FreeTorontoNow

Profiling Works. Live with it - So that others can.

2009-09-23T13:36:00.000-07:00

An article by Jonathon Narvey of the National Post about the terrorists among us. This is why profiling should be conducted of all passengers travelling through airports. When was the last time an elderly Caucasian woman was carrying a bomb in order to destroy an airplane? Let's get real. Young, predominantly male, extremist Muslims, normally adherents of Wahhabism is the 90% solution. It is politically incorrect, but until the Muslim community with our support figures out a way to curb this affliction, those in that demographic should be subjected to extensive scrutiny when travelling.

Jonathon Narvey: The terrorists amongst us

Posted: September 23, 2009, 4:00 PM by NP Editor

What’s the terror alert level at, right now, anyway? This month, we’ve seen the following headlines about foiled Al Queda-inspired terror plots:

‘Toronto 18′ member pleads guilty
New York imam held in al Qaeda bomb plot probe
Life for liquid bomb airline plotters

But the real threat in our midst? Christian Fundamentalist Terrorism.

On that note, one puffed-up Canadian writer recently described the fundamentalist movement that chills so many hyperbolic pundits above the 49th parallel:

Me? The only thing that really scares me is them. That is, the only thing that really terrifies me is the possibility of these right-wing Christian conservative blow-hard homophobes one day actually taking over America. It may seem unlikely now, but seeing that their numbers continue to grow almost as fast as their minds continue to close, it is, sadly, a distinct possibility.

Huh?

Oh, I’m not disputing that the newsworthy cases (because they are so rare) of Christians who commit murder and other violence against innocents in the pursuit of political change are terrorists (although I’m not convinced that the lone nuts cited in the Huffington Post article above had any particular political aims). But are we really so blind as a society that we cannot distinguish qualitatively different phenomena?

We are given the example of a guy who walks into a church and starts shooting randomly in order to target, in his words, liberals and gays (which may seem like an odd place to carry out his goals, for those who assume that anyone who attends church is automatically a conservative, religious fundamentalist homophobe). Even if this is terrorism — and it’s not clear that this qualifies — it is simply not a threat on the scale of blowing up large buildings in metropolitan areas, or destroying airliners, or slamming said airliners into large buildings in metropolitan areas.

“But what about the Oklahoma City bombing?”, the tattered argument goes. Surely, this proves Christians in North America are a fifth column of dangerous religious fanaticism? Except that Timothy McVeigh wasn’t a religious fundamentalist. Gun nut, check. Enemy of the US government, check. Christian radical? Not so much:

McVeigh professed his belief in “a God”, although he said he had “sort of lost touch with” Catholicism and “I never really picked it up, however I do maintain core beliefs.” The Guardian reported that McVeigh wrote a letter claiming to be an agnostic. McVeigh at one time said that he believed the universe was guided by natural law, energized by some universal higher power that showed each person right from wrong if they paid attention to what was going on inside them. He had also said, “Science is my religion.”

Three quarters of America’s 300 million people are Christian. When you’ve got numbers that large, you’re going to see some scary ambassadors of the faith emerge. We mainly make fun of their views and behavior, rather than locking them up. But given the numbers, if Christian fundamentalists were really as violent as some pundits make out, we’d be seeing terrorist attacks from coast to coast every hour of the day.

Meanwhile, Al Queda-inspired groups have been using Islam as a recruiting tool in the USA for years, if not decades. In the USA, the population of self-declared Muslims is suggested to be 2.35 million, or 0.6 per cent of the population — a far smaller recruiting pool than accessible to a would-be Christian terrorist with a bomb and a grudge against the ZOG authorities. Yet we’ve already seen an ever-increasing list of foiled Al Queda-inspired plots planned on American soil. This, despite a climate of suspicion and vigilance in America that has presumably deterred a significant number of plotters who decided they’d probably get caught before the scheme went very far.

This is not another misguided argument that the Christian religion is inherently more peaceful than Islam, or that Muslims are inherently prone to violence. It isn’t and they aren’t. It’s not an alarmist screed about terrorism, either, since the chances of dying in a terrorist attack are close to zero. But so long as there are real terrorists plotting and scheming in our cities and suburbs, we might as well be realistic about which kind of radical fundamentalism is the real breeding ground for potentially devastating politically-motivated violence on our own soil.

Vancouver blogger Jonathon Narvey writes about current affairs, politics, media trends and life on Canada's West Coast

Religious Extremists in America

Reply from the Mayor

2009-09-23T07:39:00.000-07:00

Well, I was absolutely honoured that our Mayor took time out from his busy schedule of driving this city into financial oblivion to tweet me:

FreeTorontoNow RT from @ mayormiller um, so private sector consultants and auditors mess up, the city catches them, and its our fault? Get a grip.

The issue is that the mayor LIED to this city's taxpayers about the level of the liability to al-CUPE, and in fact, I am not the only one highlighting this:
Miller's big fib

National Post

Re: $200M Is More Than An 'Error,' Kelly McParland, Sept. 22.

While there is a certain charm to your reporter stating that Mayor David Miller misled Toronto citizens over the sick day liability, the truth of the matter is that he lied.

We deserve a grovelling apology and a resignation; I doubt either will be forthcoming.

Nicholas Brooks, Toronto
I second the motion from Mr. Brooks and submit that if the Mayor had any backbone he would resign now. This is yet another chapter in the book on how broken the Toronto Municipal government is. Royson James at the star had a recent article on it. City Council needs to be purged as it is killing this city.

Shades of the CHRC - Thought Police

2009-09-23T07:38:00.001-07:00

Shades of the CHRC - Thought Police

Lorne Gunter: Keep the state out of our bed and breakfasts - Full Comment

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Lorne Gunter: Keep the state out of our bed and breakfasts

Posted: September 23, 2009, 8:30 AM by Chris Selley

Lorne Gunter

One morning last March, a guest at Ben and Sharon Vogelenzang's small Bounty House hotel near Liverpool, England, came down to breakfast wearing a hijab. This surprised the Vogelenzangs, since the woman, who was receiving treatment at a nearby hospital, had been with them several days and had not before worn the traditional headscarf of Muslim women.

A debate ensued among the trio during which the guest allegedly insisted Jesus was just a minor prophet, to which Mr. Vogelenzang is alleged to have responded that Mohammad was a warlord. The guest's complaint to police also claims Mrs. Vogelenzang described the hijab as a form of bondage.

Police questioned the Vogelenzangs in April and again in July. Following this second visit, they charged the couple with using "threatening, abusive or insulting words" which were "religiously aggravated."

They are to stand trial in December and if convicted will have criminal records and could face fines of up to $2,500 each.

The Vogelenzangs claim already to have lost their business as a result of the clash. The hospital at which the woman was being treated had referred her and many other guests to the Bounty House. But after the hospital learned of the woman's complaint, they stopped recommending the guest house. Bookings dropped by 80% and the couple say they have had to sell.

They have apparently lost their livelihood and face criminal charges for sticking up for their beliefs. In a free country, such consequences are unbelievable.

But political correctness, backed by human rights commissions and hate-crime laws, have given crusading bureaucrats, activist special interest groups and aggressive minorities powerful weapons to use against those they accuse of offending them -- in this case, a middle-aged couple with a large bed and breakfast.

It is probably bad business to argue with customers over faith (although the Vogelenzangs insist they never aggressively pushed their points, but merely countered claims they believed were fallacious). And

entrepreneurs who engage in behaviours likely to give offence to customers can expect to lose some clientele.

I once met a Jewish baker from London, Ont., who was so opposed to Islam that he made it a habit to tell Muslims customers he thought their faith was a sham. Most Muslims stopped frequenting his shop (although a few came more often for the lively exchanges). He knew this practice would cost him business, but he was prepared to suffer the consequences of his convictions.

But would my baker acquaintance have done the same had he known the whole weight of state-enforced political correctness could have been brought down around his head?

The Vogelenzangs are twice victims of the machinery of the state, once through the charges laid against them for exercising their free speech and the second time for losing the referrals of a state-funded hospital and through that losing their business.

Unlike the London baker who lost customers one at a time as they themselves exercised their own right to conduct business with whomever they chose, the Vogelenzangs lost four-fifths of their business overnight because public hospital administrators decided to punish them economically for their political incorrectness. Would these same administrators have withheld referrals to Muslims hoteliers who similarly defended their faith with guests? It's hard to know, but it seems unlikely.

Muslims routinely demonstrate in Britain while displaying the most heinous placards urging death on anyone who defames their religion or prophet and are never charged with offending mainstream British society.

Government has no right, none at all, to regulate what free people may say to one another about faith, politics or other beliefs. There are personal consequences for what we say and those should be the limits of what any of us has to endure.

Yet agents of the modern state believe themselves empowered to regulate free speech all the time, in Canada every bit as much as Britain.

In Saskatchewan, human rights apparatchiks have ruled parts of the Bible are hate speech. In Alberta, a pastor has been ordered to apologize for expressing views against homosexuality and ordered by the Alberta Human Rights Commission never to utter those views in public again.

If ordinary citizens don't demand of their politicians that they disband the political correctness inquisitions, there will soon be Canadian versions of the Vogelenzangs -- people who are criminally charged for stating their beliefs.

