Author: CLARION

MY VERY FIRST EXPERIENCE WITH DRIVE-BY RACISM

You meet a lot people along the way when you walk regularly, as I do.  People like myself, stretching the legs and trying to keep Grandfather Time at bay, people out for the fresh air, people shuffling off to work or shuffling back from it, people out hoping to clear their heads from the weighty matters of life, and people walking their dogs.  The common denominator, of course, is people.

These people come in all shapes and sizes, colours and hues, and are all carrying their individual backgrounds with them as they walk, some in the same direction as yourself, others coming towards you and passing by in the opposite direction.  Some even on the other side of the road.

In the vast majority of cases, an interaction, albeit brief, takes place, often in the form of a wave, wishes for a good morning, a simple “hi, how are you,” Nothing too crazy.  Nothing too involved.  Just the kind of stuff you’d see in an old Norman Rockwell painting of a time seemingly gone by — and I appreciate many of you would have no idea who Norman Rockwell might be — but a time that, in that sense never really left us, that basic interaction with strangers along the way, something small towns are supposed to be noted for.

One such stranger is a man with two dogs, a regular along my route for a few weeks, although I’ve not seen him recently.  I first interacted with him when he was walking his dogs on a path perpendicular to mine.  Owing to the size differential of the two dogs, and owing to the angle upon which I was viewing them, the two dogs actually appeared to me to be one dog.  A dog that seemingly had more legs to it than God might have intended.  Legs that moved in a way that defied my ability to make sense of the whole thing.  Obviously, as we got closer to one another, it became apparent that I was just viewing the two dogs at an angle that made them appear as one, some hydra-legged beast from an ancient Greek tragedy.  But no, two dogs, one owner, and everything was as it should be in the world again.

Continue reading “MY VERY FIRST EXPERIENCE WITH DRIVE-BY RACISM” →

BRICS A GATHERING OF “FRIENDS WITHOUT LIMITS.” JUST WATCH YOUR SIX.

The BRICS family of nations got together this past week to talk about steps they might take to remove themselves from the influence the west has, and primarily America has, over the affairs of the world.  BRICS, standing for Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa, is an organization of nations that resent the influence of the United States in world affairs.  Other nations that have membership are Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, and the United Arab Emirates, but they didn’t make the cut for the title acronym. Countries like Saudi Arabia have been invited but not yet joined, and NATO ally Turkey even attended the get-together last week.

What a pleasant collection of authoritarian dictators that must have been.

Originally put forward by Russia’s Vladimir Putin as a counterweight to NATO, the European Union, and other groupings deemed controlled by the Americans, these nations resent the fact that they have to follow the “international rules-based order,” which for them is code for doing what America wants.  Several of the members have faced the clout of US-led sanctions, Russia and Iran being the two most recent.

They even talked about coming up with their own currency to get away from dependence on the American dollar, and to a lesser extent, the EU’s euro.  Good luck with that.

Continue reading “BRICS A GATHERING OF “FRIENDS WITHOUT LIMITS.” JUST WATCH YOUR SIX.” →

OPP DROP BOMB ON CONNECTIONS CENTRE. DID COUNCIL KNOW?

I feel I need to respond to this.

The Renfrew and Area Connections Centre is closing, effective Friday.  The fellow issuing the statement on behalf of Renfrew OPP, Inspector Marc Hemmerick, used the word “pause”  in an emailed statement given to Renfrew’s myFM radio.  I have to crib the statement from their online site because, well, Inspector Hemmerick obviously doesn’t feel I’m worth responding to, having failed to return my call placed last week with the detachment seeking comment on this very topic

“As of Friday the 1 of November 2024, at 4 p.m., the Renfrew Detachment of the OPP will be pausing our participation at the Renfrew and Area Connections Center while the Detachment, OPP’s Grant Support Team and the Town of Renfrew determine what are the next best steps forward for the grant and the community activities it supports.”

That grant money being referred to was good until March 1, 2025.

This smells of sophistry to me. I’m sorry, but it does.  And regardless of the Bright White Shirt — batteries not included — saying “pause,” I hear “close permanently” instead.  I may be wrong, but I don’t think I am.  Time will settle that argument, but in the passing of that time, and amidst a vacuum of information, a vulnerable local population will be set adrift, and it will done with eyes wide-open by all appearances.

The Inspector, the interim detachment commander, cited changes to The Police Services Act and The Community Safety Policing Act as the rationale behind the closing.  As per Renfrew spokesperson Hannah MacMillan, “due to the restructuring of the OPP Detachment Board in Ontario municipalities, the town does hold the funding/grant for the Connection Centre now. “

Not bad for a place that “suggested” they had nothing to do with it outside of providing in-kind facilities for the Centre.

