Just in

The overall cost of the smokies deal is 5.58% for 2009 and 4.74% for 2010. (source S.Robinson) a total of 10.05%.

Another part of the deal not mentioned!

When the Firefighters' contract was ratified on Monday DM Brocanier pronounced the deal to cost 7.5% more than the last one. However what he didn't say was that this increase was only to bring them to parity with the Police - 1st class cop = 1st class smokie. There is another cost that was not mentioned and that is the "service" increments - bonuses tacked onto the base rate for being in the service 3yrs, 6yrs and 9yrs. These bonuses originated in the Toronto police as a way to justify higher wages and the rationale being was that bonuses were necessary to stop cops from fleeing the crime-ridden streets of Toronto to the idyllic plains of suburbia. Eventually all police services have implemented the bonuses, now the smokies have decided to push for them. The cost of the bonuses has not been revealed to the BR yet but we estimate that the total package in this round was 10% increase over two years. Another nail in the coffin for support for the public services. This wage-envy is virulent in the small-business/private sector and it wants to eliminate all the goodies that the public service has. So if Council expects accolades for this contract they are mistaken in this day of forced retirements and layoffs. BTW as told to me yesterday by a member of Council the justification for not voting against it was the fact that province wide nobody has been able to stop this pattern bargaining. If you vote against the local contract you will lose at Arbitration so vote yes now and save court costs later.

County Council this morning, where the upper tier is governed in one day (per month). Highlights will be a report about the Growth Study: presumably the rubes will bitch about the small number of jobs allocated to the rurals, and the urbans will gloat that they have them all. But overall it will be a whinefest against the Province.

How much to take the pause that refreshes?Trent Hills in this story has had it with the Ferris Provincial Park. This park/conservation area has been managed by the Municipality for many years but as the province still owns it they place restrictions on the managers. The straw that broke the camel's back was a demand to help pay for a better outhouse - and it's a beaut' "It's their cookie-cutter comfort station, so the project was in excess of $300,000; we heard last it could be $500,000," Mayor Macmillan said. "This year, we're told $850,000."

I had written something in anger but,

Last night, at the news of Iggy playing silly buggers, I wrote something that would have offended most people, best of all my liberal friends. Basically it was a commentary about the folly of trying to prove who's got the biggest ego, opinion and other male appendages and attributes. If anybody is supporting an election call on Friday they must be stark raving mad, and that's my last comment on it.

Remember this, the hole in a brand new street? Well there is a good reason, and there had to be one to get around the "5 year rule" - no digging on a newly paved street for five years. All homeowners, contractors and other interested parties are asked before the road is closed about future hookups and other works that require a hole, any thing after that has to wait 5 years. The reason was simple - the Gas Company, notorious for ripping up streets, had reported a gas leak. A week after the paving, an old gas line ruptured and the street was dug up to locate it.

Now here is a very interesting idea. contract the size of Towns and Cities for urban efficiency. This article describes a movement, that has actually started to bulldoze unused houses in suburbia, reduce the service area and save money in the delivery of municipal services. Should make some planners think about current dogma about expanding areas for "growth".

Are you atwitterin' and shakin' just waiting for Iggy?

A couple of bits of local stuff first. This is all we have to show for a promise of $29 million - a drawing. But we can have more. On Thursday at Vic Hall the consultants and, presumably, the full Council will be there to present another prep session for the yokels with a presentation from the consultants. Hopefully they have more than a Power Point presentation and are prepared to face the first full session of questions from a yet to be convinced population.

One of the stimulus programmes is called the "Community Adjustment programme" and is based on the level of unemployment in any area. The premise being that if there are unemployed people there should be a programme to put them back to work. Well in its wisdom the County of Northumberland has discovered this programme (I guess that's why we pay Bill Payett the big bucks) and has decided to apply for some funds and hopefully use them to put people back to work. But in an obscene corruption of the guidelines the County has applied for funds to build a new landfill cell at the Brighton Dump. How many people will be put back to work by doing this, it a highly mechanised project and all of the heavy equipment operators and sewer workers are already back to work, so how many unemployed workers will benefit from this application?

