Try the other foot

A special Canadian Forces Recruiting unit arrived in Windsor this week for a display at the local Devonshire Mall.

Forces seek recruits
Don Lajoie, Windsor Star
Published: Saturday, March 29, 2008

Noting that in 2007 the forces recruited 6,800 members from across Canada, Churm said it was decided to focus this year on areas where it was believed the forces have not traditionally enjoyed a high profile. He identified Windsor and Essex County as one of those areas despite the fact that 80 per cent of force members come from Southern Ontario.

LT(N) Churm needs to practice his spin a hell of a lot more if he's going to sell that piece of horse hockey.

Windsor is home to HMCS Hunter Naval Reserve Division along with the storied Essex and Kent Scottish Infantry Regiment, Windsor Regiment Armoured Reconnaissance Regiment, 21 Service Battalion Combat Service Support unit and the Windsor Military Band. For a city of just over 200,000, short of having an actual base or station, that's a lot of military profile.

The Windsor and Essex county area has always had a high participation rate in the CAF due to a number of factors, one of them being the boom and bust cycle of automotive manufacturing.

The area's unemployment rate is currently 8.9%, second only to the Saguenay region of Quebec. Of particular interest to the military would be the large pool of young skilled trades currently on layoff.

If you're trying to attract the best and brightest to join, don't start by trying to snow people. It leaves a bad impression.

Cross posted from The Torch

Ticket scandal still lives in Sudbury

Ontario Ombudsman probes concert scandal

British pop star Elton John performs in Riga last September.Ilmars Znotins, AFP, Getty ImagesBritish pop star Elton John performs in Riga last September.

Nearly a month after an Elton John concert in Sudbury ignited a furor when city councillors were given first dibs on tickets, Ontario's Ombudsman is using his new powers to investigate whether a meeting related to the surrounding controversy was inappropriately held in secret.

Which reminds me. Have we heard yet what we get for our $85,000 dollar a year, five year investment in the Detroit Grand Prix? Are there VIP access passes and tickets? Who gets what?

It's your tax dollars paying for it, we should have all the details. If Arts Groups have to provide detailed reports and statistics related to their funding, why should the City be exempt?

It's all in the metrics

YouTube has rolled out the first stage of new metrics capabilities for the platform.

YouTube Reveals Video Analytics Tool for All Users

Whether a YouTube video has 10 views or 10,000,000, people always want to know the same thing: who's watching this? Where do viewers come from? How did they find my video?

Finally, we have some answers. Today we're releasing YouTube Insight, a free tool that enables anyone with a YouTube account to view detailed statistics about the videos that they upload to the site. For example, uploaders can see how often their videos are viewed in different geographic regions, as well as how popular they are relative to all videos in that market over a given period of time. You can also delve deeper into the lifecycle of your videos, like how long it takes for a video to become popular, and what happens to video views as popularity peaks.

Future rollouts will include the all important referral tracking. Hopefully this will lead to some sort of integration with Google Analytics. Adding metrics should help with selling the use of YouTube for political campaigns to decision makers.

To see the new feature go to My account > Videos, Favorites, Playlists > Manage my Videos - Click on the "About Video" button.

Cross Posted from Blue Blogging Soapbox

Chickens coming home to roost

For Windsor's City Hall Communications Director ultimate cheerleader Gord Henderson, it's a sin for Ministers Duncan and Puppatello to ignore their constituents and their concerns.

Pity he didn't express these same concerns prior to October of 2007. Maybe, if for once in their life, Windsor stopped voting for the status quo, we might actually begin to see some results beyond the usual rhetoric.

Dalton McGuinty blames Stephen Harper and Jim Flaherty for all the provinces woes in the typical federal/provincial blame game. Gord and his puppet master Eddie take this to new levels, blaming Stephen Harper, Jim Flaherty, Dwight Duncan, Sandra Puppatello, Gary McNamara, DRIC, DRTP, "naysayers", the Ambassador Bridge Company and virtually anyone else who has the temerity to disagree with them, for all the woes that are or will befall Windsor.

If ever there was a mirror looking for a reflection it's Gord, Eddie and the rest of Windsor's trained seals on City Council.

PS. the Duncan and Puppatello that Henderson waxes nostalgic about were members of the official opposition, railing against the "evil" of then Premier Mike Harris. As far as who "neutered" them, blame Dalton McGuinty, the day he named them to cabinet.

PS 2. love the optics of Duncan purchasing a new Blackberry for budget day instead of a new pair of shoes. All the better to PIN everyone in Windsor his regrets.

Who's watching the watchers?

I might even agree with the Star if I hadn't already witnessed numerous stunning examples of outright stupidity and waste by the local CAS.

I have friend who rented an apartment to a ward of the CAS. This young 16 year old moved in with the approval of his caseworker. Within 6 weeks there had been so much damage done to the apartment that it was comprising others within the building. In that entire 6 weeks the ward was never once visited by his caseworker. The "tenant" left after 7 weeks, leaving the CAS with a bill of over $30,000 for damages. In order to rehabilitate the unit, the owner literally had to take it back to the studs and start over throughout the entire apartment. Nothing was left undamaged, including the shattered toilet and broken bath tub and shower. To make things worse, the only way the owner was able to actually collect for damages was to threaten to take his problems to the local media. I watched for months as my friend tried to get Mr. Bevan and his agency to accept responsibility for the problem. Thankfully, he was smart enough to have not only the tenant but his caseworker sign the lease. Without that second signature, he was certainly on a path to "to bad, so sad" as far as the agency was concerned.

Another case of ineptitude concerned two wards of the CAS and their lack of supervision. An apartment across the road from mine was rented for two young wards of the CAS. One Saturday evening an employee of mine was assaulted on his way into work, to the extent that he has never worked for me again (he actually ceased employment with two companies due to the severity of his injuries). This man was swarmed by a group that included the two wards and their friends who were partying with them at their CAS provided apartment. For the simple offense of stepping out of his vehicle this man was beaten senseless and literally left for dead. Ultimately, only two people were held to account and their sentence was less than a slap on this wrist. The whole neighbourhood celebrated the departure of these individuals following the incident. I'm not sure what the CAS did with these ladies after the incident, and you can call me crass or hard-hearted for feeling so, but I was overjoyed for seeing the back side of them when they left.

The CAS, much like many other government agencies, is a bureaucratic monster out of control. Until it is reigned in and controlled, I really don't have much sympathy for their stories of woe as portrayed by the Star. BTW, please don't misconstrue this mini-rant as an attack on the front line workers, who I believe we don't have enough of. This is most certainly pointed at the middle and upper management, who in my belief, we have far too much of.

Who's acountable?

Public school board slapped with hefty fine

WINDSOR - The public school board has been fined $40,000 by the Ontario Ministry of Labour for failing to comply with orders to provide ample time for joint health and safety committees to carry out inspections at schools under its jurisdiction.

Penny Allen, superintendent of business for the Greater Essex County District School Board, entered a guilty plea to a single non-compliance charge Wednesday in provincial offences court. The charge stems from instances in which inspections were not conducted, or not enough time was allowed for inspections to be completed by management and union representatives

That's $40,000 that the school board doesn't have to contribute to your child's education because someone can't follow the basic rules. How many people involved in this decision making process made over the $100,000 dollar threshold for public reporting?

Regardless of whether you're in favour of unions or not, this is basic stuff. Who's held accountable? Are those responsible still receiving a "performance bonus" for the year?

How would your boss react if you were a private sector manager slapped with a $40,000 dollar fine? Would your employee responsible for the situation still have a job?

