoes in their eyes. And no wonder, since the current PM is an unprincipled bully.
This man said he would not appoint Senators; they had to be elected.
Yesterday, he appointed 18 new Senators, including two people who consider themselves (and are considered by others) to be journalists. It's no surprise that Wallin and Duffy are closet Conservatives, but it's pretty blatent not only to appoint them, but for them to accept appointment. Their status has plummeted in the eyes of Canadians.
One wonders what other countries think of Canada, if they think of the country at all.
There are few mentions of Canada on CBC Overnight, a fine program that brings news, commentary and info from other public broadcasters to Canadians on a daily basis. OGL would be well-advised to listen to the radio overnight for even one night, to hear what other countries, like Germany, Australia, Great Britain, are doing and thinking.
Canada is small potatoes in their eyes. And no wonder, since the current PM is an unprincipled bully.
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Barack Obama's Inauguration
It is disappointing to read that Obama has chosen Rick Warren for an invocation at his inauguration. In fact, it is very upsetting.
Warren is anti-abortion and anti-gays/lesbians, and he makes no secret of his opinions.
Perhaps we expect too much of Obama, but surely in this day and age, he could select someone who supported the right of women and men to have an abortion, should it be their choice, and marry someone of the same sex.
If he is courting a particular sector of the American people for political reasons, it is disappointing. He HAS been elected President. He doesn't have to cater to any constituency.
One wonders if he is going to change his stance on issues, like the Canadian PM did after HE got elected (with a minority). Let's hope not.
Warren is anti-abortion and anti-gays/lesbians, and he makes no secret of his opinions.
Perhaps we expect too much of Obama, but surely in this day and age, he could select someone who supported the right of women and men to have an abortion, should it be their choice, and marry someone of the same sex.
If he is courting a particular sector of the American people for political reasons, it is disappointing. He HAS been elected President. He doesn't have to cater to any constituency.
One wonders if he is going to change his stance on issues, like the Canadian PM did after HE got elected (with a minority). Let's hope not.
Saturday, December 13, 2008
No More Senate Appointments
That WAS the position of Stephen Harper before he got power. Talk.
How power changes one's actions.
In the Globe and Mail this morning, two university professors (in a letter to the editor) suggested that IF Mr Harper is going to fill the 18 seats (and they do not say that he should), the seats should be filled with 18 women.
Now, there's a great idea! The percentage of women in the Senate would still be less than 50, but it would be a great improvement.
No one should doubt that Mr Harper could find 18 Alliance/Conservatives to appoint.
How power changes one's actions.
In the Globe and Mail this morning, two university professors (in a letter to the editor) suggested that IF Mr Harper is going to fill the 18 seats (and they do not say that he should), the seats should be filled with 18 women.
Now, there's a great idea! The percentage of women in the Senate would still be less than 50, but it would be a great improvement.
No one should doubt that Mr Harper could find 18 Alliance/Conservatives to appoint.
Friday, December 12, 2008
Stephen Harper's Place in History
I'd love to be here in 30 years to read what historians have to say about Stephen Harper's place in Canadian history. He will probably go down as even less popular and more disliked than Brian Mulroney.
The interesting questions are these: why is he so Machavillian? what does he think he is accomplishing? why does he have so little regard for this once-great nation? why does he need such control and apparent power?
We will recover from whatever he does that is hurtful to Canada, but it will retard our growth, our standing in the world, and our ability to help less fortunate countries.
That's a pretty sad part of his legacy.
The interesting questions are these: why is he so Machavillian? what does he think he is accomplishing? why does he have so little regard for this once-great nation? why does he need such control and apparent power?
We will recover from whatever he does that is hurtful to Canada, but it will retard our growth, our standing in the world, and our ability to help less fortunate countries.
That's a pretty sad part of his legacy.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Compromise?
This morning on CBC Overnight, in the segment from Albania, a man spoke about the work of their government, which is a coalition.
One sentence stood out: "Compromise does not mean persuading the other side to YOUR position."
I wonder if Stephen Harper heard that??!
One sentence stood out: "Compromise does not mean persuading the other side to YOUR position."
I wonder if Stephen Harper heard that??!
Friday, December 05, 2008
Afghanistan...3 more Canadians die
News just in the last hour that three Canadian troops died this morning in Afghanistan.
I wonder if Ottawa politicians pause to reflect when they hear this.
Do they think what they have been squabbling over (do we really know?) for the last few days is more important than other issues that Canada is involved in? Like the war? Like our peace missions? Like the thousands who are now out of work, and who, at their age, are unlikely to EVER have another job?
Perspective.
When these politicians get to the Pearly Gates, do they think that they will be asked if they ever were PM or if they ever governed Canada? Not very bloody likely.
I wonder if Ottawa politicians pause to reflect when they hear this.
Do they think what they have been squabbling over (do we really know?) for the last few days is more important than other issues that Canada is involved in? Like the war? Like our peace missions? Like the thousands who are now out of work, and who, at their age, are unlikely to EVER have another job?
Perspective.
When these politicians get to the Pearly Gates, do they think that they will be asked if they ever were PM or if they ever governed Canada? Not very bloody likely.
Why Is He so bitter and Angry?
I sure hope that some fine grad students are studying the Prime Minister.
It would be interesting to know how he got to be so angry and bitter. Where did this come from in his background?
Does he deal with his family this way? Imagine being one of his children, and doing something that made him mad.
Stephen Harper has not demonstrated the interest or ability to work co-ooperatively with anybody (perhaps not even members of his own party) throughout his political career. I can't see him changing at his age and stage in life. He couldn't even work with Preston Manning.
This isn't a hopeful situation.
Canadians are upset. This is OUR country that the PM and other parties are "playing" with, and we don't like it.
Politicans, take a break. Have some eggnog and don't talk about what you have created until the end of the year. Then, make a New Year's resolution that you will look for common ground, you will respect everyone, you will converse, and you won't raise your voice...anywhere, including in the House.
That's the easy part.
The next steps are to make a public statement to your constituents and the country, that you have made this resolution. AND, that if you break the resolution, you will resign your seat.
The honourable thing is to promise something, and explain the consequences of not fulfilling that promise. THAT is the ethical thing to do.
There has been little discussion about the ethics of the current situation. For the first time , there is a letter to the editor in The Globe in which the writer uses the word "ethics."
Don't the principals in this rhubarb see anything related to ethics in it?
Those of us who are interested in ethical behaviour, and have done a bit of study on it (in my case, in sports), wonder if these politicians consider their behaviour to be "ethical."
I have plenty of time these days to reflect. Yesterday, I wondered about Stephen Harper's ability to reconcile his blatent lying with his religious beliefs. Is there a "guideline" in his religion that says anything about being truthful? Being honest?
One of the fundamentals in the Christian faith is adherence to the Ten Commandments. I truly wonder how the Commandments fit into Mr Harper's philosophical and/or spiritual paradigm. Perhaps they don't, and that is why many of us find his behaviour incomprehensible.
It would be interesting to know how he got to be so angry and bitter. Where did this come from in his background?
Does he deal with his family this way? Imagine being one of his children, and doing something that made him mad.
Stephen Harper has not demonstrated the interest or ability to work co-ooperatively with anybody (perhaps not even members of his own party) throughout his political career. I can't see him changing at his age and stage in life. He couldn't even work with Preston Manning.
This isn't a hopeful situation.
Canadians are upset. This is OUR country that the PM and other parties are "playing" with, and we don't like it.
Politicans, take a break. Have some eggnog and don't talk about what you have created until the end of the year. Then, make a New Year's resolution that you will look for common ground, you will respect everyone, you will converse, and you won't raise your voice...anywhere, including in the House.
That's the easy part.
The next steps are to make a public statement to your constituents and the country, that you have made this resolution. AND, that if you break the resolution, you will resign your seat.
The honourable thing is to promise something, and explain the consequences of not fulfilling that promise. THAT is the ethical thing to do.
There has been little discussion about the ethics of the current situation. For the first time , there is a letter to the editor in The Globe in which the writer uses the word "ethics."
Don't the principals in this rhubarb see anything related to ethics in it?
Those of us who are interested in ethical behaviour, and have done a bit of study on it (in my case, in sports), wonder if these politicians consider their behaviour to be "ethical."
I have plenty of time these days to reflect. Yesterday, I wondered about Stephen Harper's ability to reconcile his blatent lying with his religious beliefs. Is there a "guideline" in his religion that says anything about being truthful? Being honest?
One of the fundamentals in the Christian faith is adherence to the Ten Commandments. I truly wonder how the Commandments fit into Mr Harper's philosophical and/or spiritual paradigm. Perhaps they don't, and that is why many of us find his behaviour incomprehensible.
Wednesday, December 03, 2008
Return of the GG
I hope when Steve pounds on the front door of the GG, she welcomes him with these words: "Welcome, Mr Prime Minister. Please wait in this ante-room until you settle down. I won't talk to you while you are yelling and screaming, and have lost perspective. Press this little button when you are ready. I'll send in something to eat later, and a sleeping bag later tonight."
Tuesday, December 02, 2008
"You Are Playing A Very Dangerous Game"
This, from Stephen Harper, last Friday in the House.
This "game" was started by Harper, and it will be finished when he goes down in Canadian history as the worst, most deceitful PM that the country ever had.
It won't be long before elected Alliance/Conservative MPs start leaking info and expressing their view about their party's leader. It's impossible to believe that all those faces behind the PM on TV agree with him, and support what he has done and is doing. Some of them are going to crack soon, and the sooner the better. Perhaps then, Stephen Harper will resign as their leader, as Canada's PM, and a more moderate, concilliatory leader of the Alliance/Conservative party will emerge. One of the "old" Conservative line and not one of the red-necked Alliance members.
Let's hope.
This "game" was started by Harper, and it will be finished when he goes down in Canadian history as the worst, most deceitful PM that the country ever had.
It won't be long before elected Alliance/Conservative MPs start leaking info and expressing their view about their party's leader. It's impossible to believe that all those faces behind the PM on TV agree with him, and support what he has done and is doing. Some of them are going to crack soon, and the sooner the better. Perhaps then, Stephen Harper will resign as their leader, as Canada's PM, and a more moderate, concilliatory leader of the Alliance/Conservative party will emerge. One of the "old" Conservative line and not one of the red-necked Alliance members.
Let's hope.
Monday, December 01, 2008
The PC Party Should Rise Again
Never will I be mistaken for a conservative. Period.
But, the Alliance/Conservative Party of 2008 should give impetus to members of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada to get their "old" party going again, sell memberships, insist that their members tear up their present "Conservative" party cards, and start being vocal.