Decision day for Iggy. Today is the day that opposition leader Michael Ignattief will declare if the Libs will vote non-confidence. He has backed himself into a corner and twisted himself around more than a ripe pretzel [enough enough - ed]. Locally no signs of heated campaign emails. the dippers all received an email from the party prez saying that an election could be coming send us more money but no serious stuff yet. Pundits figure Iggy on backing down, my money is on Bloc MPs not being around for the vote and Iggy not getting his numbers. National News Watch has put up the first of many stories to come about Iggy's moves, this one (in French) says that 'reliable sources' say no election!

A stimulating essay bound to be dismissed by the blockheads who will first read who wrote it! here An essay by Ian Brown of the G&M about the relevance of traditional Marxism in todays reality.

"Democracy isn't voting it's the counting!" Tom Stoppard from the play "Jumpers" Iran has certainly played up to that quote. All week the West has been trumpeting how close the election is and now the 'official' results claim that the incumbent has won by a thumping majority. Here's the first commentary on the numbers in the Iran election,

And the experts said it would not happen. In this era of biometrics and enhanced passport identification all was supposed to go smoothly at the border. But this story tells of a woman who was pulled aside and asked to strip because of her name. Canadian Border Officials will not explain the case or issue an apology but does admit that the woman was mixed up by an identical birthdate of a criminal in the system. So much for the enhanced stuff when the bullies at the border still rely on old technology!

Well worth the wait. Rented, in what must be the bargain of the year - $3.99 for two nights from Blockbuster, "Gran Torino" Clint Eastwood's latest movie. Nominated for an Oscar but not arriving anywhere near the podium, this movie is a traditional bad guy redeems himself to good guy. I enjoyed it but then I always enjoy the hokey complete tale.

Lots of grandparents DownTown this morning and this was a good place to take a rest from the pleas, "can I get my face painted?", "I want to try the jumping castle" as any. The act after Washboard Hank, on the centre stage was this guy - a magician with just enough skills to capture the attention of many kids. Good clean fun and a fine morning to boot. No rain and just enough sunshine for comfort. We enjoyed it.

I couldn't find my tools; are they under the street?,

What's the story here? Three weeks after paving the street someone has dug it up again. Haven't phoned the Town yard to find out the real reason but I'm sure we can come up with lots of speculation: "I had to look for my tools, I couldn't find them after the Havelock St job!"
Seriously though this has to be a major problem for somebody. The street will never be the same, and only after three weeks.

Hamilton Twp pols are POd and they deserve to look beyond that. In fact if any of them had a semblance of political sense they would be scurrying into amalgamation talks as soon as possible. But that would mean that these little gatekeepers would have to give up their fiefdoms. The sooner they realise that you can't be a rural Twp and rely mainly on the urbans for the running costs. the better. If the residents demand to be left alone on their rural manors and demand urban services without any base to a working economy then the governing structure has to change. Despite Cllr Marston's whine about "amalgamation through the back door" it is going to happen. But realistic change will not happen until Pat McCourt becomes Mayor. Growth is not going to come to places that cannot provide jobs. Lower taxes can only be achieved by expanding the tax base, you don't do that with horse farms and weekend hideaways so if Ham Twp wants in on the action there is only one word - amalgamation!

It looks as though the traditionalists lost and the folks pushing for transparency won. This little ad has caused great consternation among the local Libs as they debated the merits of placing it.
Some wanted to demonstrate openness and a new way of doing business and others, mainly the incumbents, took the position that the ad laid them prone to attack by pin-headed fools who would say, "Those guys couldn't find a candidate and they had to advertise for one!". Well I can assure them, the pinheads from the right, that the Libs, because they smell victory by about 1100 votes, have all kinds of people are coming out of the woodwork - sniffing a winner. And, I'll bet the bank on the fact that the candidate doesn't come out of a newspaper ad.


Holy Crap we're getting older, a video of that refrain here on the video page

Sometimes anonymous is good

Campbellford has just made it much harder to squeal on your neighbours. And that may not be such a good idea. In this story the municipality is reported as installing a complaints procedure which depends on written forms. No more telephone finks no more whispers to councillors, if you want to make a complaint you had better be prepared to give your name. In most cases that will mean that complaints will go down - score one for the bureaucrats. What these neanderthals on the Trent fail to realise is that many complaints are valid and very personal and therefore must be reported as an anonymous complaint. a bad move.

Now won't this be a nice piece of objective reporting? The Puffster is to interview SH.., in an industrial setting to boast about the government's record. This TO Star story tells all.