What is your local school board representative doing about this? Although they don't have the profile of City Councillors, these people should have no less accountability when it comes to situations like this. Most people's reaction would be one of disgust if ABC Co. Inc. of Windsor was fined in such a manner, why should our reaction be any different because it's a public institution?

What would $40,000 dollars buy the board for next year? A new playground, books for the library or equipping a new gym?

Is anyone responsible?

Probably not.

Welcome to the public sector. Your tax dollars at work!

Dwight's Duncan Donuts

"Dwight's Duncan Donuts."

Rich in rhetoric, empty in the middle and sprinkled with enough spending to get the masses hooked.

Dunk it though, and this budget falls apart, just like Ontario's bleeding economy.

Linda Leatherdale, telling it like it is.

Lorrie Goldstein brings it home with a rousing version of "Where oh Where did the environment go?"

Reason #432

Why governments should not be in business:

Nazzani said her door is open to any tenant who wants to discuss the airport's future and hinted she may consider gathering them together.

"The onus is on them to come to me. I'm not involved in their business. I have said to them, if you need something come talk to us. I want them to succeed, because if they succeed the airport will grow."

With all the Federal money being poured into the runways, at least we'll have a decent dragstrip once the City finishes running the place into the ground.

That's cutting the fat for you

In order to achieve the City's desired cut of $400,000, the library board has to raid their reserves to the tune of $222,000 dollars.

The library had $370,000 in reserves at the end of 2007, but that figure drops to $148,000 under the approved budget. Foster hopes some of those funds - at least $80,000 - will be replenished by the end of the year through late fees and fines.

Not content with draining Windsor City reserves over the last four years, Council seems intent on making sure agencies like the Library Board do the same thing.

Anyone that feels that ALL City departments and agencies have been subjected to the same level of scrutiny and cutbacks, please feel free to comment.

Absurdity indeed

The only absurdity taking place is the Windsor Star running Liberal Party of Canada ads disguised as opinion pieces by Lloyd Brown-John, professor emeritus, University of Windsor.

At the very least, when the Star runs one of these earned media bits for the Liberal Party, they could properly identify Mr. Brown-John's complete resume.

If there is anything "insidious" going on, it's allowing these sort of attack pieces to continue, cloaked in the mantle of academic analysis.

The minor details

Francis's Fund

Kitchener Mayor Carl Zehr credits the fund with drawing two university campuses downtown as well as stimulating residential and commercial development, attracting new businesses and forging public-private partnerships. However, the city had to embark on a lengthy public consultation process with voters as well as councillors who initially balked at the notion of increasing spending.

"It was controversial," said Zehr.

In Windsor, we just skip all the preliminaries and go right to the spending part.

Lack of workers?

From AM800 News:

Ontario is being urged to go after a new Volkswagen assembly plant. The German automaker is searching North America for a site for a new plant. But, Windsor-Essex is not considered a possibility. Development commission C-E-O Matt Fischer says there's a lack of available workers.

Somehow, I don't think that's the defining issue in this situation. When previous non-Big 3 plants have had job fairs, the applications have numbered in the tens of thousands, regardless of location.

Quick - name the new automotive assembly plants built in Ontario in the last ten years that have been located anywhere near traditional union cities like Windsor or Oshawa. Stumped? How about zero?

Regardless of the 1000 pound union gorilla in the room everyone refuses to talk about, Windsor's future does not and should not rely on trying to attract automotive assembly plants to the city. The Big 3 aren't building and the rest aren't interested, no matter what the incentive.

R and D and sports tourism are two bright spots in our foreseeable future. In addition, former Mayor John Millson has the right idea in matching manufacturing needs out west with excess capacity here in Ontario. Saskatchewan just announced their budget with huge increases in infrastructure spending. There are opportunities there that allow us to send finished product out west instead of skilled labour.

A Cheerleader's work is never done

Simply more proof why an expensive $250,000 communications department for the City of Windsor is not needed. (BTW, a close look at this years budget will find that gem still firmly ensconced among the "essentials" for the City.)

Some "Black Letter" law for Councillor Jones to sink his teeth into

I know I'm not a "bureaucrat" from Ottawa, but here's some info for Councillor Jones:

TRANSPORT CANADA PROPOSES SAFETY REGULATIONS TO SUPPORT THE INTERNATIONAL BRIDGES AND TUNNELS ACT

OTTAWA — The Honourable Lawrence Cannon, Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities, today announced proposed regulations that would support the International Bridges and Tunnels Act by introducing requirements for owners of Canada's 24 vehicular international bridges and tunnels to inspect and report to the Minister of Transport on the safety of their structures on a regular basis.

The proposed regulations would apply to the Canadian sections of the vehicular international bridges and tunnels, and put into place requirements concerning reporting and scheduled inspections. They would also require reports every two years on maintenance and operations, including frequency and type of major maintenance performed, inspection results, the type of vehicles permitted and any restrictions placed on them. In addition, the reports would also identify any necessary actions to ensure the structures are kept in good condition.

... The proposed amendments have been published in the Canada Gazette, Part I, and a 30-day response period will follow until April 21, 2008. During the consultations, interested parties may provide their comments to the department. After consideration of all comments received, Transport Canada will finalize the amendments and publish them in the Canada Gazette, Part II, at which time the regulations will come into effect.

"Naysayers"

I had an in-depth blog post ready to go on this subject, but a friend has convinced me to hold off on it - for now.

Now that the broad strokes of the Mayor's plan are out there, it's time for Windsor City Councillors to do their job.

If we're treated to the usual trained seal performance we've become accustomed to, then the chances of my naysayers blog being posted will increase exponentially. For once I'd like to be proved wrong, but I'm not holding my breath.

Windsor Math

From the Mayor's State of the City address:

In 2007, Windsor's Social Services Department contracted with Sutherland Global Services in a municipal - provincial cost sharing partnership.

It funded a 4-week skills enhancement and customer service training program.

The Province contributed 80 percent of the training cost which was $400,000 dollars. The City contributed 20 percent, or $100,000 dollars.

Thanks to the job training investments we made, 469 people who had been on social assistance here in Windsor got jobs.

For our combined one-time investment of $500,000 dollars the City and the Province are now saving $949,000 dollars annually.

Nearly doubling our investment in the first year alone.

That's just smart.

Add in the cost of building a parking lot for the call centre and you now have at least $750,000. It would also be interesting to know how many of the 469 have remained at Sutherland? How many are now collecting unemployment or back on social assistance? It's the little things they never tell you about.

"Screeching and Squawking"

There may be a lot of it, but why bother at this point. With 9 out of 10 lemmings (otherwise known as City Councillors), we'll have a perfunctory discussion and give up the farm.

I wonder how all the businesses who have been paying through the nose over the last several years will appreciate the "development" fund being used to subsidize new businesses? Every last dollar in that fund, from whatever level of government, is your tax dollars which the bureaucrats and politicians will now use to bet on winners and losers in business.

Just a reminder - $144 billion dollars used to subsidize businesses over the last 10 years - about equal to what a 30 % tax reduction would cost for ALL businesses instead of handouts to a select few.

More later on the "naysayers" (meaning those that don't agree with things like paying the Detroit Grand Prix $85,000 a year for five years instead of spending the money locally, and passing it at 1 o'clock in the morning with no debate or public input - those naysayers!)

PS. I wonder if the local arts community realized that on the same night they were fighting for their funding, the Grand Prix funding was already a virtual fait accompli?