National Post
lgunter@shaw.ca

$200m is more than an 'error' - Miller is the error

2009-09-22T06:13:00.001-07:00

I believe that the mayor needs to go back to school to learn the difference between 450 million and 250 million. At this point the mayor should also resign from office for a magnitude of this lie. I wonder how much the union paid off Osama bin Miller to stay 'mum' on this difference. Where is Miller going to get the money? Here's the solution: He resigns right now. The entire contract that was negotiated becomes null and void and all city employees go onto a disability insurance plan. Kill the complete sick-day program. Do it now.

From today's National Post.

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

$200m is more than an 'error'

Kelly McParland, National Post

Peter J. Thompson/National Post

Even in the daffy world of municipal politics, where satire is difficult because it seldom lives up to the reality, there is the occasional event that makes you rub your eyes and wonder if you're seeing straight.

Such is the news that the sum Toronto owes its workers for sick days they don't need is $450-million, not the $250-million originally believed.

You will recall the issue of sick days. It was the central area of dispute in the strike that dragged on for five weeks this summer, producing mounds of uncollected garbage and neighbourhoods full of cranky Torontonians upset at closed pools and shuttered daycares.

Public opinion sided heavily against the strikers, especially after people learned that the city's unionized workers get 18 sick days a year and can save up the unused ones until they retire, collecting a fat payoff. Mayor David Miller insisted the city could no longer afford such generosity, repeatedly citing the heavy cost in justifying the city's refusal to cave to the strikers.

Eventually the city did cave, letting the workers keep their sick leave (or get bought out), but eliminating it for new hires.

Now it turns out the sum is far higher than Mr. Miller admitted, even though he knew the real figure well before the strike.

The 2008 audited consolidated financial statements for the city reveals the higher figure, adding: "This error was discovered in advance of labour negotiations and staff were using the most current information during bargaining and the reporting of results."

But as the Post's Peter Kuitenbrouwer, who dug up the figures, notes: They didn't tell city council or reveal it during the strike, and Mr. Miller kept using the $250-million figure even though he knew the total was $450-million.

The city's chief financial officer blamed the discrepancy on a software error. A spokesman for David Miller says the Mayor kept mum on the gap because "the city didn't want to focus on just one aspect of the audited financial statements."

"The decision was made not to release financial results on a piecemeal basis," spokesman Stuart Green told the Toronto Star.

A software error? Worth $200-million? If that's an error, pal, what's a meltdown? Rogers bought SkyDome for about a fifth of that glitch.

It's $10-million more than Toronto got in stimulus money from Ottawa, for help on 500 infrastructure projects.

Nice error.

The justification from the Mayor's office is even more ludicrous: You're in the middle of a citywide strike; people are up in arms over the sick-leave benefit; the Mayor knows the cost of the benefit is $450-million but keeps pretending it's $250-million, and this is to avoid giving out figures piecemeal?

Well, the $250-million was the only figure dangled, so that's already piecemeal, isn't it?

How is $450-million piecemeal but $250-million isn't?

The Mayor, it is pretty clear, misled the people of Toronto, and it's hard not to conclude he did it deliberately.

"The Mayor made it the most high-profile issue of the strike. The city in the end wound up capitulating on it," says Councillor John Parker, who is a member of the city's audit committee.

"Now we find out that he wasn't coming clean with the magnitude of that liability. He was sitting with that knowledge all the way through," Mr. Parker says.

"There is one heck of a lot of spinning going on in this buildng and you're left wondering if you can believe anything that you're told. It begins to erode the confidence that people can have in their government."

Why would Mr. Miller pull such a stunt? Good question. Perhaps he was anxious about permanently alienating his friends in organized labour. They already considered him a turncoat for opposing their demands.

Turning up the heat might have produced a permanent rupture, costing Mr. Miller the campaign support he relies on to get elected.

Maybe he knew the real figure would reduce his ability to compromise in the end. Torontonians are plenty upset that Mr. Miller gave in on the $250-million. If they'd known the real figure, the strike might still be on.

In any event, it suggests a degree of dishonesty in the Mayor that puts him in a new light.

This is clearly not a man people in Toronto can trust to tell the truth.

Good intentions are one thing. Basic honesty is another.

Tory waste-water policy will punish taxpayers: cities

2009-09-21T07:53:00.000-07:00

From the National Post.

So, let's see. These same municipalities, like Toronto, are willing to spend money placating al-CUPE terrorists by paying them salaries and benefits way out of whack with what the normal rate in the private sector is, yet they don't have enough of our money (as that's where it comes from - you and me!) to actually provide clean drinking water. But, his blondeness, the soon to be unemployed David Miller, doesn't want to allow people in the city to have bottled water, because the water here is SOOOOO good. Have a look at the picture below Dave, the water ain't so great. If you hadn't buckled to your al-CUPE brethren, we might be able to drink the water. Unfortunately, I think you've been drinking too much of the Kool-Aid...

Tory waste-water policy will punish taxpayers: cities

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Tory waste-water policy will punish taxpayers: cities

Mike De Souza, Canwest News Service

Tyler Anderson/National Post

OTTAWA -- The Harper government's plan to clean up waste-water infrastructure could have a "destructive impact" on cities, leading to major property tax hikes and service cuts that could jeopardize Canada's economic recovery, this country's municipalities are warning.

In a scathing letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, obtained by Canwest News Service, the president of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities wrote that he was "deeply concerned" about the lack of funding for proposed federal standards on water pollution that are expected this fall. The cities estimate they would need $12-billion over the next 20 years to meet the new regulations.

"In the absence of a sustainable national funding plan, paying for these regulations will fall on the backs of property-tax payers," wrote Basil Stewart, mayor of Summerside, P.E.I., in the letter, sent Friday. "This is off-loading, pure and simple."

Internal documents released last year by Environment Canada said that pollution from waste-water systems in communities across the country were putting human and environmental health at risk. The federal department estimated the municipalities would need at least $10-billion to $20-billion in investments over the next two decades to clean up the facilities with a long-term funding plan to reduce pollution.

Municipalities have maintained this only represents a fraction of an estimated $123-billion required to bring all infrastructure, including roads, public transit and waste-management facilities, up to acceptable levels. Mr. Stewart suggested that part of this shortfall is a direct result of choices made by previous governments to balance their books.

"It is reminiscent of the 1990s, when federal, provincial and territorial governments pushed deficits off of their balance sheets and into local streets, fuelling growth in the $123-billion municipal infrastructure deficit," he wrote. "Without a national funding plan, the new standards will add at least 10 per cent to that figure with the stroke of a pen."

Several ministers in the Harper government, including Environment Minister Jim Prentice, have touted its existing infrastructure funding, including the Building Canada Fund, to respond to the needs of municipalities. But Mr. Stewart said there is simply not enough money left to cover waste-water planning, since much of the funding has already gone toward a wide range of projects.

"The fund has neither the focus, nor the money to underwrite a multi-billion dollar overhaul of the nation's waste water facilities," said the letter.

The municipalities have also noted recent studies by research groups such as the Conference Board of Canada, as well as the Federal Competition Policy Review Panel, which warned that the rising infrastructure deficit is damaging Canada's productivity and quality of life.

"Canadians have seen the destructive impact of off-loading where they live and work -- they don't want to go back," wrote Mr. Stewart. "As we emerge from the global recession, and confront a new wave of federal deficits, they want to hear that the federal government will not rely on off-loading to pay for national waste-water standards or other national objectives."

Mr. Stewart said the solution is to develop a national plan that requires all levels of government to share the costs of upgrades to waste-water infrastructure.

"Canadians understand that off-loading is no way to protect our environment, build our communities, or strengthen our economy," he wrote. "We have been there and it does not work. Let's not go back."

Mayors and city officials said they were also concerned about being forced to raise property taxes since they are not tied to income and can penalize lower-income households versus wealthier Canadians.

Charles Pender, the mayor of Corner Brook, N.L., said his own town of about 20,000 people could be forced to increase taxes by as much as 30% and cut other services if it does not get new funding to cover between $50-million to $65-million in construction costs.

He's also concerned the federal government will impose fines or penalties for the communities that are not able to meet the standards.

"You can't bankrupt communities, big or small, across the country in order to satisfy regulations that the federal government is imposing upon us, without providing at the same time the funding by which we could actually meet the regulations," Mr. Pender said. "It just doesn't make any sense."

On Vancouver Island, municipalities have estimated they need to spend more than $1.2-billion to make upgrades required to meet new federal regulations, which would result in a property-tax hike between $200 to $700 per household even with a fund-sharing arrangement requiring each level of government to contribute one-third of the costs. Without any cost sharing, the municipalities estimate the tax bill could rise by more than $2,000.

"It is an onerous way to fund these types of initiatives," said Judy Brownoff, a councillor for the municipality of Saanich, B.C. "It could [take away] any opportunity for communities to provide other capital improvements for years to come."

Transportation Minister John Baird has said his focus is on getting billions of dollars worth of federal stimulus money out the door for infrastructure projects to stimulate the economy. Government officials have said they are prepared to look at other requests for funding at the end of the existing round of spending.

An interesting post on How to Fix City Hall...

2009-09-09T10:04:00.001-07:00

Comment: David Miller has broken city hall, here's how to fix it
Posted: August 28, 2009, 4:26 PM by Rob Roberts

Comment by John Mraz

In last week?s New Yorker, Hendrik Hertzberg detailed California?s ungovernability. It seems the Golden State is bogged down by an unwieldy constitution and a paralyzed legislature. Special interest groups run amok, free to manipulate the legislative agenda to their own ends. Aghast at the state of their state, a coalition of unlikely allies ? from left to right, from green to greedy ? have banded together to end the impasse. Apparently inspired by Thomas Jefferson, they seek to ?nullify [their] government and institute a new one? by referenda. Simply, they want to start from scratch.

