Monday 30 July 2012

Patricians of Failure



Why Reform Ignoble MP  Pensions?

 

After just six years of service, MPs are eligible to receive one of the richest pensions in the country, and taxpayers are paying for it. Taxpayers contribute $24.36 for every $1 contributed by an MP into an MP’s pension account.
 

How is that possible?
Unlike normal pension plans, the MP pension fund is not actually invested into the market. By cabinet order, the fund is simply credited with 10.4% annual interest, courtesy of taxpayers. So generous is the MP Pension Plan that it is not even legal under the Income Tax Act which mandates that NO registered pension plan can exceed an accrual rate of 2% of salary for each year worked. 


(MPs have rigged up two funds to get around the law)

 For the rest of the story Click Here:
                              http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zp7d8cIdw58&feature=relmfu
 
Do any of our Gold-Digging ‘Patricians of Failure’
actually care that a Canadian Child has been cheated?



Try to picture the 1989 federal and provincial governments collectively vowing to wipe out ‘child poverty’ within 10 years.
23 years later these ‘Patricians of Failure’ have accomplished only two things. They have managed to exponentially increase ‘child poverty’, while even more dramatically increasing the pay and pensions of our members of Parliament.
The question is NOT how they can sleep at night knowing full well that they have deliberately morphed themselves into patrician ‘Hogs on the Trough’ cannibalizing children!
The real question is: How in the name of decency can these disgusting ‘Patricians of Failure’ sleep at night.
This is NOT a partisan hit on any one party as evidenced by the fact that all MPs are up to their eyeballs in this morally repugnant business.
‘Patricians of Failure’ cover up the problem of poverty stricken children by piling on legions of charities.
The ‘Patricians of Failure’ have turned our Canadian Society upside down; they have dangerously inverted the financial pyramid. People who once paid for their services are now buckling under the weight of an inverted pyramid of Government Patricians. 

Is there any chance that Canada can be saved with anything short of a tax revolt?


It’s time for our ‘Patricians of Failure’ 
to clean up their ignoble Mess!


Saturday 28 July 2012

The Grand Proclamation


In a 20-7 vote, the Kings and Queens of our expensive Regional Council made a feckless proclamation that Niagara was henceforth to be elevated to the exalted status of Green Energy Capital of Canada.
Does this strategy block other Canadian Cities, such as Churchill Falls, from making the same irrelevant claim for their cities? Will this strategy force other Canadian Cities to remove their claim to this dubious moniker?
 
Welland Councillor Peter Kormos was absolutely correct to point out that Niagara Falls Mayor Diodoti has a potential claim to the title of Green Energy Capital of Niagara.

Kormos criticized solar power as insufficient and wind power as a “sham,” and said he “would care less” about support for the moniker from the Greater Niagara Chamber of Commerce.

“Putting that kind of sign up is like declaring, ‘I’m the Pope, so you’d better kiss my ring,’” he said.

Port Colborne Mayor Vance Badawey thinks the nickname could mean jobs “because there’s an economy attached to it”. 
Perhaps Port Colborne Mayor Vance Badawey would raise silly signs proclaiming Niagara as the Economic Capital of Canada?

He said taking on the name could help Niagara regain an economic edge because it sends a message that industry will be closer to power sources here. That means lower power costs.

Question: How does being closer to power sources mean lower costs since the price of power has long since been merged in Ontario?

The move, Badawey said, is “150 years overdue.”

But Wainfleet Mayor April Jeffs said the motion “flies in the face” of Wainfleet town council’s opposition to wind turbine projects going up in the area.
“To declare this all-encompassing designation tonight, I think is premature,” she said.
 
The question is; what is Mayor Jeffs and her council prepared to do about other Regional Municipality’s dumping of pollutants in Wainfleet and what is Mayor Jeffs and her council prepared to do about the leaching of pollutants entering our Great Lakes?

And Welland Mayor Barry Sharpe said the motion is “not respectful” of municipalities in Niagara opposed to green power.

The motion passed with an amendment from Pelham Mayor Dave Augustyn to act on the moniker. He asked staff to update the Region’s growth plan to reflect the green energy crown by the end of the year. 
Is the rush predicated on the fact that other Canadian Cities have already claimed the moniker with more to jump on this ridiculous bandwagon?

St. Catharines Mayor Brian McMullan noted the vote wasn’t about the province’s controversial Green Energy Act, but about green energy in general.

