Various Veins
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It seems the person who wrote the heading for the column last week didn't understand the irony of my title, "In the shadow of the Grey Cup." It was intended to draw attention to the relative importance of a bunch of overweight mounties marching the Cup to the podium and other rites to the men and women in the column. Well anyway, the column was published.
This week there are more examples of ignoring one or more groups while we are regaled by CPAC about the planeloads of people arriving from Syria and all the ways the newcomers will be setup in homes, taught not only everyday English, but the language of banking, etc., not a word about the marginalized elders in remote communities.
Not likely you listened to the symposium on CPAC, but the rah rah language set my teeth on edge.
Of course Canadians have to make the entry of these people as seamless as possible. Why is no one talking about the thousands of Canadians who lost jobs last month?
I suppose someone is, in the brief speech from the throne. Prime Minister Trudeau is going to skim money off the 1 per cent to pay the bills for the middle of the roaders. Of course, those are the people who know how to protect their incomes, here or offshore.
In Saturday's London Free Press Stephen Skyvington writes, "(W)e're likely to see a... rash of doctor bankruptcies as a result of... cuts to OHIP fees... imposed on doctors by (Premier) Wynne and Treasury Board President Deb Matthews this past year."
Skyvington goes on to say the premier, the treasury board president, and even Health minister Eric Hoskins, an MD himself, have spent the last several months trying to make us believe this is all about greedy doctors when it's really about rationing health care.
You should read Skyvington's piece. Those little dots stand for a lot of really powerful adjectives. They save space for other fiascos.
Here's one.
Last month, according to Keith Leslie in the Free Press, the Liberal government sold 15 per cent of Hydro One on the Toronto stock market, and plans to privatize 60 per cent to raise $9 billion to pay down debt and fund infrastructure projects. Aside from killing the goose that laid the golden eggs for the government, the acting Ontario ombudsman, Barbara Finlay was given only a short time to deal with outstanding complaints about Hydro One's screwed-up billing. Anyone whose account wasn't corrected will have to wait until an ombudsman is created in the private companies. The fox guarding the chickens?
The report of Auditor General Bonnie Lysak this week said Hydro One was among the least reliable electricity distribution systems in Canada. It predicted more, and longer power failures because aging assets are not being replaced quickly enough.
We won't need to worry until something happens, because the auditor general won't be able to examine the private company books.
Premier Wynne bragged about being given a mandate to govern Ontario at the last election. Seems her math skills are a bit wonky, but she either knows how to sweep stuff under the rug, or that's just another accident.
Did you hear, the word 'master' is being taken out of the education system? It is associated with masters and slaves. That's a hoot! The reins of power in schools have shifted to so-called students years ago. Crusty old cartoonist Al Capp played with that over half a century ago.
The Liberal government has spoken about free education at all levels. If no one insists on students actually learning something, that's another money pit.