Mulcair borders on Rock Star Status in Toronto

Recently I got taken to school...well not exactly but I got an opportunity to ride a school bus, an orange one of course, having been invited to hear and report on what Thom Mulcair had to say at Toronto's Metro Convention Centre with a group of NDP supporters from Newmarket including area federal leader hopeful Yvonne Kelly.

The TPE video report attests that Mulcair is adored like a rock star by a throng of supporters, NDP in this case, but increasingly more than that. The NDP leader, who easily slides in and out of both official languages seamlessly, seems to be on a bit of a roll with the issue of Bill C51 fresh on every Canadian's brains.

#tm4pm is the twitter call

It's one of those issues that seemed to start in crawl mode but has quickly risen like a pizza dough that's been left out all night. A sticky one too, one that could make or break the election and one that could put Mulcair alone out in front...or alone period. It's a gamble he / they are taking and seems a principled one, although in these political times one wonders if that's possible, but at any rate it is risky, yet steeped in principle as well.

I've spoofed about joking about "Jihad" and as a consequence being arrested, but I jest only half so, always an eye on what could be, given my propensity towards sometimes criticizing governments in power. That's part of our rights and freedoms to do so, and it helps keep governments in check.

There have been incidents in life where innocent people have been prosecuted under current laws, so one can only imagine that number would increase by making the process less controlled. The laws, as they currently sit, seem  just fine. CSIS was never intended to do the physical policing, just the investigative, elimnating yet another oversight measure. All accomplished through fear mongering and a majority government that is steam rolling straight ahead despite objections. Like Canadians just gave a green light to everything they have ever conceived. Even a voter of a particular party might be doing so to vote against another party or for one that has some issue stand they can agree with, but rarely everything the party offers up  unless ts a sheep we're referring to here.

Surely this government doesn't need Thom Mulcair to tell them that the majority of Canadians don't want this now that they are becoming more aware of what the implications actually are.
No, I think when Canadians are vocal enough that they want more reflection and debate and information before we steam-roll ahead on an important all encompassing issue such as bill c51. I think they should have it and if not boot them to the curb first chance.

Niqabs notwithstanding, make no mistake, this is the issue around which the next government will be formed. Was Trudeau too preemptive by embracing the Bill C51 law changes when he did? Does that show his decisiveness or naivety? Thom Mulcair thinks he knows, and he also thinks it's time for Harper to go. Of course he would though. Lol.

Any government that gets in power a little too long and has worked with a majority can get smug and complacent at times and I'm a big

believer that no matter the party, you have to change things up every now and then just to keep everyone as honest as can be....and especially if one is perceived to be destroying some the the most treasured institutions of Canada. Our Canada.


Is Mulcair the man who can deliver? He seems genuine from afar, and, as he says experienced. I did interview him. Well, not exactly, we met briefly as I was going in and he was coming out of the men's room after the event. Not that event. well both actually i imagine. Ha.  Anyway, I opened the in door and there he was, and, for a brief second, I was like a deer in headlights, but I offered my hand instinctively told him he did a good job and that I liked his message and his energy. Hey, as I said, deer-in-lights-syndrome! I hope he washed his hands! Ha.

Tom Out!..The other one!

Toronto Taxpayers Coalition brings Ombudsman to York Region

Recently, I attended a recent closed door meeting at Richmond Hill's Sheraton Hotel; featuring Ontario Ombudsman Andre Marin. The meeting, which was organized by The Toronto Taxpayers Coalition's Mathew Mcguire, focused on the municipal issues and how the sunshine laws and Bill 8 work or are supposed to work.

Ontario Ombudsman Andre Marin visits York Region

Sunshine laws were set up to protect taxpayers by holding elected officials accountable for city business and expressly allows for private meetings only under a few exceptions. Handbooks outlining its guidelines have been sent to all municipalities across Ontario. As Ombudsman Marin stated during the meeting,

"There is no provision in the law that says that council need meet in private. It says they may meet under certain narrow conditions, but, unfortunately, politicians have taken the exceptions clause and stretched it like a rubber band,"

Toronto Taxpayers Coalition President Mathew Mcguire

The Ombudsman went on to cite examples of the retreat that York Region council recently went on that cost taxpayers $15,000 using the "educational purposes" reason, one of the few exceptions for meeting away from council behind closed doors, however, as Mr. Marin explains in the video report  - eduction means learning computer skills or being trained in HR policy, it does not mean for strategic planning."

See and hear more of the Ombudsman had to say on his visit to York Region on the video report.

The Toronto Taxpayers Coalition also announced an expansion, opening up a York Region Chapter and naming former Newmarket councilor Maddie Dimuccio at the helm.

TP out.

Contaminated Soil Dumped in York Region not the only Stench

Elections in rear view

York Region, in Ontario, Canada is an unlikely place for a political hotbed of activity, but, like anyplace in our once thriving country, it too has faced some growing pains.