“Really, what it’s about is jobs,” he said. “Why can’t we be bold for some reasons, for the right reasons?”
 
Maybe St. Catharines Mayor Brian McMullan would support equally silly signs reading the Jobs Capital of Canada or the Garbage Capital of Canada.
  
So, let’s see, the proponents of this scheme would have us believe that we will gain jobs and enhance our Niagara economy.

On the very same evening Brock University Professor David Siegel made a presentation suggesting that we identify and prioritize serious problems. It seems self-evident that the first necessary changes would be the total elimination of the obviously parochial Mayors!

Although Professor Siegel cautioned against pursuing problems with limited "payback", the elimination of these non-directly-elected members on Regional Council would save taxpayers close to $1.5 MILLION per term.

Remember, no government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. -Ronald Reagan

It would be extraordinary and wonderful if the kings and Queens of Niagara Regional Government would do the job they were elected and hired to do instead using ineffectual proclamations for the purpose of pretending that they are doing the job they were elected and hired to do!

Wednesday 25 July 2012

Airport Fiasco

Was it ‘something in the water’ or just ‘climate change’ that affected the St. Catharines City Councillors at the July 23, 2012 council meeting decision regarding the vote to accept the much indebted Niagara District Airport presentation WITHOUT all pertinent details.
Transparency means no pictures allowed!


Mayor Brian McMullan defended the action based on the same action taking place at the city’s other commissions. Is the Mayor admitting that there could be other commissions failing to bring forward major decisions affecting the overburdened Taxpayer until the middle of summer? Is the mayor saying that other commissions also fail to present their details at budget time?  

Councillor Greg Washuta, also an airport commission board member, gave a lengthy sales pitch as to the value of the airport. But, is Councillor Washuta and Mayor McMullan saying that it is proper to force a vote predicated on the supposed need to act immediately to save a ‘DEAL’?

Councillor Peter Secord raised the most concern over the whole unusual and perplexing summer presentation. Secord vociferously objected to the whole fiasco with its obvious unconventional behaviour
Standard reporter Marlene Bergsma’s only comment was that only St. Andrew’s Councillor Matt Harris voted against the ‘deal’.

Did Standard reporter bother to inform her readers just what questions Councillor Harris put forward or his reasons for not voting for this proposition? Did this award winning standard reporter tell her readers why Councillor Peter Secord objected to the ‘deal’ or even what Councillor Secord had to say? No she did not! And furthermore she raised no question as to why the rest of the council voted for a ‘deal’ without fact, figures or even details. Bergsma has said nothing about this ‘deal’ coming forward months after the city’s budget and in the reduced summer council meetings of only one in July and one in August.

Bergsma did not write about the necessity for our City Council to vote in ignorance ‘with a gun to their heads’?

None of these items were spoken of at the Airport Commission’s last annual meeting. All we and the council had to go on was the assurances of Mayor McMullan and co-commissioner/councillor Washuta that everything was prim and proper. People count on Standard reporters for their information. In this case it could be said that the Standard newspaper has failed them.

In the end Standard reporter Bergsma was absolutely correct in the fact that the only Councillor to vote against this odious fiasco was St. Andrew’s Councillor Matt Harris.

Thursday 12 July 2012

Integrity

In our community and perhaps other communities, it has become increasingly difficult to determine fact from fiction.
Examples abound of twisted and blatant attempts of one political party or any political party trying to discredit its opposition through Machiavellian means.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge was correct when he observed that “Passion and party blinds our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern, which shines only on the waves behind.”

On July 7, 2012 the St. Catharines liberal Party held a fundraiser to cover the expenses of one of our community’s leading ladies, Mrs. Eleanor Lancaster.
Having known and respected Mrs. Lancaster and her husband for decades I naturally attended this Liberal fundraiser on the topic of ‘Integrity in Politics’.
All those in attendance heard that unscrupulous business owners had over-paid $Hundreds of dollars to their favoured political candidates.

In his opening greeting Mr. Jeff Loucks started with the assuring words that ‘We’re gathered here to put politics aside and talk about what makes out government great’. Mr Loucks then pointed out the negative effects caused by the giving and receiving of illegal political campaign contributions. Loucks very correctly stated that when politicians accept illegal campaign contributions the people lose power and the employees {Bureaucrats} of those boughten politicians might no longer function in the best interest of the community or the citizen. Mr. Loucks acknowledged the efforts of the volunteers who worked on the ‘Integrity in Politics Fundraiser’ including Mr. Andrew Gill the Liberal candidate that placed third in last year’s federal election and still has failed to list in detail his political contributors!

