Rinse, Wash, Repeat

In my previous post I mentioned that if you aren't reading Skid Crease's local blog, then you should be.  Skid's latest installment a few days back really struck a nerve with me. I found myself remembering that this is how it all starts.  People would often say to me "I don't know how you have the nerve to sign your name to your blog. I'd be scared to death."

It starts with highly veiled threats.  Your phone rings non-stop but there is no caller name ID or number, so you don't answer. That's what the Police taught me. The message box on my office phone would be filled, for weeks on end, every single day with hang-ups, which rendered the phone incapable of taking real messages because it was filled.  As a matter of fact, that was done to many of my staff, who acted in the capacity as family support workers in the community.  It was a shameful and disgraceful act of harassment.

I sat there staring at Skid's blog, I felt his vulnerability and it made the hair on the back of neck stand up.  Again my mind wandered, recalling a board person, from my place of employment at that time, telling me they got a call from a woman, who would not identify herself, demanding I be removed from my position because of my political activities. BTW, I know who called.  Yeah, I do.

Then came the late night phone call, answered while I was half asleep, a voice on the other end telling me that when the election was over, they were coming for me and then hung up.  Another chilling memory.  These are crazy times we live in.  You can't take that shit for granted.  It was all very real and very frightening. Some people would say that I brought this upon myself, being such an opinionated bitch, or better yet, the tact that two guys, standing next to me at the meat counter in the grocery store took.  One of them whispered at me, under his breathe, just loud enough for me to hear
"You fu*king c*#t".

Excuse me? 

I looked at him and I thought to myself, you are a son, maybe a brother, a husband, a father but you are not a man.  No way, no how.  Not now, not ever.  I stared at him hard and asked him in a very loud, stern voice "Do you kiss your wife with that mouth?".  He looked away because that is what cowards do.

I'm a Canadian woman. I thought I was allowed to have an opinion. As long as I remained inside the guidelines of slander and libel laws, I was entitled to write about my opinion. I don't think you'd even find an f-bomb dropped in anything I had ever written. I was simply sarcastic, in a confectionary cupcake kind of way.  I just wanted people to think for themselves and not be sucked into the hubris of the politicians, the wannabes, the engines of minions, those reprehensible lackeys, the holders of the silk purse strings and the hateful, more than likely paid, henchmen. I was also of a mind, that there would always be people who were ardent haters to those who chose to take a stand. It comes with the territory.

I was followed frequently.  Now I understand why the previous Mayor bought an innocuous little car to travel about in. She blended. It made it harder to find her car in a crowd. Then again, she lived in a house with bullet proof windows for a reason.  I've often wondered how many sets of slashed tires she went through during her time in office.

I never took the back roads in Caledon, ever.  I learned to always have a cell phone at the ready. In a conversation with my lawyer (yes, I had even received legal threats) I finally confided that I was in a full drawn episode of panic and fear.  It was fight or flight moment at its worst.  My only child had come home to visit.  She's works on the other side of the country as an Urban Planner. She had borrowed my car to go and visit around town.  Then it sunk in.  Someone could be following that car, thinking it's me.  I became paralyzed with fear and couldn't breath. I broke down in tears, crying to him.  It was the first time I was ever really broken. If anything happened to her, I couldn't justify taking those risks.  All of that fear, all of what could be lost, just over a political opinion and because I'm a sarcastic cow.  It was a heavy burden.  It also made me realize how far people were willing to go to win an election.  This was my Stephen King "It" moment.

I can appreciate Skid's blog.  He makes no mention of any one specific news journalist (I use that term loosely here) but we all know who is being talked about.  The clock is ticking down to a local election and what do we get?  A silly local news dude, who acts like he's an affiliate to Fox News, short of going full on Sean Hannity.  It boggles my mind. Peel Region wants to increase Caledon's population by a half a million people and all this Tucker Carlson's doppelganger wants to do is swat a beehive by writing about is locked doors out at the Town.  What a maroon.

