Lynn Reynolds has written a wonderful editorial for the Peterborough Examiner, read it here.
I hope Ziggy is waiting at Rainbow Bridge for her people...and that the Liberals who voted for this vague, shoddy, unfounded and unjust law rot in hell.
Monday, July 9, 2007
Sunday, July 8, 2007
McGuinty paving the way...with asphalt.
Kudos to the Kitchener Record for bringing this to light. Read it here...
and since the Record has a nasty habit of putting everything in a for-fee archive within a day, here's the text.
New Highway 24 an arrow in McGuinty's green balloon
PAUL CARY
(Jul 7, 2007)
If our premier is to leave a legacy, aside from "No New Taxes," Dalton McGuinty knows it will be as the first Ontario leader to fight urban sprawl by the setting up of the Greenbelt. That, and the $17.5 billion announced for alternative transportation, are the major planks of his re-election campaign.
Unfortunately, the bureaucrats in the Ministry of Transportation have not embraced his vision. They are road builders. They think that every traffic problem is fixed by more pavement -- hence, their proposal for a new highway 424 that will push through the drinking water of the Galt-Paris moraine, through the sensitive wetlands of the Beverly Swamp, through McGuinty's own greenbelt, and through some of the best farmland of southern Ontario.
Of course, the effect on the environment will be devastating -- but will a new highway bring any advantages?
Cambridge city council has been told this is a Highway 24 bypass, but it passes nowhere near the existing highway. The ministry has admitted that 70 per cent of the traffic flooding off Highway 24 into downtown Galt and clogging the delta intersection is local. According to the ministry map the new highway will run from Highway 403 some 10 to 20 kilometres east of Brantford and arrive at Highway 401 a similar distance to the east of Cambridge. Local drivers will not drive 30 kilometres out of their way on the new highway when the existing Highway 24 is shorter and quicker.
After the new highway is built, and Cambridge discovers it has just as much traffic in its downtown and council requests a real highway bypass, it will be told by the ministry that the bypass money has already been spent on the new highway.
Of course, the road's main purpose is a conduit for development in Brantford. With a direct route to the 401, the greenbelt has been leap-frogged. We will see the kind of uncontrolled development in Brantford we have experienced in Cambridge and every other community along the 401 toward Toronto. Thousands of houses will be built over farm land and marketed in Toronto, Mississauga and Brampton, with a huge rise in commuter traffic.
If you travel from the Kitchener-Waterloo-Cambridge area every day on Highway 401, imagine the effect of sharing the road with another 20,000 cars from Brantford fighting to reach Toronto.
Unfortunately, developers only build houses -- never the amenities they need to make a community, such as children's recreational facilities, so hockey arenas and soccer fields become overcrowded and expensive.
The medical services are overwhelmed with six-hour waits in emergency departments and hospital facilities constantly lag behind needs. Families wait years to find a family doctor, with long waits for surgery due to the shortage of anesthetists and surgeons. Even the old age homes become scarce as the newcomers want relatives closer as they become frail.
Smaller communities will be equally devastated. Immediately to the east of Cambridge the community of Puslinch will disappear under pavement. Already bearing the noise pollution of the 401 at its northern boundary, it will have the new 424 to the east and, inevitably, a main new highway to the west when Cambridge finds it still needs a ring road.
In the beautiful little town of St. George property developers in the know have been buying up farmland to the west of the town. With an on-off ramp planned for the east of the town on Highway 5, the town will become a racetrack as the Toronto commuters in the new developments hurry to the new link to the 401.
Even tiny Sheffield, supposedly secure in the greenbelt, will have the new highway only yards from half the houses in the village.
We are all used to the concept of a win-win situation but this must be the most perfect example of lose-lose.
Lost forever will be the wildlife of the wetlands, the pristine waters of the moraine, the quiet lifestyles of the country inhabitants, and the stability of the City of Brantford and the smaller towns and villages.
