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.

Seipt Tripe

My my, it would appear that someone's got their Lulu Lemons in a big 'ol knot this week as I noted the diatribe spewed by Kim Seipt in her response to Taylor Parnaby's column in the Caledon Enterprise.  Is it just me or does Kim have a propensity of accusing people of being liars?  I recall being out at a Council meeting one evening when during the Chip'n Dale Show (that would be Kimmy and Kelly of the Chamber of Commerce displaying their WWF tag team action) actually called the Mayor a liar, right there on the council floor. Well Taylor, for what it's worth, you are in good company. So do me a favour and save the chair next to you because according to Kim Seipt there seems to be no shortage of liars in the town of Caledon.

This post has been brought to you by the hashtag #CanadianTired

9-0. 
It was a unanimous, recorded vote by the Caledon Council, in favour of supporting the Canadian Tire application.  So it would seem, that is that.  Or is it?  After all the shenanigans I've watched over the past few years, the common sense side of my head would say that the Canadian Tire proposal is far from over.  What are the chances that the Town will now find themselves, sitting at the OMB, hauled there by a developer, tied up for months, which means more than likely CT will take a walk.  What does this developer want so bad that they'd take Caledon to the OMB?  Would it be a re-designation on that parcel of land to allow for residential subdivisions?  Oh the soap opera continues.  #OMB #CostsTheTaxpayersTonsOfMoney #Greed

I sat through the last meeting on the CT decision.  It was Caledon at its best and Caledon at its worst.  It felt like I was watching one of those really bad run on and on award shows, just counting for the moments to end and praying there wasn't going to be a Justin Bieber performance. I knew I should have brought a flask. Here are a few highlights....

Say it ain't so....

Do you ever feel like you are trapped in a rerun of the film Poltergeist and find yourself saying "They're baaaaackkkkk!".  Here, let me show you what I'm talking about.

This stupidness was actually wandering around the Garage Sale circuit last weekend in Bolton.  Oh lawd.  The lunacy behind this should just start up a business called "Douches R Us" and rent themselves out.  As a side business they could sell tickets to their Jimmy Jones Tail Gate Party featuring their signature purple cocktails.  Drink up folks because the fun and games are only just beginning.  

This is the start of the 18 month campaign that will see Bolton beleaguered and battered as a handful of mutts will take on a sleazy, ugly, Perez Hilton meets the National Inquirer kind of behaviour right up to the next local election.  The rodents are raising their confectionery covered noggins in their ongoing efforts to parlay a one trick issue into a campaign platform.  It's gonna be one long, hot, miserable summer.    

Time to get the martini shaker out. 

Suzanne....this one's for you

For the record, I have not been fitted for a pair of customized cement shoes and I'm not on the bottom of the Palgrave pond. I'm alive, kicking and doing just fine. I've had quite a few inquiries as to my health, my state of mind and if I'm ok. I'm ok. It's actually quite comforting to get so many notes from people asking about me and wondering if coopSpeak will ever fire up again. I can tell by the metrics bar that the blog is constantly opened so I know people have wondered where I've gotten off to.

My hiatus from coopSpeak is really about two things, neither of which has anything to do with politics, elections or being afraid of that late night call. Rather it has a lot more to do with actually writing about something I truly love, which is just simply food. Long before I started coopSpeak I'd been an active social media food blogger with my coopspeak Eats blog. Writing about food and looking at the world of food through a camera lens is just a whole lot more fun than writing about local politics and the mediocrity and more so the hypocrisy that seem to be the circus here in Caledon.

A Fork in the Road....Some Food for Thought

"One of the truest tests of integrity is its blunt refusal to be compromised." - Chinua Achebe

It has felt like an eternity since I’ve posted anything here at CoopSpeak. My absenteeism extended out of the pre-election day threat and that ominous anonymous “We’re gonna deal with you after the election” telephone call to my home late one evening. After conferring with the local law enforcement and my family, we thought we’d just wait and see what, if anything at all, would ever materialize out of that cowardly, blocked number telephone phone call. I figured it would only be a matter of time until the human versions of Whiarton Willie stuck their heads up out of the ground; they are after all, rodents. Well it looks like that day has finally arrived.

1....2....3....4....5....6....7....8....9.....

Nine votes.

Today at 1:00 p.m. an official recount will be taken out at the Town of Caledon for the Ward 5 Area Councillor position. In all my years of living here in Caledon I can't ever remember there having to be a recount. Nine votes stand between being a winner or a loser. I'm quite certain, for both of those candidates, this will be a long morning. I wish both of these candidates the best of luck but in the end I am confident that the results shall remain the same.

Now here's some food for thought. If the results remain the same then Bolton will have just elected the former primary leaders of the community grassroots organization, Our Caledon Our Choice, as their area and regional representation. That coupled with the increase in voter turnout sends a very clear message to this new council about the intrinsic values of the residents of Bolton.

Let the count begin....1....2....3....4....5....