In his introduction of the guest of honour, Mr. Sean Foley, stated that ‘the Niagara Region is not above the law’, and that ‘councillors have a specific duty, responsibility to respect legislation effecting their position of trust’.

Eleanor Lancaster explained that it was an article in the Standard Newspaper that first tweaked her interest and started her on her quest to seek justice and fairness regarding the rules of political campaign contributions.

Surely the points made at this ‘Integrity in Politics fundraiser’ should be accepted and appreciated.

However, the selective words of the whole evening began to elucidate a different message. The missing message projected back to the same Standard newspaper article that propelled Eleanor Lancaster to act in the first place.

Of interest was the fact that the Standard newspaper article did NOT leave out the politician with the most egregious illegal campaign contributions ranging into the $Thousands.
This same article did NOT name only one developer that just happens to be a conservative and the developer of Port Place the new development in Port Dalhousie.
This same article did NOT leave out Liberal over-contributors who just happen to have an even greater vested interest predicated on doing business directly with our government. 

http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/2011/03/25/this-is-our-way-of-participating-in-the-democratic-process

So, just what was left out of this so-called ‘Integrity in Politics Fundraiser’?

It would appear that the greatest omission is the Liberal Candidate, Mayor and Regional Councillor Brian McMullan who was the greatest single beneficiary of $thousands in illegal contributions far more than any of the councillors targeted by Eleanor Lancaster. Eleanor Lancaster did not ask what amount of democracy the over-financing Liberal contributors were buying. That stone was aimed solely at the Conservative Port Place developer!

I left the ‘Integrity in Politics fundraiser’ very disappointed. Disappointment for Eleanor Lancaster and disappointment in the fact that I found the presentation featured half truth and spin.                 

What I did not find was ‘Integrity’.
Preston Haskell


*illegal as defined by the fact that over contributions to political candidates contravenes the law governing financial limits of contributions to political candidates.

Postscript...
Within the week of the {July 7, 2012} ‘Integrity in Politics Fundraiser’ for Mrs. Eleanor Lancaster, she found herself facing a judge in a court of law. She heard the judge dictate that she must pay the candidates, which she had targeted, $13,000.00 to cover a portion of the legal expenses of those same candidates.
It assails ones senses that of the scores of Liberals in attendance at the much hyped ‘Integrity in Poverty Fundraiser’ not one of those attendees found neither the time nor the inclination to appear at Mrs. Lancaster’s side in court as a show of support and solidarity. After all, wasn’t it Eleanor that championed their cause?
Where was the ‘Integrity in Politics’ speakers Jeff Loucks, Sean Foley, George Dart or even Mr. Andrew Gill former Councillor and third place Liberal of the last federal election who was hailed for his efforts in making the ‘Integrity in Politics fundraiser’ the success that it was? And then there were those accepting accolades for their attendance such as long time Councillors Dawn Dodge and Bruce Williamson.
However, since there was no show of support or solidarity in the court room we can at least thank the local Liberal crowd for the lesson in ‘Integrity'.


Mayor McMullan’s contributor details as taken from his submission:
25 of 30 of the mayor’s corporate supporters or 83% of the mayor’s corporate supporters provided $19,500.00 of the $21,050.00 or 94% of total corporate dollars donated to support Mayor McMullan’s race in the 2010 election for the City of St. Catharines.

Since a great preponderance of the Mayor’s corporate supporters are connected in some manner to the development business, sceptics might conclude that these McMullan supporters hope to derive a benefit from political decisions.

14 of the McMullan corporate supporters are from other jurisdictions, (not of St. Catharines) with one non-resident Liberal developer contributing $1500 through $750 each from two associated enterprises.  A local and Liberal construction company contributed $1500 in the form of $750 from each of two associated companies.

In total it appears that there are 4 donors making 8 contributions of the Maximum of $750

Only 7 of the 9 individual supporters are residents of St. Catharines.
These 7 supporters out of a population 130,000 donated less than $2,575.00.

Of all the interesting things we found in examining political donations of candidates is that it’s telling to learn from the rules that no candidate can take office without clear and honest disclosure of their campaign finances, while at the same time, getting elected on false promises is acceptable!

If Ontario citizens ever needed a recall mechanism, we certainly need it NOW!

