I'm BAAAAACK

Hello All,

Back by unpopular demand. I know that you all have been waiting for my musings. God knows I have.

Thoughts for the week,

1. If you give someone flowers is that a threat? Because if you gave someone a dead bunny they would be deeply concerned but somehow if you give dead flowers all is good in the world.

2. When you find out a TTC token collector makes over 100, 000 dollars a year it makes University and professional development seem like a waste of time.

Till Next Week

Longer

 

Who's Winning This Game??

 

One of the Sisters

 

One of the Sisters

 

BEST PICTURE I HAVE EVER SEEN

Canada Walk of Fame?

I just don't get our obsession with "stars" that leave this country and make it big in America. I mean, the likes of Alanis Morrisett, Jim Carey, Michael J. Fox, Neil Young, Celine Dion and Mike Myers. All of these stars went to America and abandoned their home country. Most, if not all, got American Citizenships. They come "home" when the have a movie premiere or they receive some award. In my mind these people are no longer Canadian. They do not contribute, in anyway to Canadian Society, they won't even live here. I find farcical that they say, "I am proud to be Canadian".

Lets look at Mike Myers . There was an article written about him that was entitled, "I would rather be in Scarborough than any place on Eath". If that is so, then why doesn't he live in Scarborough? I mean living in Toronto would not inhibit his movie career. It is a short plane ride to New York (where he lives).

Then there is Alanis Morrisette. She says that she is a proud Canadian, then she applies for American citizenship. At the citizenship ceremony Alanis stood up and asked if she could be the one to sing the American national anthem. The facilitator politely declined, as they already had a "real American" ready to sing the national anthem.

Come on folks; let’s forget about these people who only use their Canadian background when it is convenient. We should be honouring true Canadians ones that live in the country, ones who retain their Canadian citizenship. We should honour the likes of the Littlest Hobo (did you know there were 12 of them), Red Green, Beachcomber Nick Adonidas (Bruno Gerussi), Peter Puck, Sarah Polley, and Scott Thompson. I think I am going to start my own walk of fame in front of my house with chalk.

THE ONTARIO PARTY

Hello all Ontarians, it is now time to get together and vote for a new federal party named, The Ontario Party. This new party will accomplish the following:

1. We will defend the interests of all Ontarians
2. We will demand a free and independent Ontario
3. We will hold a referendum, on a question yet to be determined, that will show the country our intentions to leave confederation.
4. We will hold a private party meeting where we will agree that separation is not our intention.

It appears to me, that the only way that confederation can work for you, is to threaten to leave Canada. I mean lets look at Quebec. They had what some academics called, the quiet revolution (I find it hard to believe that the people from Quebec could do anything quietly). Since this period in history a segment of their population has ascribed to a separation philosophy. Which has culminated in the federal party, the Bloc Quebecois.

Now we can look to the West and we keep hearing shouts of Western alienation. Alberta claims over and over that they shunned from power (even thou they are richer then the entire country and the former finance ministry came from the west and now the Prime Minister is from Calgary).

With this regime change, both the west and Quebec appear to be poised to get everything that they want. Quebec is being wooed with appointments to the United Nations culture committee. Mr. Harper has visited with the Primer on six or seven occasions and has promised more aid to this province when the topic of equalization occurs.

The west is the next big winners. The Conservative government has done away with the Kyoto accord to comply with the demands of the oil lobby, he plans to get rid of the gun registry as per the wish of Alberta and his tax and slash politics align nicely with Alberta's neo- conservatism.

Now to all of you (probably three of you who read this blog) who think that I am overreacting about the shabby treatment that the people of Ontario and specifically Toronto receive from the federal government look at these facts:

• According to Dalton McGinty, "We will have lower levels of funding for hospitals than in all those provinces but one," he said, adding we have the lowest per-capita program spending in the country.
• Despite increases in health and education spending every year, at $2,917 a head, Ontario ranks fifth in the country for health care.
• We rank ninth out of 10 for hospitals -- at $984 per capita.
• And we're tenth out of 10 for post-secondary education ($334 a head).
• 2003, according to Citizenship and Immigration's statistics, Ontario got 119,741 (54%) of Canada's 221,352 immigrants, while Quebec had 39,551. Yet Quebec, and who knows whatever other province but Ontario, received $3,800 back from the federal government for each of these immigrants while Ontario only received back $800. Just in this one category, Ontario citizens were short-changed $359,223,000 in 2003 alone.
• Infrastructure Transfers to Provincial Governments. Once again, Ontario receives $367 per individual from the federal government, while all other provinces receive $466
• Employment Insurance Payments to Individuals. Another rip-off. Unemployed Ontarians receive $5,030 in employment insurance payments, while Canada-wide the figure is $7,110 per person
• There has never been a Prime Minister from Toronto (petty point, but I like to throw that in)

Faced with these facts, it makes me angry and dismayed about how confederation ever got this way. The rest of the country use Ontario like a bank and when anything goes wrong in their provinces they point the finger at Ontario.

My solution to this problem is to start our own federal party called The Ontario Party. We will be full of bluster and rhetoric, we will have candidates that inspire a nationalist fervour and we will do what everyone else does. We will claim that we want out of Canada, gain some support and sit back and watch the federal government finally acknowledge that Ontario deserves that same respect as all the other provinces.