Ontario Green Energy Failure

(Reposted from BlueLikeYou - Nov. 5, 2012)

The problem with so-call Green Energy is that it is often more of a feel-good solution than a practical one when it comes to solving environmental and grid problems. This issue (among others) is highlighted in Scott Stinson's column, McGuinty Liberals’ dream of renewable energy has not come to pass:

Of greater concern is the problem of when the wind blows and the sun shines. On Oct. 28, for example, one of the windiest days of the year, Ontario’s wind energy farms were humming along in the early evening and producing more than 1,450 megawatts — about 85% of wind capacity. This is highly unusual; in the high-demand summer months, wind routinely produces at less than 10% of capacity. But here was a rare day when the wind facilities were doing what they were intended to do — and the province was dumping the electricity on the market at a tiny fraction of what it was paying for it. In fact, at various points of the day, according to data published by Ontario’s Independent Electricity System Operator, the province was exporting to neighbouring jurisdictions almost the exact same amount it was generating from wind farms. At 3 p.m., it was generating 1,432 megawatts of wind — at the mandated rate of ¢13.5 per kw/h — and exporting 1,507 MW at less than ¢3 per kw/h. At 4 p.m., it was producing 1,450 MW from wind and exporting 1,425 MW, at the same 80% discount. You get the idea: Renewables producing excess energy at the time it is least needed...

Wind turbines sound like a good idea until you realize that the power can't be stored and is unpredictable at best. So at least one of Dalton McGuinty's legacy projects is an abject failure. And a costly one at that - not even factoring in the scandals.

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Update

This comment by 'gregorypspeers' on the same National Post page made me chuckle:

I used to vote conservative, then I changed to liberal, even voted for Jack the one time. I guess I am wishy-washy. Dalton and the Liberals however topped the list of my biggest disappointment when it comes to political parties. yes even more than Harper. I bought into the green energy fiasco, watched in horror as they squandered billions on E-heath and gas plants. With Harper I knew what to expect and nothing he does surprises me. I can at the least respect that. Dalton on the other hand cut to the bone like the feeling you get when you find your best friend in bed with your wife.

Oh the betrayal! Another lemming wakes up and smells the gas stink. And this is a good read by Lorrie Goldstein - An ill wind for McGuinty:

...In many ways, the social disaster caused by McGuinty’s reckless and uninformed blunder into green energy rivals the financial disaster he inflicted on all Ontarians in pursuit of it, as revealed by Ontario Auditor General Jim McCarter’s findings last year. McCarter found McGuinty added billions to the cost of electricity generation — to be paid for by Ontario consumers — by failing to do proper business planning, ignoring the advice of the government’s own experts on how to reduce costs and committing Ontario to paying hundreds of millions of dollars for green energy it doesn’t need and may never use. The problem with the McGuinty Liberals, of course, is that they are now so committed to green energy they’re incapable of admitting error, much less reversing course, something unlikely to change with a new leader...

We'll have to put pressure on him or her.  And any McGuinty successor who was part of the Cabinet is going to have to answer for this disaster.

A few quick thoughts on the TTC strike

This morning's Sun editorial encapsulated most of my personal reaction regarding the surprise TTC strike.

The union acted very irresponsibly by not giving any warning. As I watched the Toronto news stations near midnight, reporters were giving the information to many young women as they were planning to head home via a bus or subway. Several were in shock. I have a young niece who lives in downtown Toronto and I was immediately concerned for her safety.

The supposed reason for not giving a 48 hour warning was apparently to protect workers from abuse, but I suspect that transit users will have a few choice words for the drivers once this situation is temporarily resolved.

It should be a lesson for both David Miller and Dalton McGuinty though. Their union friends will just keep demanding more and more. They will never be able to satisfy their demands, and it will come at a huge cost to the taxpayer and transit user - both financially and in terms of safety.

At some point, they may need to make a tough choice.

And that time may well be now.

* * * *

Tony's viewpoint on this is worth reading. Comments are good too.