With the recent completion and opening of the long sought 404 highway extension to Georgina being completed, a whole new set of buzz phrases and such will likely begin to creep into play. Once you get by the usual standby's of "partnering, collaboration, sustainable growth, industrial beltway and the new kid on the block, broadband community" being tossed around like a messy salads, phrases like, "fracking", will become

Which way for wheel chairs?

commonplace, as the anticipated influx of residents, and to some degree, possibly businesses that are "expected" to infiltrate areas north of the Green Lane line in Newmarket and beyond, see fruition. Oh, not in the traditional sense, as this fracking is for water not oil, but it could affect your property's water flow by tapping into it underground. No one seems sure. Frack me!

Farmers' fields and nature spots, long used by local wildlife and game, were also quietly removed in Sharon over the summer, just outside Newmarket, with long time " iconic" trees and such removed with nary a whisper through the

recent election campaign, the land's caretakers too pre-occupied getting elected perhaps than to notice a few trees being removed, with the foreshadowing residential construction company fencing telling the tale. Until fairly recently, the property located at Leslie St and Green Lane and running north was a bustling farming property. A remaining house stood on the front also, housed for many years by residents who'd hold weekend lawn sales, with people coming for miles to see what neat stuff they had. Eventually they were pushed out and the house demolished.
I learned some of this sometime afterward, while helping resurrect a mansion, across Leslie, on the opposite side, to be used as permanent housing for people with mental health issues, from a guy who had rented a room at the farmhouse there and wanted work painting. I felt for him, but could only offer a few days work as the boss' son had just hired some friends. He understood but looked defeated, his late 50's something body sauntering off into the morning light. More recently, I helped the "house of hope" re-open again, again housing those who might otherwise be lost to the streets or worse.

Former resident of to be developed property works

Developing is inevitable some say, yet King Township has managed for many years to resist the lure of change for the sake of change, instead adopting a slower, "what's the rush to expand and destroy nature and build over it" attitude, for which they should really be commended. Such long term thinking. Should we compare Newmarket for example - they have recently started development on the very last parcel of land, also farmland, on the entire southeast corner of Davis ( highway 9) and Bathurst St's - literally, they can develop no more land, as that is the boundary line. While in contrast, across the street in King Township, a working Farm sits.

Former farm at Bathurst & Highway # 9, Newmarket

Maybe they expect we'll import all our food from China?..Produce and dairy in the future? But who wants that? Not me, that's for sure and so the disappearance of farming land and our ability to feed ourselves - which comes along with that lack of foresight - frankly scares me. This is some of the most fertile land in the world we're destroying and did I mention the unaccounted for dump truck loads of contaminated soil being unloaded on YR with no clear record of where?

Ahhh! Community gardens you say? Ah, No thanks. I prefer shopping...in private.

A Farmer recently came to me with big concerns, feeling pressured to leave the property he's farmed for over the past 12 years and now being threatened with eviction from, a process he's been through before when land farmed by him was expropriated by the Ontario government for Pickering's Airport that was never built. He says he sees the same sorts of signs again, including tactics. His deputation to Markham Council was seemingly ignored.

Locked block

He has raised issues regarding suspicions of contaminated soil dumping in the past as well to an adjacent property he suspects has been used for shady practices, also ignored, but now toxic dumping sites are being exposed by the media at those same Pickering farmlands, found to have been used as a dumping ground for contaminated soil. So maybe the old gentleman isn't so full of beans after all as people have tried to make the twice defeated Markham mayoral candidate, and now soon to be completely homeless Farmer, to be! Would it be a stretch to think the same dumpers of the contaminated soil be the same who burned Sam's two farm houses down in the past, with still another fire happening at the same Pickering property some years ago now? The farmer, Sam Orrico, certainly hasn't forgotten. Nor has he ever really recovered.


Development is coming, no doubt to all nether-regions of The Region, the key is controlling what kind, and who and where if at all possible. I think unethical companies should be excluded from the process when dealing with sensitive growth areas, such as those set up at arms length from developers which acquire properties just to change their use - for example as rental housing to condos, or store fronts to condos.

The recent attempt by Main St Clock Inc. on Newmarket's Main St,  which
originally acquired the property might fit the bill, claiming it wanted the tower for a seniors residence, but then, afterward when not getting what they wanted, moved them and all adjoining the businesses out, to create the appropriate atmosphere for developing what they really want and using municipalities' own bylaws to speed up their wishes by boarding up establishments until such time as they get what they desire. Not someone I would choose to do business with, so why do we have to?

Development now just west of farmed Markham property on 14th

Changes to ponder for a fairer York Region, include pondering a better deal for those with disabilities too, and those on O.D.S.P. with the Ontario Government. For some, they've lost all hope, and you're it. Every year, more Canadians kill themselves than die by car accidents, HIV, homicide, drowning, influenza and war combined. Something to think about....
To That end watch for STROLL & ROLL, coming to a provincial government outlet near you in spring 2015!



Here's a link to the award winning video one minute spot " One Paycheck Away "

Oh...by the way, experienced farmers can find and create ponds from ground water without fracking so....Frack Off!

Markham Farmer's Last Stand