Does scrutinizing ‘Campaign Expenses’ highlight the term ‘Cronyism’ when you examine the ‘Who’s Who’ of donors to politicians’?

Sunday 8 July 2012

Derivatives! Derivatives!

Watching some news broadcasts would lead us to believe that the current financial disaster has been caused by the citizens running up too much personal debt! Although personal debt is on the high side and savings far too low, the truth is that the current financial crisis can be laid directly at the feet of Banks! The banks of the world, Canadian Banks included, involved themselves in finance-crippling derivative markets that have grown larger than all of the world’s economies combined!
At $400 Trillion dollars, all that the world’s leaders can hope to do is ‘Right the Bicycle’.  It will take a long time to grow out of this problem created by ‘Greed without Consequence’.
Niagara Winners Circle Report 2009, Page 4: http://persnicketiness.net/nwc/q1_2009/index.html
In a little book called ‘Charter of Greed’ written before 1995 by one of our NWC members, Preston Haskell called out the conduct of Canada’s Chartered Banks.
Considering the current financial calamity facing the world at this time Preston wrote, on page 13, “Too soon they {Banks} will no doubt treat us to yet another of their extraordinary displays of entrepreneurialism with their insightful gamble on derivatives”...
Another intuitive line can be found on page 17 of ‘Charter of Greed’ that states “As long as the markets will sustain our Bank’s derivative holdings our Banks will be successful”…
On page 64-65-66 Preston sounded the alarm, through news clippings and personal commentary, under the heading ‘Banks carry huge “derivative” risks...
In the ‘Charter of Greed’ Preston Haskell voiced his concern that the old trick of simply lowering the bank rate just might not spur on the economy. He believed that the Bank of Canada would try this tactic once too often and nothing would happen.
‘Charter of Greed’ points to Banks and Governments losing control like quicksilver through tightly clenched fists’.
Now, nearly 20 years late the wisenheimers of PBS are proud to tell you all about ‘Derivatives’:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/money-power-wall-street/#c

Post script: Not one of the ‘Free’ world’s problems has been caused by an academic drop-out.

Saturday 7 July 2012

Citizens or Subjects

There are two main routes for free citizens to lose their liberty. One is through the violent overthrow of a free society by an autocratic state. The other is through a socialist minded elected government.
Socialist minded authorities eventually steal the liberty of its citizens through the use of covert legislation. Even when the citizen recognizes the nibbling away of their liberties, they all too often accept small losses rather than standing up against the deliberate expansion of control over their liberties.

Exception and kudos must go to the citizens of Pelham Ontario, Canada. These brave citizens objected to a challenge to their liberty by the elected authority of their community.

The threat to civil liberty did not start in the town of Pelham. In this case the threat started with our past Liberal Socialist Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau when he failed to clarify our specific historic property rights in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. 


It continued with a further assault on Canadian civil liberty when our Liberal Socialist Premier Dalton McGuinty covertly changed the rules to the Municipal Statute Law Amendment Act of 2006.
As a result of these federal and provincial social ideology driven assaults on the Liberties of Canadian Citizens the threat continues at the municipal level.

The reason that citizens finally stood up for their liberty was the consideration by Pelham’s elected authority to give their bureaucrats legal permission to trespass on private property without notice. Under the proposed bylaw the authorities would have the legal right to enter upon your property at any time and to inspect your property, your out buildings including even your garage without notice!

But, for what purpose? Why would an inspector have such a need to conduct an unannounced and immediate inspection without notice? Why would any municipality suggest giving their employees the same power as that of the infamous ‘Sheriff of Nottingham’?

Pelham’s bylaw enforcement manager Keegan Gennings in his March 5 report, accompanying the proposed bylaw, explained its need. The bylaw was originally proposed to take ‘advantage’ of changes to the Ontario Municipal Act in the Municipal Statute Law Amendment Act 2006.

In defense of his council’s attempted assault on liberty, Mayor Dave Augustyn asked: ‘Could there be a situation when public safety might be at risk – where a pitbull is loose in an unfenced yard – and Town representatives need authority to enter private property?’ The answer to the Mayor’s hypothesis is a flat out no.
In fact the only reason to grant instant access to private property, without notice or warrant, on the obsequious excuse as to inspect or measure a sign is simply one more step in reducing the citizen to subject status.  

The same people who would feed the alligator hoping to be eaten last should consider the wise words of  Benjamin Franklin who once said a society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both.

