So McGuinty quietly takes another $18 million out of our pockets. This time because we didn’t want something, we took a stand, and these are the penalties for that little victory we scored last year. It’s like we can’t win for losing. This, of course, comes right on the heels of another $18 million we have to pay to reimburse Hydro One’s legal fees after losing a court case vs us, the taxpayers, for overcharging us.

And you’re thinking: that’s only $36 million. That’s nothing. That’s like a $1 a person in Ontario. Yes, $1 a person. TODAY. Tomorrow there’ll be another $1 for some other inept policy, and another the day after that. And at the end of the month that comes to $30 (except for February, don’t think you’re smarter than me). And at the end of the year, it’s a $365 bill. That’s $365 that used to be in our pockets. Gone.  And for what? Gross incompetence.

The way I see it, the only way to stop this, is to kick McGuinty out of office this fall. Surely he deserves it.

Vote Ontario PC.

Sometimes I’m forced to watch Global TVs 5:30 news. Sometimes I linger long enough, past the dire Global Warming footage, and “green” energy announcements, to catch the promo for the six o’clock Global Toronto News. You know, the promos where the local figureheads are walking around Toronto, touting about how much they know about what’s going on. What I saw last night had me falling off my chair.

The promo starts. Here we have the two figureheads, Anne Mroczkowski and Leslie Roberts. They are in a gym and an irate guy comes up to them with a bill complaining about how expensive it has gotten. The figureheads reply (paraphrasing):

Oh, yes, the bill has gone up another 8% when the HST was introduced. Ottawa is taking that money and giving less of it back to Toronto.

Here’s the thing. I, and people who read my blog on a regular basis, know this is utterly false and misleading. The extra 8% on top of the gym bill constitutes the PST portion of the HST, and, of course, ends up at Queen’s Park, NOT in Ottawa. Ottawa does not get ANYTHING extra from the HST, and is in fact, out $4B that it has given to the province to ease the transition. I am worried about the average (brain-dead) viewer in Toronto though, who just laps up anything Global serves to them. And this promo is exempting McGuinty, whom we desperately have to get out of office this fall.

Problem is, that this is a promo for a NEWS SHOW. They are supposed to report the news, not promote any one political party over another. However, in one promo it is helping Dalton McGuinty in exempting him from the higher HST bills, AND laying the blame solely on The Harper Government (see what I did there?).

I think Global Toronto is starting to see McGuinty might lose this fall!

Need a link to this promo video. I you have one, let me know!

This strategy is so brilliant, I wish I’d had thought of it: invent your opponent’s platform, release it, and then attack it as if it was real. A conveniently leaked “closed door” meeting revealed the Tory platform to the media. The made-up platform contained a whole bunch of stuff that people don’t like, so along with snide remarks by Liberal officials, the LPO Twitter-sphere went crazy attacking this newly released fictional Tory platform, spreading “the word” as if it was the truth. I tell ya, it’s not a bad idea.

The Ontario liberals are so out of ideas, last week they asked the public for guidance. I guess anything will help at this point. They even asked for Opposition platforms, so they could steal some good ideas from them. And now this.

Unfortunately, the Ontario voter seems to be so far removed from reality, this strategy might just work:

PC’s will close all hospitals*

* we made this up

If the Ontario voter is stupid enough to believe this crap, than they deserve a third term with Dalton.

I understand you need some votes, but to go as far as to threaten people to actually vote for you in order to keep you far away in Toronto for four more years is going too far.

link

Waking up this morning, I am left wondering: how much more can we take? It seems that every morning there is a new idiotic “green” announcement that makes no economical or ecological sense.

This one involves IKEA, the Green (furniture) Giant. The Swedish company is using one of Ontario’s ill-conceived green energy programs to install 6.4M dollars’ worth of (taxpayer subsidized) solar panels on some of their stores so they can generate energy and claim to be (taxpayer subsidized) “Carbon Neutral”. I say “taxpayer subsidized” because, although the initial investment is covered by IKEA, the good government of Ontario (ie: you) is going to pay IKEA a whopping 71.3¢ for each kilowatt of power produced. At this rate, IKEA will be making back its investment in about 7 years, and since solar panels are good for about 20 years, IKEA will be making good coin off the taxpayer of Ontario for the following 13 years, AND can affix a “prestigious” (for those who still believe) Carbon Neutral statement on their front doors.

And Dalton just stands there and smiles and says this is A-OK.

Next October can’t come soon enough.

I just hope Walmart doesn’t find out…

Here is today’s Ottawa Citizen front page:

Can you find him? Can you?

I’ll enlarge the section I’m talking about:

‘Nuff said…

Randall Denley had a great column in the Ottawa Citizen yesterday: Magic money just a McGuinty trick about Dalton’s new found money to help those poor Nortel employees who lost their pensions just before there happens to be a by election in their riding.

He writes:

Ottawa West-Nepean Liberal candidate Bob Chiarelli wished that the provincial government had done something to help angry Nortel pensioners who live in his riding. Presto, no sooner had Chiarelli made his wish than Finance Minister Dwight Duncan made it a reality. And on a Sunday, too.

and:

In April of last year, the premier said he just couldn’t guarantee help for the Nortel pensioners. There was no by election then, of course.