* * * *

Please Note: In the process of doing a bit of technical tweaking. Hopefully nothing here will be affected.

So much to say, so little time

There are a plethora of topics out there today, so I think I'll launch a series of short posts to address them and readers can weigh in as they like.

The first one is this morning's editorial in the Record which shocked me to the core. Why? Because they said everything I was thinking about Felix's proposed Ontario pesticide ban - and then some.

The editorial (Pesticide ban is unwarranted) explains that this isn't about the environment. It's about politics and pandering to very vocal special-interest groups:

...It will, come next spring, be illegal for residents of Kitchener's Rockway neighbourhood to use pesticides in their yards. But why will Rockway Golf Course in the same neighbourhood be allowed to spray pesticides on their greens and fairways? And why will golf courses beside residential neighbourhoods from one end of the region to the other -- in Elmira, Conestogo, Waterloo's Grey Silo Golf Course, Westmount, Kitchener's Doon, Cambridge's Galt Country Club -- all be exempt from the chemical ban McGuinty argues is so essential? Are these chemicals dangerous or not?

The answer is obvious. This ban is about politics, not science. And it is driven by political desire and public fear, not reason...

( . . . )

The fact is, to accept the need for McGuinty's ban, you need to conclude that Health Canada has been hopelessly wrong and inept -- not just on one occasion but consistently and for decades. Some would argue it has. However, it's worth knowing that Health Canada has, in the past and based on newer research, removed some pesticides from the list available to the general population.

Every time Canadians buy a prescription drug, they place their faith in Health Canada, which regulates our pharmaceuticals. When they accept laws to limit exposure to cigarette smoke, Canadians do so because Health Canada found tobacco to be carcinogenic. And just last week, the federal government began a process that will probably lead to a ban on the chemical bisphenol A, which is used in some plastic bottles and as food liners. Why? Because Health Canada sounded the alarm. So explain the selective trust.


For those who dismiss the wisdom and science of Health Canada, and there will be some, it is worth listening to Keith Solomon, director of the Centre for Toxicology at the University of Guelph. "There is no evidence to suggest a health risk from these chemicals,'' Solomon said bluntly of the substances McGuinty is banning. "This will not make any difference to the health of Ontarians.'' As for the ban itself, he is scathing: "It doesn't make sense because it is nonsensical...''

It's almost enough to make me regret cancelling my subscription.

But the opposition parties will cave to the bellowing of the special interest groups because they are just as pathetic as this government.

Civil liberties continue to be eroded by weak-kneed politicians. It's the story of our times.

Our own little travesty of justice

Peter Kormos said it all:

..."The Baltovich story has a very Mexican ring to it, if you will,” Kormos said.

Bentley was evasive when asked about a news report that the Crown had earlier offered Baltovich a one-day jail sentence in return for revealing the location of Bain’s body...

Meanwhile, Deb Tielman seems to have finally learned that you catch more flies with honey than with caustic rhetoric:

"I do believe this is good for Brenda," she added. "I think to have Jason (Kenney) come and be able to give Brenda some kind of assurance from the government that this is going to be expedited and they can have her home in a couple of weeks will give Brenda something to hold on to.

I could actually get back on board the Brenda bandwagon if this keeps up.

* * * *

Related: CBC notes that the Premier and the AG don't seem to have their talking points synchronized today....

More on Baltovich at The Politic.


And poor Tonda. She just couldn't get Bill Graham to take a partisan stand on Brenda Martin.

Claire Hoy has a great editorial on Brenda Martin - Politics and Martin; Canadian prisoner in Mexico strangely partisan in her attacks.

Felix McGuinty and his ban fetish

Kudos to Graeme MacKay for this one!

Gee, I wonder if the natives could look into a sideline of selling pesticides the way they do cigarettes...



The Star's Jim Coyle compares Dalton to one half of the "Odd Couple" (Less John Robarts than Felix Unger):

...To his great good fortune, McGuinty has escaped the unforgiving demands of nation-building. As such, he governs less as a latter-day Father of Confederation than a political version of Felix Unger, the clean freak from The Odd Couple.

