Rita

Quote of the Day: “Liberals take positions that make them look good and feel good and show very little interest in the actual consequences for others, even when liberal policies are leaving havoc in their wake.” Thomas Sowell

Busy day at TheRecord. On the Front Page, we have an announcement that: “The region’s managed outdoor encampment set for Erbs Road will likely open in mid- to late March instead of next month, regional commissioner Peter Sweeney told council.” Yup – the much hyped homeless shelters are now going to open in the spring instead of the winter. Let’s not forget that this guy is in charge of $100 Million budget for the Region. Idiot.

Also on the Front Page today, Liz Monteiro reports that: “The Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony is asking the region for a one-time grant of $100,000 to help with a slump in tickets sales, especially from core audience members who are still not returning to concerts.” And the reason for the slump? It seems that “some audiences are not ready to convene in a concert hall or other venue” Symphony Executive Director Andrew Bennett wrote in letter to regional Chair Karen Redman. So, every last restaurant in the Region is filled on Friday and Saturday nights, the Aud is filled for Ranger games, gyms are packed, but the Symphony is having an issue because of COVID. Or maybe the public doesn’t want to buy what the Symphony, or maybe the members of the Symphony are paid too much, or maybe Bennett is just bad at his job? The Region should absolutely not raise my taxes to give money to this grifter.

Luisa D’Aamto has an interesting column today where she asks: “Why do we allow airlines to treat us so badly?” Good question. She outlines a couple of incidents in the past few weeks regarding the horrendous behaviour on the part of Big Air and the trouble it has caused passengers. So why hasn’t someone with some time on their hands, taken an airline to small claims court for damages? I expect (but I really haven’t looked into this…) that there is some small print in the 50 page contract that you “sign” by clicking on some button when you buy your ticket, that you give up your right to sue them.

No Editorial today. Instead, there is an op-ed from TorStar columnist Susan Delacourt with a “sky is falling” column on the potential for protesters in Ottawa this weekend. Boring….

Great op-ed today on the Opinion Page by Steve Ambler, a retired professor L’Université du Québec à Montréal. He opens his column by saying: “Most readers will be familiar with the recent travails of Jordan Peterson with the College of Psychologists of Ontario (CPO). He has been ordered by the CPO to undergo, at his own expense, a lengthy course of ‘media training.’” Well, actually, most readers of any TorStar paper would not be familiar with Dr. Peterson’s troubles because TorStar papers tend not to report on Conservative or conservative issues unless they are purposely criticizing some person or issue. Good column by Dr. Ambler. Again, point to one positive comment or article that they have ever printed about Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre. Zero.

Quote of the Day: “The old are not really smarter than the young, in terms of sheer brainpower. It is just that we have already made the kinds of mistakes that the young are about to make, and we have already suffered the consequences that the young are going to suffer if they disregard the record of the past.” Thomas Sowell

No Editorial today (for the fourth day in a row). Instead, there is an op-ed from Gwynne Dyer who talks about the resignation of New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. Nothing new in his column that hasn’t been reported over the last few days. Of course, in discussing Ardern, he actually mentions (I guess this is now mandatory for all TorStar columnists…) Donald Trump. Boring…