Losers will include the inhabitants of Cambridge -- their city still a throughway for traffic from the south of the city and the commuters from the greater area of Kitchener and Waterloo who are mired in traffic when they should be home enjoying the company of their families.
If you can feel sorry for politicians, then appreciate the pain of McGuinty's government when its main election plank has cracked underneath it due to insensitivity of the bureaucrats of the ministry of transportation. And, perhaps, feel sorry for the dinosaurs of the ministry who find themselves in a strange new green world they don't understand, while trying desperately to evolve beyond cement and tarmac.
Dr. Paul Cary is a Sheffield resident and vice-president of Stop the 424 Association. Second Opinion articles reflect the views of Record readers on a variety of subjects.
and since the Record has a nasty habit of putting everything in a for-fee archive within a day, here's the text.
New Highway 24 an arrow in McGuinty's green balloon
PAUL CARY
(Jul 7, 2007)
If our premier is to leave a legacy, aside from "No New Taxes," Dalton McGuinty knows it will be as the first Ontario leader to fight urban sprawl by the setting up of the Greenbelt. That, and the $17.5 billion announced for alternative transportation, are the major planks of his re-election campaign.
Unfortunately, the bureaucrats in the Ministry of Transportation have not embraced his vision. They are road builders. They think that every traffic problem is fixed by more pavement -- hence, their proposal for a new highway 424 that will push through the drinking water of the Galt-Paris moraine, through the sensitive wetlands of the Beverly Swamp, through McGuinty's own greenbelt, and through some of the best farmland of southern Ontario.
Of course, the effect on the environment will be devastating -- but will a new highway bring any advantages?
Cambridge city council has been told this is a Highway 24 bypass, but it passes nowhere near the existing highway. The ministry has admitted that 70 per cent of the traffic flooding off Highway 24 into downtown Galt and clogging the delta intersection is local. According to the ministry map the new highway will run from Highway 403 some 10 to 20 kilometres east of Brantford and arrive at Highway 401 a similar distance to the east of Cambridge. Local drivers will not drive 30 kilometres out of their way on the new highway when the existing Highway 24 is shorter and quicker.
After the new highway is built, and Cambridge discovers it has just as much traffic in its downtown and council requests a real highway bypass, it will be told by the ministry that the bypass money has already been spent on the new highway.
Of course, the road's main purpose is a conduit for development in Brantford. With a direct route to the 401, the greenbelt has been leap-frogged. We will see the kind of uncontrolled development in Brantford we have experienced in Cambridge and every other community along the 401 toward Toronto. Thousands of houses will be built over farm land and marketed in Toronto, Mississauga and Brampton, with a huge rise in commuter traffic.
If you travel from the Kitchener-Waterloo-Cambridge area every day on Highway 401, imagine the effect of sharing the road with another 20,000 cars from Brantford fighting to reach Toronto.
Unfortunately, developers only build houses -- never the amenities they need to make a community, such as children's recreational facilities, so hockey arenas and soccer fields become overcrowded and expensive.
The medical services are overwhelmed with six-hour waits in emergency departments and hospital facilities constantly lag behind needs. Families wait years to find a family doctor, with long waits for surgery due to the shortage of anesthetists and surgeons. Even the old age homes become scarce as the newcomers want relatives closer as they become frail.
Smaller communities will be equally devastated. Immediately to the east of Cambridge the community of Puslinch will disappear under pavement. Already bearing the noise pollution of the 401 at its northern boundary, it will have the new 424 to the east and, inevitably, a main new highway to the west when Cambridge finds it still needs a ring road.
In the beautiful little town of St. George property developers in the know have been buying up farmland to the west of the town. With an on-off ramp planned for the east of the town on Highway 5, the town will become a racetrack as the Toronto commuters in the new developments hurry to the new link to the 401.
Even tiny Sheffield, supposedly secure in the greenbelt, will have the new highway only yards from half the houses in the village.
We are all used to the concept of a win-win situation but this must be the most perfect example of lose-lose.
