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

Despite stats that show seniors have lower accident rate, are arbitrary regulations on the way?

On top of all the billion-dollar boondoggles which keep surfacing in Ontario, along comes something that will impact on the mobility of seniors.

Everyone in Ontario Should Know About this Fraud.  When an email comes through asking me to distribute far and wide, I always do my own research to ascertain its validity.  So much garbage is fed through the internet with no basis in truth.  However, while researching this email, I was able to locate the originator of the email, with whom I’ve been in contact, and here we are. I will let you draw your own conclusions but I, for one, am appalled to say the least – read on…

The Ontario Ministry of Transportation introduced discriminatory restrictions and special testing for older drivers in Ontario, under the false pretension that older drivers constitute a significantly higher risk in traffic.

In November of 2012, I conducted research, obtaining every valid statistic in Canada and a major Australian Study that used Canadian statistics.  These studies, including statistics from the Ontario Ministry of Transportation, revealed that consistently, year after year, the older drivers have had fewer accidents than any other drive group, and as they age, have fewer still.

A charge was laid against the Ministry of Transportation, in November of 2012, under the Ontario Human Rights Act.  After six months of intense correspondence, the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal dismissed my complaint on the grounds that the Ministry and all its agencies are exempt.

I continued my pursuit, by going directly to the Minister of Transportation.  After hounding him for a number of weeks, received an email, admitting that the Ministry did not have the statistical justification to enact the discriminatory legislation against the elderly drivers, but had proceeded anyway.  I presume on preconceived views about the elderly.

This does not only make this law illegal, but it violates the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, The Human Rights Act, The Criminal Code on Elder Abuse, and the person’s right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty.

If you are still feeling comfortable, consider what is coming.  The Toronto Star recently featured an article called “Driving With Dementia, The New Impaired Driver”.  In this article, it states that 28% of drivers over 65 years of age and older, have dementia, and suggests that these people should be given a test, presently being used in Alberta, called the Simard MD Protocol.  This test has no credibility with the Academic and Professional Organizations, who have come out stating that they are surprised that a Government would use a test, which is not scientific, is unreliable, and sets the seniors up for failure.  20% fail, 20% cannot be determined.  This test is paid for by the elderly $250.00 each time tested, and paid to a private firm.

Rumour has it, that the Ontario Ministry of Transportation will be introducing the Simard test in April of 2014.

Please give this as much distribution as possible, in order to make the people of Ontario aware of what their Government is doing.  The only way to exercise our rights is to seek remedy through the Courts; however, only wealthy citizens can afford their rights.

Perhaps, with wide distribution, we may find some legal firm, willing to something as a public service.

Yours Concerned,

Ed. Rockburne, RCMP Retired, Perth , Ontario,

(I have Ed’s contact information – if you can help, please let me know and I will put you in touch with Ed Rockburne.)

Jan Mowbray for Halton NDP