The dysfunction of California sounds eerily familiar. Toronto?s city council similarly fails to deliver, mired in a poisonous, broken political environment. Say what you might about Mel Lastman, on his watch -- for better or worse -- things did get done. Importantly, there was much less partisan alienation and thuggery. These days, Mayor David Miller is reported to not even publicly acknowledge some councillors at city hall. By comparison, socialista Olivia Chow once worked for right-of-centre Lastman as the City?s Child and Youth Advocate.

As a citizen, I have absolutely no idea what Miller?s actual plan for my town is. I?ve heard him articulate a vision of cleaning up city hall and building a green, prosperous gem on an airport-free lake, but I?ve never seen him act on the rhetoric. He and his gang bounce from bike lanes to plastic bag taxes to car registration taxes to strike negotiations in a single week. What I have discerned is a decrease in the quality and quantity of services, and a significant draw on my wallet.

So why the increased costs and diminished results? Most city hall veterans and pundits point to three principal crises.

First and foremost, city council is too large, and quietly polarized along unofficial party lines. Loose coalitions of councillors lacking any cohesive vision for the city play a daily game of attack, maraud and suppress. Deals are made behind closed doors and votes exchanged to the benefit of councillors? local interests. A functioning council must either enforce absolute partisan neutrality (impossible), or institute a functional party system like Montreal or Vancouver. And 22 councillors (about half the current total) should be more than enough, thank you very much.

Secondly, the city lacks senior, experienced, non-partisan civil servants who know how to complete a project. In 2008, Toronto Life reported the loss of many of Toronto?s most effective senior managers, going so far as to call our city corporation ?the McDonald?s of municipal governance.? It seems that the city?s best mandarins found current working conditions impossible, so entry-level applicants now rule the roost. Such grey owls are not likely to return until the explosive political environment is defused.

Thirdly, Toronto needs a mayor who is capable of building consensus in council to ensure efficient provision of services. David Miller has proven he cannot. He has, however, demonstrated a real ability to suck new money out of other governmental coffers ? while he raises and invents taxes every year. As long as council remains systemically broken, and the bureaucracy diminished, few qualified mayoral candidates will rise to the occasion and take this city on their back.

Perhaps we should take a page out of the Californian experience. Maybe, by petition and referendum, we should force the dissolution of our current city government and create a new system from scratch. The advantages of incumbency our current councillors enjoy would be neutralized. The civil service could be revitalized. Special interest groups -- from some unscrupulous unions to a host of preferred vendors -- would be forced to compete in open tenders for the right to serve our city. Nepotism and corruption might be curtailed.

Toronto has little time to lose. By referendum or not, we need a new mayor and a new municipal government, before the current cabal bankrupts us all.

? John Mraz is an international political consultant.

DEMAND ACTION: Fire UN Officials Refusing to Teach the Holocaust in Gaza | Simon Wiesenthal Center

2009-09-03T09:45:00.000-07:00

DEMAND ACTION: Fire UN Officials Refusing to Teach the Holocaust in Gaza | Simon Wiesenthal Center

Text of a petition letter to UN Secretary General.

Dear Secretary General Ban:

When senior UN officials in Gaza sound like spokesmen for Hamas … when they deny that the Nazi Holocaust "is a human rights issue"… when they empower those who call the Shoah "a lie"… it's time for action.

As you have noted, the Holocaust - the most profound example of man’s inhumanity to man in history - is universally accepted as the heart and soul of any human rights agenda. But even as the world gathered in Poland to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the start of World War II, in which fifty million human beings lost their lives, officials of the UN’s Relief Works Agency in Gaza were unilaterally deciding to eradicate any references to WWII’s Nazi Holocaust. Karen Abu Zayd, the Commissioner-General of UNRWA, sounded very much like a Hamas official when she said at a press conference, “I can refute allegations that the UN school curriculum includes anything about the Holocaust … we focus on human rights in curriculum … and the murder of six million Jews and five million other undesirables…is not a human rights issue.” And John Ging, UNRWA’s Gaza Director of Operations, mocked UN policy when he declared, “There is no intention to integrate materials and topics [on the Holocaust] that are inconsistent with the desire of Palestinian society.”

I join the Simon Wiesenthal Center in urging you to fire Abu Zayd and Ging and move to implement the UN's Holocaust curriculum in all UNRWA schools. The role of UNRWA must be to help set the stage for peace and reconciliation between Palestinians and Israelis, not as agents for the agenda of terrorist groups. I am also urging my government to suspend funding for UNRWA in Gaza untill this situation is rectified.

More Double-Speak out of Iran

2009-08-25T11:06:00.000-07:00

Courtesy of the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI)

Iranian Daily Papers: The Palestinians Must Not Accept Anything Less Than Israel's Annihilation

And Obama is going to try and negotiate with these people? Sure he will....

Toronto 18 convict pleads for second chance

2009-08-25T11:02:00.001-07:00

Sure...He can have his second chance in Pakistan. Easy decision for the judge. Treason and terrorism were committed, therefore sentence to prison and upon time served, revoke citizenship and deport, with name entered on no-fly list.

Good riddance.

Toronto 18 convict pleads for second chance

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Ottawa set to approve Toronto island tunnel cash

2009-08-25T10:48:00.001-07:00

What a great idea! Imagine someone actually doing their job to get this funding - unlike the morons at City Council, who pissed away their time on projects that weren't eligible!

A fixed link to Toronto Island, will not only help support competition in the airline industry, but it will help make more of the Toronto Waterfront accessible to the public - you know - the taxpayers!

Ottawa set to approve Toronto island tunnel cash

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Try Khadr Now in Absentia for Treason

2009-08-25T10:24:00.001-07:00

How much time and energy have we wasted on this terrorist and traitor to Canada?

He was caught fighting against Canada and her allies, therefore, he took up arms against the Queen and Canada. There is no doubt that he is a traitor!

It is unfortunate that we do not have the death penalty still for treason in this country. We should try Omar Khadr in absentia on charges of treason, revoke his citizenship and leave him to the US for prosecution of whatever charges they wish.

If we carry it to the logical extension, the entire Khadr family should be brought up on charges of treason and removed from this country, but I guess that is wishful thinking...After all, if they hate Canada so much, why wouldn't they just pick up and head back to Pakistan? I am sure they can get all the Shariah law they want there...

http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=1925677

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'Honour Killing' = Terrorism

2009-08-25T10:12:00.000-07:00

Well it is refreshing to see that others have come to the realisation that 'Honour killing' is terrorism. In fact, there is absolutely no 'Honour' in killing in cold blood one's daughter, wife, sister, cousin, etc.

Those wishing to come to Canada, to become Canadians, and to enjoy all the rights and responsibilities of the freedom that we enjoy, need to leave their cultural baggage, and archaic sentiment at the port of entry. In this country human rights apply to EVERYONE, regardless of sex, religion, or race.

The sooner 'new Canadians' realise this, the sooner they can become Canadians.

From the Toronto Sun:

'Honour killing' is terrorism
By James Morton

Steven Hazel wanted to end his marriage.

He increased the life insurance on his wife and removed his prize possessions from the family home. Hazel then murdered his wife and tried to hide the murder by burning down the family home in southwestern Ontario with his wife's body inside.

This is a terrible story about violence and greed -- but Hazel's violence was directed at his wife only and he had no plans to intimidate others by his cruel deed.

Compare the Hazel case to the dreadful actions of Hasibullah Sadiqi who murdered his sister Khatera and her fiance Feroz Mangal in the Ottawa area because Khatera moved in with Feroz before getting married.

According to the Crown at Sadiqi's trial, the killing was committed for the purpose of "restoring the family's reputation and respect in the Afghan community."

Sadiqi presents a typical "honour" killing; a killing, usually of a woman, committed because she has breached some sexual code of conduct, say, by dating a man of a different religion or race.

In an honour killing the murder is committed for the purpose of enforcing the sexual code of conduct and warning others who might be tempted to breach that code of the fate that may befall them.

At first blush there's no difference between an honour killing and any other murder. If a woman is killed for insurance money or for honour, she's still dead.

But on closer analysis there is a difference and an important one.

Killing a spouse for insurance is brutal and monstrous but it is an act only focused on the deceased.

But honour killing kills the deceased and threatens others. An honour killing uses violence as theatre to intimidate others. It stands to enforce a sexual code of conduct by violence and threats.

An honour killing is part of an organized effort to subjugate women to a specific and oppressive view of society. Although the total number of honour killings in Canada is still relatively small, probably less than 50 in total to date, the impact on the community as a whole is huge. When compared to a worldwide figure of perhaps 5,000 honour killing a year the implied threat is heightened.

But numbers alone do not tell the story. Even at its height, the number of lynchings in the American South was fairly small (probably less than 100 a year) but the intimidation huge. Southern blacks knew the danger of speaking up for their rights; with honour killings, women can see the risk of behaving outside their place.

Under Canadian law, terrorism includes an act taken for political, religious or ideological purposes which threatens the public or national security by killing, seriously harming or endangering a person. Terrorism is violence designed to intimidate for an ideological purpose.

That's what an honour killing is -- violence intended to subjugate and intimidate women.

In the United Kingdom ,the Crown Prosecution Service has found links between honour killings and terrorism.

Nazir Afzal, the CPS's spokesperson on honour crime, said a terror group threatened to kill a woman, now in hiding, for her sexual behaviour.

