Tag: politics

“IT DOESN’T MATTER WHAT IT COSTS, IT’S GOTTA BE DONE.”

“It doesn’t matter what it costs, it’s gotta be done.”  

I have to circle back to a comment made by Renfrew councillor Andrew Dick in the most recent council meeting of October 22, 2024.  It concerned the lighting available at Renfrew’s Ma-Te-Way ballfields.

The councillor was reflecting a certain frustration with the lighting situation at Ma-Te-Way, particularly in the face of a Parks and Recreation report that indicated that all underground electrical infrastructure outside at Ma-Te-Way was in a condition of complete failure and degradation.  So much so that contractors have advised that the lights dependant upon the proper functioning of that infrastructure not be turned on until the failed aspects of it be replaced.

Council voted to proceed with an engineering study by engineering consultants JP2G that would culminate in recommendations as to how to proceed.  The only problem with that, and of particular concern to Councillor Dick, was the fact that the engineering review wouldn’t be completed until well after the 2025 baseball season had concluded.  In other words, no lights in 2025.

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NEW COUNCIL FINDS SPOILED SANDWICH IN THE FRIDGE

It’s late October, 2022.

It’s the morning after an election win for five candidates who have successfully been selected as councillors for the Town of Renfrew.  Four of them are new to this, Councillors Dick, Cybulski, Legris, and McDonald.  The fifth, Councillor McWhirter, has served on council in the past, but this morning I’m describing here must still feel pretty good for him too.

There’s nothing quite as exhilarating as standing for office, or any other election-based position, and coming out the other end of it on top.  There’s a bit of a high attached to it.  And excitement.  Perhaps even a little bit of anxiety now that you’ve gone and put your name out there, and then won.  You’re happy, people are happy for you, your family is super happy, and proud on top of that.  It’s a cool experience.

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PART 2: THE APPENDICES

KEY TERMS

APPENDIX:  A document attached to a larger document or publication that contains material-in-depth in support of the broader document.  Additional information related to the topic.  (plural / appendices)

CHANGE ORDER:  A change in the terms of a contract that has already started to be implemented.  Changes contained in an order may impact the scope of the project, the cost of the project, or both.  In short, something came up that was unforeseen after the contract work started that made the terms of the contract untenable for one or both of the parties involved.  A change order will reflect the new reality of the project, and the new cost.

MOBILIZATION:  The gathering of the people and materials necessary to begin and complete a task.  Ideally with a construction project, mobilization occurs once, at the beginning.  Projects extending over two calendar years require additional mobilization, one at the beginning in Year 1, and another to start again in Year 2.  Mobilization of human and material resources costs money.  The need to duplicate it costs even more money.

KEY PEOPLE:  Andrea Bishop

Ms. Bishop is listed on the town’s website as the Manager of Engineering and Asset Management.  Yet the others present at the meeting refer to her as Acting Director, but no indication of Acting Director of what.  It may be the she has taken on the position of Eric Withers, who I believe no longer serves with the town.  If that’s the case, Ms. Bishop would be the Acting-Director of Development, Environment and Infrastructure / Deputy CAO, which admittedly, is a pretty impressive title.  I just wouldn’t want to have to stitch it onto a staff hoody because I’d likely need both sides, front and back. Or two hoodies.

I’m not sure entirely what her title may be, but I do hope to get it right so that the title accurately reflects the position held by Ms. Bishop.  So apologies in advance if I get it wrong. 

APPENDICES A TO D:  Active construction projects in the Town of Renfrew

Continue reading “PART 2: THE APPENDICES” →

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.

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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.

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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.

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A NIGHT AT RENFREW TOWN COUNCIL: OBSERVATIONS, THOUGHTS, AND COPIOUS NOTES

I attended a meeting of Renfrew Town Council last night, something I’ve not done in a very long time.  I wanted to get a sense of the dynamic of the place, the personalities present, political and administrative, official and non-official.  As in most such endeavours, information was gleaned, intelligence was gathered.

There were only four members in the public gallery, so I’ll have to assume that the legions of voters and interest groups out there ravenous for news emanating from a council meeting must have been taking it in via livestream.  But just like hockey, watching on television and seeing it live and in person are two different event experiences.  Seeing it live, up close, physically almost right there in the middle of it owing to the size of the room and its configuration, is far more personal, immediate, and telling.

