Last Train to Clarksville?

(With Apologies to the Monkees and to Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart who wrote the tune.)

City council does it again. I think we need to nickname our new Mayor - Mayor Flip Flop (Mayor F/F) Within a week of being sworn in Larry O'Brien has changed his tune on two issues. The first was on taking a raise for himself and his councillors and now the second is on the Light Rail issue.

(As an aside to the first issue - the Mayor and councillors will still get a raise, don't kid yourself, but it just won't be as much as proposed. Mr. O'Brien has repeated the comment that he isn't Mayor for the money (he is a decidedly wealthy man in his own right). Also note that he has turned down the environmentally friendly city-provided car for his own Mercedes-Benz.)

During the campaign Mr. O'Brien came out against the proposed commuter rail project but Wednesday he cast the deciding vote at the council meeting that gave the go ahead to the project. The vote was 12 to 11 for proceeding with the project. One councillor was absent and he has now said that if he had been there he would have voted no which would have killed the plan (a tie vote is counted as a no vote). What's worse than continuing is the fact that they are continuing with a plan that does not have a downtown rail section, it was removed from the final plan.

Now I'm no Einstein (Please don't rush to agree!) But don't you think that if they run a rail link from Barrhaven to Baview/Transitway and succeed in getting ridership up where it should be they'll be pouring people off the trains onto the platform of the Transitway and will need to have lots of buses queued up to move them down Slater Street into the core? Wouldn't it be environmentally more acceptable to continue running the trains downtown to say Ottawa University then loop them back to Bayview, than to have even larger number of buses moving along what is an already crowded corridor?

Mayor F/F and council have decided to look at a tunnel for the downtown portion. This "look" will cost the city millions of dollars and will likely result in the decition not to proceed. Edmonton and another western city (Vancouver I think) have considered tunnels in the past and decided they were not worth the cost.

What council and Mayor Flip Flop have done, in my opinion, is to move forward with a partial solution. This is a handicapped plan which will not serve the commuting public they way it should.

Shame on the Mayor and Councillors for making this city look like the city in that Monkee's song. We'll be the laughing stock of Canada with this solution.

Cheers from the Valley.

It's Just a Little Sour Milk!

The police and Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) gestapo descended on a family farm west of Toronto this past week. Their goal to remove illegal unpasteurized milk which has been sold by this farm for the past 10 years to an ever-growing list of clients. Farmer Michael Schmidt has been selling his product to a community of believers which seems to be constantly growing. Why it even includes one of the highest level Cabinet Ministers in the Ontario provincial government - Greg Sorbara (Finance minister) who has been buying it for his family.

Schmidt had been circumventing the law by selling shares in his herd and then charging a fee per litre for the feeding and milking of that herd. At last count he had a waiting list of several hundred potential owners clamouring for a piece of the action and a source of unadulterated milk.

Both the dairy farmers organization and the health community have been quick to support the status quo arguing that unpasteurized milk was full of harmful or potentially harmful bacteria. After all it comes directly from a live animal - it can't be good if it hasn't been treated, eh?

Farmer Schmidt has many supporters, including celebrity chef Jamie Kennedy and US milk activist Sally Fallon who came to a Toronto news conference to lend their support to Schmidt. What remains is for the Agriculture minister in the provincial government to decide if a change could/should be made to the legislation allowing this milk to be sold. There are many states in the US that allow it as well as some of our European friends. Why should supposedly forward thinking Ontario be left in the dust?

I say let the milking begin and those who want to have it fresh and raw go ahead and enjoy it! The rest of society can continue to enjoy pasturized milk if they choose. But let's not make a criminal of someone who is genuinely providing a product that a segment of society deems to be both fit and preferential.

Cheers from the Valley.

Will I Glow in the Dark? - An Update

This past Monday SRB Technologies went before the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) to gain approval for their approach to disposal of radioactive tritium. Please revisit the following link for a detailed update on the review and the proceedings. I do not believe the CNSC had rendered a decision yet. But stay tuned.

http://ottawariverkeeper.ca/issues/radioactive_waste_from_pembroke_company_srb_technologies/

Cheers from the Valley.

Alright Keep Your Knickers On - Please!

It has come to my attention that the latest trend with lady celebs is to be seen in public with no underwear on. Whether it's to ensure there aren't any panty lines under that skin tight new chemise or whether it's a matter of "If she can do it so can I." one-upmanship (or is that one-upwomanship?) I don't care. It is rather tasteless if you ask me.

Witness the rapidly falling star of Britney Spears. She's just divorced, recently a mother (by chosen c-section I hear) and was photographed by the paparazzi sans knickers with enough of her lower torso on view to reveal her c-section scar. Now come on Britney, are you just trying to better Paris (that's Hilton if you're not sure)? Or do you really think that by revealing your womanhood it will make your few remaining fans rush out and buy your latest album?

It seems that the drive by celebrities to get more and more publicity requires that they show more and more of their impossibly formed bodies. Low-cut bodice's aren't enough. Fashion accident's aren't enough (sorry Janet J.) so we have to stoop to revealing the rest of our genitalia.