"They told her husband that if he didn't put his wife in her place then they would do it themselves," Afzal said.

In just the same way the Ku Klux Klan used violence to enforce white supremacy in the southern United States honour killings seek to keep women as second-class citizens unable to choose how to live their lives.

Let's call honour killing what it really is.

Call it terrorism.

Shades of Taliban Jack Layton

2009-08-25T08:58:00.001-07:00

Comment from Jonathan Kay of the National Post on an article in the Socialist Worker about socialism's support for the Taliban. I guess that these morons, like Canada's own (unfortunately) Taliban Jack Layton, don't understand that Jihadists would rather cut their throats than discuss anything with them. That any non-Wahabist Muslim or non-Muslim is NOT ACCEPTABLE to the Jihadist. Definitely worth a read.

The socialists in question should shake their collective heads with a view to driving some sense, and possibly reality, into them.

Well, finally a socialist had the nerve to come out and say it: Lets all root for the Taliban

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Failing to learn the Lockerbie lesson

2009-08-25T07:19:00.001-07:00

An excellent article by Laura Rosen Cohen in the National Post on the release of the Lockerbie bomber. Unfortunately the Scots lacked the fortitude to continue the fight to ensure justice prevailed. What mercy did al-Meghrahi show the victims of the bombing? What further pain and trauma is the Scottish Government causing the families of the victims? Where is their mercy?

Laura Rosen Cohen: Failing to learn the Lockerbie lesson

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The comment on the article also was extremely apt:

by Jane1
Aug 24 2009
11:44 PM

Ms. Cohen - this is an excellent, and honest article. You said:

"What case can be made for a society that annuls the value of its own citizensâ€™ life and enables their murderers to live freely?

Truer words have never been spoken. Throughout the West, non-Muslims and Secular Muslims are continually attacked - beaten, raped or murdered by individuals with the mindset of the Lockerbie bomber. All adhere to Islamic Supremacist Ideology.

All of these attacks, including Lockerbie, are part of Jihad against the West. Yet, western politicians turn a blind eye, or make excuses for this despicable behavior, and continue to fund our enemies at home and abroad. Government betrayal of the West is unforgiveable. In my opinion, individuals, including politicians, who betray their country, in favor of our enemies, should be criminally prosecuted, and serve lengthy jail sentences.

Yes Ms. Cohen - we need to pay attention to this lesson, and all of the other examples. We need to find politicians who have the morals and courage to defend the West from thugs who share al-Megrahi's mindset. Islamic Supremacists are allowed to move freely within Western society; reap our benefits; while plotting our demise; openly preach or disseminate material that calls for our destruction; and recruit individuals to be trained for Jihad. The West is on a suicide mission, and unless we wake up out of our stupor immediately - we will lose this War.

Bacongo de Luanda - for someone who attests to knowing more history than Ms. Cohen - you obviously don't know much about the history of Islam. Islamic Supremacists will still be waging Jihad - if we aren't in their territories; if Israel doesn't exist; or any other dumb excuses that people like you offer for their intolerable behavior.

Absolutely nothing, will ever satisfy Islamic Supremacists. That has been proven time and time again throughout the ages, up to the 21st century. They are a greedy lot, and want everything and everyone to adhere to their Supremacist Ideology. It is their "religious" duty to wage Jihad against the Infidel (including Secular Muslims). They have be waging Jihad ever since Mohammed's time, and won't stop until they have everything under their control - OR - until we harshly, and permanently stop them from being capable of waging Jihad.

Persian history is a perfect example of the harm caused by Islamic Supremacist Ideology. Persia was an enlightened, advanced, and progressive society for its time - until Jihad was waged against them, and Islam was imposed by the sword. Since that time, Persia has never been the same, and hasn't managed to rise above the darkness associated with Islamic Supremacist Ideology. Bright and beautiful people will never see the light, or enjoy freedom, until they manage to forever rid themselves of the hard-line religious shackles that imprison them.

Is Persia's fate what you want for the West?

Take a long hard look at Europe - in particular England and France. Islamic Supremacists are winning, with the assistance of dhimmi politicians, and leftist enablers who turn a blind eye or make excuses for their rotten behavior.

In the not too distant future - England - the root of our democracy, and France - the country that fought the French Revolution to rid themselves of the shackles of the Royals - will both fall to Islam. They will be just as oppressed as the citizens in Iran. Predictions vary as to the time frame of their fall - some say 15 years, others 50. My research indicates the fall will likely occur within the next 10 years. Who could have possibly imagined that England - the home of the Magna Carta and France - the home of Voltaire - would willingly succumb to 7th century Islamic Supremacist Ideology?

Yes Ms. Cohen - the Lockerbie release is an extremely important lesson. But is it just one example of thousands, upon thousands, where the West willingly caved to our enemies. The next generation won't have a future worth living in - unless we stop the insanity - today!

Danger Room in Afghanistan: Hansel and Gretel vs. Roadside Bombs

2009-08-24T10:21:00.001-07:00

Danger Room in Afghanistan: Hansel and Gretel vs. Roadside Bombs

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al-CUPE Continues to Wage Biological War on the Citizens of Toronto

2009-08-13T09:29:00.000-07:00

An article from the Globe and Mail talking about how al-CUPE and Osama bin Miller continue to wage a biological war of terrorism on Toronto Citizens. May a plague be upon their houses!

The invasion of the fruit flies

Following the end of the garbage strike, kitchens across Toronto have been taken over by the quick-breeding bugs

Jill Colvin

From Wednesday's Globe and Mail Last updated on Thursday, Aug. 13, 2009 03:02AM EDT

When Rami Posner comes down to his Toronto kitchen in the morning and nudges the toaster or an unwashed plate, he awakens the sleeping masses: hundreds of fruit flies that begin to swirl and buzz.

“It's unbelievable,” he said, disgusted by the number of flies that now join him for breakfast and have made his family's home their own. “This year it's extraordinary.”

Back in the summer of 2001, clouds of aphids swarmed the city. Now, it seems, it's the fruit flies' turn.

Pest control experts say the city workers strike is to blame for the fruit fly boom.

Mitch Trimble, a research scientist with Agriculture and Agri-food Canada said that torn garbage bags full of decomposing organic material are the perfect breeding ground for the flies, who lay their eggs in rotting food.

But once the strike ended, he said, these new armies went on a mission to find new places to breed.

Their search has ended in kitchens, backyard composts, and gardens throughout the city.

Canadian Tire stores across Toronto are sold out of fruit fly traps as residents complain of an invasion. Some Torontonians, like Mr. Posner, have seen hundreds of the spec-sized bugs buzzing around their garbage cans, living rooms, and vegetable gardens.

Allan Colacci, a sales associate at the Canadian Tire at Lawrence and the Allen Expressway, said he has seen a huge increase in the number of customers complaining about fruit flies.

One woman in search of traps said she was having trouble reading because of all the buzzing. A man complained of hundreds swarming out of his sewer drains, flying “all over the place and driving him crazy.”

The store, like others across the city, is sold out of both fruit fly traps and recommended sprays.

Advantage Pest Control president Art Bossio said he began noticing an increase in the number of fruit fly complaints several weeks ago.

While call volume usually increases in the summer and early fall when residents are bringing more ripe fruits and vegetables into their homes, Mr. Bossio said he is now getting four to eight calls a week, versus one to two this time last year.

“There's more flies period,” he said, and “the only thing we could probably blame it on is the fermentation of fruits and foods in the garbage strike.”

While fruit flies may be a nuisance, health officials say residents have no reason to be concerned. The flies are harmless to humans.

“Fruit flies are not typically thought of as the type of flies that transmit disease,” said Howard Shapiro, associate medical officer of health at Toronto Public Health.

Hannah Fraser, entomologist for horticultural crops at the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said that people frequently consume fruit fly eggs without noticing because they're so tiny.

“It's nothing to panic about,” she said.

Still, the idea of eating maggots is less than appetizing.

Experts say that eliminating fruit flies begins with sanitation.

Ms. Fraser recommends tossing garbage and rotting food, refrigerating all perishables and disinfecting kitchen countertops.

But Mr. Posner said he's already tried all that. He keeps his kitchen clean and immediately washes the fruit he buys, wraps it in saran wrap, and puts it in the fridge.

He's also tried using home-made traps with red wine, honey and lemon juice as lures, but the flies just swarm around the bowl and never get trapped inside, he complained.

On Monday, Mr. Posner noticed that the flies had even begun to move upstairs, into his sons' bedrooms. “Enough is enough,” he said.

But at least one person is enjoying the Posners' new house guests: Isaiah, Mr. Posner's three-year-old son.

“He loves bugs,” Mr. Posner said. “He's fascinated by the whole thing.”

Why does the UCC think Israel is South Africa?

2009-08-13T08:44:00.000-07:00

An interesting article by Margaret Wente from the Globe and Mail. Really makes one wonder, with all the other despicable countries suppressing human rights (Sudan, Zimbabwe, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, etc.) why the loony United Church of Canada has decided that Israel (a country with free speech and democratic institutions) is their Boogeyman? As Wente illustrates, the analogy of 'Israel Apartheid' just doesn't hold water.

How Israel became South Africa

By Margaret Wente
From Thursday's Globe and Mail

Which evil regime finds itself in the crosshairs of Canada's largest church? Israel, of course

It's a bad old world out there. Tens of thousands are being raped in war-torn eastern Congo. In Sudan, a woman faces 40 lashes for daring to wear pants. The Iranians have brutally suppressed a peaceful uprising and shot protesters in the streets. The tyrants who run Burma have sentenced the brave Aung San Suu Kyi to more house arrest.

