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.