More women needed on council

The OSC Regulators have made the case for more women directors in the boardrooms.*   

Research shows that boards that are more diverse are better able to consider challenges from all perspectives.  I would add that, by extension, better decisions.  This same rationale applies to municipal councils.

• In general, women practice more collaborative styles of working that benefit decision-making and inclusive processes.
• Women are already more involved in the community
• That increased knowledge leads to better services, more efficient use of resources and more informed decision making by elected officials.
• Municipalities are more effective in meeting the needs of women and their families when women participate in decision-making.
• Increased participation creates more opportunities for women to take leadership roles within the community.

Local government remains the order of government closest to the people. When it comes to municipal decision making, men and women are equal in their experiences, concerns and talents, and are equally valuable to the entire decision-making process.   However, it is important to avoid assuming that all women or all men share the same needs and perspectives. Although we share a common concern for issues such as roads, parks, housing, transportation and health, each person experiences these differently.

Understanding that decisions made by municipal governments may impact women and men differently underlines the importance of the participation of, and consultation with, a broad range of diverse individuals.

Above all, I would urge voters not to follow in the wake of Toronto and Mississauga.  Don’t let partisan politics get in the way of voting for the best candidate for council.  Block voting does nothing for the community, and, in fact, blocks 20/20 vision. 

Municipal elections are October 27^th.   Before making your mark on your ballot for this municipal election, consider the best woman for the job.  

(Some comments have been taken from the FCM website.)

Doors Open Milton

Country Heritage Park and the Steam-Era combine efforts to put on really good show
It's all about our history - Milton, back over 100 years and commemorating WWI.

Doors Open Milton - Sept 27th. 10am - 4pm
Admission Free - the Doors will be open at Country Heritage Park with activities for the entire family.

• Displays of early farm machinery - Cockshutt, Allis-Chalmers, International Harvester, Massey-Harris
• Have fun learning to drive a tractor
• Ford Dealership - display of vehicles from 1919 to 1953
• Take a step back in time with a visit to our Heritage Buildings - interpreters at the Lucas House and Cassin Log Home will show you what it was like to live "way back when"
• Demonstration Beehive
• Either pack your own lunch or buy lunch at the Park at a very reasonable price;
• Or you might like to partake of a High tea, which will be served in the Women's Institute building - 3 sittings, $10 per person
• farm animals, too, are awaiting your visit
• Treats for the kids

Country Heritage Park is the new home of the Steam-Era

• Check out the display of Miniature/Model Steam engines in the new Steam-Era Building;
• Interpreted display of full size made in Ontario Steam Engines;
• See how Farms and Houses were powered before electricity – Gas engine dynamic and static displays;
• Steamed Corn from rare and unique Sawyer–Massey, made-in-Hamilton, 1920 Steam Engine.
• Flailing of oats interactive demonstrations with participation - you can join in.
• Threshing demonstration.
• Everyone is ready and awaiting your visit on September 27, from 10am to 4pm

Waldie Blacksmith Shop, Open 10am-4pm
16 James Street, Milton

• There will be a photographic display of World War I pictures and articles.  The display has been put together by our archivists, Gloria Brown and Kay Bounsall.
• The forge will be manned by Blacksmiths - they are ready for your questions as they work these restored forges.
• And while you're there, pick up a Downtown Self-guided Walking Tour Map.  There are many points of interest, all within walking distance, relating to WWI.

The World's Richest Women 2014

The latest FORBES article says the top richest woman in the world is Christy Walton - with a $36.7 billion fortune. The widow of John Walton has had that title for four out of the last five years. No tag day in her future.

In third place is another Walton family member – Alice Walton with $34.3 billion. She’s the daughter of Sam Walton and is Christy’s sister-in-law.   Sure, the two of them have some side line income but it’s the inherited Wal-Mart money that catapulted them into such riches. 

How did they get so rich?  On the backs of the poor - the people who have no choice but to take a job at Wal-mart.

Wal-Mart employees are paid so poorly that employees (in the U.S.) were encouraged to start up their own food banks to help them between paydays.  The Waltons deny their workers a decent wage - we're not talking a lot of money, but enough to allow those at the bottom end of the economic spectrum to live and work with dignity.   

All the while, the owners wallow in obscene billions of dollars. Are they so far removed from the masses that they can’t see what’s propping up their riches?  Have they no compassion?  Oh, they probably do – they probably write cheques for millions of dollars to the latest sexy, but no doubt important, cause, to assuage their conscience.

The value of government

Government is a valuable and indispensable role in making our society a better place to live.

You don’t have to vote for bad math or bad ethics

In the case of Hudak's immediate goal of firing 100,000 government workers – let me say this….

We all know the case against bureaucracy. Just say the word to yourself and consider the images it evokes. Massive waste. Inefficiency. Poor service. Ever-growing organizations. Mindless rules. Reams of useless forms. The term “bureaucrat” also comes loaded with a whole host of negative connotations: lazy, hostile, overpaid, imperious, and inflexible. In short, bureaucracy and bureaucrats are unmitigated bad things – with absolutely no redeeming qualities. 