One last thing. Read Skid Crease's blog. I'll make it easy for you.  Just click on his name.

Skid, get our your chicken hat.  Use it like a super power. Whatever you do, don't stop writing. What happened to me was just a few short years ago but it would appear that players remain the same in this game.

#AintNobodyHereButUsChickens #MayTheForceBeWithUs #CaledonProud #CaledonStrong #HennyPennyWise

You've Got A Friend

I've lost count over the past few weeks of how many people have asked me about getting a friend request from a particular Caledon Councillor.  Of course, most of them didn't realize who that person was and asked me if I was familiar with them or if I had received the same request.  I chuckled.  Actually, I snort laughed. I asked them how it felt to be treated like click bait or how happy they were to be electronically culled into the social media streams that the ilk of a small-town version of the Orange man and the Russians had used to dupe millions of Americans with fake news.  It's become quite an interesting talking point behind the local scene and trust me, there is plenty of talk.  Yes Bolton, you've got a friend.  Or maybe not. This is a friend who, for no other reason than political gain, wants to tap in to your online portal.  Is it all a coincidence that we are approximately 12 months away from an election? 

Most recently this person has been chiming in on a very regular basis on local Bolton Facebook pages. For the most part it's really just what I refer to as "faux cooing" and that expression, in of itself, makes me giggle.  In a nutshell it encapsulates what this person is all about. It's a candy-coated conversation akin to rubbing butter on the turkey.  Get out your baster. Then came a particular post on a small local Bolton page, that is supposed to be about community, events, businesses and just all-around activities in and around Bolton.  To be clear, this wasn't just a post.  It was an all-out diatribe with guns a blazing and a lawn dart pointed directly at a Caledon blogger, with a blatant attempt to discredit this writer. The blogger isn't named, which, in my opinion, is done on purpose.  After all, why drive anyone to his blog by naming him, right?  So I’ll do it for you.

If you aren't reading local blogger, Skid Crease, you should be.  Hands down, Skid Crease is the best political blogger in Caledon that I’ve read in a long, long time. He is smart, well researched and he knows his stuff.  Skid is not the political hack writer that this Caledon Councillor(s) would have you believe.  He's got serious writing cred along with legit press credentials and what he is writing about is spot on target.  There were a couple of five-star posts that were absolute mic drop moments that should not be missed by any Caledon resident.  I especially enjoyed "Defamation and Libel and smears ohmy!" as well as Skid’s post "Caledon: Creating a Climate ofTruthiness"   Of course these posts, in particular, would explain why the intent by this Councillor was to literally try and drop kick his blog and his credibility in to oblivion. Read it for yourself.  Make up your own mind up perhaps, before you hit accept on that friend request, you may give pause.  

Back in February 2016 I wrote a post called “Her Brand is Crisis”.  More than ever, it is relevant and I’m going to bring that post back around to what we see currently unfolding, particularly here in Bolton, with this whole urgent health care centre business that a couple of Councillors are kicking up dust about.  Not all is as it appears to be, then again, it never is. In closing, I would say to those of you who are moderators of those local FB pages, please let’s just use some common sense and ask that you recognize how some people are trying to manipulate and use your community pages for their own personal political agendas.  Take ownership of your pages and delete this crap and let your page be what it was intended for.  The community that you love so much will be all that much better for it. 

Respectfully,

Christine

The Walking Dread

It would appear that the White House is about to be painted gold and have a Trump Tower sign slapped on to the front of it.  The Donald and his entourage have arrived.  Life as we know it, even though he's not our leader, has forever changed.  I'm not sure how others are feeling but I feel like I've been caught inside an episode of The Walking Dead meets Mad Max and the war for survival is about to begin.  First Brexit and now this.  A girl can only take so much.