Quick Hits - Monday March 17th

1. Go Spits! - the trio of Dobrich, Rychel and Boughner have done wonders with this team since their purchase.

2. Any Federal money, if it was forthcoming, would only be handled by an Opportunities Agency, like the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency. Any control would be vested in the political Minister for the Province, in this case Environment Minister John Baird. While a Regional Economic Development Commission would have input, to think that it would be the "driving force" of any such fund is wishful thinking of the highest order. It's possible a Community Business Development Corporation model could be proposed, but these have generally been targeted at smaller rural communities along the size of Essex or Leamington. I won't even get into Windsor's propensity for lobbing hand grenades at anyone and everyone and what that does for our political capital.

3. Windsor bloggers Meet - Wednesday March 19th, Milk Coffee Bar, 68 University Avenue West 7:00 pm

4. Subsidies to failing businesses are the knee-jerk panacea of politicians programmed to "do something" about every problem.

5.Majority of Ontario hospitals refuse to be identified in report card comparing patient care. Met and Windsor Western are listed, Hotel Dieu is absent.

6. Interesting story on Vancouver's efforts to control the Granville party district. Treoscope - the software helping improve things.

Seen for what it is

A truly inspired political cartoon by Graston in today's Windsor Star.

A timely posting

She's been quiet for a while, but just in time to warm everyone up for the Windsor Liberty Seminar, angrygirl76 is back!

(PS. it's not to late to register for this weekend's seminar - you won't regret it!)

Time flies when you're having fun

I was sitting around the office last night swapping stories with an old Navy winger when I realized the date. Twenty-five years ago, on Sunday March 13th, a young 17 year old from Guelph arrived at CFB Cornwallis for 10 weeks of pure unmitigated hell, otherwise known as Basic Training.

I had kissed my family good-bye at the train station in Guelph on Saturday morning. A train to Trenton, overnight there, a flight to Greenwood Nova Scotia the next morning and that last fateful bus ride to Cornwallis. Lord knows I had no idea what I was in for. I remember leaving home wearing a spring jacket and waking up Monday morning in Cornwallis to about 2 feet of snow.

As much as I hated virtually every minute I ever spent in Cornwallis, there is no doubt in my mind that the time I spent there helped define who and what I am today. Although I didn't end up spending my entire career in the Navy, I relish every day I was in. The people and the experiences were second to none.

Ready Aye Ready.

Cross posted to Blue Blogging Soapbox

Quick Hits - Monday March 10th

1. Congratulations to Kingsville for hitting the Top 5. Everyone has a few weeks to get their fingers warmed up before the final voting begins.

2. Kudos to Mr. Neufeld for his Letter to the Editor, but when your letter includes a line like this:
"I remain frustrated with comments from certain ratepayers that damage EnWin's reputation without regard to the many improvements made to infrastructure, customer service, and yes, to its bottom line."

It tells me there are communications challenges yet to be overcome. How frustrated do you think the ratepayers are, especially when the messages are often fractured, complicated and reactive instead of simple, constant and proactive?

3. March Break - take a little extra time driving to and from work - Kids at play!

4. Win a Dinner for Two - it's as easy as a couple clicks, a little bit of typing and enjoying some of your favourite dining.

5. As opposed to Windsor, other communities are embracing blogging as a form of Municipal communication. The site is growing and thriving with new blogs being added every week, both on the official and unofficial sides.

6. Hmm..., the choice for next Monday is going to be so difficult to make. I think the Irish in me is going to win.

A belated thank-you

I hadn't noticed the bonus until I was reviewing this week's stats for WE Speak.

I mentioned earlier this week how beneficial Councillor Ken Lewenza Jr. was for Alan Halberstadt's traffic. It seems that WE Speak tends to get some spillover from Councillor Ken's little tirades. At the same time Alan's traffic spiked last week, WE Speak received a corresponding spike, although not quite as high - around 35%.

So Councillor Ken, the bloggers of Windsor and Essex County thank-you for your strenuous efforts on their behalf.

(Pssst - if you can, feel free to blow off some steam around the 3rd week of March. We could use some extra traffic to help promote our next Bloggers Meet. )

400 City Hall Square Audit

What's interesting to me about this story, is the many unspoken things surrounding it.

This is the second audit from the former City Auditor (who resigned in December) that is more than a year old. How many other stale-dated audits are waiting in the wings?

Notice the response when Councillor's step out of line these days? We keep hearing about veiled references to the as-yet to be established Integrity Commissioner. Is this a coincidence? It certainly appears that there are some who would see this position used as a weapon to silence others. Glass houses and all the other appropriate descriptive pictures would seem to apply here. Something about the law of unintended consequences should be contemplated as well along with a dash of Pandora's Box for good measure.

What is becoming patently obvious is that it is the Auditor-General whose hiring should be sped up, not the Integrity Commissioner.

The other disturbing pattern is that anyone, anywhere, anytime who has anything to say contrary to the mantra chanted from City Hall experiences an anvil the likes of which Wile E. Coyote could only understand.

Amazing, isn't it?

When the vote was 1 to 9 at Council calling for an Auditor-General's audit of the Windsor Utilities Commission it took ages to move forward and only because the citizens of Windsor were ready to pick up their pitchforks and torches. Even then, we ended up with a weak audit that proved or disproved nothing.

When the vote is now 9 to 1 for an Audit at the Library, (that recently passed a similar audit with flying colours), along with a five year, line by line audit of past budgets, things seem to be moving at a speed that would take away the average Windsorite's breath.

When people look at Councillor Alan Halberstadt as the "1" at either end of these votes, everyone of course will automatically believe all the assertions that nothing politically motivated is happening.

Excuse me while I go take a double dose of the stupid pills Council obviously thinks every citizen in Windsor takes on a daily basis.

If a tree falls in the forest...

If a "public meeting" is held that nobody knows about, is it a public meeting?

I checked WUC's Media Release page - nothing.

Public Information. Must be getting warmer.

Meeting Agendas and Minutes. Bingo - this must be it!

Nothing there except some old minutes from November of 2007 and agendas for January and February's meetings. No minutes for the first two months of the year.

I can't find a notice anywhere about Audit sub-committee meetings for the Windsor Utilities Commission.

Were there notices placed in the Windsor Star that I didn't come across? If anyone has seen any sort of notice, please drop me a line or post a comment. Have the media been informed about these public meeting?

Simply declaring a meeting open to the public doesn't make it a public meeting unless you actually tell people.

A funny thing happened on the way to the blog

I've been down with the flu lately, so haven't been staying on top of things. When I checked Alan Halberstadt's blog traffic this evening, I immediately knew something was up. The traffic was more than double the norm.

It didn't take long to figure out why.

Every time Councillor Lewenza goes on one of his rants, the blog traffic generally doubles. Whether he realizes it or not, Councillor Lewenza has done more for Alan's traffic than any ad campaign ever could.

Rant on Councillor Ken. You can even mention my blog if you wish - I could use another bump in traffic!

Quick Hits - Monday March 3rd

1. I agree. Hopefully the same standards being demanded of arts groups will also be applied to our $85,000 a year, five year investment in the Detroit Grand Prix. Fair is fair.

2. Hopefully this is the last we ever hear(.pdf) of the "Distillery District" as it relates to Windsor.

3. Canada loses a great musician.

4. Media City is off and running this week. Best wishes for a successful event.

WE Speak tinkering

I've upgraded the software that I use for the aggregator at WE Speak. Hopefully this should resolve most of the issues with posts that cause the template to break and leave you viewing a distorted image of the site. I'll be monitoring things closely over the next several days, including checking it out in Internet Explorer, which I have to admit, I rarely do.