Two op-eds on healthcare in Canada today on the Opinion and Insight Pages today. One is from Jaime Watt who talks about the recent Ford decision to open up private clinics to perform day surgeries. His take is: “Health care in Canada is at a tipping point and an expanded role for private health care providers, universally covered, has been the logical solution staring us in the face for the better part of a generation. With more people suffering as a result of our overburdened system each passing day, with delays piled on delays as a result of COVID-19, governments can no longer afford to simply afford to simply avoid or ignore this solution.” The other op-ed is from Christopher Holcroft, “a Montreal based writer” according to his bio. He starts off his column by relating two stories about how he had a “life-threatening anaphylactic reaction while on vacation” and how his mother “underwent complex cancer surgery that required significant rehabilitation”. His tells us that “No payment for these services was ever required.”. Of course, he doesn’t mention that the average Canadian family pays about $14,000 per year for medical services out of their taxes, but whatever… I guess in his world, there is a free lunch every day… And of course, he suggests that: “Our bond with medicare must be vigorously protected from the American dark money lobbies seeking to break it for their private gain.” Yup – it’s those nasty Americans that want to profit from our pain and suffering!!! Oh, and about those 600,000 Canadians that need surgeries but are on month (or year) long waiting lists??? Ummm…. “Yet broad acceptance of this [American dark money] and other substantive changes to medicare would require a dramatic weakening of Canadians’ confidence in the health system, a muddying of the facts that have long supported a publicly delivered, universal program, and a corruption of the shared values that form the basis of our country’s commitment to collective care and wellbeing. Such an audacious undertaking is the unique domain of American dark money organizations, the well-documented networks of billionaire ideologues pursuing an extreme libertarian agenda while repudiating norms of advocacy and evading transparency.” I am so happy and thankful that I’m in excellent health. If it ever comes to the point where I have to pay a few dollars to save my life or even to avoid being on the 600,000 waiting list, I have no problem with that. What I do have a problem with is ideologues pursuing an extreme leftist agenda while repudiating norms of freedom and evading standard laws of economics. Idiot.

Quote of the Day: “No government of the left has done as much for the poor as capitalism has. Even when it comes to the redistribution of income, the left talks the talk but the free market walks the walk. What do the poor most need? They need to stop being poor. And how can that be done, on a mass scale, except by an economy that creates vastly more wealth? Yet the political left has long had a remarkable lack of interest in how wealth is created. As far as they are concerned, wealth exists somehow and the only interesting question is how to redistribute it.” Thomas Sowell

No Editorial today. Instead, there is an op-ed from TorStar columnist (oh boy…) Andrew Phillips. He whines about “…a revealing interview with Susan Delacourt, the prime minister was eager to take on Poilievre.” In the interview, it was clear that Trudeau is now desperate since the Conservatives lead the Liberals by about 5 points nationwide and a huge 9 points in Ontario (https://canadianpolling.ca/).

Over the last few days, there have been a number of op-eds on the Opinion and Insight Pages that talk about Ford’s decision to allow private clinics to help offload day surgeries from hospitals. I wish every article about this issue would simply state that there are an estimated 600,000 people waiting for surgeries and 106,000 just in Ontario. Start from these statistics (which are the only ones that matter) and then discuss the problems/issues/solutions of the Canadian bankrupt healthcare system.

Quote of the Day: “Attempts to equalize economic results lead to greater and more dangerous inequality in political power.” Thomas Sowell

No Editorial today. Instead, there is an op-ed from TorStar columnist Chantel Hebert. She has an interesting op-ed today, but, it’s still not an Editorial.

Interesting op-ed on the Opinion Page today from Emmanuelle B. Faubert of the Montreal Economic Institute. He talks about the Ford government’s plan to move certain surgeries to private clinics to ease the strain from hospitals. Good column because it directly refutes many of the claims that have appeared in the Opinion and Insight Pages after the Ford announcement. I noticed in the column that Faubert mentions the 206,000 patients that need surgeries, a fact that most other op-ed writers who oppose this move neglect to acknowledge.

On the Insight Page, Heather Mallick whines about New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern resigning. Mallick tells us in no uncertain terms that her quitting is: “…a terrible blow to women’s rights at a time when the backlash against feminism – no, make that against women – has been brutal and will get worse. Women should never underestimate how much they are hated. Every week, rage and violence against women has been rising like sea levels. Toxic masculinity reigns.” Yup, Arden, the far left, authoritarian PM who devastated the Kiwi economy in the last five years, sees that she is going to lose the upcoming election in 2023 and therefore quits. But, toxic masculinity reigns, according to Mallick. Hmmm… So, did toxic masculinity force Adrern to quit but also elect Giorgia Meloni in Italy??? Seriously, why does TheRecord publish such nonsense?

