Sunday, October 26, 2014

This just in....

Just when I thought things could'nt sink any lower.... read this
Who ever is behind this, I have one word for you.  Karma.
Apologies for the tech glitch, it is now fixed.


Keep Calm and Vote Responsibly

I have always held fast to the innate belief and hope that goodness and what is fundamentally right will always trump the dark side. So on this day, the last day of the municipal campaign, I will continue to hold on to that tenet. Perhaps I'm just one super hero believer over the line, but if that is the case, then I can live with that.

This will be the last post from me before the polls open tomorrow so I'm writing this post specifically with some questions to Annette Groves.  Annie, I know that you don't read this blog but lots of your minions do and as Terry Groves told me in the last election, the night he told my husband that he'd be up to see me after the election, they print out every single one of my posts.  So here's my literary last bullet in the gun response to that AK47 you fired off in the last couple of days.

Dear Annette;

On this windy Sunday afternoon my street is littered with paper blowing everywhere.  Yesterday, tossed on to my front porch, not even left at my door, were two of your door hangers and a double dose of all the photocopied vitriol that you are calling campaign material.  Mother Nature has picked up much of that unsecured literature and is blowing it about our streets. You can't even be mindful as to not end up trashing our streets and our properties with your garbage.  My neighbour, down the street, also received your literature, who by the way had a purple sign on her lawn, promptly removed it.  She told me that this kind of material was unacceptable and in good faith she could never support a candidate who resorted to this kind of campaigning. One vote less for you, one vote more for Patti Foley.  Here here.

I'm fairly certain that the flyers that aren't swirling around, littering our neighbourhoods, have in large part, made it in to most of the blue boxes around town.  I saw that for myself when I campaigned on the north hill yesterday.   This particular blue box reeked of your desperation.

Annette, what does it say about the character of a candidate who would knowingly distribute that Toronto Star article even after Canadian Tire withdrew its Hydrogen Pilot Project making that article moot and misleading.  What does your decision and your actions to utilize this election tactic teach our residents, and our youth about the qualities of the leadership of our communities? Does it demonstrate to them that to win, you will do anything at all, even if it is a highly questionable action? Tell me Annette, is this what we teach our children?  Please, tell me, I'm listening. I want to know.  How do you justify those actions and this methodology of campaigning in your community.

Speaking about our children, why would you use very young teenagers, to distribute your political propaganda? I was out in the south end of town on Thursday afternoon and I saw three young teenage girls, probably no older than 14, with no adult supervision in sight, putting your political materials on verandas. What on earth are you thinking?  Why would you put minors on a street to distribute your election materials without at least having one of your adult campaigners with them, supporting them, directing them and making sure they are safe.  Is this responsible campaigning on your part?  I would think, as a parent and a Mother, you would know better.

What do you teach our future electorate about respectful boundaries of how you engage in a political campaign?  By allowing them to distribute news articles that are stale dated and for all intent and purposes used for culling the panic vote?  Is this the kind of civics lessons they need to learn?

I had a telephone conversation with your long time supporter Sherry Brioschi yesterday afternoon and I asked her what she thought about those actions.  It was an interesting and respectful conversation.  Sherry also made it very clear to me that the filling station that is to be located on the Canadian Tire site, which you are manipulating as political fear mongering, had always been clearly marked on the site plan. So that pretty much sinks your pretzel logic argument about council's dirty little secrets. I think every single one of your supporters needs to ask the question:  Is this the kind of leadership Bolton and Caledon needs or deserves?

Win or lose, I want you, Annette, to know that Patti Foley, without question has more fortitude, more respect for her community, and eons more accountability to her constituents in her four year term than you ever did in your entire three terms at a council.  Patti has run an amazing campaign. No one, not even you, and your dirty, filthy campaign tactics, can take that from her. Patti has been respectful, honest, engaging and transparent.  Maybe you should take a note from her campaign rule book.  So on that note I will hold fast to the belief that good will prevail and the electorate will keep calm and vote responsibly and if all else fails, there are always cupcakes to be eaten.

Not so respectfully, Christine

p.s.  Patti, you are welcome to borrow my Superman sweater.  I'm pretty sure my Mum, who made that sweater for me nearly 35 years ago, would have been chuffed and proud to know that it has endured, much like my belief in what is good and what is right.  Good luck tomorrow, either way you are a Champ.

Friday, October 24, 2014

50 Shades of Gas....

I personally think the biggest combustible gas issue that we here in Bolton need to be concerned about is the gas that is spewing out of the backside of several of the candidates in the Caledon election.  I refuse to be swayed, frightened or influenced by the fear mongering tactics of a handful of people along with those clowns at Your Voice For Bolton and especially the candidates that they have highlighted in their propaganda as "friends".  I have said it before and I will say it again, they are not my voice, they never will be my voice.