I know that most of us are reeling in disbelief with the election of the Donald.  How is it that a man whose whole campaign rhetoric has been rife with hate, racism, homophobia, sexism, xenophobia and admitting to sexual assault possibly be elected to the most powerful political seat in the world? Nothing, absolutely nothing about that choice, makes any sense to me.  I feel angry but more so, I feel filled with an aching dread.

The whole discussion about the up rise of the alt-right, as though that movement on its very own, catapulted Mr. Trump into the Oval Office is, for me, missing the mark.  More than 6,500,000 registered Democrats DID NOT cast a ballot.  Zero.  Zilch.  That's just the warm up.  Then apathy took hold, apathy of the status quo and exhaustion of a system that has simply ignored the citizens of the country.  Subsequently voter turnout was just barely over 50%.  So in essence, 25% of the voting populous of the United States of America, elected the most dangerous candidate that I have ever seen as their Commander and Chief.  Then again, one might take the perspective that NO vote, is a vote. So without actually putting their mark on a ballot, they in effect, voted for their leadership. These are dark days. As we watch the appointment of the new cabinet and inner circle, people such as alt-right extremist Steve Bannon, the likes of Rambling Rudy Giuliani, which I'm sure is soon to be followed by appointments of Chris Christie and Sarah Palin, there is much to be afraid of.  Thinking about the Trump offspring having national security clearance takes my breath away.

Of course, we sigh our sigh of relief. All of a sudden that wall is looking pretty darn good.  We could grow ivy on it and garden along its base.  The silliness of that kind of election could never happen here in the land of the Maple Leaf, right?  After all, we are a country that is infinitely polite, so very tolerant (which we all know is bullshit), always saying thank you, pardon me and asking you to pass the maple syrup.  Well it's time to put an end to that thinking.

Last week, shortly after Mr. Trump claimed victory, I could hear the chanting of the war drums starting to thump from the camp of Kellie Leitch.  Ms. Leitch, an MP from Simcoe-Grey and wannabe candidate for the Conservative Party leadership, hitched her little blue wagon to the Trump campaign as she hailed that this was "An exciting message that needs to be delivered in Canada as well." (Macleans, November 9, 2016).   That wasn't the first time Ms. Leitch has tapped in to the Trump rhetoric.  Prior to that she has chimed in on the issue of screening newcomers for "anti-Canadian values" (Macleans, 23, 2016).  Does this sound all too familiar?

Remember watching the news coverage of Mr. Trump, stepping out on to that escalator at Trump Headquarters, as he prepared to declare his candidacy for the Republican nomination and we all laughed our heads off, right?  What a buffoon.  How could the man who's known for the reality TV line "You're Fired!" possibly rise to the Presidency? Are we still laughing now?  Kellie Leitch is stepping out on that very same escalator.

There is a movement here in our country, deep in to the grassroots of our communities, that will eat up the rhetoric of the Kellie Leitch's of the world.  We are seeing glimpses of it and we will continue to see it pop up all over our country.  Just see for yourselves.  At the bottom of this post, these types of presentations will start to pick up steam, especially fueled by the likes of Ms. Leitch.

As a Canadian, people like Kellie Leitch concern me greatly.  I was absolutely shocked to learn that her big gun fundraiser is none other than Andy Pringle.  Andy Pringle is the Chair of the Board of the Toronto Police Services Board.  Read that again, slowly and let that sink in.  I don't know about you but I consider this a highly inappropriate activity on the part of Andy Pringle.  Police departments all over this continent are really under scrutiny so to learn that the Chair of the Toronto Police Services Board is fundraising for a leadership candidate who is latching themselves on to the forward motion of the hate train of Donald Trump, you are damn right I've got concerns.

What the hell is Toronto City Council and Mayor John Tory thinking?  Of course, we all know Mayor Tory's blood runs blue but to allow Andy Pringle to engage in this kind of activity while he is sitting as the head of the board of the Toronto Police Services is inappropriate and unacceptable. It's time for John Tory and the Toronto Council to get off their hands and remove Andy Pringle from his post.  If he's supporting Kellie Leitch, who is going to position herself as the Canadian version of Trump in drag, then how can Andy Pringle possibly provide leadership to Toronto Police Services?

