JUSTCAWS

  Seeing many tributes and even some criticism after our Mayor, Guelph’s Cam Guthrie announced he would not be seeking re-election. I have known Cam personally throughout his time as Mayor and Council. He has always been passionate for this city and wears his civic pride on his sleeve, treating Guelph like it was his extended family.  Early on, I appreciated Cam’s efforts to be a voice of fiscal restraint on council. Later as more capital projects were added to the city’s operating budget, Cam tried to sell being pragmatic, but as the tax bill grew and grew so did frustration from his supporters. During the rough road ahead fiscally responsible voices are needed more than ever on Council to keep Guelph on the financial rails ensuring that money flows into this city and not out.  But regardless of where you stand on the political spectrum, decent, hard-working elected public servants deserve our recognition and respect. It is the civility in our disagreement that makes for...

  Have been taking the time to listen and understand Guelph citizens’ concerns over the upcoming City budget. My wife attended a Ward town hall, I jumped on the live stream to listen to public delegations speak to a variety of issues and I also attended the Guelph Chamber of Commerce Budget breakfast to hear viewpoints from the business community. In hearing and reading fellow Guelphites competing concerns it is clear that Guelph, like many Ontario cities, is under significant social and financial strain from forces outside our control. People have genuine concerns with affordability and the threat of another big property tax increase. Many have legitimate concerns about the most vulnerable in our city and the challenges they face gaining accessibility to services and basic mobility. While others want to move past the annual budget squabble and want to see a plan to spark the strong economic growth needed to fund a prosperous and just city. In all of this, one issue stood out as a ...

  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 ...

  An opportunity to solve many of our persistent social ills with significant funding has arrived on Canada’s doorstep. With our new PM’s pledge to dramatically increase our military spending to meet our NATO commitments - we can finally provide drug treatment and housing to all those in need. How’s that? Rather than viewing military spending as competing with social programs for tax dollars - we should look at military spending AS a social program. If viewed under that lens - a right leaning capitalist country like the United States looks much more socialist. Average citizens may have trouble getting free healthcare, but American enlistees not only get free health care, but food shelter and post secondary education as well. Now I know not everyone wants to join the military and compromise their values by putting a rifle in their hand to achieve economic salvation. But what if the military broke into two separate branches of combat and non-combat. The Canadian military already serv...

  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...

One way to tone down the rhetoric is for the political talking heads to get back to changing minds rather than seeking attention. After the assassination attempt on former President Trump, there has been a rightful call to turn down the political heat and division in the United States. Elected officials and opinion makers across the political spectrum have condemned political violence and called for unity.  This of course is the right response, but many don’t think it will last. The problem is that in our desire to be heard online we lost our ability to have a civil discussion.  You would think if the point of giving your political opinion was to persuade others to your way of thinking - we would be much better at it.  We’ve lost the art of persuasion and have mastered the put down.  How did we get so far down the rabbit hole?  Many will point to social media and while it is the main culprit, I can’t give them all the blame. We have to be better as citizens and ...

  Trust but verify, was a line from former U.S. President Ronald Reagan. I have heard it being used more now as there seems to be an erosion of trust in global affairs. It is a line I believe our news media needs to follow in a world where deciding between what is fact and fiction is only going to get more difficult. I have been an avid consumer of news for decades. Whether it be from watching a nightly newscast or getting the daily paper to now streaming and digital subscriptions - I will follow. Obviously, the evolution in the distribution model is what people will point to when discussing change in the news media, but I believe a more profound transformation has taken hold. Some argue that once the U.S. News became a profit centre for networks that the decline in journalism began. Just take a look at this prophetic article from 1986 in the LA Times that predicts pending doom . The onslaught of social media was the next salvo to hit the news as more people discovered they could b...

Another tragic mass shooting in the United States has Greg address the divisive issue of gun control. Sadly, the time for federal gun control in the States has come and gone. Too many rational citizens want guns to protect themselves from guns. This leads to escalation in madness with no apparent end in sight.  Only hope now resides at the state and local levels to enact their own common sense regulations. Time for progressives to get creative as lawmakers have done with abortion laws in conservative states. Perhaps with clear evidence of reduced gun violence in gun controlled jurisdictions a pathway out of this madness can be found.  My hope is for Canada to avoid this vicious cycle altogether. Canada’s superiority complex to the U.S. is deserved - on this file, but we haven’t done much lately to address the increase in gun related crimes. Most Liberal government initiatives are symbolic, and used to exploit divisions. Ban handguns - fine - but without  increasing penalt...