At the Windsor bloggers meet last Wednesday, I discussed with several people some of the issues surrounding the blogroll and how it's updated. In a nutshell, it's a unique service provided for free. There is no way to alter or improve it at this point, unless you are willing to create your own.

There are several things individual bloggers can do to ensure their blog moves up the roll whenever they post:

1. If you are using Feedburner - go to Publicize - Ping Shot. Make sure you choose Weblogs.com and Ping-o-matic as two of your choices;

2. If you use blogging software that allows for automatic pinging add - http://rpc.blogrolling.com/pinger/ - to your list;

3. You can manually ping Blogrolling by visiting this page and entering your data;

4. Ping-o-matic is similar to the Blogrolling manual ping, except it covers a number of different services at the same time.

This and that

Of interest to local filmakers - Facebook's new Film Pages

Welcome to WE Speak's newest blog - Quoteflections

Last day for Engineering Week at Science City - free admission from 4 to 6pm.

Like Soup? The Great Soup Kitchen is a good deal and supports a good cause.

A different approach

As opposed to Windsor's propensity for lobbing things, Hamilton's Mayor takes a different approach.

With 20 new research chairs being funded at $1 million a piece, I wonder if everyone is done throwing things at the University of Windsor to work with them to secure a chair or two?

What are we doing or what can be done to encourage more R & D to come to Windsor?

I'm guessing that $85,000 a year for five years for the Detroit Grand Prix isn't it. More on that later.

Elton John tickets "hot" item for some Municipal Councillors

Sudbury is also embroiled in an Elton John Ticket controversy, much like Kitchener. Their situation though, seems to be taking a turn towards the bizzare.

Ticket controversy deepens; How the city tried to force an end to negative stories arising from Elton John ticket fiasco

One thing very troubling to read in the article:

Mieto's e-mail also informs council that, in response to the ticket controversy, municipal bureaucrats are pursuing a number of measures to try to ward off media inquiries into how the city handles such ticket sales. These measures include:

Despite having its own legal department, the city is using taxpayers' funds to retain a private law firm to determine if the municipality must disclose ticket information being sought by The Star under freedom-of-information legislation;

Investigating the possibility of establishing an arm's-length municipal corporation to operate Sudbury Community Arena, to "protect business interests" and make it easier for the city to ward off public requests for information. If such an arrangement can be made, "all matters would be private" and the public would no longer be privy to ticket information, Mieto tells council;

Now why does that sound familiar?

Could this happen in Windsor?

Couldn't get a ticket to see Sir Elton? - It might have helped if you were a Kitchener council member

At this point, we have no way of knowing. The deal between the City of Windsor and the Windsor Spitfires is secret.

There are several Freedom of Information requests slowly working their way through the system, so hopefully we'll eventually get all the facts.

New blogs

WE Speak welcomes the following new blogs to the site:

Amherstburg Liberal

Kdduck Talk

Transition to Betterness

Inoke Errati

Dinner Lately

Windsor Liberty Seminar 2008

Windsor Liberty Seminar

On March 15, the Institute for Liberal Studies will be hosting the third annual Windsor Liberty Seminar on the campus of the University of Windsor.

The seminar is free for students and just $10 for general registration.

Date: Saturday, March 15, 2008 9:30am - 4:00pm

After-party and social at Phog Lounge with music by Lindy starting at 8:00. Everyone is welcome!

Complete details and registration

Windsor February Bloggers Meet

Taloola Cafe, 396 Devonshire Rd, Walkerville

Wed February 27th, 2008

7pm to 10 pm

Details at the wiki

If you're a blogger, looking to learn about blogging or just enjoy reading blogs - come out and join us.

Scale Down.ca Launch

Off to London today, but I just wanted to commend the gang at Scaledown.ca for a fantastic evening last night. I was somewhat tardy, but the event was well worth it. Fantastic turnout.

Make sure you visit Scale Down today and check out their fancy new digs.

Found on AM800.com

Two polls that speak for themselves.

AM800 Polls.

Note and file

One to note and file for the future.

Transition to Betterness

Through the wonderful networking of Facebook I came across the Transition to Betterness Facebook group and through that, their website.

I haven't visited their website for a long time, so the new site I found was a pleasant surprise. It's a clean, sharp looking website. Easy to read and navigate. Complete with RSS syndication and a blog and most importantly, for a charity, various ways to donate including online.

Very nicely done. This is a site other charities and non-profits could learn from. Believe it or not, it doesn't take very much money to create a site like this today. With free Content Management Systems (CMS) like Drupal and Joomla or even a blogging platform like Wordpress, a charity can significantly increase it's profile within the community.

If there are any charities or organizations that are interested, I'd be happy to spend some time demonstrating just what they could accomplish with very little money.

Windsor Blogs Top in the Country

Chances are, if you're reading this you already know, but it doesn't hurt to shout it out a little more.

Congratulations to everyone.

Local bloggers bag awards
Ted Whipp, Windsor Star
Published: Thursday, February 14, 2008

Bookmark this -four local blogs have risen to the top of Canada's blogosphere, snagging national awards for their online Windsor content.

If you want an easy way to stay on top of these blogs and others in the local blog scene, stop in Windsor Essex Speak. WE Speak is a blog aggregator that collects a snippet from every new post on local blogs and displays them in one location with a link to the blog in question. It's a quick and easy way to scan your favourite blogs.

Brand this

This little campaign is still keeping me rather busy these days, but not so busy that I can't keep a virtual ear to the ground.

If City Councillors aren't reading the feedback in articles like this one, and taking it to heart, they deserve everything they get in the future.

The can throw all the snide remarks and dismissals they wish at local bloggers but the fact remains there is a significant portion of City taxpayers who are quite simply fed up.

I don't know who, if anyone, advises Councillor Valentinis politically, but they should all have their heads examined.

Coun. Fulvio Valentinis, an Enwin board member, defended the board's decision to give the $4-million dividend, noting the money is going back to the local taxpayer.

"Shifting from one pocket to another, I guess that argument that can be made," he said. "If you didn't do this, well that's another one per cent increase on (municipal) taxes. It's a decision the (Enwin) board made."

That's one statement that will haunt the Councilor for a long time to come.

One thing to remember, we still haven't heard what the recommended increase for the WUC is for this year. Make no mistake, there will be an increase. If you go back and read the reports from last year, you'll discover that the 86% was not sufficient to generate the revenue WUC really needs to carry out repair and maintenance, but it was deemed to be the most citizens would stand for in one year. The other shoe drops sometime between now and July.

Say no to Junk Mail

Four easy steps to reduce the amount of junk mail you receive.

Red Dot Campaign

Choose to Say NO to Junk Mail -- 25% of Canadians never read their junk mail anyways ... So, if you aren't reading it, Say NO. Help spread the word that we all have this choice. We reduce waste and you reduce clutter and inconvenience. Another great way to help the planet.

Opportunities

Little evidence partners will join police in new HQ

Windsor, with a Naval Reserve unit, Canada Border Services Agency, RCMP, the Port of Windsor, two border crossings (with a potential for a third), and a nearby Coast Guard Station, would make a natural location for a permanent Marine Security Operations Centre.

Are we so focused on looking at the forest that we're missing the trees?

Written about Toronto

but easy to apply to many other locations.

Real leaders don't engage in government-by-stealth.

When there's bad news, they deliver it themselves, lay out their plans for corrective action and accept responsibility. That's how a competent civic administration acts.

You do your job, make a decision, stand up to receive criticism or kudos from the public and trust voters to be fair at the end of the day.

