Blue Like You

Thy will be done - even in Queen’s Park.

Details in the Star .

I guess that the collective wrath of 7,000 e-mails, 23,000 petition signatures and one angry Momma was just too much to ignore.

* * * *

Update : Great cartoon by MacKay on Friday the 13th!  Don’t miss it.

Should all electronic distractions be banned from vehicles? What about screaming kids? Aren’t they distracting too?

Jeff Allan took calls this morning regarding McGuinty’s about-face on this one.

Jeff says six months ago Dalton decreed that there was no need for this legislation because it is adequately covered under careless driving.

I’m planning to pick this up again later. Please express your opinions on this subject if you have any strong feelings one way or the other.

Are you o.k. with your GPS being banned too?

* * * *

Thursday Update : Why Miller, McGuinty, and a whole lot of other polis lie - CBL .

Does anyone understand how this new cyber-trash tax is supposed to work? Is that a tax on porn?

O.k. Just kidding. But seriously…

Is it in addition to or instead of the $10 fee per item that we now have to pay for the privilege of hauling e-waste to the designated recycling location? Any clarification is welcome.

And does anyone seriously think that this new tax won’t trickle down to the consumer?

I didn’t even know about this until I read a letter in today’s Record (from an environmentalist). The Ontario Government has requested public input into Bill-64 - Cosmetic Pesticides Ban Act .

Pesticide Reform Ontario wants this legislation changed so that municipalities are allowed to make the laws even tougher , as Dalton had mistakenly announced before his Minister corrected him. I thought the whole point was to have some kind of level playing-field.

I doubt that the lowly property-owner will win this battle, but please let your thoughts be known. And why are golf-courses exempt? Could someone please explain that to me? Are pesticides not harmful once you step onto the fairway?

This issue has been covered previously on this blog . I have written to my own MPP with no reply to date. Actually he never answers me anymore. Neither does my MP. Oh well.

Anyway, please write and tell them what you think. It’s all quite easy. Just follow the directions starting here . Click on the ’submit comment’ button on the right to access the form.

If anyone has a personal interest in this from a business standpoint, or any thoughts at all, please leave a comment. Thanks.

* * * *

Update : A special thanks to Jack’s Newswatch for featuring this post today at Daily Blogger !!!

Christina Blizzard still questions the integrity of the OLG, in spite of the supposed clean-up after lottogate earlier this year - Lottery still not a safe bet.

…As Sun Queen’s Park Bureau Chief Antonella Artuso reported last week, over the past year, one in 20 big jackpots went to lottery insiders — either retailers or people employed by the lottery corporation.

And while a spokesman for the OLG says the reason for that is there is now greater scrutiny of wins over $50,000, it’s hard to escape the conclusion that something is horribly wrong…

…The government is happy to wash its hands of whole issue. Their mantra is that they’ve implemented the recommendations of KPMG auditors and the ombudsman - so their work is done.

I don’t think so. Because as long as you’re relying on lotteries as a major source of government revenue, you have to ensure the integrity of the process. As long as your hospitals, your schools, your police forces, are paid for from the proceeds of gambling, you’d better make darn sure it’s fair…

The reference to schools being funded by gambling proceeds reminded me of a post from Nov. 18. I had been surprised to find out that the TDSB topped the list of Canada’s richest charities, pulling in a staggering $2.4 billion dollars.

Interestingly, the Ontario Trillium Foundation ranked first in the most generous foundation category. A reader reminded me that funding for the OTF comes largely from lottery proceeds.

So, just remember. If you buy a lottery ticket in Ontario, not only do you have reason to still question the fairness and integrity of the system, but you are also putting money into the hands of a corporation that turns around and gifts it to rich ‘charities’ like the TDSB with their most interesting experiments in public education…

Just thought you might want to know.

What a radical idea! John Tory is proposing that we consider letting Mom & Pop stores sell local wine and beer!