If ever an Ontario premier had the luxury of sweating the small stuff, he's it.

In McGuinty's Ontario, clean living is the ethos of the day, so much so it sometimes feels as if the province is governed by a combination old-time school marm and cleaning lady.

Not lawns, not laundry, not young lungs, not even school lunches have escaped the government's fastidious eye.

Yesterday, the premier celebrated Earth Day by announcing a ban on the use of cosmetic pesticides on lawns in residential areas.

Recently, he liberated Ontarians labouring under the yoke of oppressive local regulation and freed them to use clotheslines to dry their laundry.

His government is banning cigarette displays in convenience stores. Not long ago, it nixed smoking in automobiles in which children were passengers.

In recent months, Ontario has given thumbs down to trans-fats in schools, banning them from cafeterias, vending machines and tuck shops where impressionable taste buds reside...

Christina Blizzard isn't impressed either - Pesticide ban hardly dandy. However, the Ontario Lemmings who voted for Felix presumably love being told how to live their lives.

My better half recently asked me (tongue in cheek), if the next decree will come in the form of how many squares of toilet tissue we're allowed to use each morning?

Well, I hope this is one area where Felix might allow us a little latitude.

* * * *

Update: While you're at it, how about banning the Health-Tax, Dalton?

Good resource here - Urban Pest Management Council of Canada.

The Teflon Premier

Federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty's battle with the Ontario Liberal Government seems to have produced two unpleasant results (from my POV) - Support for the CPC in Ontario is going down, while numbers for both federal and provincial Liberals are going up in this province.

While Flaherty may be responsible for the federal polling results, the Ontario picture is likely due more to an extremely weak opposition. As the Ottawa Sun's Antonella Artuso reports, nothing seems to be sticking to Dalton McGuinty:

...Pollster Nik Nanos said the Liberals now enjoy a 15-point advantage over the Tories, up from 11 points in the October election.

Supporting the McGuinty government is a "default" position for voters who don't see the opposition as proactive on important issues, such as the province's economic slowdown, Nanos said.

"They're not wearing anything as a government," he said. "It's classic ... free ride politics."

The Nanos Research poll finds the Liberals have the support of 45% of decided voters, followed by the Conservatives at 30%, the NDP at 14% and the Green Party at 10%....

Strangely, even the media seems outraged today by Dalton's arrogance. Joe Warmington is especially angered the way Dalton dodged the media surrounding his closed-door session with Chinese business people:

...Somebody has to call out the premier and remind him he's in that job at our pleasure in an open, democratic society where the press is entitled to cover his every public move. This means his meeting with a business delegation from Jiangsu, China, and its Vice-Governor Zhang Weiguo, should have some reasonable media opportunities. As premier, he's on our clock -- as were cabinet ministers Michael Chan and John Wilkinson...

Well, Joe. I don't know about that. With polls like the one that just came out, I think you can be assured that Dalton's actions will become even more arrogant and secretive. Don't look for any transparency from this guy in the near future. He has the Ontario Lemmings eating out of his hand.



But I do wonder if any of that Teflon the premier wears was made in China?

* * * *

Update: Aww... Doesn't this warm the cockles of your plebeian heart? - I talked rights: Preem. Chinese VIP 'listened intently':

...McGuinty said he made it clear to Zhang that he would be attending question period following the meeting and would give opposition MPPs an opportunity to hold him to account.

"He was surprised at that process," McGuinty said. "But I embrace that process."

Yeah, right.

Running on arrogance

Christina Blizzard's Sun column today is titled, Running on Empty. I disagree. There's a lot of hot air in the Legislature. 'Empty' would be an improvement.

To me it's worse to be hypocritical than to be doing nothing. And surely there must be some kind of statute of limitations on pointing the finger at previous governments:

...The worst offender is Health Minister George Smitherman. He was under fire last week over news reports that the Rouge Valley Hospital was about to lay off nurses.