I'm not even going to talk about hygiene - not going there folks. But come on, if you were all Scottish and were wearing kilts that happened to get caught in a breeze I'd understand. But you're not! So keep it under wraps and let those millions of pubescent males dream of what might be -- not actually see -- what is under your dress.

I for one don't even own a kilt even though my ancestry is Scottish! But if I did..... well you'll have to guess yourself!

Cheers from the Valley.

Hand in the Till - What Hand - What Till??

Both daily papers have headlines about a high profile public servant getting caught with his hand in the till. The Auditor General (AG) has examined the books at Corrections Canada (our prison folks) and has found that the inmates previous ombudsman (one Ron Stewart) has been screwing the system.

Billing for days worked when he wasn't there, charging for a day's work after a single call to his cell phone. Cashing out vacation days when he wasn't really on the job to earn them. Getting performance bonus pay - for what? Charging trips, particularly to the cities hosting our annual football championship, the Grey Cup where he was supposedly investigating prisoners claims (but didn't).

Ron Stewart was a football legend here in Ottawa, back when the Ottawa Rough Riders were the best in the Canadian Football League (CFL). He helped Ottawa win the annual championship and set the single game rushing record in his halfback role. I thought he was a great player but hadn't heard about him in many years. Apparently after he retired he was appointed prisoner ombudsman in 1977, a position which pays up to $ 143,000 plus bonus. He held that post for 26 years until retiring in 2003.

Retiring - retiring from what? A life of leisure where he spent months at an island cottage doing who knows what on the taxpayers tab. To their credit insiders in the department have blown the whistle with the AG who has looked at the last 6 years of Mr. Stewart's reign. In her report delivered yesterday Sheila Fraser listed the litany of excess' attributed to Mr. Stewart. She has also turned over the file to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) to investigate for possible criminal charges and to obtain the ill-gotten funds from Mr. Stewart.

Let's hope that this problem is an isolated one, I for one don't believe all public servants are out to screw the system. Also let's hope that this gives other public servants the courage to speak up when they see wrongdoings or inappropriate behaviour.

Finally let me categorically state that Ron Stewart is no relation to me, regardless of the fact we share the same surname.

Mr. Stewart, "Penalty - 20 yards for unsportsmanlike conduct.".

Cheers from the Valley.

One Country - Two Nations - My A**

The idea that there can be two nations in one country is farcical. Our P(rocrastination)M(ajor) Stephen Harper has declared "That this House recognize that the Québécois form a nation within a united Canada.". What a joke, the fact that it was done to head off a Blockhead (pun intended) motion to declare the Québécois a nation with no reference to Canada, seems to escape everyone.

Now I see today that a lawyer in Quebec is pushing the national ice hockey federation to allow a Quebec "national" team in the next world ice hockey championship. This folks is only the tip of the iceberg.

With Quebec receiving special mention how long will it be before the native peoples ask for the same. And, in my opinion, if any group deserves special mention it is the aboriginal and Inuit communities who do.

What next - will the west ask to be declared a nation, will Alberta ask to be declared an independent nation because they have most of the oil/gas/money? Where will it end? I think that PM S.H. has opened a giant can of worms that will unravel over time. This time I think you've made a poor choice Stephen.

Cheers from the Valley.

Hey Buddy - can you spare $ 6.90? I need a Scotch on the rocks.

Our Cons are underpaid! So screams the headlines in an Ottawa daily, the article goes on to say that a report by Corrections investigator Howard Sapers recommends that inmates be paid at least minimum wage!

The article states that today an inmate can only earn $ 6.90 per day for work performed, regardless of how many hours he/she works.

I have to ask -- what do they need money for? They get free clothes, room & board and all of the necessary items they need for a better life than those on our streets today! I would think that nearly every street person would be happy to have all of the amenities that our inmates have, particularly during our long, cold winters. Sapers report continues by saying that the inmates need more money for cigarettes, booze and chocolates! What are we running here Club Fed or a prison?

I've heard, from a reliable source who works in the prison system, that the inmates get unlimited satellite TV, high speed Internet access and minimum and medium installations have been known to have golf courses, horseback riding and even nice little cottages for connubial visits. I don't even have satellite TV let alone a "private" golf course or stable!!!

Booze?? Since when did our prisons start running cocktail bars for inmates? I can just see it now, your middle-aged murderer sidles up to the "Last Chance Bar" and orders a Glenfiddich on the rocks to ease the stress of a day making license plates - how touching to think that he can find some relief from the stressful life he faces behind bars.

As far as I understand the reasoning behind all of this concern is that the income difference between an inmate and the rest of the working population is too great. Well, I have to ask, why is this person in our prison system anyway - because he/she is being punished for a crime against society that's why. Does the fact that they are incarcerated get pushed aside in favour of creating, behind bars, an environment that most nearly matches the outside world?

Does this happen in the prisons our good neighbours to the south run? I think not. When you go to prison in the USA you are leaving society and are being punished for your transgressions. The environment is tough and spartan and that's how it should be! Don't coddle the inmates punish them and maybe they'll think twice about re-offending when they get out (if they get out - but that's the subject for another post).

I'm sorry but buddy I can't spare one red cent for you to live a cushier life on the inside!

Cheers from the Valley.