The PC Party wasn't malicious and autocratic.
The Alliance Party, under the cloak of the Conservative Party, is all this and more.
Let's hope that the backroom "boys" and "girls" are planning a quick resurgence of the old PC Party.
But, the Alliance/Conservative Party of 2008 should give impetus to members of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada to get their "old" party going again, sell memberships, insist that their members tear up their present "Conservative" party cards, and start being vocal.
The PC Party wasn't malicious and autocratic.
The Alliance Party, under the cloak of the Conservative Party, is all this and more.
Let's hope that the backroom "boys" and "girls" are planning a quick resurgence of the old PC Party.
A Positive Front-page Story
On a day when the PM is at his worst (well, let's hope it is his worst), and Canadian politicians are in a feisty mood, the Whig Standard runs a positive, hopeful story above the fold on the front page.
Queen Street United Church in Kingston is facing a $1 million repair/renovation bill. Realizing that that kind of money isn't within their realm of possibility, they have put their church, their adjacent houses and property on the market, for $1.45 million.
Parishioners are actively exploring, along with St Margaret's Church, the possibility of coming together to form one strong church at the location of St Margaret's on Sir John A Macdonald Blvd.
The Whig's story, written by reporter Jorden Press, is a positive look at their day together yesterday, and the church members most positive steps to build one strong church. The two churches have taken advice from experts, it appears, on how to affect change, what to do to forge one organization from two. There's lots written on this topic, and it seems that it has been heeded.
No doubt is is difficult to lose one's church. It is something that I can't imagine. In Saskatoon where I held a senior position in the Anglican Cathedral, I could not support an idea to sell the Rectory in order to raise money. But now, I can see that it has to be done. But it wouldn't be a decision that I would take lightly.
Members of Queen Street and St Margaret's United Churches deserve any support that we can offer them. Their journey over the next year will be guided by their faith. May it be strong.
Queen Street United Church in Kingston is facing a $1 million repair/renovation bill. Realizing that that kind of money isn't within their realm of possibility, they have put their church, their adjacent houses and property on the market, for $1.45 million.
Parishioners are actively exploring, along with St Margaret's Church, the possibility of coming together to form one strong church at the location of St Margaret's on Sir John A Macdonald Blvd.
The Whig's story, written by reporter Jorden Press, is a positive look at their day together yesterday, and the church members most positive steps to build one strong church. The two churches have taken advice from experts, it appears, on how to affect change, what to do to forge one organization from two. There's lots written on this topic, and it seems that it has been heeded.
No doubt is is difficult to lose one's church. It is something that I can't imagine. In Saskatoon where I held a senior position in the Anglican Cathedral, I could not support an idea to sell the Rectory in order to raise money. But now, I can see that it has to be done. But it wouldn't be a decision that I would take lightly.
Members of Queen Street and St Margaret's United Churches deserve any support that we can offer them. Their journey over the next year will be guided by their faith. May it be strong.
Saturday, November 29, 2008
No law against being repugnant
Acquitted: Abusive ex-hockey coach of teen teams known for their 2-fisted drinking and 3-way sex
November 29, 2008
by Rosie Dimanno, Columnist
NAPANEE–He wore untucked fat-man shirts to court that failed to conceal the sagging paunch of a beer gut.
His hair is a modified mullet, the face slack and jowly.
Some days, he appeared greasy enough to slide off his chair.
And he's got an anatomical abnormality that, mercifully, was never entered as a photographic exhibit – a plum-sized blood sac resembling a third testicle.
But little is actually known about who David Frost is today – apart from innocent of sexual exploitation, acquitted across the board. Frost: 4, Crown: 0.
Does he even have a job, this evermore hockey pariah, decertified as an agent, stripped of coaching credentials, barred from rinks in various leagues, though often spotted? And whence the money for the sharp cookie lady defence lawyer, who so devastatingly deked a brace of accusatory witnesses out of their Jill-straps?
Court never heard. Frost never spoke.
Except yesterday of course, expletive-short, after long-winded Justice Geoffrey Griffin finally got around to the punch-line of his not-guilty verdict and abruptly left the room in a swish of judicial robes.
"Scumball!" a spectator – sibling to one of the aforementioned witnesses – hissed at Frost. "That's for my sister."
Upon which the cleared defendant turned, faced the female and spat back: "Go f--- yourself."
Now that's the Frost most people know, defiant and crude, ego wider than his girth; not the accused who sat so quietly through weeks of trial, endlessly writing notes, rarely lifting his head.
Frost: The coach whose teen teams were known for two-fisted drinking and three-way sex.
Frost: The agent targeted by one of his own NHL clients in a loony murder-for-hire plot.
Frost: The bench boss who brutalized his players, verbally and physically – there's no disputing this – slugging one of them in the face during a playoff game, pleading guilty to assault and receiving a conditional discharge.
So, a creep and a bully and a repugnant human being. But there's no law against that.
Frost walked out of court an innocent if disgraced man: Not guilty of perverting the trust of teenage boys as a person of authority in their lives, not guilty of inappropriately, directly or indirectly, touching their splendid young bodies, thus not guilty of coerced and sordid two-on-one sex involving the youths and their girlfriends.
While stating his decision wasn't simply a matter of accepting one package of evidence over another, Griffin clearly did not believe the testimony of two ex-girlfriends recalling events more than a decade after the Season of Frost, in nearby Deseronto.
Or, more accurately put, Griffin disbelieved the women more than he disbelieved the heated denials of three-way sex by a one-two combo of Frost's former player protégés.
Frost may have been "loud, vulgar, offensive, very aggressive ... abusive and intimidating'' in his coaching style, said Griffin. "But I am not prepared to conclude the level of control was as extreme and pervasive as the Crown would have me believe."
Griffin also smacked around the prosecution – led by assistant Crown attorney Sandy Tse – for failing to convince him on the crux of the case. The judge expressed amazement the Crown hadn't called players' parents, sports psychologists and police investigators, or subpoena cellphone records.
Even minus all that, the trial did expose a seamy underbelly to Canada's beloved national game, at least at the junior level, more specifically in Frost World, where females were routinely debased and males subjected to traumatizing abuse. It was an ugly environment.
"He's really relieved," said defence lawyer Marie Henein, speaking on behalf of her client. "It's been going on for four years. He has a lovely wife, lovely children and everything's been very difficult, just going out and about in town, sending their children to a regular school."
The Crown found itself in the awkward position of not only prosecuting the named defendant but needing to crush the credibility of the two "complainants'' at the heart of their case.
Now both 28, these former hockey players took the stand – in one of those courtroom gasp moments, and this trial had many – as witnesses for the defence, flatly denying sexual exploitation and three-way shags with their coach/mentor.
In coming to the testimonial rescue of a man they once feared and revered, the one-time junior stars methodically contradicted the evidence of friends, lovers, teammates, even their own previously sworn statements to police.
The four sexual exploitation charges related to alleged incidents dating back to the late 1990s, when Frost appropriated the coaching job on a rogue league junior team in Deseronto, the Quinte Hawks.
Teenage girls, some at least, were clearly giddy over the young stud players arriving in their dull hamlet and pursued them as boyfriends.
Two of these girls, now women in their late 20s, testified they'd reluctantly agreed to threesomes with their boyfriends and Frost.
Under cross-examination, one of the women admitted she'd never noticed Frost's blood sac, despite all the three-way sex she'd described.
Her ex disputed any sex with Frost had taken place, or that he'd ever touched the coach's penis, under any circumstances. There had been, he readily acknowledged, two-on-one sex, but only involving same-age teammates, with Jennifer more than a willing party.
These consensual threesomes, the player testified, included two specific teammates, one of whom was Mike Danton – then still using his family surname of Jefferson – the former St. Louis Blue currently serving a seven-year sentence in the U.S. for trying to hire a hit man to kill Frost, his then-agent.
The other key female witness, Kristy, recalled two alleged incidents of three-way sex with Frost.
Henein told court none of these sexual follies ever occurred, suggesting the women had colluded in a plot after the Crown dropped charges of sexual exploitation against them.
Technically, the "complainants" were the players – their identities protected by a publication ban – alleged by the prosecution to have been under thrall to and sexually exploited by Frost. But the players never actually complained to authorities and, driving a stake into the Crown's case, exculpated Frost of all allegations against him.
Frost will be back in court in a few weeks. He's been charged with fraud and impersonation for using Danton's credit card to buy gas.
-30-
The above column is from The Star.
Rosie seldom minces words.
November 29, 2008
by Rosie Dimanno, Columnist
NAPANEE–He wore untucked fat-man shirts to court that failed to conceal the sagging paunch of a beer gut.
His hair is a modified mullet, the face slack and jowly.
Some days, he appeared greasy enough to slide off his chair.
And he's got an anatomical abnormality that, mercifully, was never entered as a photographic exhibit – a plum-sized blood sac resembling a third testicle.
But little is actually known about who David Frost is today – apart from innocent of sexual exploitation, acquitted across the board. Frost: 4, Crown: 0.
Does he even have a job, this evermore hockey pariah, decertified as an agent, stripped of coaching credentials, barred from rinks in various leagues, though often spotted? And whence the money for the sharp cookie lady defence lawyer, who so devastatingly deked a brace of accusatory witnesses out of their Jill-straps?
Court never heard. Frost never spoke.
Except yesterday of course, expletive-short, after long-winded Justice Geoffrey Griffin finally got around to the punch-line of his not-guilty verdict and abruptly left the room in a swish of judicial robes.
"Scumball!" a spectator – sibling to one of the aforementioned witnesses – hissed at Frost. "That's for my sister."
Upon which the cleared defendant turned, faced the female and spat back: "Go f--- yourself."
Now that's the Frost most people know, defiant and crude, ego wider than his girth; not the accused who sat so quietly through weeks of trial, endlessly writing notes, rarely lifting his head.
Frost: The coach whose teen teams were known for two-fisted drinking and three-way sex.
Frost: The agent targeted by one of his own NHL clients in a loony murder-for-hire plot.
Frost: The bench boss who brutalized his players, verbally and physically – there's no disputing this – slugging one of them in the face during a playoff game, pleading guilty to assault and receiving a conditional discharge.
So, a creep and a bully and a repugnant human being. But there's no law against that.
Frost walked out of court an innocent if disgraced man: Not guilty of perverting the trust of teenage boys as a person of authority in their lives, not guilty of inappropriately, directly or indirectly, touching their splendid young bodies, thus not guilty of coerced and sordid two-on-one sex involving the youths and their girlfriends.