Lost forever will be the wildlife of the wetlands, the pristine waters of the moraine, the quiet lifestyles of the country inhabitants, and the stability of the City of Brantford and the smaller towns and villages.
Losers will include the inhabitants of Cambridge -- their city still a throughway for traffic from the south of the city and the commuters from the greater area of Kitchener and Waterloo who are mired in traffic when they should be home enjoying the company of their families.
If you can feel sorry for politicians, then appreciate the pain of McGuinty's government when its main election plank has cracked underneath it due to insensitivity of the bureaucrats of the ministry of transportation. And, perhaps, feel sorry for the dinosaurs of the ministry who find themselves in a strange new green world they don't understand, while trying desperately to evolve beyond cement and tarmac.
Dr. Paul Cary is a Sheffield resident and vice-president of Stop the 424 Association. Second Opinion articles reflect the views of Record readers on a variety of subjects.
Saturday, July 7, 2007
Unimpressed by the media! Read Mark Cuban's article
Interesting article by Mark Cuban, who made gazillions in the early dot.com days and owns the Dallas Mavericks (whatever they are - I assume a football team). Read Mark's article here. H/T to KC Dog Blog for the link.
It ties somewhat to my rant about global convergence impacting the media, and reader Selma's comments.
It ties somewhat to my rant about global convergence impacting the media, and reader Selma's comments.
Friday, July 6, 2007
Well, well, Sarnia finally gets mobile
You may remember how an at-large pack of hounds trapped a woman in her house and savaged her cats and kittens. Well, Sarnia police have charged the hounds' owner, read about it here.
I don't like the "fail to take reasonable precautions" charge, think the charge should have been tougher. A snip from the Ontario Dog Owners' Liability Act says,
4. (1) A proceeding may be commenced in the Ontario Court of Justice against an owner of a dog if it is alleged that,
(a) the dog has bitten or attacked a person or domestic animal;
(b) the dog has behaved in a manner that poses a menace to the safety of persons or domestic animals; or
(c) the owner did not exercise reasonable precautions to prevent the dog from,
(i) biting or attacking a person or domestic animal, or
(ii) behaving in a manner that poses a menace to the safety of persons or domestic animals. 2005, c. 2, s. 1 (6).
I vote for charges under 4(1)(a) and (b), not just a lame charge under (c).
Is the lame charge so the guy gets to keep his dogs and not have a substantial fine slapped on him?
Throw the book at this guy. Let's see....euthanize the dogs, a lifetime prohibition on dog ownership, a $10K fine and 6 months in jail. And I hope the cats' owners sue this dog owner in civil court. Am I vindictive? You bet.
Contrary to the Fiberals' braying, irresponsible dog owners create problems for the majority responsible dog owners, and it ain't the "pit bulls" that are the problem, it's the irresponsible or criminal person who owns a dog of any breed or type. If irresponsible dog owners aren't appropriately punished, those of us who are responsible dog owners suffer.
I don't like the "fail to take reasonable precautions" charge, think the charge should have been tougher. A snip from the Ontario Dog Owners' Liability Act says,
4. (1) A proceeding may be commenced in the Ontario Court of Justice against an owner of a dog if it is alleged that,
(a) the dog has bitten or attacked a person or domestic animal;
(b) the dog has behaved in a manner that poses a menace to the safety of persons or domestic animals; or
(c) the owner did not exercise reasonable precautions to prevent the dog from,
(i) biting or attacking a person or domestic animal, or
(ii) behaving in a manner that poses a menace to the safety of persons or domestic animals. 2005, c. 2, s. 1 (6).
I vote for charges under 4(1)(a) and (b), not just a lame charge under (c).
Is the lame charge so the guy gets to keep his dogs and not have a substantial fine slapped on him?
Throw the book at this guy. Let's see....euthanize the dogs, a lifetime prohibition on dog ownership, a $10K fine and 6 months in jail. And I hope the cats' owners sue this dog owner in civil court. Am I vindictive? You bet.
