The Last News of the Year (Probably)

So in a couple of days it’s Christmas, and then a week after that it’s New Year’s. It the time of the season for retrospection and consideration, and with few exceptions it’s also a slow news period. So before we bid adieu to 2010 (next week’s column), let’s look at some lingering news items from 2010.

Frank Valeriote Will Slap a Minister

Local Member of Parliament Frank Valeriote wants answers now, or he wants them eventually in the case of the government’s discontinuing of funding for the faith-based NGO KAIROS Canada. Along with his colleague John McKay (MP for Scarborough-Guildwood) last week on the Hill, Valeriote tried to get International Co-operation Minister Bev Oda to explain why she denied KAIROS Canada $7 million in funding.

“KAIROS is an organization of the highest repute and does remarkable work on behalf of Canada for the world’s poor,” said McKay during last Monday’s Question Period. “The facts show that the Minister was not being honest when asked why KAIROS was cut. To make matters worse, church leaders have asked the Prime Minister for a meeting to get an explanation and as yet have received no response. The Minister and the Prime Minister have some serious explaining to do.”

“Without warning, its funding was mysteriously cut and the explanation given as to why was clearly not the truth,” added Valeriote. “This incident raises the issue of whether Canadians can trust this government to tell them the truth. If they are willing to mislead the House on this issue, what else are they not being honest about?”

So who are these fascists that no longer deserve the funding from our government? Well, KAIROS is made up of about a dozen member churches across Canada and have partners in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East to promote issues of Ecological Justice, Economic Justice, Energy and Extraction, Human Rights, Just and Sustainable Livelihoods, and Indigenous Peoples. A four-year grant of $7 million was requested by KAIROS, and apparently endorsed by the president and vice president of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), but somewhere between them and the Minister Oda, it was decided that the proposal didn’t meet CIDA standards. Or government standards. Or government priorities. One of the three.

Regardless, other aid groups across Canada are joining the two Liberal MPs in questioning how and why CIDA approves and disapproves of funding applications. Meanwhile, Oda says that she doesn’t know how or why the funding wasn’t approved when it came out of committee, even though her signature is on the document. What’s the old Bronson saying, “This ain’t over.”

New Officer to Liaise with Film

The Guelph Mercury reported last weekend that after an internal competition, someone has been selected to serve in the Film Liaison position vacated by Jennifer Peleschak earlier this fall. Christine Chapman will now fill the slot as the person at City Hall who will direct all matters pertaining to film and film shoots in the Royal City. For a while there, those of us in the local filmmaking community had some concern that the City was going to leave the position vacant. Of course, Film Liaison Officer wasn't Peleschak's official position in City Hall, it was something she took up when the City started getting inquiries about shooting films, TV projects and commercials in Guelph. Jen was uniquely qualified for the post because she genuinely loves film and was supportive of all productions, from big international projects like Blindness to local indies like Mind's Eye. So I happily welcome new Film Liaison Officer Ms. Chapman and say that as a filmmaker in Guelph, I look forward to working with her.

Are Taxes High or Aren’t They…?

A report in the National Post last week lit up the blogosphere like the Yule log on Christmas morning TV when it said that Guelph pays the third highest property taxes in Ontario behind Ottawa and Toronto. But not so fast, some are saying, are these numbers the real numbers? City reps point to a BMA Management Consulting in 2008 that says when compared to similar municipalities our size, Guelph has the lowest taxes in Ontario. As well, there could be an oversight in the report covered by the Post as some of the municipalities are two-tier payers, meaning they not only pay property taxes to the town they live in, but to the county as well; Guelph has a single-tier system. Either way, this is fuel for the fire as city council gets ready for budget deliberations next month.

Protests at Hanlon as Bell Goes Green

Definitely not your father’s groundbreaking

Given the rather contentious nature of the issue, it was a bit surprising that the City would have so public an event in honour of the Hanlon Creek Business Park like a ground breaking. When the announcement was made Tuesday, you could practically smell trouble in the air. The proverbial ink was barely dry on the press release when LIMITS (Land Is More Important Than Sprawl) sent out a flyer calling for a peaceful demonstration at the Downey St entrance to the site. The flyer further declared that instruments and street theatre were welcome.

Well there was certainly theatre, but the calls for a peaceful demonstration seemed to fall on deaf ears. About 75 people were there for the rake out on the other side of the barricades at the groundbreaking as several city officials and other guests there by “invitation only” had to walk past shouting protesters, at least one grim reaper and “Barnie,” the purple Jefferson salamander dinosaur. As Mayor Karen Farbridge and others overturned the sod for the future business park, protestors dug an effigy grave for Barnie and his brethren.