Quote of the Day: “Black votes matter to many politicians more so than black lives. That is why such politicians must try to keep black voters fearful, angry and resentful. Racial harmony would be a political disaster for such politicians. Racial polarization makes both the black population and the white population worse off, but it makes politicians who depend on black votes better off.” Thomas Sowell

Good op-ed today by Grant Linney, an Environmental Educator. He mentions the various experiences he has had with students as they explore nature: “Memorable moments. Powerful, lasting connections. Experiential encounters that, as research overwhelmingly shows, convert such encounters into lifelong proenvironmental behaviours.” But he suggests that outdoor education is “…undergoing an extinction of experience… As parents and grandparents, we must take our kids outdoors … not just send them outside. As taxpayers, we must vigorously support outdoor and environmental education in our schools.” Yea, too bad he doesn’t expand exactly why outdoor education is lacking in our school system. Teachers are more interested in getting out the door (and not outdoors) because we all know when Wine-O’clock is…

No Editorial today. Instead a column by TorStar writer Althia Raj. Booo…

Quote of the Day: “The promotion of ‘self-esteem’ in our schools has been so successful that people feel free to spout off about all sorts of things – and see no reason why their opinions should not be taken as seriously as the views of people who actually know what they are talking about.” Thomas Sowell

Once again, TheRecord doesn’t have a proper Editorial on its Opinion Page. Today, we have John Bennett who is a Senior Policy Advisor at Friends of the Earth Canada. Their website is here: https://foecanada.org/ He tries to suggest that government leaders who make policy decisions on what’s best for the country are “paradoxical”, simply because they don’t align with his views. Ugly.

Quote of the Day: “One of the most fashionable notions of our times is that social problems like poverty and oppression breed wars. Most wars, however, are started by well-fed people with time on their hands to dream up half-baked ideologies or grandiose ambitions, and to nurse real or imagined grievances.” Thomas Sowell

Most everyone knows that I love Sudoku puzzles. This fact means that the younger members of my extended family have very easy Christmas gifts to buy for me and hence the barrage of Sudoku paperback books on my shelf. TheRecord has a Sudoku puzzle every day on Page 2 and two puzzles on Saturday. They are rated from 1 star to 5 stars, with the easy 1 to 3 stars on Monday to Thursday, and then a 4 star on Friday and both a 4 and 5 star on Saturday. Dave Green has been supplying the puzzles to TheRecord for many years – as long as I have been doing them, I think. Now, I only do the 4 and 5 star puzzles since I find the 1 to 3 stars too simple. When I went to grab the 4 star today, I noticed that it wasn’t by Green at all since he has a very distinct and symmetrical way of organizing his puzzles. It seems that TheRcord now publishes Sudoku by “King Features” instead of Dave Green and has done so since Monday. I attempted to use the search facility to find the announcement of this change without success. The King Features puzzles are clearly not as good as Green’s. Pathetic. Every day that I pick up my paper, I ask myself: Am I getting my money’s worth from my subscription. More and more, I get back the resounding “NO!”.

If you do a google search (or in my case, neeva.com) on the effectiveness of cloth masks to prevent the airborne transmission of aerosol droplets (such as those exhaled by an infected person with COVID-19), it will bring up research that clearly indicates that cloth masks are basically useless. Some research I found here: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27531371/ points to primary issue: “Our results suggest that cloth masks are only marginally beneficial in protecting individuals from particles <2.5 μm. Coronavirus is 0.125 microns.” Got that? So, COVID-19 virus is 20 times smaller than what a cloth masks can filter and it is also only “marginally beneficial” in protecting particles of 2.5 microns. So, with the science question out of the way, why is it that some institutions of higher learning are still forcing students to wear masks? On the Front Page today, Robert Williams has a hilarious article about WLU student who takes the mask mandate and using the letter of the law, wears lettuce, SCUBA masks, full WWII gas masks etc. to protest the ridiculous rules by WLU. Well worth the 4 minute read!!!

Also on the Front Page today, Terry Pender tells us that: “The lack of affordable child care forced the first Black female MPP from Kitchener Centre to announce she’s resigning her seat for a tenure track position at the University of Waterloo.” As announced yesterday, Laura Mae Lindo is quitting her position as a MPP and moving to UofW. Really??? So, seven months ago, she ran successfully for the NDP to be a member of the provincial legislature and then suddenly realized that she didn’t have day care lined up for her kid? Right. What a loser. But of course, you just don’t get a tenure track position at UofW over the weekend, now do you? This must have been months in the making. So, basically, she did absolutely nothing for Kitchener Centre in her time except pick up a pay cheque. Good riddance.