While stating his decision wasn't simply a matter of accepting one package of evidence over another, Griffin clearly did not believe the testimony of two ex-girlfriends recalling events more than a decade after the Season of Frost, in nearby Deseronto.
Or, more accurately put, Griffin disbelieved the women more than he disbelieved the heated denials of three-way sex by a one-two combo of Frost's former player protégés.
Frost may have been "loud, vulgar, offensive, very aggressive ... abusive and intimidating'' in his coaching style, said Griffin. "But I am not prepared to conclude the level of control was as extreme and pervasive as the Crown would have me believe."
Griffin also smacked around the prosecution – led by assistant Crown attorney Sandy Tse – for failing to convince him on the crux of the case. The judge expressed amazement the Crown hadn't called players' parents, sports psychologists and police investigators, or subpoena cellphone records.
Even minus all that, the trial did expose a seamy underbelly to Canada's beloved national game, at least at the junior level, more specifically in Frost World, where females were routinely debased and males subjected to traumatizing abuse. It was an ugly environment.
"He's really relieved," said defence lawyer Marie Henein, speaking on behalf of her client. "It's been going on for four years. He has a lovely wife, lovely children and everything's been very difficult, just going out and about in town, sending their children to a regular school."
The Crown found itself in the awkward position of not only prosecuting the named defendant but needing to crush the credibility of the two "complainants'' at the heart of their case.
Now both 28, these former hockey players took the stand – in one of those courtroom gasp moments, and this trial had many – as witnesses for the defence, flatly denying sexual exploitation and three-way shags with their coach/mentor.
In coming to the testimonial rescue of a man they once feared and revered, the one-time junior stars methodically contradicted the evidence of friends, lovers, teammates, even their own previously sworn statements to police.
The four sexual exploitation charges related to alleged incidents dating back to the late 1990s, when Frost appropriated the coaching job on a rogue league junior team in Deseronto, the Quinte Hawks.
Teenage girls, some at least, were clearly giddy over the young stud players arriving in their dull hamlet and pursued them as boyfriends.
Two of these girls, now women in their late 20s, testified they'd reluctantly agreed to threesomes with their boyfriends and Frost.
Under cross-examination, one of the women admitted she'd never noticed Frost's blood sac, despite all the three-way sex she'd described.
Her ex disputed any sex with Frost had taken place, or that he'd ever touched the coach's penis, under any circumstances. There had been, he readily acknowledged, two-on-one sex, but only involving same-age teammates, with Jennifer more than a willing party.
These consensual threesomes, the player testified, included two specific teammates, one of whom was Mike Danton – then still using his family surname of Jefferson – the former St. Louis Blue currently serving a seven-year sentence in the U.S. for trying to hire a hit man to kill Frost, his then-agent.
The other key female witness, Kristy, recalled two alleged incidents of three-way sex with Frost.
Henein told court none of these sexual follies ever occurred, suggesting the women had colluded in a plot after the Crown dropped charges of sexual exploitation against them.
Technically, the "complainants" were the players – their identities protected by a publication ban – alleged by the prosecution to have been under thrall to and sexually exploited by Frost. But the players never actually complained to authorities and, driving a stake into the Crown's case, exculpated Frost of all allegations against him.
Frost will be back in court in a few weeks. He's been charged with fraud and impersonation for using Danton's credit card to buy gas.
-30-
The above column is from The Star.
Rosie seldom minces words.
Friday, November 28, 2008
That David Frost got acquitted is a travesty.
It's not the judge's fault.
Two of the players must have lied on the stand, saying that Frost never was in any of the "group sex" events.
The two former team members changed their testimony from their previously signed, sworn statements to police.
That the events happened is not in doubt. Those who have followed the sordid story of this man and his stranglehold on the players on his team, knows full well that these events did happen.
Now, the two women who described the "group sex" events will become the victims.
Just watch the media go after them.
Let's hope that some of the reputable journalists (probably women) who have space in mainstream newspapers write about this, and how the two former players changed their stories, making it look as if the women made it up.
If you follow Junior Hockey in Canada, you know that it is an unhealthy place for young people. No male who wants a career in professional hockey should have to go through what they have to go through to get there.
Just look for the dark side of Junior Hockey, and you'll find it.
It's not the judge's fault.
Two of the players must have lied on the stand, saying that Frost never was in any of the "group sex" events.
The two former team members changed their testimony from their previously signed, sworn statements to police.
That the events happened is not in doubt. Those who have followed the sordid story of this man and his stranglehold on the players on his team, knows full well that these events did happen.
Now, the two women who described the "group sex" events will become the victims.
Just watch the media go after them.
Let's hope that some of the reputable journalists (probably women) who have space in mainstream newspapers write about this, and how the two former players changed their stories, making it look as if the women made it up.
If you follow Junior Hockey in Canada, you know that it is an unhealthy place for young people. No male who wants a career in professional hockey should have to go through what they have to go through to get there.
Just look for the dark side of Junior Hockey, and you'll find it.
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Coach Patrick Roy
Patrick Roy, a coach in Major Junior hockey in Canada is an embarassment to the coaching profession.
Recently his second son was suspended for 15 games for deliberately checking an opponent in the face, after the whistle.
The Globe and Mail remarks in an editorial that "sportsmanship is not his long suit." This is a lukewarm condemnation of Roy's sense of fair play and what sport is all about. The Globe is hedging its remarks when it should adamently say that this behaviour is unacceptable.
The coach is responsible for his/her athletes' behaviour. If the coach stands by and watches this sort of stuff, as Roy did, he is negligent in his coaching responsibilities. No one would say that Roy was an angel when he played the game, so no one should expect hism to be a shining example of a coach.
The league should act. Patrick Roy as a coach should be disciplined as his son was.
Let's hope that coaches weigh in on this, to let Canadians know that this sort of violence is not acceptable. It's not sport. If the athlete did this outside a downtown bar, he'd be charged.
Recently his second son was suspended for 15 games for deliberately checking an opponent in the face, after the whistle.
The Globe and Mail remarks in an editorial that "sportsmanship is not his long suit." This is a lukewarm condemnation of Roy's sense of fair play and what sport is all about. The Globe is hedging its remarks when it should adamently say that this behaviour is unacceptable.
The coach is responsible for his/her athletes' behaviour. If the coach stands by and watches this sort of stuff, as Roy did, he is negligent in his coaching responsibilities. No one would say that Roy was an angel when he played the game, so no one should expect hism to be a shining example of a coach.
The league should act. Patrick Roy as a coach should be disciplined as his son was.
Let's hope that coaches weigh in on this, to let Canadians know that this sort of violence is not acceptable. It's not sport. If the athlete did this outside a downtown bar, he'd be charged.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
A Fine Line
The PM is saying that politicians and bureaucrats are going to tighten their belts: no more First Class/Business Class flights, less hospitality, fewer paperclips, less photocopying.....
Maybe politicians should have set an example long ago!
But let's not hamstring the bureaucrats so that they aren't able to do their jobs. In the sport world, effective bureaucrats are essential, and if they are supposed to be "Consultants" to sport organizations, let's make sure they can do that.
Maybe politicians should have set an example long ago!
But let's not hamstring the bureaucrats so that they aren't able to do their jobs. In the sport world, effective bureaucrats are essential, and if they are supposed to be "Consultants" to sport organizations, let's make sure they can do that.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Everyone Has Advice
So here's mine, for the PM and the Minister of Finance......
Take two weeks off whatever you are doing.
Every night, turn on CBC Overnight at 1am, and listen till 6am.
Think about what some of the rest of the world is thinking and doing, and their opinions about a whole list of things.
Don't telephone your minions during to day to find out what's going on in Canada and around the world. Just think about what you heard for 5 hours.
What will you learn? You'll hear a whole new perspective on the world. You'll hear how much (or little) other countries comment upon what is happening in Canada. You'll hear what other countries are doing about their financial difficulties, and how they are learning from from each other.
Mostly, you will discover that Canada cannot be an island. We must reach out to other countries on many levels, not the least of which is financial.
Take two weeks off whatever you are doing.
Every night, turn on CBC Overnight at 1am, and listen till 6am.
Think about what some of the rest of the world is thinking and doing, and their opinions about a whole list of things.
Don't telephone your minions during to day to find out what's going on in Canada and around the world. Just think about what you heard for 5 hours.
What will you learn? You'll hear a whole new perspective on the world. You'll hear how much (or little) other countries comment upon what is happening in Canada. You'll hear what other countries are doing about their financial difficulties, and how they are learning from from each other.
Mostly, you will discover that Canada cannot be an island. We must reach out to other countries on many levels, not the least of which is financial.
Monday, November 24, 2008
Alfred E. Neuman
"What me worry?"
The PM has this look in recent pictures.
HIS salary won't likely change (unless it goes up), and his pension is guaranteed, BUT there are millions of Canadians whose earnings have pretty well dried up.
And I doubt that the leaders at the APEC Summit enjoyed being lectured to by Canada's PM, a "new kid on the block" even if he is reputed to have a degree in economics. If he doesn't, he must have missed the series of lectures on spending money like it is water coming out of a tap.
The Mike Harris Ontario years are being re-visited on Canada.
It's not too early to write Harper's epitaph as PM.
The PM has this look in recent pictures.
HIS salary won't likely change (unless it goes up), and his pension is guaranteed, BUT there are millions of Canadians whose earnings have pretty well dried up.
And I doubt that the leaders at the APEC Summit enjoyed being lectured to by Canada's PM, a "new kid on the block" even if he is reputed to have a degree in economics. If he doesn't, he must have missed the series of lectures on spending money like it is water coming out of a tap.
The Mike Harris Ontario years are being re-visited on Canada.
It's not too early to write Harper's epitaph as PM.
Friday, November 21, 2008
Did he Expect All These Challenges?
Queen's new principal Tom Williams has yet two more challenges on his hands.
It is reported that two senior administrators, David Mitchell and Andrew Simpson, are leaving.
Simpson't resignation is abrupt and immediate, according to reports. Simpson is the person in charge of the extremely-over-budget Queen's Centre. And, when a group of quite prominent sports people in Kingston, named "The Group for Excellence" tried to have input into the contents of the Centre, some but few of our suggestions were entertained. Speaking to him was frustrating, but not nearly as frustrating as speaking to two other senior administrators at Queen's.
Now, eavesdroppers, resignations of senior staff and Aberdeen Street are BIG messes on his plate. Wonder if they will try to re-cycle George Hood.
Lunch on Monday with the Principal will be interesting!
It is reported that two senior administrators, David Mitchell and Andrew Simpson, are leaving.
