Collingwood – Page 41

Understanding the Municipal Act

2013-03-21 2013-03-21 Collingwood / Media Issues / Municipal Politics2 Comments

Among the many pieces of legislation, bylaws and policies that guide and inform municipal councils in Ontario, the Municipal Act is the most important.* This 238-page, 140,000-word, 474-section document covers most of the things that govern municipal councils: powers, duties, highways, public utilities, waste management, fences and signs, animals, economic development, environment, licensing, municipal reorganization, municipal service boards, BIAs, boards and committees, integrity commissioners, transparency, open and in-camera meetings, financial administration, taxation, fees, bylaw enforcement, bonusing. …and many other topics. Clearly a document of this size and scope requires more than one reading to grasp. Some areas do not arise ……… click below for more ↓

To sleep, perchance to dream

2013-03-02 2013-03-02 Collingwood / Humour & Satire / My Writing / Personal Reminiscences / Pets & Animal BehaviourLeave a comment

Aye, there’s the rub. To sleep in, one weekend morning, when there are no pressures for meetings, work, deadlines. To roll away from the soft light that filters through the blinds and enjoy that delicious moment of closing your eyes and drifting back into a dream. Covers pulled up, the street quiet outside the widow, the furnace gently wheezing its warm air into the room; nothing is better in the world. But of course, there are others with different ideas. The real masters of the house brook no laziness, have no interest in our needs, in how much wine we ……… click below for more ↓

The Hobgoblins under the Lobbyist Bridge

2013-02-28 2013-02-28 Collingwood / Critical Thinking / Municipal Politics / US PoliticsLeave a comment

Lobbyist. For some, the word conjures frightening images of nefarious trolls and ogres in Armani suits lurking under the bridges and in the woods in the dark night, snatching unwary politicians and dragging them down to whatever hell the gullible and naive descend to (a hell cleverly paved with gold and champagne flutes). The very word itself is printed in bold and in colour in some comments, just in case you might miss it and the boogeyman-thrill the hiss of the word gives. Lobbyisssst… my precioussss…. That’s in part because the popular impression of lobbying derives from watching American TV ……… click below for more ↓

Is it time for a Collingwood ukulele group?

2013-02-22 2013-02-22 Arts / Collingwood / Culture / Musical Instruments / Personal Reminiscences2 Comments

When a friend recently told me he had joined the new Guelph ukulele group, it made me somewhat envious. After all, having a local support-performance-practice-chat-socialize group for any hobby is always great. When your hobby is a passion that requires an audience to realize itself fully, a local group is de rigeur. You simply need others people to practice with to get better and share the joy. Uke groups have been springing up all over. The ukulele is currently the most popular musical instrument in the world. The Corktown Ukulele Jam is a weekly group get-together in Toronto that I’ve ……… click below for more ↓

Propaganda, PR and Spin

2013-02-08 2013-02-08 Books & Reviews / Canadian Politics / Collingwood / Critical Thinking / Language & Grammar / Municipal Politics / Politics4 Comments

What is propaganda? The word gets thrown around easily by people who obviously mean “anything we dislike or don’t agree with.” It’s a pejorative often used by a small group to describe anything official that any level of government puts out, no matter how benign or factual. Libertarians, for example, often grouse that government information about, say the efficacy of flu shots or the safety of fluoridated water, is “propaganda.”* Ironically, many of these individuals and groups then turn around and create their own pieces, blogs and websites to counter these government’s declarations, and aggressively spread them through the internet ……… click below for more ↓

Half Time News

2013-02-06 2013-02-08 Collingwood / Media Issues / Municipal Politics6 Comments

This month, Collingwood residents got a newsletter in their Collus- PowerStream utility bill: The Half Time News. Recognizing this is the season of the Super Bowl, our brochure provides residents a fun yet non-political update on the events and activities around council’s first two years in office: at the end of 2012 we are at the half-way point in our term. And what a term it’s been so far! While media attention is often focused on a handful of issues, council has been involved in numerous initiatives and activities since we took office in December, 2010. These are all important ……… click below for more ↓

Musings on representational democracy

2013-01-30 2013-01-30 Canadian Politics / Collingwood / Municipal Politics / Social Order & Disorder / US PoliticsLeave a comment