Yesterday I did something in a million years I never thought I'd do.  I registered a membership with the Conservative Party of Canada and in doing so, it will allow me to vote for their leadership.  Let me be clear, I'm not a PC but if I stand idly by, taking no action then I'm just as guilty as those 6,500,000 Democrats who didn't vote. If Kellie Leitch or any other Conservative starts to spew the Trump rhetoric, just like we just watched in America, like sheep, there will be plenty of people willing to drink from her fountain of koolaid.  So I'm acting on the only choice I have to try and pre-empt this poison from seeping in to our system by being sure to cast my vote for leadership of the Conservative Party of Canada and that won't be for the ilk of Kellie Leitch.  Is this the kind of person that we want in any leadership capacity in this country?  Sorry, pinning a safety pin to my coat just isn't going to work for me and maybe you need to ask yourself what it is that you can do to make sure that the Kellie Leitch's of our government don't end up as our Prime Minister.

If you think I'm kidding, check out the pics below.  So it begins.  If you don't take some sort of action then that is your way of leaving the door ajar for the likes of Kellie Leitch.  Apathy wins every time.
I ain't putting on no damn safety pin.  Slacktivism isn't going to cut it this time.  Join me.  Fifteen bucks will get you a membership to the PC party and give you a vote against Kellie Leitch. https://donate.conservative.ca/membership   Say no to the hate.

Seen in Mississauga, draped over an overpass.   

Posted up on the streets of East York.

The Long And Winding Road

"Do the difficult things while they are easy and do the great things while they are small.  A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step." - Lao Tzu

It's been a while.  Thanks for the notes, the messages and the emails asking how I am, if I'm OK and when I'd be posting again.  I know I left things dangling with the last entry about the night Annie Groves came up to the Beaver.  I'll come back to that.  First things first.

On September 13, 2015 I turned 59 years young and like most women the thought of that next birthday and the benchmark of turning six decades old triggered a lot of introspective thought. I realized in those thoughts that I wasn't in a good place.  This wasn't about me turning 60, it was more about me not feeling right in my own skin.  It's difficult to find the appropriate words to articulate it but I'm sure there is someone out there who will say "Yes, I know exactly what she's talking about."  I struggled when I was awake.  I struggled when I was asleep.  I was never at rest. My emotional balance was off its center mark.  My body ached.  I had trouble concentrating.  I was exhausted just walking a flight of stairs.  Excess became a part of my daily routine.  Too many late nights.  Too many late mornings. Too much food. Too many drive thru's. Too much alcohol.  Too much coffee. Too much time on a sofa. Too much time with a remote control in my hand.  Too much time on the phone.  Too much time online.  Too much time in traffic. Too much time with an ATM card at my beck and call. Too much time fighting battles on Hamburger Hill followed by those moments of wondering how on earth I ever got to that place.

So I decided that it was time to begin my journey of recovering who I was, what was truly important to me, why I was here and where I wanted to go.  One. Step. At. A. Time.

In October of last year I began keeping a notebook. This wasn't one of those Dear Diary things.  In it I wrote down all sorts of stuff.  Things that most of us took for granted and never give a second thought to. Things like what time I woke up.  What time I went to bed.  Where I was spending all my nickels and dimes. Every bill and every credit card statement I paid. Every single glass of booze I slurped up.  How much TV I watched that day and what it was that I was actually watching.  I wrote down how much time I spent in my car, on the phone, online, in the grocery store, in the mall, in my office. I wrote down how much I laughed, how much I cried, how often I felt absolutely nothing at all. Numbness is an all consuming black hole.  Nothing was off limits.  I wrote it all down.  Day after day. Night after night.  Moment after moment.  How was I going to figure out where I was going until I could figure out where I had been?