Nickel Belt New Democrat France Gelinas asked Smitherman about the layoffs in question period.

After Smitherman had gone through his litany of blaming (a) the Tories and (b) the hospital management, he reminded Gelinas that when the NDP were in power, they closed hospital beds.

"That's when Howard Hampton was on a five-year bathroom break," Smitherman said contemptuously...

Dalton's method of handling things is to deliver a sanctimonious sermon:

...Pausing every now and then for dramatic effect, he gets into a breathless, preacher-style way of talking when he gets into the spin cycle.

We need "constructive engagement" to persuade the Chinese government to be more like us, he argued. Hallelujah, sister Sandra is going to spread the gospel of good government to China. Hallelujah, hallelujah.

This bafflegab is frustrating for anyone seeking real answers...

So we have a preacher and a pitbull in charge of this province. (My apologies to dog owners.)


You know, sometimes I wonder why I bother pointing any of this out. I'm beating my head against a wall of voter apathy and Liberal Lemming-worship here in Ontario. Hypocrisy and arrogance don't seem to bother them. They just shrug it off and say, well that's politics for ya.

However, with another election years away, I do hope that Blizzard is right. Better that they sit there and twiddle their thumbs than do any more damage than they already have.


So go ahead and take a long, long bathroom break yourself, George. Unless of course, you'd rather wear a diaper.

Your chance to let Dalton know what you're thinking!

O.K. This normally doesn't happen until election time, but the Committee doing the review about the Lord's Prayer is actually asking our opinion!!!

Yes, yes. I know. Dalton won't actually read the forms, but won't it make you feel better? Look at it as a kind of therapy.

Some of the opposition members feel that this issue is using up valuable government time that could be better spent on more pressing issues. Do you agree?

Well, tell them!

Some folks fear that this could lead to ugly tensions between various faith-groups and secularists:

...Some question the need for a divisive debate. Frank Dimant, executive director of B'nai Brith, said Ontario is facing much more pressing issues – including a slowing economy and gun violence. No one was clamouring for a change to the Lord's Prayer, he said.

"I do not believe that the people of Ontario are interested in engaging in a massive debate between religions, ethnic groups, cultural groups and atheists," said Dimant, adding the Lord's Prayer is more symbolic nowadays.

"Why look for a problem which will pit group against group in this province?"

Hmmm... Yes, that does sound familiar.


In any case, tell the Committee how you feel about this - all the good, bad and ugly thoughts you have. Click on Consultation on prayer in the Legislative Assembly and then let them have it!!

It's a rare chance to participate in democracy in action.

Or at least the illusion of democracy.

Time to take a stand

Wally Oppal is inching ever closer to actually laying charges in Bountiful - B.C. may charge men of sect: A-G.

Good for him.

Meanwhile, in Ontario we not only allow it - Our tax dollars support it.

This should make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up

Jonathan Kay warns of the OHRC's desire to increase its jurisdiction.

In a related article (Rights body dismisses Maclean's case), Tarek Fatah founder of the Muslim Canadian Congress weighs with these observations:

..for the Commission "to refer to Maclean's magazine and journalists as contributing to racism is bullshit, if you can use that word."

He said the Commission has unfairly taken sides against freedom of speech in a dispute within the Canadian Muslim community between moderates and fundamentalists.

"There are within the staff [of the Ontario Human Rights Commission], and among the commissioners, hardline Islamic supporters of Islamic extremism, and this [handling of the Maclean's case] reflects their presence over there," Mr. Fatah said, identifying two people by name.

"In the eyes of the Ontario human rights commission, the only good Muslim is an Islamist Muslim," he said. "As long as we hate Canada, we will be cared for. As soon as we say Canada is our home and we have to defend her traditions, freedoms and secular democracy, we will be considered as the outside."

Absolutely chilling - especially in view of today's events.

