JUSTCAWS

  Just woke up from the screeching tires of another late night street race. Now that I’m up, I might as well write about something where everyone seems to have an opinion. When it comes to the issue of speed cameras there should be enough space for middle of the road consensus. Ontario Doug Ford says he will ban them while other politicians have put their finger in the air and banned them already - see former Provincial Liberal leader Steven Del Duca (now Mayor of Vaughan) have  already done so. They see a political winner in going against the cash grab and the surveillance state vibe cameras create. Those in favour of the cameras rightfully point out one clear fact - they work. Perhaps too well for their survival. Cities that once deployed a few in trouble spots expanded them in community zones where there was a need or a vocal neighborhood who wanted them. Here in Guelph 4 cameras became 12, but at least here we have kept them where they belong - in school zones. Other place...

  While times of crisis are something to endure and not celebrate, they do provide an opportunity for us to be reminded of what’s really important. The chaos of Trump and the economic pain he has inflicted thus far on Canada has been manageable, but the toll from the uncertainty grows each day. The threat of the tariff hurricane still looms and if our current trade deal is scrapped next year - look out. It is for this reason governments have to look at their upcoming budgets and make some tough choices. Governments like everyone else have to manage money coming in and going out. Just like many of us, they pay interest on the debt owed. When governments spend beyond their means they add to the debt and more of the money coming in from taxes is eaten up just servicing that debt. Last year the feds spent more debt payments than they did on healthcare transfers to all the provinces! To fix this fiscal mess, governments could simply raise taxes, but asking people to pay more when they ...

Many of us are still confused as to why Americans would elect a political party hell bent on cutting the size of government and turning its back on helping the world. I’ve been taken back by the change, but the voter frustration that has led to it has been building for sometime. If liberals are still wondering why their brand is under siege globally, perhaps a lesson about Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs can help explain. I’ve learned and taught about Maslow so many times I feel like I met him, even though he died before I was born. His premise was that humans are motivated to satisfy a pyramid of needs and that until our most basic needs are met (food, water and shelter) we won’t concern ourselves with any higher purpose. Once the basics are met then people move onto safety and security, love and belonging, self-esteem and finally fulfilment. I believe the same motivation holds true for voters. Nobody will concern themselves about more progressive causes or concern themselves with...

One of my favorite columnists, Jeffrey Simpson of the Globe and Mail, would, like many opinion writers, offer his thoughts and predictions in his columns. What I admired the most, was that Simpson's end of year column would keep score of what he got right and wrong in the past year. So in that spirit, I offer my own reflections.  I did take a long shot on Nikki Haley becoming the next President and while that obviously did not happen, it may have come within an earshot however. No, I didn’t predict Trump being assassinated, but I did state often that I believed the 2024 U.S. election was going to be full of surprises. I was one of the few who not only predicted the day after Biden's terrible debate performance that he would be replaced by the Democrats, but stated my belief it was their intention to do so before June 27th. Finally, I did correctly predict the outcome of the U.S. election, so as Meatloaf sang - two out of three ain’t bad.  In terms of Canadian politics I ha...

  The Ontario Ministry of Education is hoping to address the inequality issue within its secondary schools by treating everyone the same. The result has been that everyone is suffering.    Rather than continuing to let parents and students decide what level or stream (academic, applied, workplace) they wanted to take their mandatory Grade 9 courses, now students must take these courses all at the same level, regardless of ability.  This approach relies heavily on the elementary schools preparing students to have success in high school. But for far too many students under this new de-streamed system - it doesn’t.   The reasons for this are varied and not necessarily the fault of the changes to an elementary education system that has moved away from failing students and deemphasized grades. I am not here to debate the merits of that decision, but the idea of holding students back and not allowing them to progress with their peers is now viewed as being exces...

  Time to take a break from politics and discuss the benign…. Recent discussion among Yankee fans debated if Juan Soto signed a long term deal with the team, where he might end up on their list of greatest Yankees ever. Obviously, with an iconic franchise with such a deep pool of hall of farmers and all stars any discussion of the greatest evers can go on for a while.  Instead of going down that rabbit hole, I decided to think of the Blue Jays best evers. Sadly, it didn’t require that much time. In terms of criteria, I decided to first look at position players that had played a minimum of 500 games for at least 2500 at bats as Blue Jays. So while the Jays have had some quite notable hall of farmers either start their careers, Fred McGriff, or play with them later on in their careers, ie. Paul Molitor - they are not eligible. For offensive reference used https://www.mlb.com/bluejays/stats/all-time-totals I can’t be bothered to rank them, as everyone will have their own weightin...

As Remembrance Day draws near I fear the current movement to tell half truths and erase parts of our history are going to have some dire consequences. When older generations see young people toppling statues and spouting historical ignorance under the logic of the ends justifying the means, we all have reason to be worried. You don’t have to connect many dots to lay the blame at our education system. Schools are where we teach our history, celebrate our victories and learn from our mistakes. What started with shedding more light on Canada’s sins, has now devolved to removing accomplished figures in education for the crime of being white. Schools across Ontario have already started removing our first Prime Minister, Sir John A, from the names of schools bearing his name. Parks have removed or boarded up his statue. Those who objected were reminded of his role in establishing residential schools. He should be in a museum, not a park, is the progressive cry. But you need to meet people ...

  Recent  news   of school children being taken to a Pro-Palestinian protest has rightfully caused quite a stir from parents and has led the Ontario Minister of Education to investigate further.  You may ask why schools would allow field trips to participate in political protests altogether - most don’t, but the line between what is deemed “political” is quite blurry.  During my 25 years of teaching, I have witnessed greater emphasis on implementing character and values within education.  While some will point to the increased politicization of some teachers and their unions, what is often overlooked is the Ministry’s own Character Education document  Finding Common Ground   that was released way back in 2008.  I remember this document generating discussion back then as some believed the Liberal government (in power at the time) was trying to push their “values” onto students through this initiative.  In fact, the document itself seems r...