If you’ve visited Ottawa’s Byword Market, you’ll know all about the atmosphere of the place and the pleasure that can be had through a simple stroll through the beyond-counting market stalls and displays.  The numerous restaurants, cafes, and bistros complete with their outdoor patios gives off a sense of vibrancy and life, things that aren’t exclusively dedicated to just the  daylight hours.

But the Market has become troublesome, and in fact has been troublesome for years.

Continue reading “CITY OF OTTAWA LOOKS TO IMPROVE BYWARD MARKET CONDITIONS” →

Adventure tourism has been around for awhile.

Thrill-seekers in search of that adrenaline rush have no shortage of activities to make the pulse pound, whether it be sky-diving, zip-lining, downhill cheese-chasing, para-sailing, garbage truck racing, what have you.

But if you’re a billionaire, well, that’s a whole different playing field.  And today, two prominent ways for the well-heeled are space and undersea tourism.

Continue reading “CHASING THE THRILL: THE PERILS OF ADVENTURE TOURISM” →

I’ll admit that I have no real love for Mark Zuckerberg.

I think it’s because of his creation and ownership of Facebook and Instagram and the way he uses his power to bully, leverage, and intimidate anyone or any government that dares question the often negative impact his social media platform has on society.  I mean, nobody fucks with the Zuck, not for free anyways.  That’s what many billions of dollars will do for you.  Maybe I’m just jealous.

I absolutely detest adolescent Elon Musk and wish he would just shut his yap already.  His platform, Twitter, is a literal cesspool of misinformation and hate, something vociferously cheered on by Elon himself.  Anyone who challenges the veracity or integrity of Twitter meets with the predictable online junkyard dog response.  Or, if you’re lucky, Musk will respond with a poop emoji, also known as a self-portrait.

Continue reading “MUSK CHALLENGES ZUCKERBERG TO A CAGE FIGHT” →

My goodness, the things we tend to forget when it comes to grocery scandals.

It seems Canada Bread, owned by the powerful McCain Family, has pleaded guilty in a plea agreement to colluding with Weston Foods, owned by the even more powerful Weston family, in an effort to fix prices for fresh bread and bakery products found on the shelves of every grocer in Canada.  The price-fixing took place back in 2007 and again in 2011, and the plea agreement was the culmination of a seven-year investigation by Canada’s Competition Bureau

Part of the agreement will have Canada Bread paying a $50 million dollar fine.

Weston foods was able to escape punishment when Loblaws admitted being part of the scheme back in 2017 and received immunity from prosecution, presumably for assisting in the investigation against rival Canada Bread.  No honour among grocery thieves, I guess.  For its part, Loblaws offered $25 gift cards to customers as a form of compensation. With that as compensation, Loblaws customers can now afford to buy bread, maybe even a couple of loaves.

Search warrants were also executed for other grocers not part of the Loblaws family, like Metro, Empire Foods, Sobey’s, and Walmart, but no evidence of wrong-doing was found.  Which to me means that these guys either didn’t think of it on their own or they just managed to not get caught.  A cynical viewpoint, perhaps, but all of these entities price-gouge on a daily basis anyway.  Maybe they’re just not as greedy as the McCains or Westons.

It’s a little bit of justice for applied to grocery companies and does a bit of a good job of placing grocers on the national stage with egg on their face.  It’s a good look, although with the price of eggs, it’s an expensive look.

So, chalk one up for the good guys.  No more price fixing on hot dog and hamburger buns and a loaf of bread.  We’re still being price-gouged, but the difference is they do that in plain sight with nothing underhanded.  I suppose it makes a difference.

New Democrat leader Jagmeet Singh has come up with what I find to be an interesting idea to bring some measure of justice to runaway corporate executive salaries.  His proposal, which will likely be tabled as a private members bill, will draw a direct proportional connection between the wages of a companies top executives and the wages of the people that they employ.  Think Big Grocery, Big Gas, Big Oil, Big Telecom, Big Bank, and on and on.

The proposed legislation would slap a corporate tax increase on any company where a CEO makes more than 50 times the wages of the median employee salary.  All companies will be required to report on their executive/median worker ratio, and any that lay above the ratio of 50:1 would be required to pay additional tax.

Continue reading “NDP PROPOSES ADDITIONAL CORPORATE TAX FOR COMPANIES THAT DON’T MEET WAGE RATIO” →

It took about 170 years to get it done, but members of the 21 First Nations impacted by a fiscal injustice will now see the governments of Ontario and Canada step up to make things right, or at least more right than they were before.

Canada and Ontario announced a $10 billion dollar settlement to address a situation where First Nations had been ignored, and some say outright cheated, when it comes to an agreement signed way back in 1850.  The Robinson-Huron Treaties committed the federal and Ontario provincial governments to providing impacted First Nations with a per capita annuity tied to resource revenues generated on their land.