* * * *

Thursday Morning Update: This should make all bloggers wary of how our freedom to debate on the internet is in jeopardy - That's done.

National Post - Ontario rights commission dismisses complaint, sort of by Joseph Brean.

Saskboy is not impressed - Terrible news for the Canadian Blogosphere.

Thursday Afternoon Update: Jonathan Kay on the Ontario Human Rights Commission: Some interesting thoughts from a former government insider.


Interesting interview going on right now on the Gary Doyle show with the author of "Why we want to kill you".

Am I allowed to say that?


Tip from a reader - Muslim Canadian Congress shocked at OHRC decision to trumpet Islamic cause. Well worth the read, if you're concerned about Sharia law in Ontario.

BCL weighs in - "Sask. Blogs Aggregator: Striking A Martyr's Pose"

Let them eat platitudes!

Bad enough he wants to take away the Lord's Prayer from the Ontario Legislature. Now Dalton seems to have taken to delivering sermons.

Jim Coyle notes (Record):

When a mere provincial premier takes to letting fall from his lips the words of King Solomon, it's a good bet that a case of second-term smugness has set in.

Dalton McGuinty was in Hamilton recently, the same day Statistics Canada released some dreary employment numbers for Ontario. The U.S. recession was spilling over the border, analysts said. And the Steel City is one of the places where such news hits particularly hard.

But McGuinty -- sounding more like the province's pastor than its premier -- advised in what will hereafter be known as his Sermon on Hamilton Mountain against panic.

"Trust me, folks,'' he said. "This too shall pass.''

Well, probably.

But what's next? Instead of a Throne Speech readings from the Book of Proverbs?...

- Perhaps Dalton sees himself as some kind of holy man, say like the Dali Lama?

Human rights abuses not McGuinty's concern

NDP Peter Kormos worries that Sandra Pupatello will be used as a 'dupe', during the Ontario Government's upcoming cabinet-level trade junket to China.

It's o.k. Peter.

No worries there. It's the voters who are the dupes.

* * * *

Update: Speaking of China, Canadian Consumer Product safety Laws to be toughened up.

Halls of Macadamia has more: The scary, hidden McSlippery agenda.


STOP THE PRESSES!! Maybe we have a solution to this problem - Sandra Pupatello can bring it!

How can you tell when Dalton McGuinty is lying?

Answer - When his lips are moving.

(H/T to a caller on the Jeff Allan show.)

But where do the jobs come from?

Angelo Persichilli's column in today's Sun is a must-read - Ontario must create jobs to prosper.

Great to have a job-training program, but at some point you need to have places for those people to work. So if we spend a pile of money re-educating the work force only to have them leave the province for greener pastures, what have we accomplished?

And how can Dalton's pet projects in health care and education be sustained with a dwindling tax base?


And how can a burgeoning public sector be sustained? John Tory noted recently in the Post:

...Mr. McGuinty boasts that he has created new jobs in Ontario, but he fails to mention that almost half of the new jobs created are public sector jobs, paid for by taxpayers' dollars. Ontario is the only province in Canada where over the past five years the growth of public sector jobs has exceeded the growth of private sector jobs. Mr. McGuinty wrongly believes this is sustainable. It's not. We need private sector jobs to pay for those in the public sector...

In spite of what we think of Mr. Tory, his message rings true. If we continue on this path we will end up being the 'caboose' instead of the economic engine of Canada.

Jim Flaherty was right that the conditions need to be made favourable for investment to be attractive in Ontario. At the moment, they're anything but.


Persichilli says we have to start immediately to create the jobs that the skilled labour is being groomed for. He wonders why we are selling our raw resources to other countries to be manufactured, and then shipping the products back to be bought by Canadians?

Of course, nobody is addressing the real issue - that we have priced our labour right out of the market.

Unless we're willing to accept lower wages and abandon the union mentality, we will never be competitive.

And then the other provinces with natural resources will become the economic engines of the country - until everything has been depleted.

* * * *

Monday Update: Method in minister's madness by Nik Nanos.