How fortuitous that the Toronto Star, and in particular Urban Affairs Reporter, San Grewal, produced those stories about the Canadian Tire Hydrogen Pilot Project days before our election. Coincidence?  I think not.  I think there is money and lobbyists behind all of this.  The question is, who's is paying the lobbyists and the faux news space in the TO Star?  Think about that before you mark your ballot.

It would seem that there are some that would believe that Caledon is still up for sale, we are after all, as Toronto Life referred to us, as the Hamptons North.  I don't know about you but the only Hampton this Caledon girl knows about is the new Hampton Inn being built on Hwy. 50 in Bolton.  Some things just never change.

The hysteria, that was propagated by those adroitly timed news articles only reinforces that the Your Voice for Bolton debate was an utter farce. Just for the record, that debate was no debate.  It was a conduit for the diatribes of the likes of Kim Seipt and Shari Brioshi, who still can't get their facts straight. This dopey crew can't even properly spell the names of candidates on their endorsement flyers.  How convenient that while that fake debate was going on flyers from Your Voice For Bolton were being dropped at the doors around south Albion.

The discussions by candidates from comparisons to the propane incident in Toronto to hints of train derailments and the ideations that Bolton could be another Lac Megantic was an irresponsible attempt to attain panic votes.  Shame on those who fueled that garbage, including fools like Nancy Stewart and Gary Cascone who referred to Caledon's "dirty little secrets".  If people are so freaked out about combustible fuel then why wasn't anyone talking about Caledon Propane which is located within a kilometer of the Greenpark subdivision and has been operating in Caledon for years?  Talk about a lot of combustible gas in a small space.  It's a wonder the old legion building didn't have the roof blown off the place on Tuesday night.

As for this hysteria around hydrogen can anyone tell me that last time a bus in Mississauga or Brampton blew up?  Both of those cities use hydrogen to power their transit.  Hydrogen fuel cells have been in use for a decade and is viewed as clean technology, allowing us to move away from fossil fuels and high emission energies. Any fuel has to be handled appropriately.  When filling your car with gas do you stand there with a burning cigarette?  Is Your Voice For Bolton going to picket all the places we fill our bbq tanks? Can we please use some common sense?

I see now that Canadian Tire is withdrawing the Hydrogen Pilot Project and I for one am disappointed. Caledon has touted itself as being "clean and green" and hydrogen technology is very much a part of that landscape of thinking for a cleaner future. It's a really sad day for Caledon when that pack of wild hyenas uses hysteria to get a vote.  Is this the kind of leadership we want for our community?  Not for this girl.

Taylor Parnaby recently wrote in his column that there would be many changes at the region and he is so spot on with that observation.  We lose a good friend in the Chair of the Region with the retirement of Caledon's Emil Kolb. We lose a powerful leader in Marolyn Morrison who had the ability to build support from Brampton & Mississauga councillors.  Caledon will come under immense pressure just to hold on to and protect its precious five seats at the region.  We've got way bigger challenges than just the Canadian Tire issue.  Now is not the time to send some neophyte mayor to the region which is why I'll support Allan Thompson.

I keep seeing and hearing the rhetoric from the wannabes for change.  Here's my response to that.  Annette Groves sat on Caledon Council for 3 terms.  Ian Sinclair also has had a couple of terms under his belt as did Nancy Stewart. How is returning recycled, sour grape candidates, who the public said no to in the past, bringing change to council? When the Cupcake thought she could take the whole shooting match for Mayor in the last election she took a drubbing and rightly so.  Why in good conscious, would we turf aside decent, hard working, responsible and effective representatives like Patti Foley, Rob Mezzapelli and Allan Thompson, to return someone such as Mrs. Groves and her pals, along with all that drama and all those special friends in higher places.  That frightens me a whole lot more than a hydrogen fueling station in Caledon.  Kaboom.

My omen moment about the Bolton battle came the other day as I was tucking a pamphlet in to a mailbox at a door in the south end of Bolton.  I opened it up and much to my surprise it was like looking in to the face of ghosts from four years ago.  There in that mailbox sat that silly dvd from the last election. I kid you not.

I actually snort laughed. It was, simply for me, a defining moment and a reflection of all that had gone before.  Remnants of this rusty purple haze only served to remind me that the electorate isn't quite as gullible or easily misguided as some of candidates would like us to believe.

Keep Calm and Vote Responsibly.

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Dear Bolton.....

"Make the best choice for you, your city, for us all" 
- Annette Groves

With less than two weeks to go until this municipal election, I wanted to take a minute to reach out to my friends, neighbours, colleagues, associates and residents, to encourage you to please make an effort to cast your votes.  I am making no bones about who I have decided to support here in Bolton.