Simpson't resignation is abrupt and immediate, according to reports. Simpson is the person in charge of the extremely-over-budget Queen's Centre. And, when a group of quite prominent sports people in Kingston, named "The Group for Excellence" tried to have input into the contents of the Centre, some but few of our suggestions were entertained. Speaking to him was frustrating, but not nearly as frustrating as speaking to two other senior administrators at Queen's.
Now, eavesdroppers, resignations of senior staff and Aberdeen Street are BIG messes on his plate. Wonder if they will try to re-cycle George Hood.
Lunch on Monday with the Principal will be interesting!
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Dealing With Political Incorrectness
Queen's hires people to monitor conversations on campus
November 19, 2008
Students who make politically incorrect comments at Queen’s University can expect a lecture, whether they’re in or out of class, the Canadian Press reports.
The university has hired student facilitators to step in if they overhear students making homophobic or racial slurs, remarks bashing women or other offensive language.
The dean of student affairs at Queen’s says if students are making offensive comments loud enough for others to hear, it’s not a private conversation anymore.
Jason Laker says the facilitators use a respectful, non-confrontational approach.
But Angela Hickman, who edits a campus newspaper, says having such a program could stifle public discussion
---------------taken from The Whig website----------
This is amazing.
On the same day that the Principal "cancels" fall homecoming, the university acknowledges that there are students who are "trained" to help other students see the error of their speech.
The question is: Is this the best way to let people know that they should respect others?
How about parents teaching their children (and setting a good example) that calling people names isn't a positive way to live? When are parents going to teach their children some manners and how to behave?
Sure, people feel stressed, unimportant and lots of other things, but it's time for adults to teach their off-spring how to behave.
It's no wonder we see such dreadful behaviour in the House, and that TV viewers think it is OK to behave like this. It's NOT OK.
It's long past time when our leaders demonstrated civility. Perhaps our students would see that one can be oneself and express an opinion without using labels for people.
And, while we are on this topic, those who are in classrooms will attest to distrespectful behaviour by students. I spoke yesterday with someone recently retired from the classroom. He can recount endless stories of lack of respect and mouthy students. He said he was glad to leave. And these were young people, some of whom will end up at Queen's (and other universities). When he "called" them on this sort of behaviour, on one occasion he was reported to the principal!
I call this "doing what a teacher should be doing."
November 19, 2008
Students who make politically incorrect comments at Queen’s University can expect a lecture, whether they’re in or out of class, the Canadian Press reports.
The university has hired student facilitators to step in if they overhear students making homophobic or racial slurs, remarks bashing women or other offensive language.
The dean of student affairs at Queen’s says if students are making offensive comments loud enough for others to hear, it’s not a private conversation anymore.
Jason Laker says the facilitators use a respectful, non-confrontational approach.
But Angela Hickman, who edits a campus newspaper, says having such a program could stifle public discussion
---------------taken from The Whig website----------
This is amazing.
On the same day that the Principal "cancels" fall homecoming, the university acknowledges that there are students who are "trained" to help other students see the error of their speech.
The question is: Is this the best way to let people know that they should respect others?
How about parents teaching their children (and setting a good example) that calling people names isn't a positive way to live? When are parents going to teach their children some manners and how to behave?
Sure, people feel stressed, unimportant and lots of other things, but it's time for adults to teach their off-spring how to behave.
It's no wonder we see such dreadful behaviour in the House, and that TV viewers think it is OK to behave like this. It's NOT OK.
It's long past time when our leaders demonstrated civility. Perhaps our students would see that one can be oneself and express an opinion without using labels for people.
And, while we are on this topic, those who are in classrooms will attest to distrespectful behaviour by students. I spoke yesterday with someone recently retired from the classroom. He can recount endless stories of lack of respect and mouthy students. He said he was glad to leave. And these were young people, some of whom will end up at Queen's (and other universities). When he "called" them on this sort of behaviour, on one occasion he was reported to the principal!
I call this "doing what a teacher should be doing."
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Two Events
Everyone knows that a blog is a "public diary." Open for criticism, opinionated, and timely, we hope!
Yesterday, two events rang in this part of the world.
The Commons elected Peter Milliken as Speaker, once again. While doing this, they affirmed the common opinion that MPs in the last parliament behaved poorly, almost all the public time, and intimated that this parliament should see better behaviour.
Well, the ball is in the MPs court. They have to be responsible for their own stuff, and not act like children.
Yes, the Speaker has authority over them, but the House Leaders can insist that their members don't act like badly-behaved children. In comments on one public blog, virtually everyone said that they strongly objected to MPs behaviour in Question Period, and want this changed.
Let's hope that these MPs who are up on their hind legs today, remember down the road what they said.
And, Queen's (of which I am a graduate), decided that the fall Homecoming will be put off for two years, and there will be some kind of spring alum event.
Well, yes, I did express my view to the Principal about Homecoming.
Students won't let the change of date affect their party. They will just pick a weekend (football game, of course) and have the Aberdeen Street party then.
The most galling part of all this, is that since Queen's has washed its hands of the Aberdeen event, taxpayers of Kingston will alone be on the hook for the cost of this party. In 2008, the cost of this party, police, hospitals, emergency staff, etc, was over $320,000. Queen's offered to pay the city about $150,000 toward these costs. Now, we taxpayers will pay the whole thing, and Queen's will be smiling at the bank.
Principal Williams is speaking at a lunch I'm going to on Monday, so it will be interesting to hear his rationale.
Yesterday, two events rang in this part of the world.
The Commons elected Peter Milliken as Speaker, once again. While doing this, they affirmed the common opinion that MPs in the last parliament behaved poorly, almost all the public time, and intimated that this parliament should see better behaviour.
Well, the ball is in the MPs court. They have to be responsible for their own stuff, and not act like children.
Yes, the Speaker has authority over them, but the House Leaders can insist that their members don't act like badly-behaved children. In comments on one public blog, virtually everyone said that they strongly objected to MPs behaviour in Question Period, and want this changed.
Let's hope that these MPs who are up on their hind legs today, remember down the road what they said.
And, Queen's (of which I am a graduate), decided that the fall Homecoming will be put off for two years, and there will be some kind of spring alum event.
Well, yes, I did express my view to the Principal about Homecoming.
Students won't let the change of date affect their party. They will just pick a weekend (football game, of course) and have the Aberdeen Street party then.
The most galling part of all this, is that since Queen's has washed its hands of the Aberdeen event, taxpayers of Kingston will alone be on the hook for the cost of this party. In 2008, the cost of this party, police, hospitals, emergency staff, etc, was over $320,000. Queen's offered to pay the city about $150,000 toward these costs. Now, we taxpayers will pay the whole thing, and Queen's will be smiling at the bank.
Principal Williams is speaking at a lunch I'm going to on Monday, so it will be interesting to hear his rationale.
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Golden time with Wetzel
by Cory Wolfe
The StarPhoenix
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Olympic rowing gold medallist Jake Wetzel speaks Wednesday to grade 9 and 10 students at Aden Bowman Collegiate
"We're in hell right now, gentlemen. Believe me. And we can stay here, or we can fight our way back into the light. We can fight our way out of hell one inch at a time." -- Canadian rowing coach Mike Spracklen
Olympic rowing champion Jake Wetzel doesn't intend to pick up an oar ever again.
But when he hears the words of his coach Mike Spracklen -- a 71-year-old Brit who "looks like a janitor" but roars like a lion -- Wetzel's competitive juices kick in.
"When I hear that stuff, it's just so hard-wired into you and you never feel like you're not an athlete," said Wetzel, whose Wednesday presentation to Aden Bowman Collegiate students included a video with a rousing speech from Spracklen.
"People can say they're retired and all of that stuff, but (the competitiveness) is still in your head."
The 31-year-old Saskatonian retired from rowing in September after helping the men's eight win gold at the Beijing Olympics.
He's now working toward his doctorate in finance at the University of British Columbia. Wetzel has one year of studies under his belt and another three or four to go.
"When you've been so focused on one goal for so long, you don't think past it," said Wetzel, an Aden Bowman grad. "You use up so much mental energy on what you've been focusing on, so to shift gears and refocus is a real challenge.
"When you're the best in the word at something and then you go into something where you're at the bottom, it's hard on the ego."
In his youth, Wetzel excelled at multiple sports, including fencing, cross-country skiing and cycling. His parents, Kurt and Eva, were both professors who lectured at the University of Saskatchewan, but Wetzel told students Wednesday education wasn't at the top of his priority list during high school.
His interest in education blossomed while he was attending the University of California, Berkeley, on a rowing scholarship. But even now that he's returned to academia, he admits to feeling a little like a rower out of water.
"On the academic side, there's not as much measuring. You don't know where you're at every day -- you don't know if you're winning or losing," said Wetzel.
"When you leave rowing, you lose all of your structure. You have different goals and now I have to figure out for myself how to get there. Before, I had a coach and there was a very clear path laid out. You could tell, on a daily basis, whether you were getting closer or further away."
Wetzel is one of several Saskatchewan Olympians who'll be recognized today during a ceremony at the legislature in Regina. In addition to sharing his experiences with students, Wetzel is also using his profile to lobby for Canadian Athletes Now (CAN).
"It's a great organization that has raised over $6 million to fund athletes directly," he said. "It comes from ordinary Canadians and bypasses the whole sports system to give athletes help when they need it."
To support the CAN Fund, a nationwide telethon is scheduled to be broadcast on Shaw TV this Sunday from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m., Saskatchewan time. Hundreds of items are up for auction -- including Wetzel's unisuit, autographed memorabilia from the likes of Henri Richard and a Canadian team jacket from the closing ceremonies in Turin.
Shaw has committed to matching every dollar pledged up to $500,000.
"I think all but two of the (Canadian) athletes that were in Beijing received grants from the fund," said Wetzel. "It's something that's really worth supporting and it really makes a difference, so I hope people will have a look."
cwolfe@sp.canwest.com
© The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon) 2008
-------------------------
Comment: Jake Wetzel grew up on the prairies and became a rowing Olympian.
As Brian Price said last week: set your goals, and go for them.
Among the legacies of the 1989 Jeux Canada Games is a boathouse and a 2000m rowing/canoeing course on the South Saskatchewan River through Saskatoon. Wetzel is a product of that legacy.
The StarPhoenix
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Olympic rowing gold medallist Jake Wetzel speaks Wednesday to grade 9 and 10 students at Aden Bowman Collegiate
"We're in hell right now, gentlemen. Believe me. And we can stay here, or we can fight our way back into the light. We can fight our way out of hell one inch at a time." -- Canadian rowing coach Mike Spracklen
Olympic rowing champion Jake Wetzel doesn't intend to pick up an oar ever again.
