Category: Uncategorized

MFIPPA: A JOKE THAT’S NO LAUGHING MATTER

After taking a second look at the MFIPPA document — Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act — I feel about as ready as I can be to offer commentary with the attached proviso that in no way am I suggesting said commentary is an exhaustive and thorough exercise.  I do, however, feel comfortable enough in concluding that the points and examples I bring forward are more or less translatable to the entire document, and thereby serve as an honest interpretation or representation of the Act as a whole.

Remember that lawyers fight about this stuff all the time, so if there’s disagreement around my interpretation, then fair game as far as I’m concerned.

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IT’S TIME FOR TRUDEAU TO WALK THAT PLANK

For me to have no response at all would be telling, and it would be telling the wrong thing, and as much as I would prefer to just look away from a serious train wreck, I can’t just let it stand.

So I’ll be brief —if such is possible — and just say it.

The prime minister must, unequivocally, resign.

So, way to go, Steve for saying something that thousands upon thousands had already been saying.  Good of you to finally get on the bus.  

I know full well there are plenty of people about who don’t give a rat’s ass about what I may think on just about anything.  I’ll even extend that to most people, maybe even all people.

But I do.  I give a rat’s ass about what I think.  It’s important to me, and the way I view my personal integrity.

This is no longer about fancy socks and haircuts.  It’s no longer about his feminism, woke-ism, virtue signalling and all the rest of it.

This is about leadership, stewardship, and good governance, both in terms of policy and people.  And a failure in each of those critical aspects.

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TRUMP GETS STUFF DONE BY DOING NOTHING

I don’t know how to say this.

I have a new-found appreciation for Donald Trump.  No, wait, I didn’t say that.

I have a new-found respect for Donald Trump.  Hell no, I didn’t say that either.

So what am I trying to say?

How about this?  The man has had more effect as president than just about most other presidents, and he’s not even the president.  It’s absolutely bizarre how many things are in a fire-drill frenzy just because this guy mouths off on his Truth Social platform.

Entire nations tremble.  The leaders of those nations fall all over themselves to get inside the arc of his punches, including our own prime minister.  Look at those pictures from Mar-A-Lago.

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A CAT GETS SAVED

At last!

After carping and moralizing and preaching and generally blowing out significant amounts of hot air over transgressions, omissions, and failings here, there, and everywhere, I have something to share that actually makes me feel good.

My loyal followers in Nigeria are probably well-familiar with my penchant for criticizing and ridiculing a local radio station for their “cat stuck in tree” attempts at superficial and self-congratulatory journalism. After all, I like to view myself as someone who covers news with depth, with insight, and pithy little observations around serious news, which by its very nature, is often bad news.

But for the record, I’ll always be cheering for that cat in the tree and anyone trying to get it down.  Despite being a moralizing prick, I have my soft spots and moments of tenderness.

Down in Toronto, in the middle of rush hour, completely full-on downtown where the Jays play, a drama played out that made me feel good about people, which, in all honesty, I should do more of because I truly believe that most of us are well-meaning and conscientious.

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JORDAN PETERSON TO MOVE TO THE STATES

It was over my morning coffee today that I received the heavy news that Jordan Peterson was moving to the United States.

What are we to do?  How are we to cope?  From where will we get our direction?

Peterson, as you may know, is a hack psychologist that rose to fame over his refusal to use the preferred pronouns of those in the LGBTQ++ community who demanded such.  So, almost predictably, he became a lightning rod for those who loathe that sort of thing, of which there are many.

So that maverick Peterson became a champion for those opposed to woke-ism, virtue signalling, and the Trudeau government and those bloody socks they wear.  In fact, the whole thing has made him rich.

He actually has a product line complete with merch.  Sort of reminds me of the Great Agent Orange, also in America, who delights in animating the masses with pom-pom statements that get everyone running around and losing their shit.  Also making a killing in the merchandise department.

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MFIPPA: WHERE TOWN INFORMATION GOES TO DIE

This morning I read the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.

Then I took two extra-strength Tylenol.

Listen, if you’ve got absolutely nothing to do this Friday night, and I mean absolutely nothing to do, then you might want to nestle into your favourite chair, choose a libation that fits the mood — none that would come to mind, unless you had several of said libation —give the dog at your feet a couple of encouraging head-pats, and dig into this document.  If you felt there was nothing on television before all of this, I assure you you’ll change your mind once you start getting into it.