I took the opening quote on this post directly off the landing page of Mrs. Groves website. When did Caledon become a city? I was pretty darned certain that Caledon was still a town, not a city, located in the Region of Peel.  Did anyone over on the Groves campaign team even take time to properly proof read this website?  Did they not realize this glaring error? Why am I so not surprised about this. Guess this is what you get when you buy a canned website and insert the boxes.  Want an arts centre in Bolton? Insert a box. Want a new sports facilities?  Insert a box. Want another 10,000 houses out on Coleraine Road instead of Canadian Tire?  Insert a REALLY big box.  Oh wait, that explains the vote for your city comment.
                                                                                   
I've listened to a lot of rhetoric from the wannabes about the need for change. Why can't candidates be honest and say "I have strong skills and I have a contribution to make."  Why does it always have to be about fixing broken things or things that aren't working? Before we know it candidates will be getting endorsements from Mike Holmes as the fix it up candidate.

Side note:  Just a small word of advice to Ward 5 Area candidate, Andrei Belooussov, if you want change, you might want to start by correcting the spelling of the word councillor on your webpage. How's that for change?

In the 2010 election, Ward 5 residents voted in two new councillors, so I'm thinking that as far as I'm concerned, Bolton doesn't need a change in this election.  Bolton made it very clear they wanted a council that would control the residential development in Bolton and that's what they got.  I believe that both Patti FoleyRob Mezzapelli have served our community in a respectful and responsible manner. They have worked cohesively and they deserve to  be returned to those seats so that they can continue to serve the residents of Bolton.  Patti, in particular, has worked very hard at making sure she developed a constant stream of open communication with her constituents.  I for one, appreciated that effort.

I think about those 8 years preceding this term and I ask myself do we really want to return the toxicity and the anarchy that comes with the likes of Annette Groves and her ilk?  Was there ever a week when you'd pick up the local paper where you weren't reading about council that looked more like the Roman Senate in a Gladiator movie. What's your poison?  Hemlock or Purple Kool-Aid?  Either way, there's not much difference.  I say no thanks to the next four years being a worse version of that.

Interestingly, I heard from one of the Minions of the Purple Haze who told me "We need to get Annette back on council so she can get rid of that horrid Mayor Morrison and Annette can finally be mayor."  Great to know that her voters are so well informed as to the fact that Marolyn Morrison isn't even running in this election. It just boggles the mind.

That comment though did serve to remind me that we all know that our stale dated confectionary wants to be the mayor. Girlfriend hasn't even won the election yet and her Jimmy Jones followers are already mixing up a new batch of Kool Aid and talking about the mayor's seat.  Here's hoping the voters of Bolton put on their common sense caps when they vote, do the right thing and return Patti Foley to council.

As for supporting Rob Mezzapelli, I have maintained all along, that in my opinion, Rob is the smartest guy out there on that council bench.  What makes Rob so smart is his ability to genuinely listen to people when they are speaking.  It's a rare quality but he's got it in spades.  The other thing that struck me was a comment Rob made during the Chamber debate, when questioned about his decisions and the budget, he responded "Every day is budget day to me."  This is a person I want representing me at council.

Do we need a few changes on council?  Absolutely.  All due respect to Richard Whitehead, the community has been well served by his tenure but it's time to hang it up. Here's hoping that some of the young bloods like Jennifer Innis (running in Ward 3&4) and Joanna Downey (running in Ward 2) will collect enough votes to get their feet in the door and bring their energy and their smarts out to Old Church Road.  It is definitely time to build a succession plan for a couple of seats on this council.

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Disingenuous

I have been quiet.  Very quiet.  Not because I don't have things to say, because I always have things to say, but rather more out of sitting back and watching the general malaise that seems to have settled in over my community.  It's been an eerie kind of quiet which begs one to ask the question about what these last few weeks of campaigning will be about and what tactics we will get to watch unfold like an episode of House of Cards.  #TheUnderwoods #PureEvil #HOC

The predictable wannabes have been a'boot town rumbling on about just how broken Caledon Council is. Is it perfect?  No, I think not. Then again, I work in mental health, in a world where most things are not perfect. We live in Caledon, not Utopia.  Apparently life in Caledon is just an utter fiasco. Yeah, it's gotten so bad that I lie awake at night and worry about what disaster shall befall my community next.  Please. Tomorrow morning, like many other hard working women in this community I'll wiggle in to my work frock, rev up my ride, make my daily commute and earn my living.  Frankly I'd prefer to dwell on some of the more positive things about why I have spent the last 30 years of my life living here. #WoeIsMe