But if getting in was rough, getting out was murder. Or at least there were shouts of it, anyway. “You will pay for this. Your life is on the line,” shouted a hooded protester according to the Mercury’s Rob O’Flanagan. Over on his Ward 2 blog, Councillor Ian Findlay said that while returning to the bus with a city staff member, “We were greeted by what could be described as a feral mob of protesters, dressed in Halloween costumes chanting ‘F**k You Scum! F**k You Scum!’” Buses were only able to leave the site once the police had cleared a path. In a City press release celebrating the groundbreaking, there was no mention of any troubles on the site.

Bell goes Fed for the Greens next election

After Mike Nagy’s three at bats for the Federal Green Party in Guelph, Ward 1 Councillor Bob Bell will step up to the plate for the team in the next federal election. Bell was acclaimed at a meeting of local Greens last week. The first-time federal candidate said that he was drawn to the idea of taking more action on the environment and feels that it’s the most important issue facing Guelph and Canada. “Climate change is an issue that I find is the biggest driver,” on other issues, Bell told me by phone on Saturday. “It trickles down to transportation planning, energy pricing, food security and international trade.”

Bell added that he thinks that the way environmental issues and how people see them is continuing to evolve. “Most people have thought of issues as independent but my perspective is that other issues all fit into the environment, but I think that’s typical of the Green Party.” The newly minted Green candidate also said that he thinks a federal election is far off, but in the mean time he’ll be learning the fine art of a federal campaign along with getting some helpful pointers from his predecessor Nagy.

Flu shots come to those who wait

Swine flu fever hit Guelph last week… Oh, wait. Poor choice of words. Okay, so swine flu vaccination fever hit Guelph last week as the Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health Unit began flu shot clinics last Friday, including the controversial H1N1 shot. The shot was recommended, as per usual, for pregnant women, children between the ages of six months and five years old, people with chronic health conditions and health care workers but because of the looming, media-hyped threat of pandemic, 2,000 people and a four hour wait were what people showing up at the former College Avenue Public School got. Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health has received two allotments of the vaccine. The first was 12,000 doses and the second was 14,500. For clinic times and locations go to http://www.wdghu.org/ or follow updated info on wait times on Twitter at http://twitter.com/wdgph

Piss and Approval

Taking the piss(oirs) out in downtown

This week you may have noticed something new and different downtown, especially if you were caught with the sudden desire “to go.” Yes indeed, the highly controversial open air urinals, or pissoirs, are being installed this week, two of them anyway. The pissoirs will be set up at the Macdonell Street municipal parking lot (behind the ticket booth), just west of Wyndham, and at the northwest corner of Carden and Wyndham and will remain their for an eight week trial period as the Downtown Night Life Task Force assess their success in cutting down on public urination. The pissoirs are part of a three-part program with that goal in mind, the other two parts involve a public education campaign and stepped-up enforcement of the anti-fouling bylaw, which allows for a $240 fine for public urination. In July, Guelph City Council approved the $8,400 pilot project, which will cover the rental and maintenance cost of the two pissoirs for eight weeks. An additional $4,200 from downtown stakeholders will be spent on a public education campaign that includes posters for downtown establishments and signs for the pissoirs.

Valeriote: Show us the cash for clunkers, or don’t

Last week in the U.S., the government’s highly popular “cash for clunkers” program ended after running out of funds, but could something similar be enacted here in Canada to help our auto industry? Our local MP and Chair of the Liberal Auto Caucus, Frank Valeriote’s not sure, but he’d like to see the government make a decision either way. “Instead of stimulating car sales, one way or the other, people are now holding onto their vehicles on the chance this government may be offering a significant incentive at some point in the future,” said Valeriote in a press release. The release went on to say that although the U.S. program saw sales go up to 750,000, it’s difficult to know if people were acting out of need or out of the bargains offered. Also, international trade law prohibits establishing a proviso that says a program can only apply to domestic automakers, so there’s no guarantee that money will go to the companies that need it. Either way though, Valeriote wants the Conservatives to quit stalling. “While the merit of a scrappage program, and the model used is ultimately relevant, at this point this government’s ongoing speculation must stop. Either provide a substantial program or stop chatting about it—it’s a simple as that.”