If you have a family member you absolutely detest but that familial protocol dictates you get them something as a stocking stuffer, print this thing out, wrap a pretty bow around it, and stick it in there.  Same for office parties where there’s a Secret Santa kind of thing going on.  If you got Bill from accounting, here’s your chance to really throw a f**k into his Christmas.

I now feel I’ve got a deeper appreciation for the intransigence that town staff, well some of them anyway, have for not being open with information.  For showing the public the hand when the public makes a request for information.  For going into closed meetings to conduct their backroom machinations away from any prying eyes that might upset their apple cart.

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RENFREW TOWN COUNCIL MEETING 10/12/24: SCOUTING REPORT

A lot of times you get what you pay for, and then sometimes you just don’t.

Some scouting report this is going to be, what with no high human drama to report on, no scandalous utterances, no gotcha moments, no fisticuffs like we see in some legislative gatherings.

Just business.  Present/discuss/vote/table/next.  Like I said, just business.

Coulda just stayed at home and watched some hoops on the tube.

Still, though, I’m glad I didn’t.

It’s not like I know everything about everything, and showing up to a Renfrew Town Council is an education of sorts, something I mean earnestly.  Democracy is a complex beast, and one of those things that seems to be viewed from a lot of different perspectives.  Braving freezing rain, like everyone else present did, is something one has to consider doing if one wants to truly understand, not just the issues and policies, but the mechanics and procedures of local democracy at work.

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WHEN A MAN’S MURDER BECOMES COMEDY

You’d think they arrested Robin Hood.

Luigi Mangione is simply this:  A guy in a hood with a 3D-printed weapon with silencer intent on ending the life of an unsuspecting father and husband as the latter walked to work in the early morning hours of New York City last week.

Is it only in America where a guy like this gets to be a folk hero?  Probably not, but as in all things, America does it bigger and louder, so here we are, some of us, finding humour at the assassination of a fifty year-old insurance executive, Brian Thompson.  And making little Luigi the poster boy for the righteous fight against corporate greed.

I’m not a big fan of corporate greed myself.  I’ll be right there at the start of the line when it comes to criticizing the actions of places like banks and insurance companies.  If they even knew about me and my commentary, they would consider me to be a hostile.  But that doesn’t mean they’re going to kill me.  And it doesn’t mean I’m going to kill them.

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RENFREW TOWN COUNCIL: MEETING PREVIEW 10/12/24

It’s Tuesday, December 10th and everyone’s phone calendar is beeping and pinging, flashing lights and spitting out confetti.  Because tonight is the next episode of a Renfrew Town Council meeting, a must-have on any self-respecting phone calendar app.

What makes tonight so special?  Well, nothing, really.  I mean there’ll be some stuff, because there’s stuff enclosed in the 200 page agenda output, so sure, there’ll be some stuff.

Will there be the push and pull, the thrust and counter-thrust of argument and ideas?  Will there be a clash of philosophical and ideological narratives?  How about giant personalities, standing out and apart from the pack, voices ringing in oratorical hyperbole, inducing tears of inspiration?

In order of appearance, the answers would be no, no, and, well,  no.

If you want that kind of thing, maybe you should just stay at home and wait for something to happen there.  Then maybe go to bed.

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RENFREW’S MASTER TRANSPORTATION PLAN: PATHWAYS TO THE FUTURE

One agenda item for Tuesday evening’s Renfrew Town Council Meeting is the formal introduction of the town’s Master Transportation Plan, a roadmap into the future development of Renfrew’s transportation network as the town grows over the next twenty to thirty years.

Organized around short, medium, and long-term time frames, the plan includes a series of maps/diagrams that display some of the transportation options being looked at. Those maps and diagrams are provided below in the gallery, while the presentation documents are located in full at the bottom of the page.

It’s not my intention here to re-write an already well-written document. BT Engineering, the engineering consultancy group preparing the document, has done a really good job of explaining the underpinning rationale behind their ideas, their scientific methodology, and taking into account the wide array of factors that need to be considered before moving forward with projects that are inextricably linked, as the short term transitions to the medium term, then the medium to the long.

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