Her Brand Is Crisis

Let me be clear, right from the get go.  The only really combustible, incendiary, volatile matter that Bolton residents really need to be concerned about is its Regional Councillor, Annette Groves. Whatever you do, don't put an open flame near that girl.

Doing what she does best, Councillor Groves is hard at work, twerking up a community issue where one doesn't really exist.  That is the one skill I'll give her mad props for and what we've learned about Annie Groves is that her brand is crisis. We all watched her hone that skill during the years she rolled out the drama with the town and in particular with her issues with our former Mayor, Marolyn Morrison.  That is Annie's modus operandi and she plays it well, that is, until someone calls her out on her crap. Watch where you step my Bolton neighbours, the manure is deep.  I can only imagine the methane levels expanding exponentially from her rhetoric.  Boom.

I see that our rusty, not so trusty, Councillor has been quoting excerpts from a two year old news article from a rent-a-writer who was whipping up the fear factor about hydrogen being used at the Canadian Tire site out on Coleraine Road.  I know this article well because I picked up about 300 copies of it off the streets in the south end of Bolton during the last municipal election.  They, like this faux crisis, were swirling around, littering the streets, after being blown off the doorsteps, which were placed there by a group of young high school students who told us they were getting their required volunteer hours by helping out the Groves campaign team.

Councillor Groves would have you believe there is a conspiracy at the town and that they are in collusion with Canadian Tire, keeping Bolton residents in the dark and putting them at risk.  True to her form she once again plays this out in the local rags and through her inept social media venues. She has pleaded with us that she needs our support in fighting the evil powers at work and is encouraging us to write our Mayor and our Council.  Oh I'll write, for sure.  I'll tell my Mayor, my local Councillor Rob Mezzapelli, the Caledon Council and staff at the town that I believe that hydrogen is one of the most important bio fuels of the future and support its use for a greener and cleaner technology.

Crystal's Balls

I absolutely adore the local Facebook Page "I'm from a little town called Bolton in Ontario".  Thank you Samantha Corless for assembling this page and a special thanks to Derek Paterson who posts up the coolest pics & historical info about our community.  This girl is very appreciative of your efforts.

Social media, which at times can be a thread that connects us, can also become a conduit for silliness, of which I'm the first to admit to engaging in. However with that being said, F-bombs aren't my bag but sarcasm and humour are.  Topics from politics to sports can become lightening rods for discussion and etiquette and respect are the first boundaries to get kicked to the curb.  The FB page "I'm from a little town..." is no exception to that rule. Don't get me wrong, I have no problem with dissenting opinions.  Some people just need to turn on their filters about right time and right place.  Those people who liberally rant through FB pages have their own page where they can spew all the vitriol they want.  The minute they take it to a larger group, it's a different animal. If they feel they have the right to spew, then I have the right to push back.

Summer Breezes

Have you ever found yourself at a community or public meeting here in town, you notice it is being covered by a local publication (and I use that term very loosely), in particular by Matt Strader, and a few days later you find yourself reading about said coverage only to start asking yourself this question: "Were we at the same meeting?"

After years of the myopathy demonstrated by Matt Stader and the Dopey Doodles of  the powers that be at the Caledon Enterprise, it's time to just call 'em as I see it.  The lovely straw breaking moment came when Mr. Strader reported on the recent ROPA public meeting.  What the hell? I had only just recovered from the lopsided news coverage of the public meetings with respect to the Heritage Designation discussions about the core of Bolton.

Then comes the stupidness of the Election Expense review.

Let me be clear.  There was no breezing in to public office.  Geezus, Matt Strader manages to make the title of that article sound like a chapter out of "The Great Gatsby".  As a girl, who's boots were on the ground, knocking door after door, handing out information where ever I could, I can swear on my life that there was no easy peasy breeze blowing us around, like a piece of tumbleweed, soft landing in to elected office.

Imagine.....