But when he hears the words of his coach Mike Spracklen -- a 71-year-old Brit who "looks like a janitor" but roars like a lion -- Wetzel's competitive juices kick in.
"When I hear that stuff, it's just so hard-wired into you and you never feel like you're not an athlete," said Wetzel, whose Wednesday presentation to Aden Bowman Collegiate students included a video with a rousing speech from Spracklen.
"People can say they're retired and all of that stuff, but (the competitiveness) is still in your head."
The 31-year-old Saskatonian retired from rowing in September after helping the men's eight win gold at the Beijing Olympics.
He's now working toward his doctorate in finance at the University of British Columbia. Wetzel has one year of studies under his belt and another three or four to go.
"When you've been so focused on one goal for so long, you don't think past it," said Wetzel, an Aden Bowman grad. "You use up so much mental energy on what you've been focusing on, so to shift gears and refocus is a real challenge.
"When you're the best in the word at something and then you go into something where you're at the bottom, it's hard on the ego."
In his youth, Wetzel excelled at multiple sports, including fencing, cross-country skiing and cycling. His parents, Kurt and Eva, were both professors who lectured at the University of Saskatchewan, but Wetzel told students Wednesday education wasn't at the top of his priority list during high school.
His interest in education blossomed while he was attending the University of California, Berkeley, on a rowing scholarship. But even now that he's returned to academia, he admits to feeling a little like a rower out of water.
"On the academic side, there's not as much measuring. You don't know where you're at every day -- you don't know if you're winning or losing," said Wetzel.
"When you leave rowing, you lose all of your structure. You have different goals and now I have to figure out for myself how to get there. Before, I had a coach and there was a very clear path laid out. You could tell, on a daily basis, whether you were getting closer or further away."
Wetzel is one of several Saskatchewan Olympians who'll be recognized today during a ceremony at the legislature in Regina. In addition to sharing his experiences with students, Wetzel is also using his profile to lobby for Canadian Athletes Now (CAN).
"It's a great organization that has raised over $6 million to fund athletes directly," he said. "It comes from ordinary Canadians and bypasses the whole sports system to give athletes help when they need it."
To support the CAN Fund, a nationwide telethon is scheduled to be broadcast on Shaw TV this Sunday from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m., Saskatchewan time. Hundreds of items are up for auction -- including Wetzel's unisuit, autographed memorabilia from the likes of Henri Richard and a Canadian team jacket from the closing ceremonies in Turin.
Shaw has committed to matching every dollar pledged up to $500,000.
"I think all but two of the (Canadian) athletes that were in Beijing received grants from the fund," said Wetzel. "It's something that's really worth supporting and it really makes a difference, so I hope people will have a look."
cwolfe@sp.canwest.com
© The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon) 2008
-------------------------
Comment: Jake Wetzel grew up on the prairies and became a rowing Olympian.
As Brian Price said last week: set your goals, and go for them.
Among the legacies of the 1989 Jeux Canada Games is a boathouse and a 2000m rowing/canoeing course on the South Saskatchewan River through Saskatoon. Wetzel is a product of that legacy.
Friday, November 14, 2008
Now There's a Joke
Mr Harper is going to Washington to meet with other world leaders.
He is saying that he will promote open and global action for the financial crisis.
Now, the question: when did Stephen Harper EVER do anything in an open fashion???
He is saying that he will promote open and global action for the financial crisis.
Now, the question: when did Stephen Harper EVER do anything in an open fashion???
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Brian Price at Loyalist
While the Advisory Committee to the Sport Journalism program (on which I serve) was meeting, the Co-ordinator of the program had teed-up an Olympian to speak to students at Loyalist. Well, actually, apparently it was coincidental, as November 10th was the only day that 2004 and 2008 rowing OLYMPIAN BRIAN PRICE was able to give a talk at the college.
I'd never heard Brian speak, so was very interested to hear his perspective on the Olympic Games, as well as many other facets of his life, his involvement in sport, and his role as the cox for the Mens 8s . Having been involved in the Olympic Movement for almost 15 years, I am interested in the athletes, for whom the Games are intended. The road to an Olympics is a long expensive road; it takes years to get there, and few actually make it.
As I sat there with my notebook, I was surprised that there were so few students present to hear him speak. No, he's not one of the "big name" Olympians, and his physical stature (essential for his position!) would never make him stand out in a crowd.
Students from the BJ program as well as Sports Journalism programs had been told that he would be on campus to speak. One would think that every breathing, interested student in BOTH those programs would have gone to hear him speak. But no, there were few students in Alumni Hall when he started to speak, and fewer when he finished. Perhaps 25 people were there when he was introduced.
Price spoke about his role as a cox, the team's approach to the Olympic village, their routine in the months leading up to the Games, distractions, the future. Toward the end of his talk, a few questions were asked from the audience, particularly about his future as an elite rower. He is 32, he said, and London is 4 years away. That is a long time, he has a child, and he would have to live in Victoria where the rowing team is centralized.
I loved his "It's fun to beat people" comment. So true. It's more fun to win than lose. Somehow, we can't get this idea in balance in this country, but that's another story.
There was a planned "media scrum" after the talk, so that students in the two programs could participate in one of the most common aspects of journalism. But, by my count, there were 4 scholars in the scrum: two had tape recorders, one female seemed to be with radio, and one seemed to be with print. But it was hard to really tell from my location. The point is that as a media "scrum' it sure was a bomb. Four questionners? Ridiculous, considering that Price would have appealed to two Loyalist programs, having 45 students or more???
In retrospect, it would have been interesting to participate in it. One of the things that would have been interesting to hear his views on, is "Money for Medals" that media so often spoke of when in November 2007, the COC rolled out its plan to give money to Canadian medallists.
Giving money to medallists is the most significant turn-on-position that the COC has done since it introduced its unpopular (but executed) Team Selection Criteria of 'top 16' in the early 1990s. Debate on money for medals inside the COC was heated, but in the end, those who acknowledged the time and finances that it takes to get to the Olympics, and then to be in the top three in the world, prevailed. Finally, Canadian athletes would be rewarded as Spanish and American Olympians would be.
No one should think that $20,000 to a gold medallist will cover the cost of living and training and competing in this day and age.
The COC reportedly handed out $515.000 in Toronto on October 11, 2008. Some medallists were present to receive their cheques; of the 34 athletes who were to get cheques, just over 20 were there.
Only the Toronto Sun reported on the smiling faces of our Bejing medalists. It also reported on the pending visit of Canada Revenue Agency (formerly Revenue Canada).
http://www.torontosun.com/sports/columnists/alison_korn/2008/10/10/7037681-sun.html
(As an aside, the reporter who ran with this story, including the tax aspect, is herself an Olympian, 1996 & 2000)
So it would have been interesting to har Price's perspective on his "windfall." With a family, training expenses, competition (including travel) expenses, and no job Price's viewpoint would have been pretty typical of a Canadian Olympian.
Let's hope that the few students who took advantage of the opportunity to meet and interview an Olympian, appreciated that what they had won't be repeated often in their lives. Even if they think it will.
If there IS a next time, they will have to create it, and given their apparent attitude on Monday, don't bet your house on it.
I'd never heard Brian speak, so was very interested to hear his perspective on the Olympic Games, as well as many other facets of his life, his involvement in sport, and his role as the cox for the Mens 8s . Having been involved in the Olympic Movement for almost 15 years, I am interested in the athletes, for whom the Games are intended. The road to an Olympics is a long expensive road; it takes years to get there, and few actually make it.
As I sat there with my notebook, I was surprised that there were so few students present to hear him speak. No, he's not one of the "big name" Olympians, and his physical stature (essential for his position!) would never make him stand out in a crowd.
Students from the BJ program as well as Sports Journalism programs had been told that he would be on campus to speak. One would think that every breathing, interested student in BOTH those programs would have gone to hear him speak. But no, there were few students in Alumni Hall when he started to speak, and fewer when he finished. Perhaps 25 people were there when he was introduced.
Price spoke about his role as a cox, the team's approach to the Olympic village, their routine in the months leading up to the Games, distractions, the future. Toward the end of his talk, a few questions were asked from the audience, particularly about his future as an elite rower. He is 32, he said, and London is 4 years away. That is a long time, he has a child, and he would have to live in Victoria where the rowing team is centralized.
I loved his "It's fun to beat people" comment. So true. It's more fun to win than lose. Somehow, we can't get this idea in balance in this country, but that's another story.
There was a planned "media scrum" after the talk, so that students in the two programs could participate in one of the most common aspects of journalism. But, by my count, there were 4 scholars in the scrum: two had tape recorders, one female seemed to be with radio, and one seemed to be with print. But it was hard to really tell from my location. The point is that as a media "scrum' it sure was a bomb. Four questionners? Ridiculous, considering that Price would have appealed to two Loyalist programs, having 45 students or more???
In retrospect, it would have been interesting to participate in it. One of the things that would have been interesting to hear his views on, is "Money for Medals" that media so often spoke of when in November 2007, the COC rolled out its plan to give money to Canadian medallists.
Giving money to medallists is the most significant turn-on-position that the COC has done since it introduced its unpopular (but executed) Team Selection Criteria of 'top 16' in the early 1990s. Debate on money for medals inside the COC was heated, but in the end, those who acknowledged the time and finances that it takes to get to the Olympics, and then to be in the top three in the world, prevailed. Finally, Canadian athletes would be rewarded as Spanish and American Olympians would be.
No one should think that $20,000 to a gold medallist will cover the cost of living and training and competing in this day and age.
The COC reportedly handed out $515.000 in Toronto on October 11, 2008. Some medallists were present to receive their cheques; of the 34 athletes who were to get cheques, just over 20 were there.
Only the Toronto Sun reported on the smiling faces of our Bejing medalists. It also reported on the pending visit of Canada Revenue Agency (formerly Revenue Canada).
http://www.torontosun.com/sports/columnists/alison_korn/2008/10/10/7037681-sun.html
(As an aside, the reporter who ran with this story, including the tax aspect, is herself an Olympian, 1996 & 2000)
So it would have been interesting to har Price's perspective on his "windfall." With a family, training expenses, competition (including travel) expenses, and no job Price's viewpoint would have been pretty typical of a Canadian Olympian.
Let's hope that the few students who took advantage of the opportunity to meet and interview an Olympian, appreciated that what they had won't be repeated often in their lives. Even if they think it will.