MNR says HCBP is AOK

Well, it took the Ministry of Natural Resources about half a month to come back to the City and say, all’s cool on the Hanlon Creek Business Park front. Donna Cansfield, Ontario’s Minister of Natural Resources, last Thursday that Drexler Construction, the company contracted by the city of Guelph to do the work, can finish a culvert and water main already started on the site’s east side, according to the Guelph Mercury. There are restrictions however. This is the only work that can be done on the site, no work is to be done at night, and further testing in the area for the Jefferson Salamander must be done next Spring before any more construction on the site can move forward. “We’re pleased on two fronts,” said Mayor Karen Farbridge. “We’re happy with the time it took to come to a decision; well within the 30 days. And we’re happy with the content of the decision.” But what of the protesters that occupied the HCBP site for three weeks, what’s their reaction? “If this development continues, it will be a loss for everyone… The minister’s decision does not legitimize the destruction this development will cause,” Shabina Lafleur-Gangji wrote in an email to the Mercury. Construction is expected to move forward immediately, with the deadline of September 15^th for the completion of this phase expected to be extended.

Valeriote Brings Kennedy to Guelph to Get Ideas

With a little under a week to the redux of the O.K. Coral-like showdown on Parliament Hill, this time over the full budget, Liberal Industry critic Gerard Kennedy kicked off a multi-city, fact-finding tour in Guelph. During a full day of activities, Kennedy heard from local industry leaders and social service groups as to how the global recession is affecting the Royal City and how the Federal government can help ease the pain in the wallet. With our local MP Frank Valeriote as his guide, Kennedy got the rather bleak news from a group of people that should know how healthy our local economy really is.

Members of the local media were invited to join the Dynamic Duo on a couple of their appointments. First was a tour of the production floor of Guelph Tool’s Lewis Rd. plant. And incidentally, if you want to literally feel the hurt on by the auto sector, visit a parts plant first thing in the morning and marvel at how half the lights in the place are switched off and how only one out of the eight available machines is working. In Canada, our manufacturing sector is 70 per cent dependent on the auto sector, and that includes both cars and car parts.

As for the numbers, this plant we were walking through is only at a quarter of its capacity. At its peak, Guelph Tool ran 120 people out of this factory. They cranked out various products made with the metal press like some 25 million head rest frames a year. Throughout the day, anywhere from 15 to 20 trucks carried those parts, and others like them, to production lines across Ontario and into Michigan. Guelph Tool President Rob Ireland says that the Lewis Rd. plant is operating with a crew of 30 workers, cranking out fewer orders out of a single metal press crunching away on the factory floor.

After walking the factory floor, Kennedy and Valeriote sat down with Ireland to strategize; how could the government help the ailing manufacturing sector? Ireland suggested that loosening delays at the border would help a great deal, as would investments in education and retraining, and just generally getting assistance to make them more competitive in the new economy. Of course, the funding for these types of initiatives would be accompanied by some kind of budget deficit, which Kennedy accepts. He added though that any “bailout” should be subject to public scrutiny. “I think that what we need in this country is to see that the conditions are made public,” he said. "We want the same jobs in Canada, we want to make sure that the government takes the right action, but it’s got to be connected directly to how people are impacted, especially in communities like Guelph.”

He want to say that the Canadian government is going to have to look after its own, regardless of the directions the new US administration intends on heading in. “The American Congress will not look after our interests,” said Kennedy both at Guelph Tool and later to a group gathered at the Guelph-Wellington Business Enterprise Centre. “So we’re putting the pressure out there now because we’d love to see that stuff tabled. We’d like to see an objective, independent analysis to see that the taxpayers are protected and that we’re getting a good outcome as well in terms of the jobs in this country. So far, the government’s refused to release that information to the independent budget officer in Parliament.”

At the GWBEC, Kennedy and Valeriote met with numerous community groups and labour advocates that offered their perspective on how the recession is affecting the people they represent. Without getting too deep into the statistics let’s just say that the picture isn’t so rosy; poverty rates are going up, social services are being tapped beyond limit, and any ideas put forth to get people working again require an influx of capital. Kennedy said that a lot of what was being discussed at the table was on the mind of opposition parties as they discussed coalition last fall, but prudently, they were waiting until January 27^th to see what they’re going to be working with.

For more information on this story, or to get updates and commentaries on current events and Guelph politics, visit the newly, reconstituted Guelph Politico at http://guelphpolitico.blogspot.com/