You don't stumble from crisis to crisis in a fog of your own making.

Good government is about people actually living up to that popular motto of a famous hotel chain: "No surprises."

Sadly, what taxpayers are getting far more often from the mayor and his minions these days is government by chaos theory. And that act is getting pretty old and tiresome, pretty fast.

Winter Beach Bash

A free event for youth and family - WINTER BEACH BASH!

Activities include:
- Free Swim 1:00-3:00PM
- Games and Activities 1:30PM to 4:00PM
Limbo contest, free henna, games and much more.

LIVE RADIO BROADCASTING

@ GINO A MARCUS COMMUNITY CENTRE 1168 DROUILLARD RD.
Saturday February 9th

then later in the day.........

Beach Party 5:00-10:00PM at New Song Church 993 Drouillard Rd (NO
ADMISSION FEE)

- Giveaways, MP3 Players, Digital Cameras, a Mountain Bike and much much
more!! (FREE DINNER FOR THE FIRST 475 participants)

For more information or to volunteer contact 519-971-0973 ex. 127 or
e-mail opportunities@inwindsor.com

An added note by New Beginnings:

On Saturday February 9th, 2008 we are hosting Winter Beach Bash 2008
in the Ford City District (Drouillard Rd). The entire event is free and
includes free swimming, henna tattoos and a limbo contest at Gino Marcus
Community Centre during the day. 95.1- The ROCK is broadcasting live
which is pretty cool too. In the evening there is a free dinner and live music
at New Song Church starting at 5pm. We are giving away some really cool
prizes like mp3 players, digital cameras and a bike.

Welcome

The newest blog on the WE Speak blogroll - Ottawa Street Dental.

Kudos to the office for attempting to reach people through a different medium.

More to the story

Can the pile get any higher under the carpet?

Despite speculation over the timing and reasons behind his sudden resignation from
the city -- just weeks before the release of his fleet audit -- Dunbar did not want to comment on his reasons for leaving the job Dec. 31.

"I would rather not," he said. "I'm concerned anything I may say will negatively impact getting an auditor general. It's more important to get that in place."

The question is, what else is coming down the highway?

I'm not usually a conspiracy theorist, but something is starting to smell here. H/T to Mr. Dunbar for pushing this issue forward.

The next battle is going to be who and how we pick a Windsor Auditor General. The composition and mandate of that particular committee will tell you much about politics in Windsor.

Windsor Blogs rock on!

Congratulations to Michael's English Usage for winning first place in the Canadian Blog Awards - Best Education Blog category.

I enjoy reading his blog and brushing up on my admittedly rusty English skills. I'm sure the local media have already developed a curious form of love/hate for his efforts. :)

H/T to Monica Wolfson for first highlighting Michael's blogging efforts.

Noticed in passing

With the Public Works audit bomb exploding all over town, it probably wasn't a really good idea to issue this press release today. It's kind of like rubbing salt in an open wound.

2008 Interim Tax Bills in the Mail

Impeccable timing. Maybe if someone can find all that missing gas from the City, they can add it to the fire.

Windsor bloggers score big

Congratulations to WindsorEats.com and International Metropolis for their win in the Best Local Blog category of the Canadian Blog Awards.

WindsorEats captured first place in the category, followed by International Metropolis - a Windsor one, two!

Unfortunately Danielle from Maple Syrup and Poutine did not place in the top three in the Activities category but her Top 5 finish still places her among the best in Canada!

Keep your fingers crossed as WindsorEats, Scale Down Windsor and Michael's English Usage are still in the running for further awards.

Blog on everyone.

Eye-popping indeed

I'll let others weigh in on most of the details of today's audit revelations.

One thing that makes me wonder:

"It was carried out by former city auditor Mike Dunbar and his staff. Dunbar resigned Dec. 31 and has not been replaced. He could not be reached Tuesday for comment."

Considering Mr. Dunbar's outspoken comments on the need for an Auditor-General in Windsor and his sudden resignation, I'm left wondering what else is still lurking under the carpet.

Feel free to add your name to the petition for an independent Windsor Auditor-General.

Edit: if you're looking for some heat on this cold winter day, make sure you pop on over to the Windsor Star and read some of the heat being generated in the comments right now. And they say bloggers are bad...

Edit 2: I guess we can add Forensic Auditors to the list of growth industries in Windsor.

Sold to the highest bidder

Kim Arnott has an interesting article published on the Municipal Information Network site regarding the fight communities face in attracting doctors.

Are municipalities headed toward a bidding war for doctors?

by Kim Arnott,
Freelance Writer

The city of Belleville has put its offer front and centre. Head to the Ontario city’s web site (www.city.belleville.on.ca) and you can’t miss it. In big, bold letters – near the top of the page – the community of 48,000 advertises its doctor recruitment program.

The details? The community will pay up to $150,000 to any physician agreeing to practice medicine in Belleville for at least five years.

In less than a year, the city-led program has enticed 14 new doctors – or doctors-in-training – to commit to Belleville.

A similar offer in nearby Hastings County has convinced nine medical students to sign on to work in that community.

Last month, the northern Manitoba community of The Pas sent a three-member delegation to Ireland with tuition cash to lure medical students across the ocean.

Cash incentives, cars, and even houses are now being offered up in some communities desperately seeking doctors.

And the winner is....

Congratulations to all my fellow bloggers at The Torch and especially to Damian (aka Babbling Brooks) for founding the site and inviting me to blog there. It's an honour and a pleasure.

Special kudos to the CBA team this year for their unique awards announcements. Truly a surprise.

I'm looking forward to seeing some more videos posted on local Windsor blogs over the next several days.

Hypocrisy 101

Grassroots
A grassroots political movement is one driven by the constituents of a community. The term implies that the genesis of the described political movement is natural yet spontaneous and imposes a dichotomy between this and a movement that is orchestrated by traditional power structures.

City touts border plan
The city is launching the grassroots lobbying campaign just two months before final recommendations are released by a binational government team on locations for a new border crossing, plazas and roads.

What exactly is "grassroots" about one level of government spending buckets of your tax dollars to paper you with flyers, mailers and other advertisements, supposedly to lobby another level of government to spend more of your tax dollars?

Makes about as much sense as berating one group for holding closed door meetings while reveling in the leak of another group's closed door meeting on the same issue.

Coming soon... 2008 Budget

The City of Windsor is to release the Draft Budget at 1:00 pm this afternoon. I'm assuming we'll be able to find the appropriate documents here.

Edit: Capital and Operating budgets can be found here.

Have your say

Forum to seek ideas on Windsor's future

Bleak or Blessed, will feature keynote speaker Matt Fischer, CEO of the Windsor Essex County Economic Development Commission. Questions as well as ideas from the audience will be appreciated, said Hilary Payne, a forum organizer and retired chief administrative officer at the City of Windsor.

“Windsor does have its economic challenges,” said Payne. “The fact that people are leaving the city in droves is very serious. We want to encourage the woman and man on the street to express their ideas on what the city should do.”

Payne noted that other North American jurisdictions have managed to overcome economic transitions through “sheer will of the people.”

“We’re operating on the premise that the glass is half full. It’s surprising what the power of the people can do when it’s mobilized and allowed to express itself.”

Organizers plan to record ideas generated from the forum and compile them in a report, which will be presented to all three levels of government — the city, the province and the feds.

The forum, which is free of charge, will take place Wednesday at All Saints’, 330 City Hall Square, from 7 to 9 p.m. For more information, call 519253-8001.

