Tag: renfrew-ontario

COUNCIL BACK IN CHAMBERS

It’s been a long layoff, with council stuff sort of taking a back seat here over the course of the holidays, but with the arrival of the second full week of the month, open council meetings are now part of the crunch.

And they’ll start with a bit of a crunch if the most recent agenda is any indication of what may happen when we all convene in chambers this evening.

Two cases being investigated by the Integrity Commissioner will have reports delivered, one involving Councillor Andrew Dick, and the other Reeve Peter Emon.

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LISA ROBINSON: UGLINESS IN MUNICIPAL POLITICS

There’s probably a lot of different ways in which to view somebody like Lisa Robinson, and I have made that attempt, but in the end, it’s always pretty much the same for me.  That is to say that, if I were to ever meet the woman, I’m fairly confident I wouldn’t like her.  And I’m equally confident she wouldn’t be lining up to join my fan club either.

Lisa Robinson is a councillor for the City of Pickering, just northeast of Toronto.  When I see or hear about people like her, it makes me want to offer up prayers of thanks for the elected members of Renfrew Town Council that we have.  As critical as I can sometimes be, there is nothing on offer here in Renfrew that can be considered as approaching what Robinson is to Pickering.

In a charitable rendering, I’d put her on the same footing as your Marjorie Taylor-Greenes, or your Lauren Boberts, Sarah Palins, or Kari Lakes of the political universe.  Maybe even a Cheryl Gallant type of figure, although that’s cruel.

A mean-spirited, sneering, and unnecessarily provocative human being bent upon one thing and one thing alone, that being the political chaos she sews that serves as her preferred working environment.  There is nothing sacred when it comes to these women, in that they’ll attack you at the drop of a pin yet cry indignant persecution if ever confronted or challenged.

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OTTAWA VALLEY RESCUE

There is no shortage of heroes in society, and they come from a variety of different places, different occupations, and different backgrounds.

Today I’d like to highlight the people who volunteer their time towards animal rescue operations here and elsewhere.  Locally, that would be the Ottawa Valley Rescue.  Included in that are the people who take on the role of fosters for animals in the process of transitioning to what is hoped to be a permanent home.

Not every animal involved with this organization arrived there as a result of neglect or abuse.  That said, it’s shockingly troubling to learn just how many of them are from a challenging background like this.  Equally troubling is the total attitude of disregard that many people have for domestic animals, and it’s the Rescue that has taken on the responsibility for the rehabilitation of the animal where the goal is a permanent and loving home.

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RADIO STATION DEAL REVIEWED AFTER FIVE YEARS

In four years, the deal a local radio station signed with an apparently unauthorized and unsupervised member of Renfrew Town staff will come under review, with the town having the opportunity to back out of the deal.

It’s my opinion the town should do just that.

I won’t get into the ins and outs of it, but that radio station should not have their name on that building, Ma-Te-Way, nor should they be allowed to refer to it as they currently do, like it’s theirs.  Because it’s not.

This will become an issue in the next municipal election, whether the status-quo types like that or not.  The sun shines for us as it shines for them, and I’d like to see God’s will and testament where he bequeathed all of that to any fast-one artists who think they run the place.  You may read into that the possibility of town elites, town staff, or town politicians.  Those running outside their lanes need to be shown their lanes, or disqualified from the event altogether.

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MOVING FORWARD WITH A DEBENTURE

 A debenture is a financial product.  More specifically, it’s an investment product where an investor or investors lend their money out over a fixed term and containing a fixed rate in borrowing costs.  In English, that means money is lent by people who have it to people who need it, but the people who need it can’t pay it back in full or in lump sums other than the agreed upon yearly payment.  So, with a thirty year debenture, the borrower has to pay the agreed upon allotment every year for the entirety of the thirty years.

It’s good and bad for both parties, or pro and con if you like that better.  For the lender, you get steady payments every year that you can count on, and at a rate of interest that’s locked in.  So there’s some security there that the investment will continue to yield the anticipated returns.  There is no change to the interest rate and no change to the term.  And the borrower can’t pay it off early and rob you of potential earnings.  If the interest rates in general go down, your investment is protected and secure because it’s locked in at the fixed rate.