If there IS a next time, they will have to create it, and given their apparent attitude on Monday, don't bet your house on it.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Loyalist College, Belleville: Sports Journalism Program
The Sports Journalism program at Loyalist in Belleville is well into its first year, and from accounts of the students in the program, is a great success.
At a meeting yesterday of the Advisory Committee, we heard from the student representative Darren Matte as well as faculty involved in delivering the program.
Our day started with an informal meeting with the eleven students in the program, and ended with a meeting of the Advisory Committee, faculty and senior administrators of the College.
More later, but......this is a program well worth consideration by people who are keenly interested in sports and journalism, both written and broadcast.
At a meeting yesterday of the Advisory Committee, we heard from the student representative Darren Matte as well as faculty involved in delivering the program.
Our day started with an informal meeting with the eleven students in the program, and ended with a meeting of the Advisory Committee, faculty and senior administrators of the College.
More later, but......this is a program well worth consideration by people who are keenly interested in sports and journalism, both written and broadcast.
Tuesday, November 04, 2008
Kingston's waterfront is a jewel in the rough
Blue-Ribbon Panel
By DIANA DAVIS DUERKOP
The waterfront is Kingston's premier recreational resource. It offers opportunity to get outdoors, to be active, to celebrate nature and to enjoy our natural advantage.
But Kingston needs a waterfront that is accessible to everyone, not just a few people, from Collins Bay to Ravensview. Accessible means that people can get to the shore via public walkways. They can ride bicycles on the pathway. Persons with disabilities can manoeuvre their wheelchairs easily, and people can actually use the shoreline and water. There is no shortage of ideas; just ask your family members and neighbours how they imagine the waterfront.
Kingston's waterfront pathway should be widened to offer separate cycling and walking lanes. The gaps in the trail need to be eliminated. The trail should have consistent pavement, signage and other markings along its entire length from west to east. The waterfront needs picnic tables, little fireboxes
to cook hot dogs, bathrooms and emergency communication in case assistance is needed.
Citizens and tourists should be able to visit marinas, walk on the docks and view the harbour from a boardwalk constructed on the breakwater at Flora MacDonald Basin. Private developers must no longer be able to build on the precious little bit of land left beside the water that has not been developed.
Make swimming in Lake Ontario and the western end of the St. Lawrence River a priority. Easyaccess beaches, ladders at docks and life-saving gear would encourage use. Put a couple of rafts out at Richardson Beach, restore the bathhouse, open a canteen and look for the swimmers. Open-water swimming is a natural for this area, so Kingston should have lots of athletes trying to qualify for the long-distance 10-kilometre events at the London 2012 Olympic Games.
Continued After Advertisement Below
Advertisement
Hang-gliding and sailboarding are naturals for Kingston's waterfront. Provide suitable facilities at the PUC docks, where hang-gliding now takes place. There has been rowing in the Kingston area for almost 170 years. The Cataraqui river is perfect for rowing and canoeing (especially the competitive kind). A long competition course and new, attractive easy-to-access facilities, launching ramps and parking would draw more people to that part of the waterfront, and offer more "on water'" activities. This part of the waterfront is ideal for rowing and Olympic-style canoeing.
Recreational canoeing and kayaking are quite inexpensive activities, but there's no place to launch easily. Launch sites at West Street and at the rowing club are slippery and not planned for getting underway in one's canoe or kayak. As well, those sites aren't designed for trailering a small boat with an outboard motor or a Laser with a mast and gear. Besides, where do you park your trailer while you're out on the water?
The waterfront trail needs to be opened up from Collins Bay to the Woolen Mill, and along the shore to Ravensview. Post historical information all along the trail, as well as information about flora and fauna. There are many varieties of flowers, weeds and trees to see; wildlife is common. Walking tours with this sort of information available in windproof and waterproof boxes could be provided, and would be very popular.
Kingston's waterfront needs a champion. It needs someone or some group willing and able to go to bat for the waterfront, remove obstacles that are in the way and keep a citizen-focused vision in front of everyone. The waterfront champion needs to engage the municipality, province, federal government and citizens. Everyone in Kingston has opinions about the waterfront, and most of us yearn for the day when we can boast about our greatest treasure.
Our waterfront champion will empower us to take pride in what has been referred to as "the crown jewel of Kingston," will advocate for the waterfront and will enable us to find the means to do what Kingstonians wish for. Together we must do everything we can to develop this opportunity. It's long overdue.
-30-
* Diana Davis Duerkop is a former vice-president of the Canadian Olympic Committee and former president of Synchro Canada. She oversaw development of the rowing/canoeing course and river-edge boathouse for the 1989 Jeux Canada Games in Saskatoon. She has an extensive involvement in recreation, particularly swimming and boating, and is a waterfront enthusiast.
Article ID# 1279959
from The kingston Whig Standard, October 31, 2008.
By DIANA DAVIS DUERKOP
The waterfront is Kingston's premier recreational resource. It offers opportunity to get outdoors, to be active, to celebrate nature and to enjoy our natural advantage.
But Kingston needs a waterfront that is accessible to everyone, not just a few people, from Collins Bay to Ravensview. Accessible means that people can get to the shore via public walkways. They can ride bicycles on the pathway. Persons with disabilities can manoeuvre their wheelchairs easily, and people can actually use the shoreline and water. There is no shortage of ideas; just ask your family members and neighbours how they imagine the waterfront.
Kingston's waterfront pathway should be widened to offer separate cycling and walking lanes. The gaps in the trail need to be eliminated. The trail should have consistent pavement, signage and other markings along its entire length from west to east. The waterfront needs picnic tables, little fireboxes
to cook hot dogs, bathrooms and emergency communication in case assistance is needed.
Citizens and tourists should be able to visit marinas, walk on the docks and view the harbour from a boardwalk constructed on the breakwater at Flora MacDonald Basin. Private developers must no longer be able to build on the precious little bit of land left beside the water that has not been developed.
Make swimming in Lake Ontario and the western end of the St. Lawrence River a priority. Easyaccess beaches, ladders at docks and life-saving gear would encourage use. Put a couple of rafts out at Richardson Beach, restore the bathhouse, open a canteen and look for the swimmers. Open-water swimming is a natural for this area, so Kingston should have lots of athletes trying to qualify for the long-distance 10-kilometre events at the London 2012 Olympic Games.
Continued After Advertisement Below
Advertisement
Hang-gliding and sailboarding are naturals for Kingston's waterfront. Provide suitable facilities at the PUC docks, where hang-gliding now takes place. There has been rowing in the Kingston area for almost 170 years. The Cataraqui river is perfect for rowing and canoeing (especially the competitive kind). A long competition course and new, attractive easy-to-access facilities, launching ramps and parking would draw more people to that part of the waterfront, and offer more "on water'" activities. This part of the waterfront is ideal for rowing and Olympic-style canoeing.
Recreational canoeing and kayaking are quite inexpensive activities, but there's no place to launch easily. Launch sites at West Street and at the rowing club are slippery and not planned for getting underway in one's canoe or kayak. As well, those sites aren't designed for trailering a small boat with an outboard motor or a Laser with a mast and gear. Besides, where do you park your trailer while you're out on the water?
The waterfront trail needs to be opened up from Collins Bay to the Woolen Mill, and along the shore to Ravensview. Post historical information all along the trail, as well as information about flora and fauna. There are many varieties of flowers, weeds and trees to see; wildlife is common. Walking tours with this sort of information available in windproof and waterproof boxes could be provided, and would be very popular.
Kingston's waterfront needs a champion. It needs someone or some group willing and able to go to bat for the waterfront, remove obstacles that are in the way and keep a citizen-focused vision in front of everyone. The waterfront champion needs to engage the municipality, province, federal government and citizens. Everyone in Kingston has opinions about the waterfront, and most of us yearn for the day when we can boast about our greatest treasure.
Our waterfront champion will empower us to take pride in what has been referred to as "the crown jewel of Kingston," will advocate for the waterfront and will enable us to find the means to do what Kingstonians wish for. Together we must do everything we can to develop this opportunity. It's long overdue.
-30-
* Diana Davis Duerkop is a former vice-president of the Canadian Olympic Committee and former president of Synchro Canada. She oversaw development of the rowing/canoeing course and river-edge boathouse for the 1989 Jeux Canada Games in Saskatoon. She has an extensive involvement in recreation, particularly swimming and boating, and is a waterfront enthusiast.
Article ID# 1279959
from The kingston Whig Standard, October 31, 2008.
Saturday, November 01, 2008
Bishop Dolegiewicz Dies
Shot putter admitted his steroid use
Dolegiewicz, 55, died this week in Utah
Oct 31, 2008 04:30 AM
by Randy Starkman SPORTS REPORTER (The Star)
Canadian shot putter Bishop Dolegiewicz, a three-time Olympian who had a larger-than-life personality to match his mountainous physique, died Tuesday night in his sleep at the age of 55.
Dolegiewicz, a Toronto native who starred at Parkdale Collegiate, won two gold medals at the Pan Am Games, two silver medals at the Commonwealth Games and 13 medals at Canadian championships. He was 11th at the 1984 L.A. Olympics and fourth in 1980 in a world's strongest man contest.
He was later stripped of his Canadian shot put record after admitting during the Dubin Inquiry to using steroids for more than a decade.
Dolegiewicz, who had success as a coach at Southern Utah University, was suffering from cardio and circulation problems. He died in Lehi, Utah, leaving behind his wife Anna, 30, a thrower he coached.
Former teammate Bruce Pirnie said Dolegiewicz's testimony at the Dubin Inquiry, where he also admitted to supplying steroids to athletes, cost him his coaching job at the University of Saskatchewan and took a toll on his health. Justice Charles Dubin also died this week.
"It's definitely (a coincidence) that Bish and Justice Dubin should pass away at the same time," said Pirnie, adding that Dolegiewicz had a positive coaching legacy in Canada. "Saskatchewan still sees the benefit of Bish's imprint. They turn out more throwers than anyone in the country."
Former Canadian discus champ Rob Gray was saddened by the news. "Whatever you say about the guy, he was a great competitor, a mountain of a man and a great athlete," said Gray, who also admitted to steroid use. "He was a big, strong guy because he worked his butt off and showed us how hard you had to work to get to the next level. It's hard to call him a role model, but he was in some ways."
Dolegiewicz told the inquiry he regretted using steroids because of the toll it had on his mind and body and that as a coach he strongly warned athletes against them.
"I give people the examples of individuals that I have known that have gotten sick from the use of steroids and I try to come across and give the kids the message, `Look, you're going to pay the price at some point in time,'" Dolegiewicz said during his testimony.
