The Not-So-Great One

As I lay in bed this morning, I was feeling just a tad sorry for myself. My world, since the election in the U.S., has gotten smaller. I no longer read great swaths of the papers, given that so much coverage is devoted both to the election results and what lies ahead. I also am limiting my tv news intake for the same reason. I no longer want to give space in my head to who the Americans elected. However, one story has roused me from my torpor, and it is the subject of today's post.

I have written a couple of times in the past about Wayne Gretsky, the misnamed 'Great One', who inexplicably heaped lavish praise on Stephen Harper. It seems that Wayne has found a new idol, Don Trump.

It would appear Wayne Gretzky can be added to the list of high-profile professional athletes and sports figures who support U.S. President-Elect Donald Trump.

The Great One attended an exclusive A-list event at the Republican nominee’s Mar-a-Lago resort in West Pam Beach, Fla., on Tuesday night, rubbing shoulders with the likes of Tesla founder and X-owner Elon Musk and UFC president Dana White as team Trump awaited results.

 Gretzky, was joined by his wife, Janet, who later congratulated Trump on Instagram. “You did it, You deserved it, you earned every bit of it. The world is a better place to have you as our Leader, Proud to be an American. Thank you for being such a great friend. May God keep watching over you,” she wrote, ending with “Love our family to yours!” 

Mrs. Gretsky also posted on Instagram a loving tribute to Trump. Although I viewed the post, it has now mysteriously disappeared. 

The post, scored by a version of God Bless America, included a reel of photos, one of which shows Wayne leaning in to speak to Trump at some point during the event, presumably after news outlets began declaring him elected as the 47th president.

Janet’s reel also featured a photo reported to have appeared in her daughter Paulina’s Instagram stories. In this one, not confirmed to have been taken at Mar-a-Lago, Janet and Wayne pose alongside Paulina and her husband, pro golfer Dustin Johnson, all wearing formal attire.

Perhaps I am just lashing out due to my deep disappointment in the election results. Nonetheless, as I have said many times to those around me, Wayne is dead to me. This latest outrage is merely the final nail in his coffin. 

Pictures, Not Words

I lack the heart these days to write on my blog. Therefore, I think I shall let pictures, in this case, an editorial cartoon, speak for me.

H/t Moudakis

A Post-Election Thought

And one more:

Can I get a big "Amen?"

On This Election Night

 What made me think of this?

Springing The Trap

In his ongoing efforts to evade responsibility for the plight of the homeless and their consequent encampments, Doug Ford set a trap. And like hungry mice eager for an ort from the table, 12 Ontario big-city mayors shamelessly took the bait. 

It all began when Mr. Ford very publicly suggested he wanted 

Ontario’s Big City Mayors, an association of 29 municipal leaders, to show “backbone” and support using the notwithstanding clause by putting it in writing “if they really want the homeless situation to improve.” 

The whiff of cheese too strong,  

the leaders of Barrie, Brampton, Brantford, Cambridge, Chatham-Kent, Clarington, Oakville, Oshawa, Pickering, St. Catharines, Sudbury and Windsor sent a letter to Ford on Thursday...

“We request that your government consider the (measures) … and where necessary use the notwithstanding clause to ensure these measures are implemented in a timely and effective way.”

Too their credit, cities like Toronto, Burlington and Hamilton refused to join in the request, apparently aware that the 'solution' on offer was  misdirection of the vilest kind.

Burlington Mayor Marianne Meed Ward, chair of the mayors’ group, wants to see “one point person, a specific minister or ministry, in charge of solving this” and a province-wide plan including more supports.

She said the “issue becomes, if you are using the notwithstanding clause to close down encampments, but people have nowhere to go, we’re no farther ahead.”

 Others also saw the offer of the notwithstanding clause for the ruse it is.

Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow, who did not sign the letter, “believes the notwithstanding clause isn’t a real solution,” said her spokesperson Shirven Rezvany, urging the province to create more supportive housing, boost social assistance rates and reinstate rent controls, among other things.  

“I would hope that the government would actually be working with municipalities to build the housing we really need.”

Ontario Green Party leader, Mike Schreiner, had this to say: 

"To me, this is a complete failure of the Ford government to build deeply affordable, non-profit, co-op and supportive housing. If they are going to take the extreme measure of taking the constitutional rights away from people who are experiencing homelessness, where are those people going to go? There are no homes for them to go to."

As I said in my previous post,  Doug Ford, like so many other 'leaders', has debased the nature of the political contract, reducing it to a transactional one. It is good to know that there are at least a few who still understand that the whiff of some pungent cheese is no guarantee of a feast for all.

 

If You Live In Ontario

 ... you will understand the following

H/t Moudakis

One of the dubious accomplishments of Ontario Premier Doug Ford's government has been to reduce the relationship between the governed and those who govern to a transactional one. No more are there entertained the lofty sentiments of a John Kennedy, who famously said, "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country."

No, those days are long gone, to be replaced by crass efforts to convince everyone that government exists only to make your life better (an illusion that some people only latter discover is untrue) through egregious vote-buying.

Forget the common good. Forget the larger issues that demand sacrifice from all (climate change, rampant homelessness, drug addiction, etc. etc.) And, of course, forget about the fact that these giveaways preclude any effort to re-upload provincial responsibilities that are bleeding property taxpayers dry.

As is often the case, however, I am prevented from slipping into complete despair by the fact that a few see through the entire facade.

Doug Ford spending nearly half of Ontario’s tax windfall on $200 ‘rebate’ cheques, Oct. 20

What a fiscally irresponsible premier we have. 

First, Doug Ford scrapped the $120 licence plate renewal fee, costing the province about $1.1 billion a year. Wasn’t that money necessary to fix our roads, highways, bridges, etc.? Then Ford broke a contract one year early with the LCBO to the tune of at least $225 million. (This could go as high as $1 billion with the projected repercussions.) Apparently getting beer at the corner store is more important than putting money toward, let’s say, health care.

Now he wants to give $200 to each taxpayer regardless of their income. (Naturally this will not include the most vulnerable among us who do not pay taxes.) This will cost $3 billion. That’s BILLIONS of dollars that could have gone to hire the doctors, nurses and support staff required to cut surgery and emergency wait times; ensure mental health care for children who now have to wait years for help; fund schools properly so they don’t have to fund raise for necessities; subsidize homes for the homeless. Think about this as you spend your $200 bribe for your vote that could have been used for the greater good — improving the lives of the entire population of Ontario.

Susan Ross, London ON 

A deplorable stunt

This is one of the most bizarre decisions that I have ever witnessed by a government institution. Ontario has a huge debt burden which is being compounded by annual deficits. Apparently the Ontario government thinks it should be rewarded (at the expense of their growing debt obligations) but they should be condemned for such a deplorable stunt.

Robert Woodcock, North York

Ford stop this crazy circus. We don’t find it amusing

What kind of a clown act is that, sending us back our own money intended for our welfare? Thanks, but no thanks. That $3 billion is our tax money. It would go a long way in areas in desperate need of funding. We are not amused. The only clown act we want to see from you is of the disappearing kind.

 Frances Sedgwick, Toronto

A Good Story

In our fractured world, it is often hard to anything remotely resembling good news. However, occasionally a story comes along that reminds us that a better existence is possible. The following is  one such story.

Despite all the bruiting about $10 daycare in Canada, something that is proving difficult to achieve, I cannot imagine a story like this here.