Contrary to the Fiberals' braying, irresponsible dog owners create problems for the majority responsible dog owners, and it ain't the "pit bulls" that are the problem, it's the irresponsible or criminal person who owns a dog of any breed or type. If irresponsible dog owners aren't appropriately punished, those of us who are responsible dog owners suffer.
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
Dis 'n dat for July 3rd
Bits and scraps that must be mentioned...
1. In an article about the tragic death of a toddler allowed to wander unsupervised up to a tethered dog, read it here, the Ottawa Citizen pulled a complete nonsequitur by sticking in a paragraph about the "pit bull" ban. The same article also says, "nobody has died since the implementation of the ban". I guess the man in southeastern Ontario and the children on western reserves who died from dog attacks were nobodies to the Citizen - popularly known as the Sh*tizen.
2. In another article about the toddler's sad, unnecessary and entirely preventable death, the Toronto Star referenced an animal rights publication as its source for "facts" in an article on July 3rd. Check out the last paragraph, read it here. What, the Star couldn't afford to get real facts? The Red Star must be really sinking into the sunset if it's reduced to quoting some obscure west coast AR publication.
3. I take it the good ole' boy network still operates in Sarnia. AC makes a big splash about grabbing a mother dog and her pups on the grounds that they're "pit bulls", but does nothing, nada, zilch about a hound pack that trapped a woman in her house and savaged her cats. I can just see all the toothless good ole' boys slapping each other on the back and swigging from jugs. Hear those banjoes play. IMHO, Sarnia sucks.
4. Environment MInister and Liberal MPP (I'm gagging) Laurel Broten is apparently scaling down her garage from two stories to one. I'm not impressed. It took media pressure and public outrage for her to behave reasonably; had she behaved honourably, the entire affair would not have occurred because she wouldn't have been so self-absorbed as to ignore the devaluation she was going to cause to elderly neighbours' properties and the hypocrisy endemic in an Environment Minister installing an auto lift in her two-storey garage for whichever of her four vehicles would be in there.
5. Anyone who allows their cat to roam unsupervised and doesn't spay/neuter should be forced to sit in a shelter cage and await death at the end of a needle. Vicious morons.
1. In an article about the tragic death of a toddler allowed to wander unsupervised up to a tethered dog, read it here, the Ottawa Citizen pulled a complete nonsequitur by sticking in a paragraph about the "pit bull" ban. The same article also says, "nobody has died since the implementation of the ban". I guess the man in southeastern Ontario and the children on western reserves who died from dog attacks were nobodies to the Citizen - popularly known as the Sh*tizen.
2. In another article about the toddler's sad, unnecessary and entirely preventable death, the Toronto Star referenced an animal rights publication as its source for "facts" in an article on July 3rd. Check out the last paragraph, read it here. What, the Star couldn't afford to get real facts? The Red Star must be really sinking into the sunset if it's reduced to quoting some obscure west coast AR publication.
3. I take it the good ole' boy network still operates in Sarnia. AC makes a big splash about grabbing a mother dog and her pups on the grounds that they're "pit bulls", but does nothing, nada, zilch about a hound pack that trapped a woman in her house and savaged her cats. I can just see all the toothless good ole' boys slapping each other on the back and swigging from jugs. Hear those banjoes play. IMHO, Sarnia sucks.
4. Environment MInister and Liberal MPP (I'm gagging) Laurel Broten is apparently scaling down her garage from two stories to one. I'm not impressed. It took media pressure and public outrage for her to behave reasonably; had she behaved honourably, the entire affair would not have occurred because she wouldn't have been so self-absorbed as to ignore the devaluation she was going to cause to elderly neighbours' properties and the hypocrisy endemic in an Environment Minister installing an auto lift in her two-storey garage for whichever of her four vehicles would be in there.
5. Anyone who allows their cat to roam unsupervised and doesn't spay/neuter should be forced to sit in a shelter cage and await death at the end of a needle. Vicious morons.
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