So which evil regime finds itself in the crosshairs of Canada's largest church? Israel, of course.

The United Church of Canada (which seems to be more interested in social justice than in God) is engaged in one of its periodic wrangles over Israel. Is Israel really, really bad, or just sort of bad? Should the church call for a boycott of Israeli universities or just stop buying Jaffa oranges? These questions are consuming a large portion of its general council meeting this week in Kelowna. To their credit, delegates have backed off from the most offensive stuff. They've decided not to refer to Israel as an “apartheid state.”

The United Church is just one of many institutions obsessed with tiny Israel. There's also the Presbyterian Church in the U.S., the Church of England, Britain's National Union of Journalists, Ireland's largest public-sector union, various British academic groups, and our own beloved CUPE, all of which have passed anti-Israel resolutions. Israel Apartheid Week is a tiresome staple of campus life. In Paris, activists invaded the retail chain Sephora to protest against the sale of Israeli face cream. In Wales, they rampaged through supermarkets and sprinkled Israeli melons with fake blood. In Montreal, gay and lesbian activists promise that this weekend's Pride Parade will include a protest against Israel's “racist apartheid” policies. (Israel is the only country in the Middle East that believes in civil rights for homosexuals, an irony that seems to have eluded them.)

How did Israel become the new South Africa?

After the old South African regime collapsed, social justice seekers in the West needed a new cause – preferably one that extended the narrative of Western racism, occupation and colonialist oppression. After the Middle East peace talks broke down in 2000 (because of Palestinian rejectionism), the “apartheid” label picked up steam. Desmond Tutu, the South African archbishop and Nobel Peace Prize winner, gave the term his blessing in a series of articles he wrote condemning the Israeli occupation of the territories. Jimmy Carter wrote a book, Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid , in which he argued that some Israeli policies were even worse than South Africa's. The barrier built to stop the deadly flow of suicide bombers into Israel from the West Bank was nicknamed the Apartheid Wall.

But the analogy with South Africa is badly flawed. Under apartheid, non-white South Africans were denied the right to vote, to organize, to live where they wanted or to marry across racial lines. A small white minority ruled a large black underclass. They settled in South Africa not to escape persecution but to get rich.

In Israel, Israeli Arabs make up 20 per cent of the population, and are full citizens. The conflict is not racial. It is a national-religious struggle for land, not unlike many others around the world. There's another difference, too. As pundit Michael Kinsley put it, “If Israel is white South Africa and the Palestinians are supposed to be the blacks, where is their Mandela?”

Israel can be condemned for many things, including bad judgment, botched military campaigns, unnecessary harshness and occasional brutality. So can lots of other countries. But Israel is often characterized as uniquely awful – scarcely better than the Nazis who ran Hitler's Germany. And so, when someone like Naomi (No Logo) Klein says “Israel has been steadily escalating its criminality” and recommends a global boycott such as the one that brought an end to apartheid in South Africa, I feel like running to the store and buying all the Jaffa oranges I can get.

Terry Glavin: Poor Protestant bastards. Whos sorry now?

2009-08-13T07:45:00.001-07:00

Hilarious commentary by Terry Glavin at the National Post. Even funnier are the comments by some of the mentally deficient and paranoid below the main article...

Terry Glavin: Poor Protestant bastards. Whos sorry now?

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Paul Moist - al-CUPE Terrorist Boss Speaks

2009-08-13T07:27:00.001-07:00

Excellent comment on this article:

Welcome to Bizarro world, where you pay taxes to fund this jackass so he can write for a private company extolling the virtues of the public sector.

"Working people built Canada. They deserve a better shake than they have received in recent weeks."

Exactly. They need to be rid of the disgusting parasites such as you and your ilk.

Read this article with a metric tonne of salt, as it is written by an al-CUPE Terrorist. If (when) privatisation occurs, Moist and the rest of his terrorist ilk will be out of a job, living like leeches on the forced union dues (i.e. extortion money).

Paul Moist: Privatizing city services has never worked, and wont work in the future

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Israel question hangs over the air at United Church meeting

2009-08-13T07:08:00.001-07:00

Coverage of the United Church's most recent misguided foray into politics. Why would a church, who espouses equal rights and freedom want to condemn the only democracy in the area where people DO actually have freedom of religion, where Muslims, Jews, Christians and all other faiths can actively practice their religions without fear of state reprisal, where and where people of any sexual orientation can live openly?

Only one answer - The United Church are Jew Haters. Let's not call them anti-semites, let's actually call them what they are - JEW HATERS!

Israel question hangs over the air at United Church meeting

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Why do we support this?

2009-08-12T08:05:00.001-07:00

Why do we support this? What grounds do we have to enable these deserters? Let's see, so if you decide to make a commitment to serve VOLUNTARILY in your armed services of a democratic and free country, and then decide not to honour that contract, you just run away and claim 'refugee status'.

Canada MUST not tolerate this. These person (and indeed all of those not wishing to serve in Iraq, Afghanistan, etc.) have a choice. They can decide to leave the service. Here in in Canada it is called 'putting in for your release'. However, those deciding not to fulfill their contract (including the fine print) must fully expect to pay the financial costs of breaking the commitment. After all, in this case, Uncle Sam has invested in the training and development of this person, and the individual has agreed to serve in their capacity for a fixed period of time. I wonder if she read the fine print, that she was being TRAINED FOR WAR? Hello, that is what soldiers do - as incredulous as it may sound in leftist circles - SOLDIERS TRAIN FOR WAR! This is their job and when they are not fighting for war, they are training for war. So, if Kimberly Rivera didn't want to go to war, then she should have said, "No, I don't want to go, and I will either pay for the balance of my contract, or serve a prison sentence (for disobeying a lawful order). Instead, she chose to run. We should transport her to the border and hand her over to US officials today. This country has need for immigrants with far greater mettle than Ms. Rivera. When she serves her sentence or completes her service, then she is welcome to reapply to immigrate to Canada.

Female U. S. Army deserter granted stay
Canwest News Service
The first American female army deserter to seek refuge in Canada over a belief the U. S.-led war in Iraq is unjust has been granted a temporary stay in Canada. The Federal Court of Canada yesterday granted Kimberly Rivera, pictured, a new pre-removal risk assessment after Federal Court Judge James Russell ruled in favour of a review of her risk of punishment if she returns to the United States. The review could take as long as four months. Ms. Rivera lives in Toronto with her husband and three children. "I'm so happy. Like the other war resisters, I just want to stay in Canada," Ms. Rivera said.

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Finally, some good news on the al-CUPE front

2009-08-12T07:41:00.001-07:00

Finally, some good news on the al-CUPE front from the National Post's Howard Leavitt:

On another note, I have now been shown the actual revisions to the collective agreement negotiated between the City of Toronto and its unions; the two sides recently settled a lengthy strike. The option for employees to cash out their sick pay must be made prior to Nov. 18. As result, I am delighted to note, the unions will be unable to threaten to cash out that benefit at the next round of bargaining. Therefore, nothing is stopping the city from demanding this again next time.
Howard Levitt, counsel to Lang Michener LLP, practises employment law in eight provinces and is author of The Law of Dismissal for Human Resources Professionals. He can be reached at hlevitt@langmichener.ca

Let's, hope that the next mayor and council have the intestinal fortitude to end the al-CUPE terrorism and extortion once and for all.

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Garbage Overtime Bill Climbing

2009-08-12T07:10:00.001-07:00

Allison Hanes at the National Post has a good article on how yet again Osama bin Miller and his CUPE terrorists are screwing the Toronto Taxpayers with excessive overtime costs to clean up the mess they created!! Unbelievable!! Miller must go! CUPE must go! Privatise our trash collection services now! It is absolutely criminal that Miller and rest of the Council 'Brain Trust' allowed al-CUPE to dictate the terms of the clean-up.

That being said, yesterday was trash day, and when I left this morning, it had yet to be picked up! If we had a private garbage collector, we could impose performance clauses in the contract, which would ensure that the contractor provided the level of service we require or there would be a financial penalty. There is no such performance clause for al-CUPE and we are stuck paying a ridiculous fee in our taxes for an extremely low level of service. I would urge everyone to write their city councillor and let them know that we are pissed off with how this city is being run into the ground.

Garbage overtime bill climbing

'Clean-O-Rama'

Allison Hanes, National Post

Toronto's trash collectors will rack up even more overtime this week clearing away the detritus of their six-week strike, as residents began hauling their stockpiled garbage to the curb yesterday for a second-wave of pick-up.

But critics warn letting unionized workers who waged a 39-day work stoppage earn back some of their lost income only sets up Toronto for future labour disruptions unless trash is contracted out.

A first sweep of the city last week saw crews back from the picket lines accumulate some 900 hours of overtime, working up to 13 hours a day and completing their regular rounds on Saturday morning, said Rob Orpin, director of collections operations for Toronto's solid waste department.

Double the amount of garbage, recycling and organics was cleaned up last week, he said, and by all accounts just as much waste has been piled on the curb this go-round.

"It's been a clean-o-rama. There's been no holding back," Mr. Orpin said. "Today early reports from my staff is it's as heavy as it was last week."

