Comments on The Burd Report: So who won the strike?

I`d die of boredom if I wasn`t living through inte...

2009-07-31T13:40:44.610-04:00

I`d die of boredom if I wasn`t living through interesting times. The 20th century was exhilarating; in spite of two of history`s most lethal conflicts and a depression, we landed on the moon, decreased world hunger, increased world literacy, decreased infant mortality, increased life expectancy, and on and on.

More people are living better now than ever in human history.

But there are gloom and doomers everywhere. Gloom & doomers are often uncreative people.

Go ahead, be pompous. I do it from time to time. I also do arrogance, conceit, bombast, and other socially-repellent things. It gives the white-glove tut-tut set something to disapprove of.

Wally, " interesing times " it is ! In t...

2009-07-30T16:40:53.817-04:00

Wally, " interesing times " it is ! In the grand scheme of things does it matter whether we think of them as a curse or a blessing ? All depends on where you're standing, or working , I suppose. It's sort of sophomoric , but always fun. Then, that bit about " the unexamined life..... ", you know, was on the tip of my tongue. Now that's getting pompous ! Geez.

Anonymous No. 2: why do you blame the union for th...

2009-07-30T11:47:48.068-04:00

Anonymous No. 2: why do you blame the union for the strike but not the City?

Have you not heard, or have you failed to understand the old saying that it takes two to tango? Like a divorce, there can be no strike unless both sides cannot agree.

Would you be so proud of your ignorance if you signed your name?

A good question. Well, Miller said nobody won this...

2009-07-30T11:34:19.606-04:00

A good question. Well, Miller said nobody won this battle. And honestly, it seems true enough. He certainly lost his popularity quite significantly and Toronto taxpayers don't have anything to be happy about either. Best, Julie.

It's not a curse to live in interesting times;...

2009-07-30T11:00:22.381-04:00

It's not a curse to live in interesting times; it's a blessing.

The four words are not "peace" it's FREEDOM, each consisting of 7 letters.

Oh, what a load of crap! Nobody "won" or...

2009-07-30T10:10:38.669-04:00

Oh, what a load of crap! Nobody "won" or "lost" anything in this strike, except the people who had the dis-stink-ed disadvantage of having to live, work and play among tonnes of garbage, or find that they couldn't complete even the most basic municipally-required forms, OR enjoy basic municipal services such as clean and safe green spaces and beaches. And if there is a "war of words" following the resolution of this dispute, then it's blogs like yours, Ben, that perpetuate it. Shoddy journalism at best.

Members of the two unions involved in this "job action" have not been hard-done-by for more than 20 years. They have been handsomely compensated for doing the bare minimum of work on any given day. Yet they felt it was their union right to preserve an archaic contract clause that would have handcuffed Toronto citizens for decades to come. Toronto is the last city in Ontario ... with all workers represented by CUPE ... that has retained the post-retirement, sick day payout. Those other people are getting along just fine, thank you. But it's okay for the Toronto workers to virtually cripple the city during its peak tourist season, in a recession, and completely piss off the very citizenry that pays the freight. I may be a member of a union, but it's this type of union activity ... and complete lack of social conscience ,,, that makes me want to tear up my card.

Murky, ain't it . Don't know who won or lo...

2009-07-30T09:36:13.589-04:00

Murky, ain't it . Don't know who won or lost, but the mayor looks 10 years older. Toronto's a pretty interesting place, cutting edge in a lot of ways. You don't have to be Richard Florida to see that. Living so close , it's easy to take it for granted, sucked into trendy stereotypes and other nonsense. And , like the Chinese say , it's a bit of a curse to live in " interesting times ". So true.

Ben thinks "most people want to declare a win...

2009-07-30T09:35:09.836-04:00

Ben thinks "most people want to declare a winner."

Maybe most people who comment in blogs. Maybe most people who write letters to newspapers. But not most people. And certainly not most Canadians.

Michael Adams, the Canadian demographer and founding president of Environics, has authored several books in which he shows Canadians to be very different from how we are led to see ourselves in the columns of our daily newspapers.

However, the hoofbeats of others who would deliver the news of winners and losers pound perilously close. They of the colonial mindset (as J R Saul calls it in A Fair Country) are always eager "to glory in class difference, financial difference, racial difference, insiders versus outsiders" and, in general, "the celebration of disadvantage."

I will step judiciously aside--for the moment.