Continue reading “OPP DROP BOMB ON CONNECTIONS CENTRE. DID COUNCIL KNOW?” →

RENFREW TOWN COUNCIL: BUDGET VS ACTUAL

PART 1:  BUDGET VERSUS ACTUAL

Budgets are part and parcel of an effort, by individuals and organized groups, to map out in advance a plan for their money.  Having one, or conversely not having one, can be the difference between getting ahead, getting by, or falling behind.

So they’re important.

But a budget is only as good as the follow-up examination and evaluation that comes from comparing your stated budget with the actual movement of money in and out for the same period of time defined in the document.

So it is for the folks who toil as part of Renfrew’s Town Council, whether they be elected officials or members of the administrative staff.  Budgets in the municipal sense are set out for six-month periods, and are assessed immediately following the conclusion of those six-months.

Hence the term BUDGET VERSUS ACTUAL.  It simply means that the comparison described above is taking place in an open Committee of the Whole.

Continue reading “RENFREW TOWN COUNCIL: BUDGET VS ACTUAL” →

CHINA’S MAKING SOME REALLY NICE EV’S. AND YOU CAN’T HAVE ONE.

China has emerged as a blockbuster producer of electric, or EV, vehicles.  So much so that they can get one into your driveway for as low as $18,000 Cdn.  What a steal!  And they aren’t even crap, in case you’re thinking that.  They actually have technology that would make North American car-makers blush, so that old bird don’t fly in this case.

So why aren’t more Canadians buying these things?  Why are Canadian roadways not awash with Chinese EV’s similar to when the Japanese, and then Koreans, entered our market and took it by storm back in the 1970’s and 1980’s.

It probably has a lot to do with the 100% tariff the Canadian government has slapped on these vehicles, the intention being to specifically prevent them from entering our market.

Say what?  The Canadian government is purposely inhibiting our freedom to choose whatever vehicle we want?  Oh my God, get out the battle flags and fire up the big rigs!  We’ve got ourselves a convoy!  Okay, maybe a little dramatic there, but it was fun to say.

Continue reading “CHINA’S MAKING SOME REALLY NICE EV’S. AND YOU CAN’T HAVE ONE.” →

BQ’S BLANCHET PLAYS THE GAME. JUST IGNORE HIM

The Bloc Quebecois’ Yves-Francois Blanchet is just the latest in a long line of hysterical Quebec nationalist politicians the rest of us have had to endure seemingly forever.  Somewhere in that province there obviously lies a comedy factory that pumps out these self-indignant, perpetually pouty politicians who calculate the ways and means of Quebec separation from the rest of Canada.

It’s almost funny, except for the fact that it’s not.  It is, though, exceedingly tiring.

To have people like this in our federal parliament is an indication that either Canada is the most tolerant and placating place on the planet or that we have some institutional dysfunction within our federal system.  I’m not here to complain about that system, because democracy can be inconvenient like that.

I’m here to complain about Blanchet.  Because people can be a pain in the ass like that.

Continue reading “BQ’S BLANCHET PLAYS THE GAME. JUST IGNORE HIM” →

SERIES TO ILLUMINATE THE ISSUES, PROCEDURES, AND “MINUTIAE” OF A TOWN COUNCIL MEETING.

I don’t know how many folks tune into municipal council meetings, either live or taped, on the town’s YouTube channel.  I do know, if the last meeting was a fair indicator, how many attend the session in-person.  Or rather, how few.

I would completely understand why John and Jane Citizen would feel inclined to find something, anything else to do rather than to take in two-plus hours of paint-scraping minutiae that can be the norm in any gathering of local democracy, both here and elsewhere.  I feel bad for the primary participants, both political and administrative, who would have to further endure a closed meeting taking place after the open one, if that were to be the case.

Before moving forward, those opening paragraphs are in no way a criticism of the people or the process.  Democracy can be a messy beast, and often it’s in that very minutiae where the key truths lay, those little golden nuggets of information that allow them, the primary participants, and us, the adoring public, to fully understand an issue, good or bad, up or down, left or right.

As well, the very nature of Renfrew Town Council is dramatically different from the norm, in that four of the six town staff participants are new to their roles, all having the prefix “acting” in front of their formal titles.  Add this to the fact that all four town councillors present at the meeting are first-term representatives, with only the mayor being an incumbent, just not as mayor.  Two others, a reeve and another councillor, have varying degrees of experience, but weren’t there.