It ain't just the comics anymore

I used to read the Windsor Star for the local, regional and national news. These days it seems like I'm only reading the funny pages and I don't mean the comics.

MPP expresses hope Ottawa to aid Ford

"We are hopeful the feds won't let us down," said Pupatello, Ontario's economic development minister, who has been instrumental in talks to secure a deal.

"If they put politics ahead of basic industrial development, I'll be disappointed."

Surely you can do better than that Sandra. Come on, it's the end of the year. Where are the NEW applications for the end of year "Special Liberal Friends" club. I realize the City of Windsor isn't a cricket club, but surely we rate something for sending you back to Toronto. Oh, that's right, I'm sorry, nothing political happens in Toronto. Silly me.

Bylaw called threat to youth
But Ward 1 Coun. Ron Jones took issue with Stamper's comments. "This has nothing to do with the Ambassador Bridge company. This has to do with the enhancement of Sandwich Towne. To restore the history, the culture of Sandwich Towne," Jones said.

Mr Maroun might even sell you a piece of the bridge for that knee-slapping bit of comedy.

The old college try

I'm not sure why the Mayor wants a pricey Communications Department when he already has a part-time one courtesy of CanWest - no charge.

And people wonder why the City has problems accomplishing anything with County Council, the Provincial government or the Federal government? Vitriol doesn't begin to describe the abuse heaped upon anyone daring to step out of line with the City's view. The my way or the highway crowd are finding out that many are choosing the highway, to the detriment of Windsor.

Is the Western Super-Anchor Western Urban Village Downtown Arena University Campus every going to be developed?

Maybe we should ask Tecumseh to draw up plans and sign a contract to build an urban village.

Worked last time.

PS. H/T to Council for deferring this issue until February. The last minute notice for this meeting was appalling. For a Council that continually talks about openness and accountability, their actions to date don't speak very loudly. Hopefully this is a sign of better things to come. If we can spend $82,000 dollars promoting a Master Plan review, surely we can spare a few scraps for the West End.

A different perspective

The federal government has provided billions more in funding over the last several years to the Provinces. The Provinces response (as always) - we want more.

What the Provinces don't like is when the Federal government provides the money and then says - do what YOU want with it. In other words, you take the responsibility for what is a Provincial jurisdiction.

Ontario's share of the fund being discussed is $350 million dollars. If they wish to spend $30 million on Ford's V8 engine, they're free to do so. At the same time, if they make that decision, they'll have to explain it and justify it to the people of Ontario, no different than Nova Scotia would if they, for example, decide to spend $15 million on a fish processing plant.

Prentice hints that Ford plant is eligible for federal aid
Says shuttered Windsor facility may qualify under hardship fund if Ontario agrees

STEVEN CHASE AND GREG KEENAN

From Friday's Globe and Mail

January 25, 2008 at 4:08 AM EST

OTTAWA, TORONTO — Industry Minister Jim Prentice says Ford might yet qualify for federal help to reopen an engine plant in Windsor, Ont., because Ontario manufacturers would be eligible to tap the Harper government's $1-billion economic hardship fund if the province agrees.

But he emphasized yesterday it's up to Ontario to work with Ottawa to set the proper ground rules for the fund.

Beware the (tax) bomb coming

A forgotten issue from the last election that's about to go to the head of the line very soon.

Done in by the law of averages

What he said

Contrary to popular belief, it's not only the bloggers in our community who remain somewhat skeptical of City pronouncements, we're just a little more vocal at times.

Is City pretending to care about public opinion?

Murphy's Law

Plan something for three weeks, spread the word and arrange for the night off. You've got everything covered - except for the flu.

I was really looking forward to last night's Blogger's meetup, unfortunately, my body wasn't cooperating. I kept hoping right up til 8:00 o'clock that I might be feeling well enough to visit, but it just wasn't in the cards.

I'm glad to hear there was a good turnout. Thanks to Allison from CBC radio for covering the event.

Now I'm REALLY looking forward to the next meetup.

Canadian Blog Awards

The first round of voting for the Canadian Blog Awards has finished and the results are posted.

I'm happy to say that Windsor is well represented in the second round. Making the final 5 are:

Best New Blog
WindsorEats FoodBlog
…Scale Down, Windsor

Best Activities Blog
Maple Syrup and Poutine

Best Local Blog
International Metropolis
WindsorEats FoodBlog

Best Military Blog
The Torch

Best Education Blog
Michael’s English Usage

These blogs are up against some tough competition, especially in categories like Best Local Blog. Please take the time to support Windsor Bloggers. Voting begins today.

PS. the only prizes are a nice badge for the winning blogs (Gold, Silver and Bronze) and bragging rights for a year. The nice thing about the contest is that it introduces everyone to the wide variety of blogs that abound in Canada. Oh yeah - the increase in traffic doesn't hurt either!

You know you're a geek when...

The long awaited, newest version of your favourite web-based Content Management System (CMS) is finally released. You feel like celebrating but have no one to celebrate with.

Joomla 1.5 Stable is released - Woo Hoo!

Oh well - I'll just have to make do with my fellow bloggers. :)

PS. Joomla is the platform I use to host WE Speak, London Speak, MuniBlogs and LibertyBlogs, along with another small side project I'm currently involved in.

Found in London

From the London Budget page - Property Tax, Wastewater and Water Rate Overview



We aren't included in the Wastewater and Water rate charts - I'm assuming because we'd skew the charts too much.

We still have to look forward to another rate increase this year, as last year's increase still wasn't enough to provide the funding required for water and sewer work.

Yet another screed...

Not that I'm surprised.

Local scribe Gord Henderson leads off his column with the words " if you believe Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty's version of events". It's all downhill from there. Don't let any facts get in your way, someone could get hurt.

Edit: another in the fact challenged race to the bottom.

No money for Ford in Windsor

If you believe Dalton McGuinty, that is. We all know where that's got us in the past.

Ottawa nixes aid for auto industry

KAREN HOWLETT AND GREG KEENAN

Globe and Mail Update

January 16, 2008 at 12:06 PM EST

The Harper government has refused to provide financial aid to the auto industry, including funding to support a $300-million plan to reopen a shuttered engine plant in Windsor, Ont.

Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty said this morning that Prime Minister Stephen Harper made it clear when he met with the premiers last Friday that Ottawa is not prepared to inject funding into specific projects.

“He told me very directly, ‘look, I operate at the macro level. We'll cut taxes, offer some regional incentives, but we're not prepared to take it one step down,'” Mr. McGuinty said.

Happy Birthday M.O.M.

No, no that MOM, the other M.O.M - our very own the Mayor of Monmouth.

I was going to offer specific birthday greetings but I've been informed by Monmouth Municipal Staff that the actual date in question is a Monmouth Municipal secret protected by privacy laws.

We understand. Have a great day!

Municipalities and Arenas

Always a dangerous mix, with the taxpayer picking up the doctor's bill.

Around Town Tuesday - Jan 15th

1. The first WE Speak Windsor Bloggers Meet is fast approaching. Open to all!

2. ... Scale Down Windsor - the pot is brewing!

"keep an eye out at www.scaledown.ca for some exciting new developments. We have been working hard over the holidays preparing for a new-and-improved Scale Down. You will be receiving an invitation to our big Launch Party very soon, and hear all about the direction we're heading and the new avenues we are pursuing. You will also have the opportunity to come and hear a keynote address by an internationally acclaimed author who just so happens to espouse the same values and virtues as Scale Down.

Piqued your interested, have I? Stay tuned for more information... "

3. It's not Christmas, but Windsorites still need to keep their eye out for reindeer - one specific reindeer with sentimental value.