On this Christmas Eve, as we prepare to celebrate with family and loved ones, I just wanted to take this moment to express my genuine gratitude. #AttitudeOfGratitude  So many of you have reached out to me personally over the past month to show your support.  Your confidence in me, the strength it helps me to muster, the small kindnesses (ummmm....Susy I loved the lasagna....just saying) and all the encouragement to stay strong and stay the course, has been appreciated.

I am a blessed woman.  I have a family that support me 100%.  I  have a community that I love and will continue to love and support it in whatever capacity that might be.  In my everyday working life I get to do work that has real affect on the lives impacted by illness.  I have a daughter who I look up to and a partner who knows exactly what kind of metal I'm made of.  Roll it all up together, I'm am totally a blessed and loved person.  There will be no lumps of coal in my stocking this year.  Bring on the chocolate.  :)

Know this, knock me down, I'll get back up.  Knock me down again, I'll get back up again.

Please take a minute and watch this most wonderful rendition of John Lennon's song "Imagine".  I know it's not a Christmas/Holiday song but somehow, it just feels right.  I hope you appreciate the perspective this song brings.  The lyrics are so powerful and so provocative.  That's what John Lennon did best, he wrote words that would make you think.  Imagine....

To all of you, even those who are trying so hard to knock me down, I extend to you, my best wishes for a new year filled with love, joy, good health and true friends.  #Imagine

Off the grid for a few days.....time for retrospection.....and those silly lawyers letters.

Respectfully,
Christine

Schweddy Balls....

In light of the latest stupidness I've just received I just couldn't help but to share this hilarious skit from SNL. Just a classic skit called "Schweddy Balls".  Just click on the highlighted link.  I'm quite certain this will get a guffaw or two out of you.

BTW, stay tuned, I plan on posting all the legal letters I've received over the past month from the lawyers repping Terry Groves, Kim Seipt and Kelly Darnley. My lawyer says I should post them all publicly. Shame,shame, shame.  He's right.  Time to bring this completely out of the closet.

Ummmm....small note to the silly guy named Terry Groves.  Bringing up the whole Chris Harker incident doesn't, even for a second, scare me.  Pretty sad and a move of utter desperation when you try to disparage me with this kind of crap.  Really? Something from 15 years ago?  So silly.  Answer my lawyer's questions when he asks the three of you to specifically point out the blog posts that defame or slander you.  If you want to hit me with a SLAPP suit it is your responsibility to have your lawyer vet through the blog to find what it is that I say that is slanderous, libelous or defaming you.  Bring it.  I'm ready to take my stand.

Stay tuned readers, you are just going to love these lawyer's letters.  :)

Merry Christmas.

C.

Welcome to Coopspeak....The Sequel....

Welcome to "Coopspeak - The Sequel"

Oh yes, this is so happening.

Stay tuned.

I have so much to share.  Letters from laywers.  The "or else" verbiage.  The "let us strip you of your constitutional rights" letters or we will SLAPP you.

Just an FYI, that word SLAPP ain't no typo.  Just click on the link and get a little legal knowledge.

I'd like to thank Kim Seipt, Kelly Darnley and Terry Groves for INSPIRING me to embrace all that is right and proper about who I am as a Canadian and then as a Caledon resident.

F#@K you.

Oh did I say that? Please forgive the crass pejorative.  I've never used one before, ever, in this blog.  Well looks like this moment will be the exception. Man, that's empowering.  It's like the most literal flipping the bird moment I've ever partaken of.  Wow, that's fun.  Can I do it again?  F#@K you.  It feels so good.

Kimmy, Kelly and Terry thank you for reminding me about the Charter of Rights in this country.

Thank you for inspiring me to step up to the plate and use my own voice to say yay or nay to your position. Thank you for helping me grow the pair of cojones I need to deal with a bunch of asshats like you. Last time I checked, I was allowed to descent from your opinion, your platform and your personal agenda.  Truth is, I'm embarressed to think that we represent the same community. Oh wait, that's just my opinion.  I am entitled to an opinion, right?