Pirnie said he had been pondering whether steroids had a role in Dolegiewicz's health issues. "I would be very surprised if there wasn't a connection," he said.
Gray said, "I suspect it has got a lot more to do with that he was a 6-foot-6, 330-pound man who was probably overweight."
-30-
THE BIG ONE
Terrible headline as his claim to fame was that he was the greatest thrower in Canadian history. We called him the "Big One" as he was the biggest and strongest of us all. Athletics Canada wiped out his career achievements for telling the truth at the Dubin inquiry (funny how all the liars at the inquiry and those who avoided testifying still have their tainted performances recognized). I can't believe that Athletics Canada has already taken down their announcement of his passing -possibly as a result of the Star headline ? Athletics Canada should reinstate his performances instead of pretending he didn't exist like they are doing again. He will live on in my memories always as a mentor,friend,training partner and teamate. He was a great man who accomplished a great deal and I would hope that his memory shouldn't be tarnished by the fact that he admitted to doing what everyone was and is still doing to reach the highest levels of sport. Rob Gray
Posted By Rob Gray at 4:47 PM Friday, October 31 2008
---------
I remember Bish
As someone who did look upon Bishop as a role model being a young thrower in the 70's with a modicum of success in the 80's I am saddened at the loss of an old friend, former room mate and training partner. Despite any admissions of errors by Bish I will always recall the gentle giant who helped me along, the hours spent working out in California as the sun went down, bbq's in Dallas, the friend and role model. Shame on anyone who has hind sight sanctimonius judgement, look in the mirror. My condolences to his wife and family.
Posted By jharkness at 11:08 AM Friday, October 31 2008
-30-
Dolegieweicz admitted his drug use and if the pictures on the internet are recent, it seems that he continued to use them.
Bishop played a large part in speedying the evolution of throwing events in Canada, and deserves to be remembered.
The story of this death was posted on www.athletics .ca the website of Canadian Track and Field. It was taken down. That's unfortunate. Bishop, like Ben, is a recognized figure, and he lived his life in this country. Both men, although acknowledged drug users, lived and deserve to be recognized. To ignore Bishop's death is pretending it never happened.
Dolegiewicz, 55, died this week in Utah
Oct 31, 2008 04:30 AM
by Randy Starkman SPORTS REPORTER (The Star)
Canadian shot putter Bishop Dolegiewicz, a three-time Olympian who had a larger-than-life personality to match his mountainous physique, died Tuesday night in his sleep at the age of 55.
Dolegiewicz, a Toronto native who starred at Parkdale Collegiate, won two gold medals at the Pan Am Games, two silver medals at the Commonwealth Games and 13 medals at Canadian championships. He was 11th at the 1984 L.A. Olympics and fourth in 1980 in a world's strongest man contest.
He was later stripped of his Canadian shot put record after admitting during the Dubin Inquiry to using steroids for more than a decade.
Dolegiewicz, who had success as a coach at Southern Utah University, was suffering from cardio and circulation problems. He died in Lehi, Utah, leaving behind his wife Anna, 30, a thrower he coached.
Former teammate Bruce Pirnie said Dolegiewicz's testimony at the Dubin Inquiry, where he also admitted to supplying steroids to athletes, cost him his coaching job at the University of Saskatchewan and took a toll on his health. Justice Charles Dubin also died this week.
"It's definitely (a coincidence) that Bish and Justice Dubin should pass away at the same time," said Pirnie, adding that Dolegiewicz had a positive coaching legacy in Canada. "Saskatchewan still sees the benefit of Bish's imprint. They turn out more throwers than anyone in the country."
Former Canadian discus champ Rob Gray was saddened by the news. "Whatever you say about the guy, he was a great competitor, a mountain of a man and a great athlete," said Gray, who also admitted to steroid use. "He was a big, strong guy because he worked his butt off and showed us how hard you had to work to get to the next level. It's hard to call him a role model, but he was in some ways."
Dolegiewicz told the inquiry he regretted using steroids because of the toll it had on his mind and body and that as a coach he strongly warned athletes against them.
"I give people the examples of individuals that I have known that have gotten sick from the use of steroids and I try to come across and give the kids the message, `Look, you're going to pay the price at some point in time,'" Dolegiewicz said during his testimony.
Pirnie said he had been pondering whether steroids had a role in Dolegiewicz's health issues. "I would be very surprised if there wasn't a connection," he said.
Gray said, "I suspect it has got a lot more to do with that he was a 6-foot-6, 330-pound man who was probably overweight."
-30-
THE BIG ONE
Terrible headline as his claim to fame was that he was the greatest thrower in Canadian history. We called him the "Big One" as he was the biggest and strongest of us all. Athletics Canada wiped out his career achievements for telling the truth at the Dubin inquiry (funny how all the liars at the inquiry and those who avoided testifying still have their tainted performances recognized). I can't believe that Athletics Canada has already taken down their announcement of his passing -possibly as a result of the Star headline ? Athletics Canada should reinstate his performances instead of pretending he didn't exist like they are doing again. He will live on in my memories always as a mentor,friend,training partner and teamate. He was a great man who accomplished a great deal and I would hope that his memory shouldn't be tarnished by the fact that he admitted to doing what everyone was and is still doing to reach the highest levels of sport. Rob Gray
Posted By Rob Gray at 4:47 PM Friday, October 31 2008
---------
I remember Bish
As someone who did look upon Bishop as a role model being a young thrower in the 70's with a modicum of success in the 80's I am saddened at the loss of an old friend, former room mate and training partner. Despite any admissions of errors by Bish I will always recall the gentle giant who helped me along, the hours spent working out in California as the sun went down, bbq's in Dallas, the friend and role model. Shame on anyone who has hind sight sanctimonius judgement, look in the mirror. My condolences to his wife and family.
Posted By jharkness at 11:08 AM Friday, October 31 2008
-30-
Dolegieweicz admitted his drug use and if the pictures on the internet are recent, it seems that he continued to use them.
Bishop played a large part in speedying the evolution of throwing events in Canada, and deserves to be remembered.
The story of this death was posted on www.athletics .ca the website of Canadian Track and Field. It was taken down. That's unfortunate. Bishop, like Ben, is a recognized figure, and he lived his life in this country. Both men, although acknowledged drug users, lived and deserve to be recognized. To ignore Bishop's death is pretending it never happened.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Election Day: Vote Liberal!
Time to vote Liberal. A better choice.
The leader isn't a bully and he doesn't break his promises.
He doesn't blackmail parliament by saying "Either vote for this (a confidence vote) or else." That's about as low as you can get.
The leader isn't a bully and he doesn't break his promises.
He doesn't blackmail parliament by saying "Either vote for this (a confidence vote) or else." That's about as low as you can get.
Sunday, October 05, 2008
If You Need Only One Reason Not to Vote Tory,.....
...here it is. Canada needs a National Child CAre Program!
Choice in child care is what Prime Minister Stephen Harper promised in the last election with the Conservatives' Universal Child Care Benefit, a taxable, $100-a-month payment to families for each child under age 6. The money, Harper said, would give all parents the ability to choose the child-care option that best suited their family needs. Since July 2006, some $5 billion has been spent on the initiative.
In addition to cash for parents, the Conservatives pledged $250 million per year in tax credits to help businesses and community groups create 125,000 new child-care spaces over five years. But employers weren't keen to get into the child-care business, so the Tories folded the money into Ottawa's annual social transfer to provinces.
It's unclear how many spaces that money has created, because Ottawa hasn't kept track. But a review of provincial daycare programs by the Toronto-based Child Care Resource and Research Unit shows growth in licensed daycare spots across the country is slowing. In 2006, just 26,600 new spaces opened in Canada, a drop from 32,600 in each of the previous two years and about half of the 51,000 a year that opened between 2001 and 2004.
The centre's research shows that the percentage of Canadian children who have access to regulated child care has grown by just 10 per cent, to 17 per cent, in the past 15 years. And the bulk of those new spaces have been in Quebec.
At this rate, it would take another 60 years to reach universal supply, says the research unit's Martha Friendly, who has been tracking child care in Canada for the past 30 years.
The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has singled out Canada on several occasions for its poor record on child care. A 2004 report blasted the country's chronically underfunded patchwork of often mediocre programs run by underpaid and poorly trained staff. A 2006 report by the agency ranked Canada last among 14 Western nations in spending on early-learning, child-care and kindergarten programs – either through tax breaks, cash or services – putting us behind nearly every country in Europe and even the United States.
In Canada, fewer than one in five children under age 13 have access to licensed child care. Meanwhile, 71 per cent of mothers in two-parent families – and 83 per cent of single moms – are in the workforce.
"Monthly cheques (to parents) have been sent out since July 2006, but there has been no attempt to account for the dollars," says Friendly. "What is it spent on? Does it deliver choice in child care? Does it help Canadians balance work and family? Is it a good use of $2.4 billion a year? We just don't know.
"What we do know is that finding and affording high-quality early-childhood education and care continues to be an ongoing crisis for families. Indeed, since the Conservatives came to power in 2006, child-care space expansion dropped to its lowest level in some years."
But the popularity of the Tory child-care benefit means no other party has risked proposing to scrap the cash and plough the money into more daycare spaces in this campaign.
The Conservative child-care benefit replaced the previous Liberal government's five-year, $5-billion national child-care plan, aimed at creating 250,000 new high-quality, affordable and accessible spaces.
Under the ill-fated scheme, Ontario would have created 25,000 new affordable spaces by now, with more than 5,000 of them in Toronto. Instead, the province has been able to add just 15,000 new spaces, and Toronto has been able to create barely 2,000 new spots with the federal money.
Although the Liberals howled when Harper axed their child-care plan in favour of cash payments to parents, leader Stéphane Dion says if he's elected he'll keep the Tory benefit and add a new, $350 refundable child-tax credit to all families with children under age 18. But Dion says he's committed to reviving the Liberals' vision of a national child-care system and has promised to pump $1.25 billion into the creation of 165,000 new regulated spots within four years.
"Unfortunately, all too often, children are stuck on waiting lists because of a shortage of spaces," Dion said at a Kitchener child-care centre last month. "And as every parent knows, no space means no choice."
Leaside parents Chris Markham and Raghad Zaiyouna, whose children are 6, 3 and two months old, are relieved none of the parties wants to scrap the Tory child-care payments.
Unable to find daycare when their first child was born, Zaiyouna scaled back to part-time work, and for the past three years has relied on her mother and mother-in-law for help. Until Harper's cash payments, they felt their family's choice was being ignored.