4. Every bachelor's worst nightmare.

5. New Windsor/Essex Facebook -PLEASE!!! sign up for the MS Super Cities Walk in Windsor!! TEAM Pat's Legs, Save Windsor's Historic Assumption Church!, Windsor Sports Magazine, Texas Road,

Canadian Blog Awards

The nominations have closed and the voting has begun for the Canadian Blog Awards - Round 1.

Windsor is well represented across all the various categories. You can only vote once in the first round and the voting closes on the 21st of January at 11:59 pm. After the first round, the top 5 blogs will be chosen for a second and final round of voting expected to begin on the 23rd of January.

Best Blog
WindsorEats.com

Best New Blog
... Scale Down Windsor
A Canadian Penny For Dan's Thoughts
WindsorEats.com

Best Political Blog
Windsor Municipal Shadow

Best Personal Blog
A Canadian Penny For Dan's Thoughts

Best Photo/Art Blog
Blog Windsor

Best Activities Blog
Maple Syrup and Poutine

Best Media/Celebrity Blog
A Canadian Penny For Dan's Thoughts

Best Local Blog
WindsorEats.com
Windsor Municipal Shadow
A Canadian Penny For Dan's Thoughts

Best Military Blog
The Torch (a group blog that I belong to)

Best Education Blog
Michael’s English Usage

Best luck to all. Hopefully Round 2 will also see Windsor well represented.

Yawn

More caterwauling.

"He sees a handful of individuals, some with interesting connections, hammering away at the same themes day after day to try to spread their toxic negativity."

It's so "toxic" to advocate on behalf of open government, accountability, fiscal responsibility, getting rid of Ward Fund piggy banks, secret deals (WFCU/Spitfire deal) ...

In other words, the "dissent is not allowed" mantra still reigns with some.

Speaking of interesting connections, why doesn't Council implement the full lobbyist registry. You know, the one Council doesn't believe we really need in Windsor. LMAO!

City moves towards online applications

This is a welcome development from the City of Windsor. Congratulations to the HR Department:

Student Lottery Goes Green
City of Windsor Human Resources has launched an online application process for the Summer Student Lottery, saying goodbye to over 1,000 paper applications that have been distributed annually for the past 30 years. For the first time, student applicants will not have to line up at the HR office on Goyeau to apply, as the City will no longer be using hard copy applications.

"We are committed to the development, sourcing and supply of information and processes that are streamlined, cost effective, and customer oriented, while exerting a positive environmental influence," said Executive Director of HR, Vincenza Mihalo.

Moving the process online will allow students to conveniently apply from anywhere in the world. It will also have a financial benefit, as the City will save dollars and time previously devoted to printing and administration of the hard copy intake.

Student Lottery applications are available on the City's website, www.citywindsor.ca in the Work for Windsor section (links can be found on the homepage and in the City Hall menu). Once a student completes and submits their online application, an email is sent providing them with their personal confirmation number. After the random lottery draw, the results will be posted on the website, at which time the student can use this number to view their lottery ranking.

"This initiative would not have been possible if it weren't for the efforts of a team of employees dedicated to delivering accessible and responsive recruitment services," said Mihalo. "Thanks go out to our HR team and to all of the Information Technology staff involved in making this happen in such a timely manner."

Moving forward in 2008, HR plans to make the Student Lottery's online application an example for changes in the way the City accepts employment applications for all positions. HR encourages interested residents to continue visiting the City's Work for Windsor web pages in the future for updates on new initiatives.

Finally

Here's a long overdue Editorial, especially the following part:

There is a tendency in politics for longtime leaders to confuse their interests with the interests of the jurisdictions they govern. There is also a tendency to view dissenting opinions as attacks rather than expressions of legitimate opinions. Unanimity, though, is anathema to vibrant democracies, which thrive on the cut and thrust of debate, the clashing of ideas and the ability of representatives to speak their mind and vote their conscience.

Francis must be careful not to confuse debate and democratic dissent with disloyalty to the city. And councillors must ensure they are advancing the interests of their constituents and not their own political aspirations. Councillors are elected neither to serve the mayor nor run for mayor.

The editorial puts comments in Gord Henderson's column yesterday in a very different perspective:

Mayor Francis
"There's plenty of time for them to crank it up," said Francis, but right now council needs to stay focused on job-related issues. "I'm begging you as a council to be leaders for this community," he pleaded. "Park the campaigns to the sidelines right now. We should look at everything we do from the perspective of attracting more jobs to this community."

Ward Two Councillor Ron Jones
The Ward 2 councillor is appalled by the nitpicking and showboating he's seeing from councillors who place personal ambition ahead of city interests. "The way some people have been acting, I expect to see lawn signs up any day now."

Ward Two Councillor Caroline Postma
His ward mate, Caroline Postma, told me she's sickened by a dysfunctional, backstabbing, clique-ridden, media-hogging council which she compared to a Grade 9 class at her old school, Forster Collegiate. This council, said Postma, has been poisoned by misleading, two-faced blogs and by third-party associations and influence. "There are so many conflicting personalities around this table," she sighed.

My favourite line from the Mayor:

And the final straw, it appears, was media spin which suggested a Windsor auditor general was the personal brainwave of Marra and Halberstadt when in reality the mayor and nearly every councillor endorsed it and asked a committee headed by Marra to flesh out details.

As far as the Auditor-General position goes, the entire City Council should hang it's head in shame. The law was passed in 2006 and came into force on January 1st, 2007. We are still studying whether or not to establish the position. At our current pace it will be at least another year before any decision is made, if we're lucky.

Edit: I would hope in the future that Councillor Postma would identify exactly which blogs she considers to be "mis-leading" and "two-faced", whether it be citizens or her fellow Councillor. I would especially be interested in knowing of any of my own blog posts which might be considered by her to be in this category. Blogging and other forms of electronic interaction are not going away, they're growing. Here's a list of blogging municipal officials in Canada:

Adam Giambrone.com
Alan Halberstadt.com
Bill Given
Councillor Chronicles
Councillor Shelley Carroll
Doug Thompson
Five Alive
Gord Perks
Greg Moore.ca
Jasper Municipal Library
Jeff Knoll
Kim Richter (Langley Free Press)
Langley Politics
Mayor Fred Eisenberger
Olds Municipal Library
Red Deer - Election Forum 2007
Red Deer Public Library
Sam Sullivan
Ted Salci - Hizzoner
Terry Whitehead
The Mayor's Blog
The Mumpsimus Blog
Ward 2 Guelph
Ward 3 Brighton
Ward 4 Guelph
Your Kamloops

Ford calls on Ottawa to revive Windsor plant

Ford calls on Ottawa to revive Windsor plant

KAREN HOWLETT AND GREG KEENAN

Globe and Mail Update

January 11, 2008 at 12:30 AM EST

Ford Motor Co. has asked the federal and Ontario governments to kick in $60-million to support a $300-million plan to reopen a shuttered engine plant in Windsor, Ont. – a request that has become a key test of whether the Harper government will provide financial aid to the auto industry.

“I understand that the project won't go ahead without Ottawa,” one industry source familiar with the proposal said Thursday, adding that Ontario has already agreed to come up with its $30-million share.

The previous federal government under the Liberals provided several hundred million dollars to help land new investments in Ontario by Ford, General Motors Corp., Toyota Motor Corp. and others, but this is believed to be the first request the Harper government has received.

The Ontario government has a $650-million fund that is available to companies that provide jobs manufacturing new, environmentally friendly technologies in the province.