Caledonia citizens get back at Bryant

For anyone following the Caledonia debacle, this post by Jonathan Kay is excellent. It has links to several recent events including Michael Bryant's pathetic use of YouTube as a PR forum for communicating with residents.

Well the townsfolk have returned the favour. Videos can be found here. (The Spectator suggests trying here).

Psst, Rick Mercer... I see skit potential here!

Good on the National Post for continuing to be one of the few MSM voices supporting the citizens of Caledonia and the theory of a non-discriminatory police and justice system - even if it doesn't exist in Ontario at the present time.

Grrrr....

Dalton stole my tag line - Ontario, it's ours to recover... by Dalton McGuinty.

Except that he messed up the last bit - 'from Flaherty' should read 'from McGuinty'.

Tough Love

After watching the dynamic between Jim Flaherty and Dalton McGuinty these days, I'm torn between assessing it as a parent-child relationship and at other times I wonder if Jim Flaherty feels he needs to take over the role of the Ontario opposition parties, which occasionally need a little instruction on how to critique Liberal policy.

McGuinty's effectively boxed himself in a financial corner and can't afford to cut taxes, so he goes crying to the feds.

Now that Dalton's whiny 'Gimmee Ottawa' attitude threatens to affect the rest of Canada, I think that the Premiers in other provinces should be backing Flaherty in driving home the message that Dalton needs to be accountable for his actions. The Big Federal Liberal Nanny State is not in power at the moment, but Dalton just doesn't seem to get it.

He's still acting like a spoiled little child trying to defy his parents, and expecting a bail-out at the end.

By contrast, the Federal Conservative approach is to allow the provinces the freedom to make their beds, but they have to lie in them afterwards - even if they wet them. (I could throw in a Smitherman- diaper reference here, but I won't.)

So Daddy Flaherty is now trying to guide little Dalton and Dwight on how to make the best of the mess they find themselves in now. Raising their allowances won't teach them a thing about responsibility and the consequences of pandering to special interest groups and other bullies that steal their lunch money.

And if Ontario voters finally wake up one day, perhaps we can even take some responsibility ourselves, and get rid of a provincial government still caught up in the whining-entitlement era.

Until that day, we may as well get used to Rick Mercer's chant, "Ontario is the last place where, we don't check the rear view, no one there!"

* * * *

Update: Great little gem from comments in the previous post:

aek said...

From Joanne's CTV link, it looks like the feds, meaning all Canadian taxpayers, have already kicked in $26 million on top of Ontario's $50 million.

Do we have a new federal "equalization for incompetence" program?

Wed Mar 19, 03:31:00 PM EDT

Brilliant!



On a more sombre note - Economic growth seen at only 1.1% this year: TD.

B.C. will weather economic downturn - Vancouver Sun.


Thursday Update: Lorrie Goldstein - Don't look, bring money.

Ottawa Citizen - 'Don't panic' over economy, McGuinty says. (With TD references to 'ugly duckling' Ontartio and Quebec.

Dalton to the ROC - Chip in for Caledonia!

Are you guys outside of Ontario alright with Dalton McGuinty clamoring for more money to offset the $50 million tab for Caledonia (which is actually closer to $54 million)?

Remember now, he bought the land. The Province of Ontario now owns it. Negotiations continue even though the land is occupied.

Bear in mind too, that the Feds already gave Dalton $26 million of your hard-earned tax dollars last year to help offset Caledonia costs, and this problem has no end in sight.

Michael Bryant calls it "...the cost of keeping the peace".

Do you agree to foot this bill, ROC?

* * * *

Update - Message from a reader in comments:

Dalton, from Alberta...get stuffed! Your inaction and inability to bring this issue to resolution is your problem, do not depend on Canadian taxpayers to bail out the incompetence of you and your government.

