Funding In the third week of April the buzz at Hamilton City Hall was whether or not the mayor of Hamilton was demonstrating sufficient resolve in pursuing LRT for Hamilton. Was he in fact an anti-LRT subversive , damning it by faint praise? Council was all set to pass a resolution that Bob Bratina would henceforth need to be accompanied ... Read More »
Nowhere but in politics do we so clearly see the manifestation of the principle of unintended consequences. Two national media icons are appointed to the senate for no other reason than to lend their star quality to a taxpayer-funded never-ending campaign tour. Fast forward to the past week and Mike Duffy and Pam Wallin have gone from a-listers to objects ... Read More »
With big privately-funded waterfront projects on the horizon, it appears council supporters of the Hamilton Waterfront Trust are determined to continue to find ways of keeping the insolvent organization alive long enough to catch the next wave of development. The Hamilton Waterfront Trust has submitted a request to the City for $1 Million to improve lighting and sound systems at ... Read More »
With Hamilton City Council’s approval of Councillor Sam Merulla’s motion calling for the Integrity Commissioner to investigate Mayor Bob Bratina for allegedly bullying City Manager Chris Murray at a council meeting last month, the issue of a double standard regarding bullying of staff is raised. In the incident in question, the mayor left his place at the council table and went over ... Read More »
According to a pair of articles in the National Post, the much -publicized gas plant cancellations in Mississauga and Oakville are not the biggest blunder the Ontario government has made with the Hydro file. In ‘Green Disaster,’ two Fraser Institute analysts say the Ontario Green Energy Act has wasted $2 Billion, and threatens to harm Ontario’s manufacturing sector with some ... Read More »
The Hamilton Chamber of Commerce has endorsed three of the proposed Metrolinx taxes to fund $2 Billion in annual transit expenditures, as having high potential. They are: High Potential Sales Tax Fuel Tax Parking Space Levy In a release the Chamber said it recognized that the province of Ontario is currently faced with a $300 billion debt and ... Read More »
In Europe people can pinpoint what part of the country you are from by your accent. Nowhere is this as true as in Britain. According to Globe and Mail writer Paul Waldie, British parents are so anxious to see their kids get a leg up on completion that they are hiring tutors to teach them to lose some of those ... Read More »
For those of you who are fed up with cable companies bundling unwanted and unwatchable channels with the good stuff there is a gem available that justifies a higher tier cable package for the comedy value alone. We refer of course to Leafs TV, whose video clips of actual dressing room interviews lay bare once and for all the vapidity, ... Read More »
If you have been following the LRT debate in Hamilton you might find Joell Ann Vanderwagen’s opinion piece in today’s Star of interest. She argues that we are being seduced by expensive mega projects when simpler transit solutions are available. Avoid blowing transit funds on ill-conceived megaprojects Do we want to relieve congestion or provide lucrative contracts for big consortiums? Before we raise new ... Read More »
Slowly, perhaps we are moving towards a climate of greater accountability in commentary on the web. The Toronto Star has an interesting article, exploring the ramifications of former Toronto Maple Leaf GM Brian Burke’s multi-million dollar lawsuit against anonymous bloggers who posted messages suggesting Burke had an affair with a female sports anchor. It is clear that the courts are ... Read More »
The Bay Observer A Fresh Perspective for Hamilton & Burlington