"People who use child care can recover some of their costs through the child-care tax deduction," Markham says. "But there's no recognition of my wife's loss of income or of our parents' travel costs and time. The $100 payment begins to level the playing field. But so much more needs to be done."
Markham, who works for a non-governmental agency promoting healthy, active lifestyles, realizes his family is lucky to have grandparents nearby who are willing and able to help. And he knows they were lucky to get child-care spaces in their local school this fall for their eldest two children, now in Grade 1 and junior kindergarten.
Etobicoke single mother Jennefer Desrochers is one of those parents. Two years ago she lost her job just as her network of family supports fell apart. Without child care for her two boys, then 2 and 7, she struggled to get back on her feet.
Last month she found a job and was thrilled to get a child-care spot in a neighbourhood centre. But on wages of just $11 an hour, there's no way she can afford to pay almost $1,000 a month in fees. And with 14,500 other children in Toronto waiting for daycare subsidies, Desrochers is frantic.
"I borrowed money from a friend to pay the first week, and now I'm three weeks in arrears," she says. "What is the government doing for me? I don't want to sit at home and collect a welfare cheque. I want to contribute and be part of society. But without (affordable) child care, I can't do that."
from The Star, October 5, 2008
A disgrace. Licensed programs should be funded and there should be a system of accountability.
Grandparents should not be forced to care for their grandchildren because there is no alternative.
Choice in child care is what Prime Minister Stephen Harper promised in the last election with the Conservatives' Universal Child Care Benefit, a taxable, $100-a-month payment to families for each child under age 6. The money, Harper said, would give all parents the ability to choose the child-care option that best suited their family needs. Since July 2006, some $5 billion has been spent on the initiative.
In addition to cash for parents, the Conservatives pledged $250 million per year in tax credits to help businesses and community groups create 125,000 new child-care spaces over five years. But employers weren't keen to get into the child-care business, so the Tories folded the money into Ottawa's annual social transfer to provinces.
It's unclear how many spaces that money has created, because Ottawa hasn't kept track. But a review of provincial daycare programs by the Toronto-based Child Care Resource and Research Unit shows growth in licensed daycare spots across the country is slowing. In 2006, just 26,600 new spaces opened in Canada, a drop from 32,600 in each of the previous two years and about half of the 51,000 a year that opened between 2001 and 2004.
The centre's research shows that the percentage of Canadian children who have access to regulated child care has grown by just 10 per cent, to 17 per cent, in the past 15 years. And the bulk of those new spaces have been in Quebec.
At this rate, it would take another 60 years to reach universal supply, says the research unit's Martha Friendly, who has been tracking child care in Canada for the past 30 years.
The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has singled out Canada on several occasions for its poor record on child care. A 2004 report blasted the country's chronically underfunded patchwork of often mediocre programs run by underpaid and poorly trained staff. A 2006 report by the agency ranked Canada last among 14 Western nations in spending on early-learning, child-care and kindergarten programs – either through tax breaks, cash or services – putting us behind nearly every country in Europe and even the United States.
In Canada, fewer than one in five children under age 13 have access to licensed child care. Meanwhile, 71 per cent of mothers in two-parent families – and 83 per cent of single moms – are in the workforce.
"Monthly cheques (to parents) have been sent out since July 2006, but there has been no attempt to account for the dollars," says Friendly. "What is it spent on? Does it deliver choice in child care? Does it help Canadians balance work and family? Is it a good use of $2.4 billion a year? We just don't know.
"What we do know is that finding and affording high-quality early-childhood education and care continues to be an ongoing crisis for families. Indeed, since the Conservatives came to power in 2006, child-care space expansion dropped to its lowest level in some years."
But the popularity of the Tory child-care benefit means no other party has risked proposing to scrap the cash and plough the money into more daycare spaces in this campaign.
The Conservative child-care benefit replaced the previous Liberal government's five-year, $5-billion national child-care plan, aimed at creating 250,000 new high-quality, affordable and accessible spaces.
Under the ill-fated scheme, Ontario would have created 25,000 new affordable spaces by now, with more than 5,000 of them in Toronto. Instead, the province has been able to add just 15,000 new spaces, and Toronto has been able to create barely 2,000 new spots with the federal money.
Although the Liberals howled when Harper axed their child-care plan in favour of cash payments to parents, leader Stéphane Dion says if he's elected he'll keep the Tory benefit and add a new, $350 refundable child-tax credit to all families with children under age 18. But Dion says he's committed to reviving the Liberals' vision of a national child-care system and has promised to pump $1.25 billion into the creation of 165,000 new regulated spots within four years.
"Unfortunately, all too often, children are stuck on waiting lists because of a shortage of spaces," Dion said at a Kitchener child-care centre last month. "And as every parent knows, no space means no choice."
Leaside parents Chris Markham and Raghad Zaiyouna, whose children are 6, 3 and two months old, are relieved none of the parties wants to scrap the Tory child-care payments.
Unable to find daycare when their first child was born, Zaiyouna scaled back to part-time work, and for the past three years has relied on her mother and mother-in-law for help. Until Harper's cash payments, they felt their family's choice was being ignored.
"People who use child care can recover some of their costs through the child-care tax deduction," Markham says. "But there's no recognition of my wife's loss of income or of our parents' travel costs and time. The $100 payment begins to level the playing field. But so much more needs to be done."
Markham, who works for a non-governmental agency promoting healthy, active lifestyles, realizes his family is lucky to have grandparents nearby who are willing and able to help. And he knows they were lucky to get child-care spaces in their local school this fall for their eldest two children, now in Grade 1 and junior kindergarten.
Etobicoke single mother Jennefer Desrochers is one of those parents. Two years ago she lost her job just as her network of family supports fell apart. Without child care for her two boys, then 2 and 7, she struggled to get back on her feet.
Last month she found a job and was thrilled to get a child-care spot in a neighbourhood centre. But on wages of just $11 an hour, there's no way she can afford to pay almost $1,000 a month in fees. And with 14,500 other children in Toronto waiting for daycare subsidies, Desrochers is frantic.
"I borrowed money from a friend to pay the first week, and now I'm three weeks in arrears," she says. "What is the government doing for me? I don't want to sit at home and collect a welfare cheque. I want to contribute and be part of society. But without (affordable) child care, I can't do that."
from The Star, October 5, 2008
A disgrace. Licensed programs should be funded and there should be a system of accountability.
Grandparents should not be forced to care for their grandchildren because there is no alternative.
Thursday, October 02, 2008
This Move Won't Get Any Votes...Sports People Aren't That Gullible...
WWW.UNIVERSITYSPORT.CA
October 02, 2008
2015 Summer Universiade Bid: CIS praises Prime Minister Harper's support
OTTAWA (CIS) - Canadian Interuniversity Sport is delighted to announce that the Prime Minister of Canada, Mr. Stephen Harper, has pledged support in principle to CIS in the bidding process to host the 2015 Summer Universiade.
All three orders of government officially confirmed their support for Edmonton's bid at a press conference in Alberta's capital on Thursday afternoon. "A successful 2015 Summer Universiade Bid will provide Albertans and Canadians the opportunity to host the world and experience the excitement of this major multisport event," said CIS President Dick White. "The support in principle for the Edmonton bid process demonstrates the commitment towards developing an integrated and comprehensive approach to the long term development of Canada's future Olympians."
The International University Sports Federation (FISU) circulated the call for bids on September 1st, 2008. Canada plans to submit a letter of intent to bid to FISU on October 8 and the final bid package by March 15, 2009.
Competing bids for the 2015 Summer Universiade are expected from Spain (Vigo), South Korea (Gwangju), Poland (Poznan) and Brazil (Rio de Janeiro).
Canada has hosted the Summer Universiade once, in Edmonton back in 1983.
The Universiade is an international sporting and cultural festival that is staged every two years. It is second in size and scope only to the Olympic Games.
The Summer Universiade consists of 13 compulsory sports and up to five optional sports chosen by the host country. It is estimated that the 28th Summer Universiade hosted in Edmonton in 2015 would attract over 7,000 student-athletes, 2,000 coaches and team officials, 1,250 officials, 1,200 dignitaries, 250 media and 6,500 volunteers from 140 countries.
The Summer Universiade plays an important role in the Canadian Sport System and developing Canada's future Olympians. Forty-seven Canadian Olympians from the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics participated at recent Summer Universiades, including Olympic gold medalist Carol Huynh and bronze medalist Tonya Verbeek.
The next three Summer Universiades will be held in Belgrade, Serbia, in 2009, Shenzhen, China, in 2011, and Kazan, Russia, in 2013.
October 02, 2008
2015 Summer Universiade Bid: CIS praises Prime Minister Harper's support
OTTAWA (CIS) - Canadian Interuniversity Sport is delighted to announce that the Prime Minister of Canada, Mr. Stephen Harper, has pledged support in principle to CIS in the bidding process to host the 2015 Summer Universiade.
All three orders of government officially confirmed their support for Edmonton's bid at a press conference in Alberta's capital on Thursday afternoon. "A successful 2015 Summer Universiade Bid will provide Albertans and Canadians the opportunity to host the world and experience the excitement of this major multisport event," said CIS President Dick White. "The support in principle for the Edmonton bid process demonstrates the commitment towards developing an integrated and comprehensive approach to the long term development of Canada's future Olympians."
The International University Sports Federation (FISU) circulated the call for bids on September 1st, 2008. Canada plans to submit a letter of intent to bid to FISU on October 8 and the final bid package by March 15, 2009.
Competing bids for the 2015 Summer Universiade are expected from Spain (Vigo), South Korea (Gwangju), Poland (Poznan) and Brazil (Rio de Janeiro).
Canada has hosted the Summer Universiade once, in Edmonton back in 1983.
The Universiade is an international sporting and cultural festival that is staged every two years. It is second in size and scope only to the Olympic Games.
The Summer Universiade consists of 13 compulsory sports and up to five optional sports chosen by the host country. It is estimated that the 28th Summer Universiade hosted in Edmonton in 2015 would attract over 7,000 student-athletes, 2,000 coaches and team officials, 1,250 officials, 1,200 dignitaries, 250 media and 6,500 volunteers from 140 countries.
The Summer Universiade plays an important role in the Canadian Sport System and developing Canada's future Olympians. Forty-seven Canadian Olympians from the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics participated at recent Summer Universiades, including Olympic gold medalist Carol Huynh and bronze medalist Tonya Verbeek.
The next three Summer Universiades will be held in Belgrade, Serbia, in 2009, Shenzhen, China, in 2011, and Kazan, Russia, in 2013.
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