I was trying to clean up the towering stacks of newspapers around here, when I came across an article from the Tuesday Record:
Resurrect Liberal day-care plan, councillors say (May 16 - Local):
Our local cast of clowns has "...unanimously passed a motion that calls on the new Conservative government in Ottawa to make a five-year commitment to the day-care program put in place by the Liberals."
"This is a motherhood issue," Coun. Geoff Lorentz said at the meeting of the finance committee.
"To cancel all of these spots, to me it's unbelievable."
Motherhood issue? Come on!!! Sara, I bet you'll have something to say about that!
"Mayor Carl Zehr led the call for support in Kitchener, but wanted any reference to the Conservative government replaced with the term federal government."
"You can't take the politics out of it, but I would like to take the partisanship out of it," Zehr said.
That's rich Carl, considering you have Sharon Mitic, of Canadian Auto Workers Local 1524 behind you.
"Mitic was joined by Jim Woods, the first vice-president of Local 1524, as the union leads a nationwide campaign to convince the federal Tories the child-care program put in place by the Liberals must be retained."
First of all, didn't these turkeys pay attention during the election? This is not something that P.M. Harper just recently pulled out of a hat. The government was elected on five now famous planks and this was one of them. Secondly, the Liberal "plan" was nothing more than sending a cheque to the provinces. These guys are now panicking because they have to face all these local lobby groups.
And Coun. Berry Vrbanovic, who chairs the finance committee, said that the recent federal budget that cancels the program "runs counter to all research that demonstrates each dollar invested in early childhood education saves $7 in later expenditures on health care and criminal justice."
Hmm... That sounds familiar. Just who did this "research", BTW?
"This is certainly one of the more unfortunate parts of the recent federal budget," Vrbanovic said. "I think this is going to come back to bite us, and bite us significantly."
Oh, this is going to come back to bite you all right, Berry - Right at the next municipal election!
15 comments:
damn, I can't fight this today I got my hick wedding...
ok you do it for me this weekend jo, I'll tell you that the research says that a daycare worker is worth more to society economically than a mom,,, only 16% of parents use daycare in canada, that is not equality for woman with only 16%... their research slams stay at home parents bad, so we can discredit the research they see as god!!
have fun guys!
miss yahs be back with a big headache...
So the local Govmt is basically a bunch of would be hogs at the trough complaining because they've had their promised truckload of taxpayer funded swill taken!
Just exactly when did the mandate of a civic council become political activism for Socialist politics?
If you don't watch out you'll end up with a shadow version of Ken Livingston ...Red Ken of Merry Ol' London England who spends his time and taxpayers money courting such luminaries as Hugo Chavez....
I know that's a stretch but I'm sure Red Ken got to where he is in small increments. You know stuff like passing resolutions in council about Federal Government policies!
I think youneed to let these councilors know that you are perfectly capable of (and have) deciding who to send to Ottawa and what is important to you. And that they have no damned business wasting the time you are paying for on the missuse of their position for partisan political posturing.
Thanks, Sara. I think you just made the case anyway. Have a great time at that "hick" wedding! Just what is that anyway? Is that what you do after drinking too much beer?
PGP - Thanks for your input. You can see what I'm dealing with here. It's a very scary place to live. I plan to become extremely involved in the upcoming local election. I will be voting for A.B.I. (anyone but the incumbants).
And Dalton McGuinty is shoving something through to extend municipal mandates by one year! Time to act now, people!!!
Didn't Harper promise to extend the funding for two years during the electiona and then abruptly cut that back to one year with the budget?
RT - I don't recall anything about a 2 year promise. If you can find a reference to that, please post it. thanks.
Well, I could have been wrong, but I’m sure I heard Harper say that during the election. It seems however the issue is more complicated than I had made it seem. Apparently, there are different “transition periods” for various provinces, depending on the agreement they originally signed with the previous government.
RT - thanx for that link.
Yes, it seems that there was a one year opt-out clause for either side. Complicated for sure.
What I don't understand is all these lobby groups screaming blue murder now! What did they think would happen?
What did they think would happen?
I guess the rub for some of the facilities in question comes from the fact they may have made commitments based on the funding formula they anticipated would materialize from commitments made by the previous government. If they signed building leases that run past one year, then they’re left scrambling for money, aren’t they? Not to mention their staffing costs. So, they will have to seek other sources of support, or pack up shop (and be left with considerable outstanding debts to their landlords).
Well you know the old saying; never assume anything - It makes an ass out of u and me. Dang! I broke my own no-swearing rule.
Joanne...It would be great if you could take a run at council!
If not I hope you can get behind a strong and clear headed candidate.
Good Luck!
lol! Thanks, PGP! I certainly will be watching this closely.
Joanne, just don't run for parliment, I'd hate to have to campaign against you....or would I?
Zac - Too funny! It would make for a lively debate, that's for sure!!!
'Motherhood issue' ? A tad sexist and politically incorrect. Maybe city councils should stick to what they do best -- whatever that is.
Canadi-anna, thanks for that. As soon as I read it the statement got my back up. It rang too close to the "Beer and Popcorn" statement for my taste.
"Maybe city councils should stick to what they do best -- whatever that is." They're very good at spending huge amounts of money trying to revitalize a downtown that's been taken over by drug dealers and prostitutes.
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