The election drums are beating - but not very loud. Ottawa is gearing up for the next confidence vote, June 23rd, the Cons are rolling out the "Stevie show" (glitzy announcements designed to make us feel good about them mishandling the recession), amid stories like this from Don Martin of the NP, and local Libs are emailing each other with glee about the latest polls in Southern Ontario. Rather like a bunch of Bull Moose banging antlers in the rutting season. Unfortunately the numbers will not be there for a combined vote of non-confidence as the next day is Quebec's National holiday and Bloc members will have left Ottawa to attend the festivities. So we may be able to survive the summer without noisy people asking for our votes. BTW if all our local MP can do for us lately is to try to encourage us, as a Riding, to be more patriotic, as demonstrated by putting fake flags in our windows, we surely are bereft of ideas. As more and more people are slipping off the EI rolls to the deafening roar of the lack of government response, this flag waving effort is a pathetic excuse for local notice. I ripped mine up and have refused to participate. As Samuel Johnson said, "Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel!"

In a debate that we will see repeated in Cobourg Ottawa City Council has voted to reduce development plans on its City boundaries. Preferring developers to build inside the boundary instead of contributing to urban sprawl this vote left some developers very angry. Read this story for details. This issue is the biggie for Cobourg, in the next couple of years and if the trend is to build inside the boundaries instead of outside it, the present mayor's dreams of Cobourg II, (area C and its 16,000 intended inhabitants) could be scuttled.

Give the woman an Oscar

In this story, the woman of the day, in Ottawa, gave a teary apology to assembled journos. I wonder what their cynical response to the waterworks was? My response was less than charitable, especially when I heard the tape. I'm sorry but I don't believe a bloody word these people in Ottawa or Toronto say. This Raitt performance will be viewed as maudlin nonsense.

What an obnoxious fellow

This man is John Baird, much satirized by Rick mercer and a rabid pitbull of a politician. His other claim to fame is that he is a favourite Squire of the PM's wife. When Steve doesn't want to go to artsy-fartsy, airy fairy functions she calls upon the man that "Frank" magazine used to refer to as a "carpetmuncher".
John Baird is now guilty of telling the City of Toronto to "F*** Off". Read about it here. I am sure that the opposition will be asking some questions about it in the House today. be prepared for the rebuttal to be complete with frothing of the mouth and spittle charged invective reaching across the aisle. This man does not take criticism easily.

Money items today

Finally the Provincial Government has canned the head of e-Health Ontario. This agency was established from the ashes of its predecessor agency that that was dismantled after spending over 600 million with no results, this came after another fiasco with computers a few years earlier with computerized land records and another with welfare systems. Anyway the Head of e-health presided over eight months of gravytraining and questionable contracts awarded to buddies and one alleged family member. So what does Sarah Kramer get for her supposed expertise? Nine months salary at $26,500 per month, a bonus of $114K after five months and a severance of $317K to go away and not sue them for breach of contract. A total of $700K for nine months work; nice if you can get it. No wonder the opposition and the news people are all over this, it is salacious. But the scandal here isn't the obscene wages being paid to civil servants to administer outrageous consultants fees but the inability of any government to understand how computers work and the cost of networking lots of them. Because it is technology that most MPs do not even understand they are prepared to pay the ridiculous fees demanded by computer specialists, sad!

Back to the local scene, we now know how much money the local pols pulled in for doing a part time job. Last month the County published its "remuneration report" which details the amounts paid to councillors for being at the County level. Tonight the Cobourg report will be published it is here for those who missed it on the agenda [it never appeared on the agenda, the memos never Are - Ed] it shows all on the Council payroll.
But the big thing for Cobourgers to note is that the Mayor by attending a monthly meeting at the County is able to bump up his $30,272 + expenses of $3,482 ($33,754) by adding his County money - $9588 - for a total of $43,342 but you then have to add in the money he gets from the Local Utility for being a Director of the Company and the money he gets for being a Director of a subsidiary ($4,500 estimated total) and that comes up to a grand total of $47,842. Not bad for a job that could be called full time, if he worked at it constantly.
The sad part of this is that although most people I talk to hold the Council in low esteem for their actions over the past few years and complain about a lack of vision nobody is chomping at the bit to want to be the next mayor, even if it pays a respectable stipend.