Randall fails to mention though, the same thing happened a few years back with hospital funding in Toronto when Georgie Smitherman needed to be elected in his riding.

Earlier this week, to the question if this is just vote buying in the eyes of the voters, Dalton replied arrogantly: “the voters of Ontario will have a chance to let us know how they feel come election time” [paraphrased]. Well, the “voters of Ontario” will only be able to vote on this nearly two years from now (and we all know how long the memory of the average Ontario voter lasts), and the voters in the West-Nepean riding sure aren’t as objective as the rest of us, now are they?

Ol’ Tom got me all riled up here. Pensioners in this country, who worked hard all their lives, make $519 a month. And that’s TAXED. And we’re gonna give this crook $317,000 severance? In the seven months she worked for us, she made about $100,000 a month. $100,000 A MONTH. She defrauds the Ontario taxpayer to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars, and our “esteemed” health minister Caplan doesn’t even have the guts to fire her. They came to a “mutual decison” to “resign”. Give me a break.

People with MS can’t pay for their meds and are being  cut off. Kids with autism can’t go to their therapy. Going to emergency in this province takes 5-13 hours. Waiting for an MRI takes 8 months. We all pay up to $1000/year EXTRA taxes to make our health care better, and they turn around and give it to crooks and bastards, who would rather bill $2700/day AND charge for a cup of tea, than hand over that money to one MS patient so she can afford to get her shots for another month.

If you have any scruples, all of you, you surrender your “bonuses” and severances so these people can buy their meds.

What’s wrong with this country? We’re bailing out private companies, give 3.5 billion dollars to retired workers so they can live better than all the rest of us who don’t have pensions, and now we’re payign $2700/day to consultants who INTERVIEW THEMSELVES?!?

I’m so pissed off, it’s unbelievable.

At a speech at an Ottawa Rotary Club, Ontario’s Municipal Affairs Minister Jim Watson told the members that the Ontario Government now mistrusts the City of Ottawa after they used money designated for infrastructure for snow removal instead.

I suppose the irony is lost on Mr. Watson: he works for the least trustworthy government since Bob Rae had his day(s):

We will not raise your taxes

Right.

As I was standing at 7 am, with about 200 other people, in a dingy and poorly lit hallway, waiting for the doors to open to give us access to the glorious Ontario healthcare a la 2009, I was thinking to myself: I just forked out another $900 last year to make our healthcare system better and faster, shorten wait times and whatever else was promised to us, and here we are, herded like cattle in a small hallway waiting for “the system” to serve us better. We were out at about 10:30. Just to do some bloodwork. Three and a half hours! Some of us have to get back to work, you know. That’s three and a half hours of waiting, staring at walls and feeling sorry for little old ladies with canes and walkers who also have to stand around for three and a half hours, because there are about 20 seats for the 200 people arriving every day.

And I was left wondering: does Dalton McGuinty stand in a hallway like this when he has to do some bloodwork? Does he get up at 6 am and arrive at work at around 11? Doesn’t he get sick and need some bloodwork done once in a while?

One government giveth, the other taketh away.

Lovely isn’t it?

Anyone else find it curious that the first “tax rebate cheques” will be rolling out, uhm, say, three months before the next provincial election? And that’s Federal CONSERVATIVE money, by the way, that the Ontario Liberals will be happily handing out just before they need to be re-elected. And I’m sure we’ll see Dalton “That’s Not True” McGuinty’s trademark fake smile as he pretends to be Santa Clause, and how much do you want to bet he’ll say: “Oh, and btw, this cheque doesn’t come from us, it comes from Ottawa!”

After passing on Ontario’s First Final Offer in November, which was for 12% increase, and passing on Ontario’s Second Really Final Offer in early December, the teachers begrudgingly accepted the province’s Final, Final, Really Final, Officially Final, This Time We Really Mean It Offer yesterday, settling for a mere 10.4%(!) salary increase over four years. They also get improved benefits, and a total of 240 minutes of preparation time (that’s FOUR HOURS folks!) a week, which means, they will even spend less time in the classroom than they do now, but get paid more. With the new agreement, Ontario’s top teacher salary will be around $92,700. Not bad for a job that has the summer off, a week in spring, two weeks at Christmas, and retirement after only 20 years on the job.

Kudos to the Ontario government, for showing some backbone in negotiating with the union. Good job. Oh, and you caved, not  because you wanted to keep your record clean and you need it to boast the next election, but you caved so the Poor Children of Ontario can stay in school. I see. Right.

Union said the strike threat wasn’t about the money, oh no… It was about the Poor Children of Ontario, and how the “funding gap” between elementary and the other schools is still too big. Here’s a thought: cancel the 10.4% wage increase (700000 students, funding gap of $700 each, is a total of $500M, the 10.4% increase has a value of $700M), and apply it to the funding gap. Problem solved! It’s not about the money? Great!

Did I mention the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Fund is the largest single-profession pension plan in the country, with over $108 B in assets?