Toronto is in the second week of a two-week cycle. Some households will be getting rid of garbage for the first time since the middle of June, while others will be putting out first loads of their recycling and organics in all that time. (Those putting out their blue bins this week would have had their grey rubbish bins emptied last week and vice versa). About 500 staff and 230 trucks are out removing garbage again this week, Mr. Orpin said.

Last week, 340 of those workers put in 900 hours of overtime doing curbside collection, which kicks in after 10 hours. Mr. Orpin did not have a dollar figure yesterday.

Geoff Rathbone, Toronto's general manager of solid waste, admitted last week that the overtime bill for 550 workers putting in 13-hour days to clean up 26 temporary dump sites over the August long weekend itself totalled $475,000.

Councillor Michael Thompson (Scarborough Centre) professed himself "extremely disappointed" that returning waste staff keep seeing payouts.

"We're getting doubly dinged again. We got a bad deal overall. And now we're actually continuing to have to pay. So at the end of the day the taxpayers have had to pay, pay, pay, pay in regards to this strike, to much chagrin and no real satisfaction," he said.

Councillor Doug Holyday (Etobicoke Centre) first suggested putting a moratorium on overtime early on in the strike, but his idea fell on deaf ears. "It's a big mistake to do it this way," he said yesterday. "It would be better to send the message to them that there's going to be no overtime for them after the strike and if they lose money on that picket line, it's gone. The louder and clearer that message, the shorter the strike as far as I'm concerned."

On July 31, the day the strike officially ended, Mark Ferguson, president of Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 416, which includes garbage collectors, called efforts to deprive returning staff of overtime pay "mean-spirited."

Mayor David Miller promised overtime would be "limited," but said Toronto would not delay the long-overdue clean-up of two dozen temporary dumps in parks and the collection of household waste.

Windsor, which endured a 101-day labour stoppage this year, made removing garbage during normal hours a condition of its back-to-work protocol.

"I guess the political will to take that action wasn't there [in Toronto]," Mr. Holyday said.

He also plans to ask the city's auditor-general next month to weigh the pros and cons of outsourcing garbage collection.

The Mayor dismissed such calls during the strike by pointing out that employees of private contractors also have unions and have gone on strike. He repeatedly stated that public services belong in the public realm.

But Mr. Holyday said that's not a fair comparison and the experience of neighbouring municipalities show removing garbage collection from the public realm keeps labour disruptions to a matter of days.

ahanes@nationalpost.com---------

By The Numbers

3,000 tonnes -- the average amount of garbage Toronto typically collects in a regular week.

6,200 tonnes -- the amount of garbage city workers hauled away last week, the first week since service resumed after a strike.

3,000 tonnes --the average amount of recycling picked up during a regular week.

5,800 tonnes -- the amount of recycling picked up last week.

2,000 tonnes --average amount of organics collected in a regular week in Toronto.

3,500 tonnes -- the amount of organics hauled away last week.

900 hours -- the number of overtime hours that will be billed.

$475,000 -- the amount of overtime paid out to 550 city workers for cleaning up 26 temporary dump sites Aug. 1, 2 and 3 in the days after the strike ended.

via nationalpost.com

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Privatise City Hall

2009-08-10T13:55:00.001-07:00

A great article by Lawrence Solomon in the Saturday National Post on the need to reduce the size of the City ~~welfare~~ work force, and to look at privatisation of Toronto's services. Another idea to put forward is the reduction in the number of City Councillors by half, but I'll save that for another post!

Lawrence Solomon: Privatize city hall

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Various Directions

2009-08-10T11:36:00.000-07:00

You may have noticed that I have begun interspersing different articles in-between the normal reporting on City Council. I just thought that I would add some variety to the blog, and hell, why not!

You may also notice that I have moved the blog over to Blogger from Wordpress. The new web address for Free Toronto is http://free-toronto.blogspot.com http://freetorontonow.blogspot.com. I did this for two three reasons. Firstly, I wanted to separate Free Toronto (now Free-Toronto FreeTorontoNow) from my normal blogging platform, as I want the ability to publish quickly and easily from wherever I am, and I was finding that Wordpress was just not that conducive to it. Secondly, I am going to insert some advertising into the blog, with a view to raising some funds to contribute to candidates that are running against David Miller and his cronies in the next election. Just call it my civic duty! I also find the ads that get generated by AdSense that correlate to the blog posts are usually hilarious! Thirdly, I have secured the Twitter account FreeTorontoNow so I can link the blog posts with twitter (OCD is horrible thing to live with!)

A German's View on Islam

2009-08-07T05:42:00.000-07:00

Another excellent e-mail that I found as I was cleaning out my inbox:

A German's View on Islam

This is by far the best explanation of the Muslim terrorist situation I have ever read. His references to past history are accurate and clear. Not long, easy to understand, and well worth the read. The author of this email is Paul E. Marek...

A German's View on Islam

A man, whose family was German aristocracy prior to World War II, owned a number of large industries and estates. When asked how many German people were true Nazis, the answer he gave can guide our attitude toward fanaticism.

"Very few people were true Nazis," he said, "but many enjoyed the return of German pride, and many more were too busy to care. I was one of those who just thought the Nazis were a bunch of fools. So, the majority just sat back and let it all happen." "Then, before we knew it, they owned us, and we had lost control, and the end of the world had come. My family lost everything. I ended up in a concentration camp and the Allies destroyed my factories."

We are told again and again by 'experts' and 'talking heads' that Islam is the religion of peace, and that the vast majority of Muslims just want to live in peace. Although this unqualified assertion may be true, it is entirely irrelevant. It is meaningless fluff, meant to make us feel better, and meant to somehow diminish the spectra of fanatics rampaging across the globe in the name of Islam.

The fact is that the fanatics rule Islam at this moment in history. It is the fanatics who march. It is the fanatics who wage any one of 50 shooting wars worldwide. It is the fanatics who systematically slaughter Christian or tribal groups throughout Africa and are gradually taking over the entire continent in an Islamic wave. It is the fanatics who bomb, behead, murder or honor-kill. It is the fanatics who take over mosque after mosque. It is the fanatics who zealously spread the stoning and hanging of rape victims and homosexuals. It is the fanatics who teach their young to kill and to become suicide bombers.

The hard quantifiable fact is that the peaceful majority, the 'silent majority', is cowed and extraneous. Communist Russia was comprised of Russians who just wanted to live in peace, yet the Russian Communists were responsible for the murder of about 20 million people. The peaceful majority were irrelevant. China's huge population was peaceful as well, but Chinese Communists managed to kill a staggering 70 million people. The average Japanese individual prior to World War II was not a war mongering sadist. Yet, Japan murdered and slaughtered its way across South East Asia in an orgy of killing that included the systematic murder of 12 million Chinese civilians, most killed by sword, shovel, and bayonet.

And who can forget Rwanda, which collapsed into butchery. Could it not be said that the majority of Rwandans were 'peace loving'?
History lessons are often incredibly simple and blunt, yet for all our powers of reason we often miss the most basic and uncomplicated of points:

Peace-loving Muslims have been made irrelevant by their silence.

Peace-loving Muslims will become our enemy if they don't speak up, because like my friend from Germany, they will awaken one day and find that the fanatics own them, and the end of their world will have begun.

Peace-loving Germans, Japanese, Chinese, Russians, Rwandans, Serbs, Afghans, Iraqis, Palestinians, Somalis, Nigerians, Algerians and many others have died because the peaceful majority did not speak up until it was too late.

As for us who watch it all unfold, we must pay attention to the only group that counts: the fanatics who threaten our way of life.

Lastly, anyone who doubts that the issue is serious and just deletes this email without sending it on is contributing to the passiveness that allows the problems to expand.

So, extend yourself a bit and send this on and on and on! Let us hope that thousands, world wide, read this and think about it, and send it on before it's too late. The first thing the fanatics will do to the silent majority is to disarm them.

Choosing the Chosen People by Interview on National Review Online

2009-08-07T05:29:00.000-07:00

Another article I found in my e-mail that was worth sharing.

Choosing the Chosen People by Interview on National Review Online

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Interesting Article on the Source of Obama's Anti-Israel Policy

2009-08-07T05:20:00.000-07:00

Just going through some e-mail and found that this was worth re-reading. Courtesy of Daniel Pipes Blog

Submitted by Bishop E W Jackson Sr (United States), Jun 29, 2009

THE SOURCE OF OBAMA'S ANTI-ISRAEL POLICY

BY E.W. Jackson Sr.

June 16, 2009

Like Obama, I am a graduate of Harvard Law School. I too have Muslims in my family. I am black, and I was once a leftist Democrat. Since our backgrounds are somewhat similar, I perceive something in Obama's policy toward Israel which people without that background may not see. All my life I have witnessed a strain of anti-Semitism in the black community. It has been fuelled by the rise of the Nation of Islam and Louis Farrakhan, but it predates that organization.

We heard it in Jesse Jackson's "HYMIE town" remark years ago during his presidential campaign. We heard it most recently in Jeremiah Wright's remark about "them Jews" not allowing Obama to speak with him. I hear it from my own Muslim family members who see the problem in the Middle East as a "Jew" problem.

Growing up in a small, predominantly black urban community in Pennsylvania, I heard the comments about Jewish shop owners. They were "greedy cheaters" who could not be trusted, according to my family and others in the neighborhood. I was too young to understand what it means to be Jewish, or know that I was hearing anti-Semitism. These people seemed nice enough to me, but others said they were "evil". Sadly, this bigotry has yet to be eradicated from the black community.