Fred Youngs, a senior manager at the CBC (wow – if there ever was a RED FLAG, this is it…) has an op-ed on the Insight Page today. He suggests that: “Poilievre’s far-right flirtations continue”. He tells us that Poilievre’s spoke at a think tank called the Frontier Centre for Public Policy. Now, I get newsletters from this group. I find that they are well thought out and well researched. If you go to their website (which Youngs fails to tell us) at FCPP.org, you will see the thousands of research papers on a huge variety of subjects. However, Youngs points to papers (none of them referenced so it’s kinda hard to find and confirm then) that mention positions that “…question the reality and validity of the horrors of residential schools.” Well, so??? Is this not something that we as Canadians shouldn’t question? The FCPP has been promoting Indigenous rights for decades. For example, under the Aboriginal Futures section of their website, they have over 740 research papers – the absolute first one in the section is titled: “Legislating Communal Native Poverty” which warns that “Legislated poverty destroys job prospects for natives.” Youngs and TorStar anti-Poilievre op-eds are now bordering on ridiculous.

Quote of the Day: “Some things must be done on faith, but the most dangerous kind of faith is that which masquerades as ‘science.’” Thomas Sowell

Kitchener Centre MPP Laura Mae Lindo is quitting. Good. She was useless for Kitchener.

Brent Davis reports on Page 4 today about the proposed 2023 Region of Waterloo budget that could add $138 to the average property tax bill. However, this doesn’t include the Waterloo Regional Police budget that would add an additional $50 to the average tax bill for a total proposed regional increase of about $188. The main driver of this increase is the spend “…on housing and homelessness is expected to rise to $123.9 million in 2023, from $107.6 million last year”, Davis tells us. Really??? And just why is the Region in the housing business anyway? As I see it, the Region should make our streets safe to walk on and our roads safe to drive on and little else. If this keeps up, every last taxpayer in the Region will need subsidized housing.

Another op-ed instead of an Editorial today. Michael Levitt has been the President and CEO of Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center since September 2020. He tells us about antisemitism in Canada and what is being done about it. Good op-ed, but it still isn’t an Editorial.

TheRecord’s Chicken Little has another column on the Insight Page today. She digs up obscure papers from somewhere that all point to the horrors of plastic. Oh my. We just might as well drop dead right now. Oh course, she neglects to point out the actual horrors of just 50 years ago when there wasn’t any plastic wrap or zip lock bags or air tight containers. Consumers wrapped their perishable food in oh so sterile newspapers and other forms of paper. Her columns would actually be funny if they weren’t so sad…

Quote of the Day: “Darwinian adaptation to environment applies not only to nature but also to society. Just as you don’t find eagles living in the ocean or fish living on mountain tops, so you don’t find leftists concentrated where their ideas have to stand the test of performance.” Thomas Sowell

In Waterloo Region (or Ontario, or Canada…) we do not have a “Housing Crisis”. (I capitalize “Housing Crisis” since it seems that this concept has taken on a life of its own and is now alive and well… Soon, it will be known as Housing Crisis, Esq.) What we have here is a temporary mismatch between supply and demand for housing brought on by a number of economic shocks to the housing market. Prices, as always, are moving towards equilibrium. However, if you actually believe there is a housing crisis and want to know why where is a housing crisis, and you want to know how to solve the housing crisis, then all you have to do is to read Jeff Outhit’s article on the Front Page today. He reports on four proposals what went before Waterloo City Council this week that would add close to 5,000 new dwellings in Waterloo, if approved. I assume that would put a good bump in the supply of housing for Waterloo. Oh, but wait… Outhit reports: “’We can and must do better’, environmental advocate Kevin Thomason told Waterloo council Monday” on the proposed project near Laurel Creek. And “The towers are proposed at up to twice the permitted height, Councillor Royce Bodaly noted. He asked why the developer is not sticking to the allowed height.” And also: “Councillor Jen Vasic asked why the tower plan does not put parking underground.” And finally: “Council will not decide on new housing until later. Approval requires council to permit taller buildings in some places and more crowded buildings in some places, and to tweak a variety of setbacks, distances and parking spaces.” *cough*

The Editorial on the Editorial Page today talks about the Ontario government’s just announced plan to expand delivery of insured health services by private sector clinics. This is long overdue and a small but meaningful step in the right direction. Of course, the Editorial refused to acknowledge that our so-called “free” health care system is morally and fiscally bankrupt. But basically a good Editorial.