I was half-expecting to see a ranking officer from the Ontario Provincial Police attending, possibly as a participant, perhaps, like me, as a witness.  But I saw no Bright White Shirts in the gallery, so no such luck there.  Mine remained the brightest white shirt in the crowd.

Too bad only four of us got to see all of this, but that’s on the public, not council.  So it was me, two gentlemen from a senior’s hockey club looking for a reduction of ice-time costs, and a former mayor and councillor busily scribbling notes for the entire two hours of the open meeting.

I had attended to get a look at the several people in the room who had failed to return an email outreach I had made to them late last week.  I wanted to see what it was about them that made them feel I could be dissuaded just by being simply ignored, a policy akin to an ostrich, its head, and the sand.  One councillor had even blocked my communication attempts, prompting me to wonder if I was embroiled in some sort of adolescent Facebook fight.

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GETTING TO KNOW RENFREW TOWN COUNCIL: PART 1

Two years ago, on October 24, 2022, Renfrew residents (well, some of them, anyway) cast their vote for candidates vying for Renfrew Town Council positions.

It’s important to note that only 2,788 out of 6,459 eligible voters cast ballots that day, representing 43.6% of the total number of people in town who qualified to vote.

Hardly a ringing exercise in democracy, but there you go.

Voters got one vote for mayor, and I believe four (maybe five?) for councillor.  Eight individuals ran for councillor. A voter did not have to use all of their votes for councillor if they chose not to.

The following graphics will show what percentage successful candidates received of the actual vote, as well as a percentage relative to the potential eligible vote.

Also featured are committee and board assignments, as well as other positions with flowery titles.

So, for your information, here is Renfrew’s Town Council on the second anniversary of their landslide victories.

Continue reading “GETTING TO KNOW RENFREW TOWN COUNCIL: PART 1” →

NEW BROOMS SWEEP CLEAN: JUST WATCH OUT FOR THE SCRATCHES ON THE FLOOR

Many of us from a certain generation are familiar with the old axiom “new brooms sweep clean.”

I guess it was a bit of old, grandma-type wisdom where it was established that a new broom, with its brand new bristles firm and steady, could get that dirt the old worn-out broom in the corner couldn’t handle anymore.  The new one swept all before it, and with a little bit of weight behind it, there would be nothing that could escape it.

It might also scratch your floor.

Politics can be like that.

You get a government, or a board, or a similar collection of individuals given a certain task or mandate.  Maybe they start out okay, but over time, stuff happens that leads to the impression among their constituency that they have to be sent packing, whether through their perceived ineptness, incompetence or for the simple fact that they’re tired and have gone flat.  And then comes the statement that grows and grows and grows, a statement dreaded by incumbents everywhere:  “It’s time for a change.”

Hence the need for a new broom, so to speak.  And what do brooms do?  Well they sweep, with new ones even sweeping clean.  Sweeping clean politically will more often mean that every, or almost every existing member of that government, or board, or council, or committee, what have you, will be replaced by someone new, and often extremely inexperienced.  And maybe even packing a grievance.  Or an agenda.  Or, gasp, both.

Continue reading “NEW BROOMS SWEEP CLEAN: JUST WATCH OUT FOR THE SCRATCHES ON THE FLOOR” →

ANNIVERSARY BEST WISHES TO MPP JOHN YAKABUSKI

As I, like everyone else, navigate my way through the month of October, I periodically gaze in wonder at the picturesque majesty of nature, especially as it presents itself right here in the Ottawa Valley.  We are truly blessed with a landscape that is unsurpassed by any other place in the province.  Other places have their beauty as well, to be sure, but I don’t need to go out anywhere seeking anything better than what I have right here at home.

What an introduction for a story about a politician.

I just stumbled across the realization that my local MPP, John Yakabuski, is celebrating, or ought to be celebrating, his twenty-first year in office as our riding representative at Queen’s Park.  I shouldn’t have needed a reminder of that, and I regret that I did, but here I am now.

Continue reading “ANNIVERSARY BEST WISHES TO MPP JOHN YAKABUSKI” →

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