Wikileaks, and other information repositories like it, raises some interesting ethical problems. To date, Wikileaks has pretty much taken a wholesale approach to the information that comes its way – it all gets published regardless of its validity, relevance or timeliness. Many have applauded this, especially with bulk leak of
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Accidental Deliberations: New column day
Here, on what we need to do to clean up political funding – and how both the Saskatchewan and federal systems offer painful examples of the problems with big money in politics. For further reading…– Brad Wall’s top-up pay from the Saskatchewan Party – being one of the many noteworthy
Continue readingScripturient: Obstructionism killing 1,600+ jobs & growth
Just when you thought Collingwood Council couldn’t set the bar any lower, they go and move it down another notch. On Monday, Oct. 31, The Block had a chance to save face, rectify their blatant mismanagement of the Collingwood Regional Airport development and save the proposed, $300 million, 260-acre, industrial
Continue readingScripturient: Fulfilling a role? Who are you kidding?
The bite of irony is in the air when a flimsy piece of blatant Block propaganda masquerading as an official media release is published by the town. It has the misleading headline, “Town fulfilling role in hospital redevelopment process,” but only delusional sycophants won’t read it as a Block screed.
Continue readingScripturient: Collus report debunks Block conspiracies
Every year, the Ontario Energy Board (OEB) publishes the scorecard of local distribution companies (LDCs). Across the province, more than 70 LDCs are ranked and rated according to performance, customer service, efficiency, progress and other measurable data for residents to see how their utility is doing. It’s a thing called
Continue readingScripturient: Promises, promises, promises – all broken
Two years ago, in a series in the Collingwood Connection on the eve of the last election, 2014, all candidates were asked to make statements about certain issues. I thought it would be good to examine a few of their promises and see how well they have progressed. Whether they
Continue readingScripturient: 13 Ways to Kill Collingwood
I found it! I stumbled across the secret manifesto The Block is using to destroy Collingwood. It’s in a book called “13 Ways to Kill Your Community” (Frontenac House, 2010) by Doug Griffiths and Kelley Clemmer. And pretty much everything in it outlines The Block’s not-so-secret plan to turn this
Continue readingScripturient: You’re not invited. Again.
You, the public, get shut out again. Less openness, less accountability, more secrecy, more Block. The annual general meeting (AGM) of Collus-PowerStream on October 6 – the local electrical utility that you ostensibly own 50% of – is not open to the public. It’s another closed door, secret meeting. Why? Council
Continue readingScripturient: Sabotaging the hospital (again)
Last night at council, The Borg Block again took another step towards sabotaging the Collingwood General & Marine Hospital’s redevelopment plans. Not unexpected: destroying the community is a key plank in their platform, as we’ve seen by their actions against the airport, water utility and Collus PowerStream. Plus, they need to
Continue readingScripturient: Your $350,000 wasted
A Freedom of Information (FOI) request I filed recently shows a disturbing abuse of your tax dollars. Money was wasted that could have been spent on doing something good, something positive, something useful for Collingwood. Download the report here. In the two-year period between mid-2014 and mid-2016, the town’s administration spent $340,000 of your tax dollars on … Continue reading “Your $350,000 wasted”
Continue readingScripturient: Dilbert, Dogbert and Collingwood
I’ve often commented that the cartoon strip Dilbert, by Scott Adams, is closer to a documentary than it is to a cartoon. Not just about the quagmire of corporate life: Dilbert applies equally to the sodden bureaucracy of government. And here are some strips to prove my hypothesis, at least on the local level. I culled … Continue reading “Dilbert, Dogbert and Collingwood”
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: The DWR Feminist Quote of the Day – Meghan Murphy on Leftists.
“One cannot simultaneously call oneself a leftist while defending a multi billion dollar industry that profits from the exploitation and degradation of women. One cannot call oneself “progressive” while refusing to stand up against the commodification of women and while refusing to challenge an industry that depends upon the absolute selfishness of men who […]
Continue readingScripturient: The unstrategic anti-plan returns
Wednesday’s standing committee heard that the so-called “community-based strategic plan” has risen from the dead – a document that was committee-driven (not community; and a committee of carefully selected buddies, at that…), and was neither strategic nor a plan. See it in the agenda package. A real strategic plan would have been council-driven, based on the vision … Continue reading “The unstrategic anti-plan returns”
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: Genetic Engineering
Designer babies, the end of diseases, genetically modified humans that never age. Outrageous things that used to be science fiction are suddenly becoming reality. The only thing we know for sure is that things will change irreversibly. Well, if we don’t immolate ourselves first, some interesting things await for us in the future. 🙂 Filed […]
Continue readingScripturient: Collingwood is being investigated
Collingwood Council and town administration are in trouble. The Ontario Energy Board (OEB) is investigating them and their recent activities with regards to Collus-PowerStream and its board of directors. This is not good news for those at the table or those behind the scenes who guided their hands. A letter was unexpectedly added to the agenda … Continue reading “Collingwood is being investigated”
Continue readingScripturient: Their secret emails, redacted
A Freedom of Information (FOI) request I recently filed shows just how devious and secretive some of our council and administration are. You can read the entire series here. The cover letter is here (it is instructive…). In late July, Council approved sending out a request for proposals (RFP) to sell our share in our … Continue reading “Their secret emails, redacted”
Continue readingScripturient: Can the mayor fire the interim CAO?
Does the mayor have the authority to fire someone by herself? The interim CAO, for example? It’s a question I’ve been asked a lot of late by residents. I think so, but it’s not clear to me in the Municipal Act. She is, after all, legally both the head of council and the chief executive officer, and … Continue reading “Can the mayor fire the interim CAO?”
Continue readingScripturient: The Wasaga Beach G&M Hospital
You’d think supporting your local hospital’s redevelopment was a no-brainer for municipal politicians. And since ‘no-brainer’ has been the exemplary style of Collingwood Council this term, they should go hand-in-glove. But apparently for The Block, ‘no-brainer’ means merely thoughtless focus on personal agendas, not the community’s well-being or future. That’s not news, of course; just … Continue reading “The Wasaga Beach G&M Hospital”
Continue readingScripturient: Another Collus conspiracy debunked
As a former reporter and editor, I always feel a twinge of satisfaction when I read a well-written story in the local appears that gets all of its facts right. When everything is stated correctly, the English is good, the facts well reported, the repor…
Continue readingScripturient: Deputy mayor & interim CAO missing in action?
The headline in the Connection story reads, “Collingwood meets with provincial ministers about waterfront plan.” Well, that’s incorrect: it wasn’t “Collingwood” – it was Mayor Cooper and two staff members at th…
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