It’s only fair to say that all of these people, new, acting, re-purposed, and absent, have a pretty lousy job in front of them, especially given what they inherited from the previous administration, political and staff.  These folks were given the most challenging hand I believe I’ve ever seen at any level of government, a hand with absolutely no face-cards and completely devoid of trump.  A hand that, had they had a chance to get a quick peek at it in advance, might reasonably have led them to stay off the ballot and let somebody else deal with it all.  I, for one, am glad they’re there.  It’s been a tough ride, and likely not to get any smoother.  I fully appreciate their efforts.

Continue reading “SERIES TO ILLUMINATE THE ISSUES, PROCEDURES, AND “MINUTIAE” OF A TOWN COUNCIL MEETING.” →

IRAN-ISRAEL MILITARY EXCHANGE BRINGS THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC A STEP CLOSER TO ITS INEVITABLE DEMISE

Iran is in a predicament entirely of their own making, and sad for them — and good for us — everything they do from this point forward makes it worse and worse for them, and conversely, good for us.

That “good for us” thing I popped in there is a lengthy article all by itself, but for the purposes of this one, certain parts of the rationale behind that statement will be shared here.

I’ll spare you the history/current events lesson here because I simply want to get to the point I want to make this morning.  That is that Iran, Islamic Republic of, is a paper tiger at best when it comes to military capability.  And, as Iran is a key ally of Russia and its leader, Vladimir PotatoHead, this has a lot of meaning attached to it.

Iran doesn’t go up against other nations face-to-face militarily, not since the Iran-Iraq War of the 1980’s, a war that ended only after the mutual exhaustion of both parties involved.  Instead, Iran funds proxy militias around the Middle East, Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Gaza, and the Houthis in Yemen (apologies to any other Islamic militias I may have missed) and uses these proxies to harass their enemies, primarily Israel, and until recently, Saudi Arabia.  But Iran stays on the sidelines cheerleading the myriad atrocities performed on their behalf by these militias, playing a game of regional peekaboo that anyone with cognizance can see through.  I suppose they feel it gives them some “plausible deniability” when it comes to the havoc caused by their hired guns who they keep fed with missile and rocket technology while Iran itself struggles with a quality of life that its citizens resent having to shoulder.

Continue reading “IRAN-ISRAEL MILITARY EXCHANGE BRINGS THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC A STEP CLOSER TO ITS INEVITABLE DEMISE” →

RENFREW AND ITS MEDIA WASTELAND

I wanted to take a moment to briefly comment on Renfrew’s media landscape.

A moment is all I’ll need since Renfrew has no media landscape.

The newspaper that once was, the Renfrew Mercury, is gone, initially taken over by Metroland then chopped from the roster of their media holdings.  The once/week advertising rag they published also hit the dust, meaning that people lining the bottom of their litter boxes no longer had access to these two august publications.

There is still a sniff of them online, that being the notable Inside Ottawa Valley, which is absolutely awesome if you want to know what’s going down in Smiths Falls, or rather, if you want to know what happened in Smiths Falls two weeks ago.

And then there’s the radio station masquerading as a platform for legitimate journalism, with their blink-of-an-eye coverage of anything and nothing at the same time, but every hour on the hour, so that we don’t have to hold our breath long before being disappointed by the dearth of coverage this place provides. 

Continue reading “RENFREW AND ITS MEDIA WASTELAND” →

FEDERAL TAX COURT RULING TO IMPACT OWNERS OF AirBnB/VRBO PROPERTIES FOR SHORT-TERM RENTALS

When a homeowner sells their residential property to another buyer, that transaction is exempt from the HST, or Harmonized Sales Tax.  That’s good for the selling homeowner, because the HST would represent a 13% hit on the total value of the property.  So for every $100,000 in value, there would be a tax ringing-up as $13,000.  In the business of buying and selling properties, that’s called an “ouch.”

Commercial properties have always had the HST levied on them upon sale, so nothing new there.

But what about “residential” properties that are rented out consistently for short periods of time, so-called short term rentals?  In other words, what about properties who have owners that advertise their availability to be rented for a weekend, or a couple of weeks?  Properties where the owner takes care of utility costs and the “residence” in question comes fully furnished and provisioned with all the things one would need to call a place home, if even for a few days.

Places that have become, for all intents and purposes, hotel rooms.  Places that may no longer be available as the type of rental units that would be a big help in alleviating the shortage of “housing” in the province, and in Canada generally.

Places familiar to us as those listed on platforms like AirBnB or VRBO, or even privately.

Continue reading “FEDERAL TAX COURT RULING TO IMPACT OWNERS OF AirBnB/VRBO PROPERTIES FOR SHORT-TERM RENTALS” →

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