Industry sources said Ford has proposed assembling a new V8 engine at its Essex Engine Plant.

The plant had been making V6 and V8 engines, but closed in November after operating since 1981.

Complete story at the Globe and Mail

Leading the way

The International Centre of Excellence for Local eDemocracy (ICELE)

"Democracy is much bigger than Party Politics. ICELE will work with all Parties to help ensure local people are well informed and have a real voice in local decision making. Democratic participation is steadily declining, yet opportunities to involve local people in local decision making, are growing every day. From text voting, to online consultations, we need to harness new technologies to make it easy for people across the country to get involved in the democratic process." Cllr Matthew Ellis

ICELE aims to provide best practice advice, support and practical solutions to help local authorities increase national eParticipation rates.

Fantastic site. Great bunch of links to some of the top eDemocracy sites in the world. Toolkit for delivering local eDemocracy.

Councillors blogging, hosting forums, chats, online petitions, webcasting, podcasting and teaching others how to do all of the above.

Windsor? We hire an Integrity Commissioner.

Around Town Tuesday - Jan 8th

1. Windsor International Film Festival today announced the screening of 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days to be held at the Art Gallery of Windsor at 7 pm on January 24, 2008.

For further information, please check out the website at www.windsorfilmfestival.ca

2. 'Made-in-Windsor' feature film "Baby Blues" opens theatrically January 11 at Lakeshore Cinemas in Lakeshore

3. A retirement dinner honouring Chief of Police Glenn Stannard is being held on January 24th, 2008. The event is at the St. Clair Centre for the Arts ( former Cleary International Centre), 201 Riverside Drive West.

4. Following a theme of sorts today, an AM800 commentary worth listening to (H/T Paul McDonald).

5. New Windsor Facebook - Canadian Constitution Foundation Windsor Law Club, Ruggerfest, Windsor Essex Organic Natural Food Co-op

Just get it done

From Gord Henderson's column today on the possibility of hiring an Auditor-General:

" Marra said there are questions still to be answered. What would be the rules of engagement? How could frivolous complaints be avoided? How far could an auditor general go in investigating armslength groups like the police, library board, grant recipients and utility companies? "

Please don't tell me that this is going to require more studies and reports. This has been studied and reported to death. The act is VERY clear on what an Auditor General can and can't audit. Police, Library and Health Boards are exempt from the Auditor General, although the City of Toronto has voluntarily invited their Auditor to begin audits within these organizations. They plan to lobby the Provincial government to include these agencies when the City of Toronto Act is reviewed.

Rules of engagement? The Auditor General is an independent position, free to audit without any interference. Council, with a three quarters majority vote can direct the auditor to audit specific items. That's it.

Frivolous complaints? The Auditor General is an independent position, free to audit without any interference. A Municipal Auditor General is virtually identical to counterparts at the Federal and Provincial levels. Frivolous complaints don't factor in as the Auditor General is free to choose what to audit. Period, full stop.

Council has had a specific briefing from officials at the Ministry of Municpal Affairs. We already have one report that has been referred to the audit committee, and the potential for further reports and studies.

When I last blogged about this issue after my appearance at Council in October of 2007, I predicted it wouldn't come back until January and then most likely would be deferred due to funds not being allocated in the 2008 budget. For once, I sincerely hope I'm wrong.

Can we at least stop studying whether or not to implement the position and move forward to studying how to implement it sometime before the term of this current Council ends?

As far as being " in the forefront " of change, the City of Markham beat us to that back in October along with Oshawa , who by the way, is using the Auditor General to conduct service delivery reviews, instead of hiring outside consultants controlled by the City, at great expense.

Why would we, the taxpayers, want a truly independent Auditor General to conduct a service delivery review, without interference of any kind from either Council or the Administration?

Why indeed!

Related Posts and Links:

1. Three Card Monte - Windsor Style

2. Momentum grows for Windsor Auditor General

3. Amendments to the Ontario Municipal Act

4. City of Toronto Auditor General

5. Amendments to the Municipal Act 2001, Proclaimed - 01 January, 2007

6. Proclamation Facts : The Municipal Statute Law Amendment Act, 2006 (Bill 130)

7. Bill 130 2006 - The Municipal Statute Law Amendment Act

Quick Hits - Monday January 7th, 2008

1. Welcome to WE Speak's newest member 4-0 Wonderland.

2. Amen! The sooner the better. A regional approach is a great idea, but regional cooperation shouldn't be used as an excuse to continue studying and delaying a Windsor Auditor General. The Mayor's oft discussed "service delivery review" could begin immediately in the form of value for money audits by the Auditor General. With each passing day I'm convinced that the Mayor and Council are more concerned with the independence of an Auditor General than any cost or organizational factors. Don't forget, an independent Windsor Auditor General could still conduct a WUC audit, regardless of what is contained in the Municipal Audit report we are currently waiting for.

3. WE Speak's Inaugural Windsor Bloggers Meet - 23 Jan, 2008 - Spread the word. All are welcome.

4. Great post at Scale Down Windsor on the After Hours Bar debate. Scale Down contributor Mark Boscariol puts forward a reasonable compromise that balances business and community interests.

5. Windsor Police go online in their hunt for Mohamud Hagi. The site offers a way to submit anonymous tips. Facebook users can help the WPS spread the word. Use the "Share on Facebook" feature to post a note on your profile. Facebook user's networks can be used to quickly spread the word to tens of thousand of users across the Province and country. To create a "Share on Facebook" link in your browser, drag the Share link above to your browser's link bar and drop it there. Now simply navigate to the Hagi site and click the "Share on Facebook" link you just created. This will pop up a Facebook window which will allow you to post a note.

You can also help by joining the official Windsor Police Service Facebook group - Wanted - Mohamud Abukar HAGI, 25yrs - First Degree Murder

Either way, with a couple of quick clicks you can help do your part. (H/T to AM800 news)

6. More on livable, walkable cities from All About Cities blogger Wendy Waters. Personally, I see far more value investing in initiatives along these lines rather than spending hundreds of thousands on "branding" a city in transition.

7. Capitol Theatre open for business.

Update: New East End Arena webcam

Canadian Blog Awards

The Canadian Blog Awards are an annual event where bloggers and blog readers have an opportunity to nominate and vote on their favourite blogs across numerous categories.

Windsor bloggers are well represented in several categories:

Best Activities Blog - Maple Syrup and Poutine

Best Blog - Windsor Eats

Best Education Blog - Michael's English Usage

Best Local Blog - International Metropolis, Windsor Eats

Best New Blog - Scale Down Windsor, Windsor Eats

Nominations close on the 11 of January, followed by the first round of voting (7 days). The top 4 blogs in each category will then be announced, with the final round of voting also lasting 7 days.

Windsor Blogger Meet

I've been wanting to do a blogger meet for a long while, and at the prodding of a few other bloggers, have finally got around to arranging things.

WE Speak Bloggers Meet

Date: Wednesday January 23rd, 2008

Location: The Mill, 3199 Sandwich St, Windsor

Time: 8:00 pm

The Mill has parking in the back and best of all - free wireless internet, if you wish to bring your laptop.

What I would like to do with this event is have it every couple of months in a different location in Windsor, hopefully hosted by a different person or group. March could be downtown and May in Walkerville, for example.

The event is meant as an opportunity for bloggers to get together and swap stories, tips, tricks and even possible collaborations. The evening is open to bloggers, wanna-be bloggers, commenters and generally anyone who may be interested.

Windsor has developed an lively and diverse community of bloggers. Come on out and take advantage of the opportunity to meet the souls behind the keyboards.