How disgraceful that you opted to try and use a piece of legal duct tape over my mouth by trying to intimidate me and frighten me with the prospects of a SLAPP suit.  Hey Christine, sign on the dotted line and you'll never be allowed to not only write about us but to add insult to injury, you'll not even be allowed to "talk/verbalize" about us.  Yeah, ok. Gimme the paper, where do I sign?  I don't think so.

Could you imagine living in Bolton and not being able to even talk about Terry Groves aloud?  That just makes me snort laugh. C'mon. Seriously.  Think about it. That's like telling some  guy in San Fran in the 60's he can't let his freak flag fly. Yeah dude, how's that working for you?

On another note, I'd like to thank every single Canadian who ever put on a uniform to stand up for our right to have an opinion and voice it.  Please know that this girl is grateful for all that you fought for and it did not go in vain.  I will not remain silent in my community.  I will scrap for what I believe is right and righteous. You fought to give me that right so thank you.  I'll use it.  Every single chance I get.

Finally I'd like to thank my lawyer, Iain MacKinnon, for giving me a good, hard, sift boot up the ass to remind me of the rights and privileges I'm afforded to in this country.  You are a champ and a Pitbull.  I couldn't have asked for better representation.  Thank you for helping me straighten out my backbone and remember who I am, what my voice is and why it's important to use it.

I've got my list for Santa.  Contrary to popular belief, I've been a very good girl.  So stay tuned. "Coopspeak - The Sequel" is warming up the keyboard.

To all those who serve, in whatever capacity that might be, blessings for those who are away from your families this holiday.  This girl appreciates your service and the reminder of why you serve.  

Much love & respect to my community,
Christine

Vote.

Years ago I worked with a woman who had immigrated to Canada from the Philippines where she had lived during the Marcos regime. She told me that the one thing she was really looking forward to as a newly sworn in Canadian citizen was getting to freely, privately and safely vote in an election. "Have you ever had an AK47 pointed at you when you were in a voting booth?" she asked me. She shared with me that she had not ever once gotten to vote freely and unencumbered in an election. "It is a basic privilege of democracy that I look forward to." she told me. I have never forgotten what she shared with me that day. Since that time I have not ever, not even once, ever missed an opportunity to cast my vote in any election. Not federal, not provincial and especially not municipally.

I always cringe when I hear people say "Vote? Oh I can't be bothered. What's the point especially municipally." Voter turnout for local elections is a mere 35% of the eligible voting public compared to the 50+% for provincial & federal elections. Part of me is greatly saddened by this fact because when you think about it our local government is the most grassroots, the most accessible and the closest to home governance we live with on a day to day basis. I struggle with the apathy of those numbers for the privilege to responsibly elect our local representation. I abhor the chatter of those who chose to say silly things such as "what's the point...." or "why bother...." or "it's just our local council, who cares...." Well I care.

I care about recycling and composting programs. I care about protecting the water that flows from the top of the Headwaters that eventually ends up in Lake Ontario and ultimately out my kitchen tap. I care that there are books to borrow from the public library. I care that there is supportive housing for seniors and those impacted by disabilities. I care that the snowploughs safely clear Highway 50. I care that there is a large beautiful green space where fireworks can be shot off on Canada Day. I care that I live in a region that wants to invest for resilience. I care about community safety, policing, the fire department and about the animal shelter out on Coleraine Road. I care that there are pools to splash in, rinks to skate on and infields to slide in to homeplate at. I care that we are a community that has heritage and history. I care that Bolton is home to one of the oldest Agricultural fairgrounds in North America. I care that Caledon is a place where the Niagara Escarpment meets the Oak Ridges Moraine. I care that I have a local government that made it very clear that protecting the ground we live on against relentless and uncontrolled growth and ruthless developers is a priority. I care because Caledon is my home.

