Well, there can be little doubt that both The Toronto District School Board and the Ontario Ministry of Education have fully embraced the digital age. Finger-pointing abounds on both sides. In the ongoing saga that I think could best be described as a clash between Jimmy Hazel’s union muscle (and
Continue readingTag: maintenance and construction skilled trades council
Politics and its Discontents: Jimmy Hazel and His Crew Prevail
As I have mentioned in this blog before, one of the many reasons I respect The Toronto Star is that it doesn’t let its adherence to The Atkinson Principles blind it to good stories, even when those stories may lead to some uncomfortable questions about the abuses that unions are
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Toronto District School Board Blinks
As I suspected, after yesterday’s Star story about the Toronto District School Board’s outrageous demand for $3.6 million to release work order information related to the costs incurred in their exclusive contract with Jimmy Hazel’s maintenance and construction skilled trades council, the board is singing a different tune today: The
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: TDSB To Star: It’s Gonna Cost You To See My Hand
The Toronto Star, after conducting an excoriating investigative series on the fiscal incompetence of the Toronto District School Board in its very costly arrangement with Jimmy Hazel’s Maintenance and Construction Skilled Trades Council, has learned the price of getting the complete picture of that incompetence: $3.6 million. That’s how much
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: The Glacial Pace Of Change At The TDSB
Regarded by some as a master of platitudes, Toronto District School Board Director Chris Spence says that things are getting better. As outlined in The Star’s investigative series, the board, in the thrall of Jimmy Hazel’s Maintenance and Construction Skilled Trades Council, which forms the backbone of the TDSB’s facilities
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: More Political Responses From The Toronto District School Board
While the goings-on at the TDSB may seem only a matter of regional concern, in my view the implications extend well beyond any geographic boundaries, evidence as they are not only of system-wide cronyism but also the inevitable corruption and lassitude that bedevils organizations or institutions of any size or
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Digital Exercise
With all of the finger-pointing ensuing from the Star’s latest installment on the Toronto District School Board’s questionable relationship with Jimmy Hazel and his Maintenance and Construction Skilled Trades Council, I think it is safe to infer that all involved parties have truly entered the digital age. Recommend this Post
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: The Toronto District School Board’s Political Response
While hardly surprising, the decision of TDSB chair, Chris Bolton, to have a facilities committee look into The Star’s embarrassing revelations about its inappropriate and very costly relationship with Jimmy Hazel’s Maintenance and Construction Skilled Trades Council is wholly inadequate. As today’s Star editorial tartly observes, It was exactly what
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Prepare For The Revolution, A.K.A. Spin, Spin, And More Spin
What is the priority of organizations that are mired in embarrassing public revelations about fraudulent spending of taxpayers money? The development of a good PR plan. At least that is what I gleaned from Part Three of The Star’s investigation of the Toronto District School Board and its relationship with
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: The Star Continues Its Investigation
Unless the Toronto District School Board is staffed by a raft of incompetents, it has to have known what is going on. As I wrote in my blog post yesterday, an investigation by The Toronto Star has revealed theft on a massive scale in the form of grossly inflated charges
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: The Star Continues Its Stellar Work
One of the Atkinson Principles guiding The Toronto Star is to champion the rights of working people; to my ongoing delight and gratification, however, this tenet does not mean the paper gives a free ride to labour and unions. Today’s edition is ample testament to that fact. Another of its
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