Tuesday 3 July 2012

Climate Con


On Wednesday June 27, 2012 the Niagara Region presented to its Council a 91 page book titled : ‘Adapting to Climate Change’ Challenges for Niagara by Jennifer Penney.
This book is possibly the most enlightening book ever printed when it comes to illustrating the character and culture of inefficient and ineffective governance.
No, not because it is filled with suppositions as indicated by 127 explicit words of fear mongering such as ‘Likely’  or distinct words  like ‘may have consequences’, ‘may result’, ‘expected’, ‘hoped’, ‘could support’,  ‘may also have adverse impacts’, ‘could have negative effects’ and ‘not certain’.
Nor even for the blatant and shameful drive to garner more ‘Back Door’ taxpayer money to be wasted on this disgusting and contradictory drivel designed for the sole purpose of empire building. Empire building exposes itself on Page 20 chapter 5.
While most people agree on the necessity of scientific understanding, assessment and proposed defensive strategy, this hodgepodge of disparate data is despicable. This book of assumption swings from drought to deluge. The creators have selected a spurious 40 year window of history to make its points for covert funding, while overlooking its own City of Welland climate records.

The most disturbing facts that this book inadvertently illustrates are:
1. The ridiculous number of overlapping entities primarily providing the same service
2. The lack of communication between these same publicly funded groups
3. The fact that so much of the garnered information is not available to the general public


While the group behind the expensive publishing of this book pleads for more funding, we have Mayors covering up the fact that pollutants are being allowed to enter our water sources!
We have City Mayors and Regional Councillors spending mega-bucks of their Citizen’s hard earned taxpayer money just to be seen as members of the ‘Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Initiative’, which has shown only a decade of failure in cleaning up the ‘Great Lakes’.
The excuse that our authorities don’t have the money to stop pollutants from entering the great lakes rings hollow in face of denial, threats to whistleblowers, lies and prevarication.
These same City Mayors and Regional Councillors don’t mind wasting those same scarce dollars on an ever-increasing army of money-munching Climate-Pretenders. Shades of NEDC!
Where do these ‘Clusters of Con’ learn how to drain a community’s resources?
We need a crack professional team on climate change. Not a shot gun posse.


Could it Happen Here?


How can the citizens of the Californian city of Stockton be surprised to learn that their city now holds the distinction of becoming the largest US city to suddenly declare bankruptcy?
Stockton is not a distant City. Stockton is a symptom that will consume us if we fail to expose it for what it is.
The river port city of 290,000 lies 90 miles (144km) east of San Francisco.
Mike Brooking, Stockton coffee shop owner said, ‘the housing boom was good to Stockton. Flush with property tax, the city developed its waterfront, with a new marina and sports complex, and negotiated generous pension and healthcare benefits for city employees.’
They eliminated a quarter of the city's police officers, one-third of the fire staff, and 40% of all other employees.
They also cut wages and medical benefits.
Stockton's unemployment and violent crime rates now rank among the top in the nation. One in every 195 Stockton homes filed for foreclosure in May, according to RealtyTrac.
More than 15% of the population of Stockton is unemployed - nearly double the national average.
City buildings have been repossessed and "Out of Business" signs are a common sight.
City Hall was due to move into a new building, but since Stockton has run out of money, the new building has been repossessed.
Mike Brooking, 50, a Stockton native and coffee shop owner, blames city officials. He says they paid people unreasonably generous pensions and medical benefits.
"They gave employees guaranteed healthcare when they're gone - and their families," Mr Brooking said. "To people who worked there for one month! They couldn't afford it then. They can't afford it now. No-one else has those guarantees.
Even City Hall buildings have been repossessed
"Wells Fargo Bank took over a few parking garages that the city owned," Mr Estrada says.
"Now they own the building City Hall is in. You might well call it Wells Fargo town."
During the housing boom, the city lavished money on its waterfront.
"We've seen a rise in violent crime here in Stockton," says police officer Joe Silva, a Stockton native and 16-year veteran of the force.
"Last year was a record setting 58 homicides and so far this year we've had 31. This time last year we had 17." Many blame the surge in violence on Stockton's economic woes. In 2008, the city had a budget for 441 police officers. Today they have 317.
Last year, the city was ranked the 11th most miserable. In 2010, Stockton was placed number one in terms of misery.
The citizens of Stockton were suddenly surprised predicated on the absence of concerned watchdog citizens and the failure of the local press to keep the taxpayer informed!
Answer: Yes it Could!