It started out well enough and in good faith.  At first, the annual annuity was $1.70 per person, and was raised once, and only once, in 1875, to $4.00 per person.  And that was the last time that number moved, despite a huge increase in revenues from resources extracted from Native lands.

The proposed out-of-court settlement will be shared equally between Ottawa and Queen’s Park.

The Ontario Superior Court ruled in 2018 that the federal and provincial governments had a legal obligation to increase annual payments to the First Nations under the terms of the Robinson-Huron Treaty to accurately reflect the value of the resources coming out of their territories.

The co-operation between the federal and provincial governments on such an important issue is a great example of how government could and should work, joining forces collaboratively regardless of political stripe.  The federal Liberals are in charge in Ottawa, while Doug Ford’s Tories are in power in Ontario.  And while they don’t necessarily agree on all things, they have demonstrated a willingness to work together to get positive things done.

The two governments have co-operated on numerous major files, like the Stellantis factory in Windsor, the new, huge Volkswagen factory in Woodstock, the trucker protest and occupation of Ottawa and border crossings, COVID-19 responses, and others.  Say what you want about Doug Ford, but he’s more than once demonstrated a willingness to “roll up the sleeves” to work with his federal counterparts, and, when it happens, the people of Ontario benefit.

With this announcement, 21 Robinson-Huron First Nations will have a much needed infusion of cash to help them deal with chronic issues in their communities, issues often not addressed or not adequately addressed due to a lack of available funds.

In a time of shouting, finger-pointing political polarization, it’s refreshing to see political leaders demonstrating political maturity when it comes to solving problems.  Sadly, I believe it to be more the exception than the rule.

Map accessed from Sudbury.com

On Monday, June 18, no fewer than four federal byelections are scheduled to take place, two in Manitoba and one each in Ontario and Quebec.  The results of these byelections will say a lot about a lot of things, and not necessarily reflect exclusively on the prime minister and his Liberal government.

Usually, byelections mid-term tend to be a judgement on the governing party, and the results are often unkind to that very government and party.  Factor in the predictable voter fatigue that usually rears its ugly head after people become tired with a sitting government, in this case one that’s been in power for eight years.  So in any other time, Monday would more than likely turn out to be absolutely brutal for the Liberals.  But there’s a more than decent chance that the Libs will hold their own, winning two of the seats, possibly three of them, and simply unbelievably all four.  Let me just say that if the Liberals sweep all four ridings, some bettors playing long shots are going to have a really big payday.  For the record, though, I don’t see that happening.

Continue reading “FOUR FEDERAL BYELECTIONS WILL SAY A LOT ABOUT A LOT” →

Driving into town last Saturday morning, I saw several men in yellow safety vests combing through the bushes and grass that line both sides of Gillan Road.  It had all the appearances of a search for something, but the subject of the search was initially a mystery.

I drove past these guys and found a bunch of different guys, in the same vests, a ways down the road from the first group, and it was then that their efforts became clear.  These men, seemingly of their own volition, had decided to make an effort to collect litter and garbage carelessly and thoughtlessly discarded by others along this roadway.

All told, there were about a dozen of these guys, and my only conclusion was that they had organized themselves to do something about a problem that existed that was not of their making.

There are plenty of things a guy could do with his day off on a weekend, and picking up somebody else’s garbage would rarely make the list.  But there they were, 10 o’clock on a Saturday morning, doing just that.  I don’t know if they made other efforts elsewhere in Horton Township, or if there were perhaps other crews at other locations doing the same thing, but regardless, my reaction would have been the same:  

“Way to go, boys!”

Continue reading “HATS OFF TO MARTHA AND THE YELLOW VESTS” →

I woke up this morning dedicating myself to writing an article that was happy in nature, maybe one of those feel-good topics that make people feel warm and tingly about other people.  Something different from the ranting and raving I’ve been doing from my soap box recently.  Something that would be good for me.

Nope.

That’s because in just the last couple of days, Bubba Pollock and Alex Stein came to my attention, two guys that remind me of the Alberta folk hero Elliot McDavid and, If I’m being honest, as repugnant as they come when it comes to people.

Continue reading “RISE IN PUBLIC HARASSMENT BECOMING A PROBLEM” →

It’s absolutely heart-breaking to drive by Renfrew’s food bank and see a line of people that starts at the front door and snakes around the building to fill the sidewalks on both Lochiel and Monroe.  I would estimate somewhere in the area of sixty to seventy people, maybe more, and that’s just as I happen to drive by.  I would hate to think that this situation continues throughout the day.

The Royal Bank of Canada has just released a report indicating that higher food prices are here to stay, and will never return to pre-pandemic levels.  They estimate that on the whole, food prices have risen some 18% since the pandemic, and that while the rate of increase may slow somewhat, the cost of food will never go down.

Continue reading “AND THE LINE JUST KEEPS GETTING LONGER” →