* * * *

Wednesday Update: More bad news for my reader from Alberta by the Sun's Christina Blizzard - Another slap for Ontario:

...Meanwhile, remember how Ontarians used to joke that if you wanted to see this province's tax dollars at work, you had to go to Newfoundland? Guess now, Albertans will have to come to T.O. to see how we're spending their transfer largesse.

Howdy, y'all.

If Dalton really does have federal leadership aspirations, and ends up being Prime Minister one day, I wonder who he'll blame for his incompetence? And where will the money come from to throw at the unions and other highly influential special interest groups?

A good leader knows when to say NO!!!



And read this one. You won't believe it. Six Nations' $1 Billion based on 'legal rules' (Spectator):

Six Nations says it has used Canadian legal principles the corporate world would employ to come up with the $1 billion it claims it's owed for the flooding of land it once controlled in Dunnville in 1829.

Calculations are "based upon Canadian legal principles and are fair and reasonable," said lawyer Aaron Detlor, an adviser to Six Nations negotiators in talks with Ottawa and Queen's Park.

"If you were Coca-Cola, this is what they would do. If you were Wal-Mart, this is what you would do..."

Also see Halls of Macadamia - Like Federal, like Provincial.

WWMD?

Just like his big screen look-alike, Dalton McGuinty seems to have a complex relationship with his mother. He seems to value her opinion and yet ignores it at the same time.

The Legislature is opening this afternoon with the Lord's Prayer, but Dalton is still considering an alternative - in spite of Mother's displeasure:

...The legislature will begin this afternoon with Speaker Steve Peters reading the Lord's Prayer, but McGuinty has proposed a committee look at whether or not that is still appropriate in multicultural Ontario.

The premier admitted his mother "gave him hell'' for proposing the change...

That little personal admission reminded me of the FLICK-OFF campaign, when he was amazed that the sensibilities of so many Ontarians were offended, stating that it was something he might have expected his mother to complain about it...


Interesting dynamic there. I'd love to be a fly on the wall at a family dinner.

At the very least, I detect some latent hostility regarding Mommy Dearest.

* * * *

Tuesday Update:

What Would Mother Do about this? - These deals treat taxpayers poorly (Record):

...Taxpayers throughout Waterloo Region who are now paying police or firefighters such lavish bonuses have a right to feel frustrated and powerless. Such settlements are, in the private sector, virtually unheard of. In the private sector, bonuses are often based on performance. In the case of such public sector jobs, the bonuses are automatic. They are not so much an incentive to do well as to stay put. Nor is there evidence that, without these bonuses, the region's police and firefighters would leave for greener pastures. And what next? How long until ambulance workers get these bonuses?

Clearly, the spread of retention bonuses is soaking up millions of precious tax dollars across the province that could go to other priorities such as health care, improving universities or providing more public transit. And just as clearly, it will take intervention by the Ontario government to set things right. There should, without question, be tighter guidelines directing an arbitrator's decision so that bonuses of such sheer magnitude are forbidden. But don't hold your breath. The firefighters pay dues to a powerful union. They actively campaigned to re-elect Dalton McGuinty last fall. It will likely take a recession before McGuinty or anyone else acts...

Now I understand why all the unions were supporting Dalton during the election!

Why are holidays more important than PSA tests?

Jeff Allan is discussing the McGuinty government's election promise to fund PSA tests. Ontario men are still waiting. Jeff was actually instrumental in bringing forward this promise, which Dalton McGuinty announced on his show.

Local MPP John Milloy was interviewed and said that it will take some time to enact this promise, but that they are working towards it - obviously at a snail's pace.

How is it that a holiday, which is still having negative repercussions, can be decreed practically overnight, but the public funding of a potentially life-saving test takes plodding deliberation and consultation?

How many men are holding off getting this test done until the Liberal government actually fulfills its promise? How many men will die because of that wait? Making this promise and not carrying it out immediately is far worse than never having made it in the first place.

If covering the test would be too expensive, why did Dalton make this promise???

Perhaps the MPPs could vote to revoke their raises.

Or else use some of that notorious Health Tax, which mainly goes into 'general revenues'.