Oh wait. Alberta and Quebec already permit that irresponsible behaviour.

Well, there are plenty of reasons to rage against this craziness. It might encourage under-age drinking.

Oh wait. They’re already selling cigarettes. What’s the difference?

“Mom and pop” stores already sell age-restricted products — such as tobacco and sexually explicit magazines — and have some of the toughest age-verification programs in North America, said (Dave) Bryans, who suggested the province could start with those 3,000 stores that have electronic-verification systems and go from there.

Well, John Tory is back-tracking. He seemed cool to the idea before!

Oh wait. He’s just saying let’s discuss it. Let’s keep an open mind.

Well, no matter what, convenience stores just can’t be trusted. Right, Dalton?

Seriously though, why do Progressives seem so resistant to change in certain situations? What is the common factor?

Could it be that the protection of union monopolies trumps everything else?

Yesterday Premier Dalton McGuinty defended the FLICK-OFF campaign by saying that some people are being ‘a bit too FLICKING sensitive’.

But McGuinty, who proudly donned a bracelet emblazoned with the slogan earlier in the day, said he can’t understand how it could offend “the modest sensibilities of some Ontarians.”

“I might expect my mother to complain about this,” McGuinty told a gathering of radio and television news directors in Toronto.

So I wonder if Dalton’s mother has also joined Liberal media strategist Ben Chin’s list of Ontario residents who are “out of touch”?

Lotto-gate, ‘Corner Store Trust’-gate, Colle-gate, ‘FLICK-OFF’-gate…

The Ontario majority Liberal government is having to spend a lot of bothersome effort trying to divert public attention away from these pesky nuisances.

Accountability? Who needs that when you have a majority? You just vote down any attempt to be examined for questionable actions.

The public? They’re so self-absorbed they don’t even care what you do right, Dalton?

The first rule of politics for the McGuinty government is when confronted with an attack, fling back any mud you can grab. Anyone watching Oral Questions in the Ontario Legislature yesterday would know what I’m referring to. The government refuses to be accountable to the opposition and therefore by extension to the taxpayers.

But I always thought that being in charge of the public purse is a sacred trust - That it should be respected; not used as a party coffer.

However, I digress. In today’s Sun Christiana Blizzard relates how she was told by former CityTV reporter-turned Liberal media strategist Ben Chin that she was “out of touch” as was radio host Bill Carroll and the entire CFRB audience; the overwhelming majority of whom felt that Minister Broten should resign. Chin later apologized and said that he meant that John Tory was out of touch.

Well here’s a wake-up call, Ben. You can add a lot of MSM pundits and bloggers across the whole political spectrum to that list of folks who are out of touch. Also the National Post. I’m sure there are others.

So who’s really out of touch? I’ll let you decide. I’m just a dumb taxpayer who probably can’t be trusted.

It seems that the Ontario opposition parties are a tad upset that $500,000 has been spent to help tell Canadians to Flick Off!

Yes, Ontario. You have paid to be told to Go Flick Yourself.

Perhaps you would like to mention that to Dalton in October’s election.

From the Western Standard’s Shotgun - Check out this pic!

Angry has another angle - The Cost to Flick Off.

Good point here - “Have we lost the ability to be creative without appealing to the absolute lowest levels of communication? If so, let’s leave the lights on. Perhaps this culture is not worth saving.” Well said.

The Ottawa Citizen has just provided a handy explanation of recent alleged Ontario Liberal scandals that should prove quite useful when election time draws near this fall.

Lottogate and “Colle-gate” are the latest, and could prove deadly to the Grits. Voters will overlook incompetency to some degree, notably the way Caledonia has been handled, but don’t mess with public trust and the taxpayers’ wallets!

Pollster Greg Lyle is quoted at the end of the piece as saying that he doesn’t think that “the average person is spending all that much time talking about this.”

Do you agree? Is the average Ontario resident just so complacent that potential government scandal isn’t even on the radar?

Do you care?