I know that there are some people out there who think what I prattle on about here is negative and downright mean. To those people I would say this. What I am trying to get you to do is to think. Think about this community. Think about the fundamental values of this place we call home. Ask questions. Ask hard questions. Keep my tongue in cheek rhetoric in its perspective. I'm prodding you, or in some cases, just plainly poking the stick through the fence at you, if at least just to get some sort of reaction. I'm checking to see if you have a pulse. Apathy is a terrible illness that will suck the life right out of a community and this shows up more during municipal elections than at any other time during our electoral process. Closest to home, yet furthest from our heart. This is a logic that I have struggled to understand. It's a terrible malady to realize that no vote is in fact a vote. Of course one could just prescribe to the tenet, if you don't vote then your forfeit your right to complain about your governance.

On Monday, October 25th our community will go to the polls to elect a four year term council. Four years, eight councillors and a mayor, who will represent us in what I believe will be one of the most important four years for Caledon in its history. There will be no AK47s pointed at anyone as we the people get to exercise our fundamental right to democracy and to freely chose those who represent us. Choose wisely but more importantly, choose.

Happy belated Canada Day.

Things that make me go hmmmmmm......

Don't you ever have moments where you just stop and wonder about some things. Here are a few current thoughts that I've been having that make me go "hmmmmmm"......

If Caledon is one of the safest communities in the country then can someone please explain to me why our Mayor needs to have bullet proof windows in her home? Seriously. I kid you not. I heard that every window in Mayor Marolyn Morrison's home had to be replaced with glass that had to withstand gunfire. What the hell? I wonder if they had to do the same to her cute little yellow Thunderbird? Hmmmmm......

Ward 5 Regional Councillor candidate Amanda Squire's website has a "Contract with Amanda Squire" http://www.amandasquire.com/contract-with-you.html Then I read this very same contract on a blog called Your Freedom and Ours http://yourfreedomandours.blogspot.com/2010/04/only-six-more-days-to-go-part-1.html which outlined a contract between the blog writer and the Conservative Party. Coincidence? Well I guess we now know who it is that I was referring to in my sidebar comments about plagiarizing. This makes me wonder why this candidate wouldn't at least honestly cite the source of what she seems to make appear is her own handiwork. Hmmmmmm......

Why after all these years of being open on holiday days is Piero & Rose Carbone, owners of Garden Foods, being charged, time after time after time for being open on these days. Garden Foods was most recently fined on Canada Day. It's a cash fine or 30 days in the big house. I told Piero if he goes to jail I'd bring him a double chocolate layer cake, file included. All this happening ever since John Porter left Zehr's and a new manager has taken over. Coincidence? Hmmmm.... I am now basically boycotting Zehr's as much as possible, just out of support for the Carbones.

Nepotism is alive and well down at the Chamber of Commerce. Did you know the Chamber employs its CEO's sister and the Chamber has contracted out its cleaning services to the CEO's husband's cleaning business. Optics like this never look good. It makes me beg to ask the question why is the membership of the CCoC allowing this silliness to continue. Hmmmmmmmmm.....

Well it's Friday. That means the bar will be open for cocktails this evening.
Stay cool peeps.

Peace out.

 Thanks for the notes.  No worries, all is well.
Stay tuned.
#52ReasonsToLoveCaledon

  Peace out,
  Christine

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.

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.

Your Voice For Bolton is Not My Voice

'nuff said on that.

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 Foley & Rob 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.

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

Blurred Lines

I have been ruminating.  I can't think of any other way to put it. Very quietly over dinner last weekend I said to my best friend that I was considering retiring coopSpeak.  That got an eyebrow raised and a response of "You are kidding right?  It's an election year."  With multi-leveled elections just around the corner one would expect me to be salivating at the political fodder that could keep me busy writing for months on end. For a girl like me, that is right up there with non stop shoe shopping on Rodeo Drive with my Platinum Amex Card in hand.