Conservatives like to play on this popular prejudice by constantly equating government with bureaucracy. Once government is thought of as “bureaucracy,” the case for reducing it becomes obvious. Who could complain about wanting to reduce these “armies of bureaucrats”? Everyone knows that we would all be better off with less bureaucracy and fewer bureaucrats in our lives. So when conservatives want to make shrinking government sound attractive, they say they are cutting “bureaucracy” – not “programs.” 

Most people value government programs – especially in the areas of education, health and the environment – and do not want to see them reduced; but everyone hates bureaucracy. Using the term “bureaucracy” in this way is a rhetorical sleight-of-hand that obscures the real costs of cutting back on government programs.

Every day at the door I meet people who are scared that those government programs will be cut.

Then the is the case of ethics in goverment.  If we re-elect the Liberal government, wil that engage our youth?  Will that instill a positive message in those who are not engaged in the process?  No and No!  I was a Liberal when McGuinty launched the 25/5 promise – that poverty would be reduced by 25% in 5 years.   Except that he didn’t bother to provide adequate resources to make the program work – and poverty climbed to 30% from 25%.  How is that for a priority?

While many parents struggle to put food on the table, our children’s future has been mortgaged with the weight of over $4billion of corruption and scandals.  I quit the Liberal party and subsequently joined the NDP because the emphasis is on maintaining and improving programs, making life affordable – and the NDP will govern in an ethical manner.

An NDP government will be the right choice - they will invest in infrastructure where it's desperately needed.  Every dollar invested in infrastructure for poverty and affordable housing, $1.50 is returned.  That's a great return. Investing in our own people is the best investment.

With notes from Government is good.

A Province of Inequality

Our country is in a state of high inequality.  Why?

To all those who would cut government spending or otherwise further reduce government…we need to realize that the viability of our entire economy, depends heavily on a well-performing public sector.

“There are creative entrepreneurs all over the world.  What makes a difference – whether they are able to bring their ideas to fruition and products to market – is ... the government.

“For one thing, the government sets the basic rules of the game.  It enforces laws.  More generally, it provides the soft and hard infrastructure that enables a society, and an economy, to function.  If the government doesn’t provide roads, ports, education, or basic research – or see to it that someone else does, or at least provide the conditions under which someone else could – then ordinary business cannot flourish."  (Emphasis is mine.)

“Whenever we diminish equality of opportunity, we are not using one of our most valuable assets – our people – in the most productive way.”  With notes from the book “The Price of Inequality”, by Joseph E Stiglitz.

With respect to the above we've seen what happens when cuts are made to education.  Youth unemployment has never fully recovered from the slash and burn days of Mike Harris.  And in all the years since, the Liberals have shown that they can't be trusted with continuing to improve our education system, focusing on sick days instead of improving our classrooms.

Hudak’s Conservatives support service cuts to public schools; including cuts to maintenance staff, guidance counselors and librarians.
Tim Hudak's plan to go back to a Mike Harris 1995 policy, and fire education workers, will put our kids 20 years behind.

In the Ontario school system today:
•    35,000 elementary and secondary students are stuck on waiting lists for special education services.
•    Schools across the province are losing qualified music teachers and librarians.
•    Student activity fees have increased 200 % [twenty times] since 2001 and parents are expected to fundraise more and more to pay for school programs and supplies.
•    For every one secondary school special education assistant, there are 66 students.
•    In some areas there is one special education teacher for 52 students.

"When little money is invested in education, for lack for tax revenues, schools do not produce the bright graduates that companies need to prosper."

We must ensure that the province’s schools are adequately funded to provide students with the programs and services they need.

Andrea Horwath: A Leader who Makes Sense, will…
•    Stand up for adequately funded public schools.
•    Ensure schools become community hubs, review the Accommodation Review Committee process, and ensure school closure is only a last resort.
•    Conduct a complete review of the education funding formula.

We can do more but we must not do less.

Safe Hands

“It will be a choice between my safe hands and their reckless schemes.”  Says Premier Kathleen Wynne.  She apparently said it with a straight face.  Hello, what about the $1.1billion power plant fiasco?  Not to mention the latest news that police are investigating the erasing of emails related to the true cost of the power plant cancellation.

What about the $1billion ORNGE debacle?  What about the E-Health scandal, and the lack of oversight resulting in a loss of over $200million at Hydro.

And neither are the PanAm Games without controversy and scandal with two more officials getting the axe. The last official got a $530,000 severance package – how much will the latest two be paid to leave ?  And why are they getting severance packages anyway.  I always thought that if you got the axe – there should be a penalty, not a reward.

Safe hands?  I think not.  It’s time to hand over the reins to the NDP.

Stillness in the Storm : Utah & Wyoming Is on Track to End Homelessness by 2015 With This One Simple Idea

Stillness in the Storm : Utah & Wyoming Is on Track to End Homelessness by 2015 With This One Simple Idea



This is an excellent article.  Cutting the social welfare burden while lifting people up. It's thinking outside the box.

When one has a roof over his/her head, food on the table and is paid a decent wage for a day's work, there is less burden on tax dollars.   Everyone wins - crime decreases, hospital admissions decrease, mental health issues decrease, kids stay in school longer