In Chicago, the anti-Jewish sentiment among black people is even more pronounced because of the direct influence of Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam. Most African Americans are not followers of "The Nation", but many have a quiet respect for its leader because, they say, "he speaks the truth" and "stands up for the black man". What they mean of course is that he viciously attacks the perceived "enemies" of the black community - white people and Jews. Even some self-described Christians buy into his demagoguery.

The question is whether Obama, given his Muslim roots and experience in Farrakhan's Chicago, shares this antipathy for Israel and Jewish people. Is there any evidence that he does? First, the President was taught for twenty years by a virulent anti-Semite, the Reverend Jeremiah Wright. In the black community it is called "sitting under". You don't merely attend a church, you "sit under" a Pastor to be taught and mentored by him. Obama "sat under" Wright for a very long time. He was comfortable enough with Farrakhan - Wright's friend - to attend and help organize his "Million Man March". I was on C-Span the morning of the march arguing that we must never legitimize a racist and anti-Semite, no matter what "good" he claims to be doing. Yet a future President was in the crowd giving Farrakhan his enthusiastic support.

The classic left wing view is that Israel is the oppressive occupier, and the Palestinians are Israel's victims. Obama is clearly sympathetic to this view. In speaking to the "Muslim World," he did not address the widespread Islamic hatred of Jews. Instead he attacked Israel over the growth of West Banksettlements. Surely he knows that settlements are not the crux of the problem. The absolute refusal of the Palestinians to accept Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state is the insurmountable obstacle. That's where the pressure needs to be placed, but this President sees it differently. He also made the preposterous comparison of the Holocaust to Palestinian "dislocation".

Obama clearly has Muslim sensibilities. He sees the world and Israel from a Muslim perspective. His construct of "The Muslim World" is unique in modern diplomacy. It is said that only The Muslim Brotherhood and other radical elements of the religion use that concept. It is a call to unify Muslims around the world. It is rather odd to hear an American President use it. In doing so he reveals more about his thinking than he intends. The dramatic policy reversal of joining the unrelentingly anti-Semitic, anti-Israel and pro-Islamic UN Human Rights Council is in keeping with the President's truest - albeit undeclared - sensibilities

Those who are paying attention and thinking about these issues do not find it unreasonable to consider that President Obama is influenced by a strain of anti-Semitism picked up from the black community, his leftist friends and colleagues, his Muslim associations and his long period of mentorship under Jeremiah Wright. If this conclusion is accurate, Israel has some dark days ahead. For the first time in her history, she may find the President of the United Statessiding with her enemies. Those who believe, as I do, that Israel must be protected had better be ready for the fight. We are.

NEVER AGAIN!

E.W. Jackson is Bishop of Exodus Faith Ministries, an author and retired attorney.

Email: bshpjksn@gmail.com

Long-Term View on the Subsidisation of Hybrids

2009-08-07T04:33:00.000-07:00

An interesting article from McKinsey Quarterly on the long-term economic issues surrounding the subsidisation of plug-in hybrid vehicles. Maybe City Council should look at requirements or incentives for taxis or similar commercial vehicles to be hybrid vehicles if they are serious about GHG reductions. Colby Cash at the National Post has some interesting views on the subsidisation issue and also suggests that taxis are the area where subsidies or incentives for hybrids do make sense.

Mobile Wallet?

2009-08-06T09:54:00.000-07:00

Here's a new service, zoompass, that is trying to implement mobile payments in Canada. Looks interesting, but so far, no mention of being able to make payments to merchants. Now, if you could use this to make small routine payments instead of cash it could be a winner. Imagine being able to avoid line-ups to buy a fare at the TTC by just swiping or sending your payment by mobile phone! What about being able to pay for your taxi cab or lunch this way as well! There have been several trials on this type of payment system, but so far it hasn't succeeded here in Canada (remember Dexit?). I have seen the Mastercard Paypass system, which zoompass also supports, but I have no idea on the level of adoption. Only time will tell...

A Petition for Investigation into Sandra Bussin's Alleged Fraudulent Campaign Contributions

2009-08-06T08:20:00.000-07:00

Here is a site detailing what appears to be some of the legal issues that Sandra Bussin wants Toronto Taxpayers to pay for. Now even in the letter from Mr. St-Germaine, he states that if he is wrong, he will pay Sandra Bussin's legal fees, so why are Torontonians being asked to pony up the funds instead of Sandra Bussin? Here is the link to the petition to get the investigation going, as well as a letter to the integrity commissioner (really needed with this City Council!) calling for an investigation.

Councillors reject libel-suit funding policy

2009-08-06T05:32:00.000-07:00

Well, I am glad to see that common sense prevailed on this issue (unfortunately, common sense in Toronto City Council is EXTREMELY uncommon!) and this motion to have Toronto Taxpayers pay for Councillors legal bills has been rejected by a vote of 28-2 (nothing posted yet on who voted for it). What is interesting, is that Mayor Miller couldn't make it for the vote...

What is also very interesting is that councillors DID vote 25-5 in favour of taxpayer funds to be spent on legal fees for Sandra Bussin's attempt to fend off what she feels is a

pernicious falsehoods and slander that have been circulated about her in her ward through a leaflet campaign.

I am not sure exactly what it is, but it might have something to do with allegations of her taking funds for awarding of a contract on a concession stand in the Beach.

Obviously, she is innocent until proven guilty, but where there is smoke, there is usually fire...An investigation is definitely warranted...

New Page on Janet Davis' Voting Practices

2009-08-05T13:48:00.000-07:00

Here's a new page on Janet Davis' voting practices...Union supporter or Ward 31 representative. Here are the facts based on her (our) vote.

And Here's Some More Corruption in the Danforth from Janet Davis

2009-08-05T12:53:00.000-07:00

Well, here is another article on the corruption that seems to be happening in the Danforth, this time from Janet Davis. Apparently there are some missing funds in her election campaign accounting...

Janet Davis’ Missing $6,250

Posted by ward31 on July 5, 2009

When a candidate uses their election budget to throw a “fundraising” party, the money raised should be accounted for, but Janet Davis wasn’t shy about forgetting where $6,250 of hers went. According to the financial records, she spent $1,000 dollars of the NDP “supporters” money to arrange a party for to do some fundraising, which was a resounding success. 90 tickets were sold at $125 per ticket, but for some reason only 19 of the 90 people who bought tickets were listed in her financials. The tickets included dinner, but according to the bar bill, only 19 dinners were actually sold. The remaining $6,250, and the absentee partygoers seem to have vanished into thin air…

It doesn’t seem fair that people can use financial power to win an election and lie about it. Shouldn’t there be some law against that sort of thing? There actually is, and taxpayers can hire a criminal lawyer to question what a candidate does… as long as they do so within 30 days of the financials being filed in the first place. But, what’s the point? The jury of a bunch of appointed POLITICIANS will most probably throw out the case.

The NDP “supporters” can only spend $26,599.90 to get a candidate elected, but Janet Davis has reported spending $44,915.95 for her campaign. The extra money was more than likely use to paid for her provincial / federal NDP re-election staff. The $26,599.90 is the set limit by the city of toronto to keep the playing field fair. Is she buying the election, or are people buying it for her??

The Municipal Elections Act does limit what NDP “supporters” can spend, but there is no limit on “Fund-Raising”, which isn’t actually defined. Basically, if something puts a candidate over his or her budget, the cost simply has to be under the heading of “Fund-Raising” to be exempt from any scrutiny. Since Janet’s proceeds from her “fundraising” party all but disappeared, maybe what she took from her budget wasn’t for fundraising after all. Maybe she got a few extra signs nailed up to boost the illusion of her growing popularity.

Candidates are required to ACCURATELY REPORT all financial records, including any of these fundraising activities. The “supporters” can PAY for fundraising, and then the candidate can sell tickets for people to eat some food and wash it down with an impressive amount of alcohol at restaurants outside the ward. These tickets are exempt from the maximum amount of money allowed to elect a candidate, because he or she is “fundraising”, but each one must be reported BY NAME when they are sold at $125 each. There isn’t any record 79 of the people who were kind enough to fork over cash for her fundraising, nor is there any record of where the money went.

Whenever there is a municipal election, a particular name or colour seems to dominate the signs in each ward. Is it reasonable to question whether the monopoly is an accurate reflection of what represents the best interests of the community? Is it reasonable to assume that every candidate has the same resources at their disposal; for printing, posting signs, canvassing? One might think so, but they are probably wrong. And besides, what’s the point in voting when the winner already APPEARS inevitable? No one should be able to manipulate the system or buy popularity- everyone should have an equal platform. Legally, in some way, everyone sort of does, but there are loopholes. Even when a candidate steps out of line, chances are they will get away with it and the taxpayers will be stuck with legal costs.

In one attempt to ensure a LEVEL playing field, candidates are prohibited from accepting donations of more than $750.00 from one source. Janet Davis got $7,650.00 from, not an individual, but from a GROUP of trade unions. Is Davis using Ward 31 to promote The NDP’s issues instead of addressing the empty stores, drugs and prostitution that contribute to the highest crime rate in the area. If she wants to get that money again for the next election, she has to humour the unions, not the people she’s actually been chosen to represent.

Editor’s Note: All the info came from filed copies of their financial statements with the City of Toronto. You can not give a councillor over $100.00 without Identify yourself.

Here's Where It Started - Sandra Bussin

2009-08-05T11:32:00.000-07:00

Here is where it all started for Sandra Bussin and her whinge to have her legal bills paid for. I commend Leroy for his reporting - keep up the fight against government corruption.