Representational democracy, says Wikipedia, is “…founded on the principle of elected people representing a group of people, as opposed to direct democracy. All modern Western style democracies are various types of representative democracies…” And so is Canada, and by extension so is the Town of Collingwood; small cog it may be in the great machinery of democratic government. We elect people to represent us, to make decisions for us, to debate the issues for us. Some people mistake the point of this system. They believe we elect people to do what they’re told, to act as their delegates and represent ……… click below for more ↓

More construction at Centennial Pool

2013-01-26 2013-01-26 Collingwood / Municipal Politics / PhotographyLeave a comment

Here you can see the additional aluminum supports that have been erected to hold up the fabric covering. Only a small area at the north has had some of the fabric installed (visible at the lower left of the photo). Workers were doing some maintenance jobs, Saturday. You can see how tall the centre of the building is. It will feel spacious and airy, inside. Checking the struts and supports. Nice to see the company working on a weekend. This gives you an idea how big and roomy the final building will be. A view from the intersection at Spruce ……… click below for more ↓

What’s this nonsense about mushrooms?

2013-01-19 2013-01-19 Balderdash & Hoaxes / Collingwood / Critical Thinking / Municipal Politics / Science & Technology13 Comments

In the middle of a video parody on YouTube that skewers council on our new rec facilities, there’s a comment about “the mushroom farm debacle.” It then goes on, rather erratically, to rail about “two yanks” and mushrooms growing in manure and “enobe” mushrooms. What debacle? Clearly the video’s creator never actually watched the public presentation made to council a year ago about a possible use for the terminals as an indoor mushroom farm. Or read the stories in both newspapers. Or heard the news reports on local radio. Or asked anyone on staff or council about the proposal. Or ……… click below for more ↓

Centennial Pool gets covered!

2013-01-17 2013-01-17 Collingwood / Municipal Politics2 Comments

Not sure how much will get done today – it’s a cold, windy winter day. But yesterday, in more clement weather, six frame struts for the Sprung building were erected at Centennial Pool, and I got these photographs: Here’s the frame going up, on January 16.Six frames have gone up – there are another eight to go. You can get an idea of how big and spacious the building will be inside by comparing the height to that of the workers and equipment. One panel of the Kevlar-coated, high-tech covering was installed before construction stopped, Wednesday, but not both components ……… click below for more ↓

The Hidden Costs of Gambling

2013-01-01 2013-01-01 Canadian Politics / Collingwood / Games & Gaming / Municipal Politics / Social Order & Disorder3 Comments

Let’s start 2013 with a sober consideration of the social and economic costs of gambling. Back n 2006, the Canadian Medical Association noted that, “Provincial governments may be glossing over the societal and health costs of problem gambling, including depression and suicide, because of the significant income they gain from gambling, claim several public advocacy and mental health organizations.” Glossing over is a polite way of saying “deceiving.” They’re hiding the facts from the public. The CMA called for a thorough and scientific study of the “relevance of depression and suicide among problem gamblers.” “The normal system that provides checks and ……… click below for more ↓

Happy New Year!

2012-12-31 2012-12-31 Collingwood / Literary pretensions / Personal Reminiscences2 Comments

Happy New Year. 2012 is almost over. 2013 looms a few hours away. I wish you all the best of times in the upcoming year. What a year it’s been. For council, we flailed around in the tar-baby issues of the new rec facilities and then the gambling facility (aka “casino” or “slot barn”). The rec facilities are going to built soon and will be stunning – that issue is, I hope, behind us and I expect everyone in town will enjoy them. The gambling, well, some folks on council brought it back and I suspect it will be re-opened for ……… click below for more ↓

A Council Christmas Carol – Part 2

2012-12-28 2012-12-28 Arts / Books & Reviews / Collingwood / Humour & Satire / Literary pretensions / Municipal Politics / Personal Reminiscences5 Comments

STAVE TWO (continued from Part 1). THE FIRST OF THE THREE SPIRITS. I awoke in the dark, late Friday night. Winter days are so short that sometimes it seems a mere moment passes between sunrise and sunset. The day had whizzed by, a flurry of phone calls, reading, emails, walking the dog and shovelling the driveway as the snow continued to fall. By the time Susan came home and we had dinner, I was tired and aching from tossing snow. Sleep came quickly that evening, but didn’t last long. Now I was awake, mulling over last night’s events in my head. Looking from ……… click below for more ↓