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READING THE ROOM

It’s been suggested that I learn to read the room better.

Which is a little like saying that I should get in step with whatever happens to be the flavour of the day.  I should go where the crowd goes.  Be part of the gang, and not some loser.

How appealing that sounds, to finally not be a loser.  To run with the posse, to fit in, to be part of the collective of agreement.  To, for what may even seem to be the very first time, actually belong.

Pretty heady stuff.

But it sort of brings up a bit of a question for me.  

What if I have read the room, only I don’t like what the room is saying, or where it’s going, or how it’s going about whatever it’s saying?  Like, what do I do then?

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HURRICANE BONNIE RIPS THROUGH COUNCIL

For some reason, I looked up and back towards my right.  And there she was, Battleship Bonnie.  Or Hurricane Bonnie to some.

She was looking right at me.  “I know you,” she said, at a volume that startled a couple of others in the self-check out at No Frills.

The War Department that is my brain kicked into gear, sweeping the area for threats, making assessments, analyzing inputs, recommending possible vectors of response.  All this buying a dozen eggs on a Friday.

“You’re the guy from the council meeting,” she said, which had people looking back over at me, possibly judging.

So much for my carefully laid strategy of blending in with the gallery furniture at Renfrew Town Council meetings.  I was exposed, right there in the harsh light of day, as “the guy.”

Then I got the report from the War Room.  It was her!  The woman from the council meeting!  I said as much.

And then for the next thirty minutes, we got to talking.

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SEEMING TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF ANOTHER’S WEAKNESS

What do you call it when one party of a deal profits from the misfortune or disadvantage of the other party?  When one party enters into the agreement with eyes wide-open, with intent, and full knowledge that the other party is in a vulnerable situation, or the other party is misrepresenting their authority, or not having the full approval of a superior person or body to exercise that authority with respect to the deal in question?  When one party knows, or ought to know, that they are perhaps fleecing the other party, or the third party that person ostensibly represents?

What do you call behaviour like this?

Exploitation comes to mind as a start.  Taking advantage of someone else’s stupidity or possible malfeasance or misrepresentation, recognizing the advantage you possess, and seizing the opportunity to do just that.

Maybe opportunism is the correct word instead, just for the fact that you saw the opportunity, recognized it for what it was, and looked like you jumped on it to your advantage, possibly to the disadvantage of others.

What about predatory?  Where you may have recognized the situation, inserted yourself into it knowing that an unfair advantage could be obtained, and pursued that unfair advantage for your own benefit.  Where maybe you actively worked in concert with the weaker party all along, creating the situation where your advantage and their disadvantage would be cemented by contract, knowing that once signed, that contract would be considered valid except for very rare circumstances.

In business, they might call this business savvy, good business acumen.  They might say a deal is a deal and the other party should have known better.  They might say it’s not their fault the other party was stupid, or didn’t follow the proper rules, or that the people above that person didn’t exercise their proper due diligence.  They might say it’s not their fault everyone on the other side of the contract appeared to be asleep or intimidated.  Business is business.  If you can’t play with the big boys, get the hell out of the ring.

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X MARKS THE SPOT

Doesn’t it just figure that, when I go to expand into social media platforms, I end up on Elon Musk’s.

Life does have its odd way of expressing its version of humour, given how I feel about the man and how I take just about any opportunity to ridicule him. Yet here I am again, humbled by the dude who looks like a B-List villain from the old Batman series I once watched on television when I was a kid.

Facebook wouldn’t have me. Instagram neither. Seems I’m a slice of Canadian media to them, and they don’t like me because they’re still having their temper tantrum over the government making them pay for stolen Canadian journalism. You should have seen the notifications I got from them, telling me my accounts were suspended because I had violated their rules of service by, well, breathing. I was actually frightened for a minute, momentarily considering the implications of Facebook cops in dark vehicles outside my home. I got banned from Instagram before I was even on Instagram, it was that bad.

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