Also on the Editorial Page today, we have for the third time in three weeks, an op-ed by Andrew Phillips. He tells us about a book he read called “The Persuaders” by New York Times columnist Anand Giridharadas. Phillips calls Giridharadas a “journalist”, but whatever… He tells us that: “Increasingly, politics doesn’t involve the traditional task of reaching out to the other side and trying to bring them over to your way of thinking… Giridharadas, calls this ‘the culture of the write off’ and he argues that it’s potentially fatal for democracy. And as someone who identifies firmly with the left, he says it’s especially dangerous for self-styled progressives who these days are more likely to ‘call out’ their opponents than try to coax them over to their side.” Well, Giridharadas is certainly correct on that point. Didn’t President Biden, just yesterday call anyone who wanted to reduce spending “fiscally demented”? Nice. Phillips continues and says: “And the fact is Canada just isn’t as politically polarized as the United States. There’s still a big persuadable middle ground of voters in this country, and thank goodness for that. But the basic point applies and the dangers are apparent here as well. Pierre Poilievre, to take the most obvious example on the right, seems (at least so far) to have decided that it’s not worth his time to reach out beyond his conservative base… But refusing even to engage with those on the other side risks driving everyone deeper into their own political solitudes.” Oh right. Without a single example of “refusing even to engage”, Phillips does exactly what Giridharadas warns against.

On the Insights Page today, Tyler Firth talks about the word ‘elite’ and how (he claims), it is misused today. He asks: “How is it then, that populist, conservative politicians have successfully hijacked the word to such an extent that, other than in sport, art, or fashion, it is hurled about with derision at people who have attained excellence in their fields?” His examples: “Premier Doug Ford and federal Tory leader Pierre Poilievre snarl and sneer as they rail against the so called elites, particularly those from well respected media outlets or academic institutions.” Ford and Poilievre. Got it. Thank you Tyler. Now do an op-ed on the hijacked word “gay”.

Quote of the Day: “No one likes to admit being mistaken but, under the incentives and constraints of profit and loss, there is often no choice but to reverse course before financial losses threaten bankruptcy. In politics, however, the costs of the government’s mistakes are often paid by the taxpayers, while the costs of admitting mistakes are paid by elected officials.” Thomas Sowell

At the beginning of my career, I had a job at a consulting firm in Toronto. For 2.5 years, I drove from K-W to the firm. It was a very gruelling experience and I basically burned out my car over those years. The only train service that was running at the time was CN – but it left the Kitchener station (as I recall) at about 6:30am and got in to Union Station at around 8:30am. It stopped maybe 4 or 5 times – I don’t remember. It left Toronto at 4:30pm and got in after 6pm. If you missed the 4:30pm train, I think the next one was around 11pm. It was expensive (for me…) so I rarely took it. So, even though there has always been train travel between the two cities, I still drove my little car back and forth since it was so much easier and more convenient. Cheyenne Bholla has an article today on the Front Page about the never ending story of “All-Day” GO Train service between the Region and Union Station. She points to the incremental steps and different projects that are ongoing to build the infrastructure to make this happen. There is still a huge amount of money and resources needed to make this service happen including “…the rest of the funding [from the Region] needed for the $106-million project, beyond the $43 million the province has agreed to pay.” Ouch. And good for Bholla for actually driving this project back to reality by giving us the actual amount of train travel vs vehicle travel between the two regions. A huge number of commuters are going to need to start taking the train for this project to even pretend to be nothing but a white elephant.

And speaking of white elephants, I was stopped where Erb and Bridgeport Streets meet the other day for the ION to pass. It took about 3 minutes by the time the gates first went down, the train to pass and then the gates to finally go back up. I was fourth in line. I looked back and counted a total of 19 cars waiting on the train. There were three (yea, 3…) people on the $1.5 Billion boondoggle. So, maybe 25 people had to wait 3 minutes (or 75 minutes total) so 3 people could ride the train. Pathetic.