Toronto City Council - Meeting Again

2009-08-05T11:06:00.000-07:00

So, Toronto City Council is meeting again after the treason that they have wreaked on taxpaying Torontonians. Well, here is an interesting little tidbit from the agenda that they are discussing spending our tax dollars on...of course, after paying out all the CUPE terrorists their bonuses sick pay.

Basically, City Council now wants the taxpayers to pay all of their legal bills so that they can sue those individuals who dare exercise their freedom of speech and call these uncivil servants to task on their less than stellar actions! What country are we living in again? I thought we beat the communists in the cold war so that we could perpetuate our Western democratic way of life!

I thank the National Post for bringing this to light here

EX33.6 ACTION Ward: All

Indemnification Policy for Members of Council and Defamation Committee Recommendations

The Executive Committee recommends that:

1. City Council determine that amendments to the Indemnification Policy for Members of
Council regarding defamation are necessary, and approve the amendments set out in
Appendix B of the report (May 11, 2009) from the City Manager.

2. City Council request the Integrity Commissioner to report on any related amendments
to the Code of Conduct Complaint Protocol for Members of Council.

3. City Council not extend the amendments set out in Appendix B of the report (May 11,
2009) from the City Manager to directors of agencies, boards, commissions,
corporations and special purpose bodies.

Decision Advice and Other Information

The Executive Committee requested the City Manager and the City Solicitor to report
directly to City Council on the following matters:

1. In view of the short time lines to give notice of defamation actions, amendments to the
proposed policy in order to expedite Member versus Third Party Claims, including
possible delegation to staff or officials of parts of the proposed process.

2. In view of the short time lines, an examination of the particular situation faced by
Councillor Bussin in respect of the potential defamation and suggest a course of action
to address approval and reimbursement of her legal expenses.

3. The motion by Councillor Mammoliti, that if a Council Member feels that he or she
needs immediate legal advice to proceed with any legal matter, the Member be able to
access the cost of legal fees up to $10,000 prior to approval under the proposed policy.

4. The motion by Councillor Moscoe, that:

a. The Members of Council shall be entitled to select their own legal representation
subject to their legal bills being reviewed by the City Solicitor.

b. This policy also apply to Members of Council when they are serving as a
Council Appointee on any ABC or any other body to which they have been
appointed by Council.

c. This matter be forwarded to all ABC's with a request that they review their own
policies.

d. The external lawyer who makes the recommendations in connection with the
process for (i) Member versus Third Party, and (ii) Member versus Member, ,
or anyone connected to them, shall be prohibited from acting for any of the
parties to the matter.

Summary

The purpose of this report is to offer amendments to the Indemnification Policy for Members of
Council (the “Councillor Policy”) that provide a process for the reimbursement of legal
expenses where a Member of Council initiates a civil action for defamation.

Background Information

Indemnification Policy for Members of Council and Defamation
(http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2009/ex/bgrd/backgroundfile-21491.pdf)

Speakers

Councillor Sandra Bussin, Ward 32, Beaches-East York
Councillor Adam Vaughan, Ward 20, Trinity-Spadina

What Unions Do: How Labour Unions Affect Jobs and the Economy

2009-08-02T12:34:00.000-07:00

What Unions Do: How Labor Unions Affect Jobs and the Economy

by James Sherk

An interesting article on the true results of unions:

Unions simply do not provide the economic benefits that their supporters claim they provide. They are labor cartels, intentionally reducing the number of jobs to drive up wages for their members.

In competitive markets, unions cannot cartelize labor and raise wages. Companies with higher labor costs go out of business. Consequently, unions do not raise wages in many newly organized companies. Unions can raise wages only at companies that have competitive advantages that permit them to pay higher wages, such as successful R&D projects or long-lasting capital investments.

On balance, unionizing raises wages between 0 percent and 10 percent, but these wage increases come at a steep economic cost. They cut into profits and reduce the returns on investments. Businesses respond predictably by investing significantly less in capital and R&D projects. Unions have the same effect on business investment as does a 33 percentage point corporate income tax increase.

Less investment makes unionized companies less competitive, and they gradually shrink. Combined with the intentional efforts of a labor cartel to restrict labor, unions cut jobs. Unionized firms are no more likely than non-union firms to go out of business--unions make concessions to avoid bankruptcy--but jobs grow at a 4 percent slower rate at unionized businesses than at other companies. Over time, unions destroy jobs in the companies they organize. In manufacturing, three-quarters of all union jobs have disappeared over the past three decades, while the number of non-union jobs has increased.

No economic theory posits that cartels improve economic efficiency. Nor has reality ever shown them to do so. Union cartels retard economic growth and delay recovery from recession. Congress should remember this when considering legislation, such as EFCA, that would abolish secret-ballot elections and force workers to join unions.

The New Face of Terrorism in Toronto - Osama bin Miller and the Treasonous Toronto 20

2009-08-01T11:07:00.000-07:00

[caption id="attachment_11" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="The new face of terrorism in Toronto"][/caption]

Here is the new face of terrorism in Toronto, which city taxpayers have been subjected to. It was indeed a dark day when Osama bin Miller and the Treasonous Toronto 20 voted to accept the treacherous deals, which effectively gave the CUPE 416 and 79 terrorists what they wanted - an unearned and unmerited bonus in the form of 'sick days'!

Join the fight against these assassins of accountability and vote in the 2010 election to oust these councillors who have been too busy with their snouts in the troughs (and up OBM's derriere) to be responsive to their electorate.

The Treasonous Toronto 20

2009-08-01T10:40:00.000-07:00

The Treasonous Toronto 20 who voted to give aid and support to CUPE terrorists. May they be unelected as soon as possible.

Maria Augimeri (York Centre)
Sandra Bussin (Beaches East York)
Shelley Carroll (Don Valley East)
Raymond Cho (Scarborough Rouge River)
Janet Davis (Beaches East York)
Glenn De Baeremaeker (Scarborough Centre)
Frank Di Giorgio (York South Weston)
Paula Fletcher (Toronto Danforth)
Adam Giambrone (Davenport)
Mark Grimes (Etobicoke Lakeshore)
Suzan Hall (Etobicoke North)
Adrian Heaps (Scarborough Southwest)
Doug Holyday (Etobicoke Centre)
Pam McConnell (Toronto Centre Rosedale)
Joe Mihevc (St. Paul’s )
Joe Pantalone (Trinity Spadina)
Gord Perks (Parkdale High Park)
Anthony Perruzza (York West)
Bill Saundercook (Parkdale High Park)
Adam Vaughan (Trinity Spadina)

About FreeTorontoNow

2009-01-01T11:46:00.000-08:00

This blog was established as a direct response to the incompetence and treasonous actions demonstrated by his blondeness, Mayor David Miller, during the extortion conducted by CUPE 416 and 79 in the summer of 2009. Its aim is to remind Toronto voters to remember the actions of David Miller and to hold him and those councillors, the Treasonous Toronto 20, accountable in the next municipal election. Remember and make your vote count.

Remove the following from City Council:

Mayor David Miller
Maria Augimeri (York Centre)
Sandra Bussin (Beaches East York)
Shelley Carroll (Don Valley East)
Raymond Cho (Scarborough Rouge River)
Janet Davis (Beaches East York)
Glenn De Baeremaeker (Scarborough Centre)
Frank Di Giorgio (York South Weston)
Paula Fletcher (Toronto Danforth)
Adam Giambrone (Davenport)
Mark Grimes (Etobicoke Lakeshore)
Suzan Hall (Etobicoke North)
Adrian Heaps (Scarborough Southwest)
Doug Holyday (Etobicoke Centre)
Pam McConnell (Toronto Centre Rosedale)
Joe Mihevc (St. Paul’s )
Joe Pantalone (Trinity Spadina)
Gord Perks (Parkdale High Park)
Anthony Perruzza (York West)
Bill Saundercook (Parkdale High Park)
Adam Vaughan (Trinity Spadina)

Further, the secondary aim of this blog is to promote the privatisation of city services, the dismantling of all unions (terrorists) and increased city accountability and fiscal responsiveness.

Ward 31

2009-01-01T11:23:00.000-08:00

This is the first in a series of profiles of the Treasonous Toronto 20. I thought that I would start with my local councillor, Janet Davis. So far my review of her performance indicates that it has been less than stellar and has been unduly influenced by unions and costly to taxpayers! Here is how she voted on some of the main issues:

Taxation

This councillor likes to spend your money, so it wasn't a surprise that she needs more of it and voted to tax your registration of vehicles, your garbage collection and your transfer of land. She also voted not to defer the new taxes and to increase your property taxes 3.8%. Interesting that she wanted to give CUPE a 5.6% raise, so you can imagine where the difference is going to come out of...new taxes!

Spending

Now that the money has been taken from taxpayers, Councillor Davis voted to spend more of your hard-earned money and deliver a money-losing theatre for $1.2 M and a homeless shelter for $6 M. If she had been thinking, we could have saved $5 M and put the homeless in the theatre when it wasn't in use. At least the homeless would be entertained...unlike the taxpayers!

Accountability

This councillor obviously missed the part in civics class on a representative and responsive government. She has successfully voted in favour of secrecy and keeping information from the public. She voted against the public attending consultation hearings, against an open tendering policy, for contracting in garbage collection in the City of York (more Union Dues to be paid = more campaign funds), against an effective lobbyist registry and against an open appointment process for the Police Services Board.