Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound MPP Bill Murdoch says it's time Toronto separates from the rest of Ontario Part Two

Sat, 2010-04-24 08:53

Tommy_Paine

I think Murdoch is essentially constituency driven, or a populist. Which isn't neccessarily a good thing; I think he'd go along with broad public sentiment in his ridding even if he knew it was factually incorrect.

Speaking of which, my friend in Dundalk, not far from where the guy was attacked, says the animal was in fact a stray dog, and they guy did try to make buddies with it by bending down and leading with his face.

And, I don't know where Murdoch has been on the issue of democracy in Ontario. It was still born in 1837, and the kleptocracy established in the late 1700's continues unimpeded to this day.

Murdoch is as much a part of the problem as McGinty.

Sat, 2010-04-24 09:24

#53

Tommy_Paine

The role of MPP's has always been to sell what's best for the current members of the Family Compact to their constituents as something good for them. And, that's wrong, as we know.

However, it's also wrong for an MPP or any leader to pander to their constiuent's ignorance.

I do think we could stand a lot more populism in Ontario, but it has to be tied to facts and it has to be tied to the best interests of the constiuency. And a populist leader has to have the guts to point those interests out, even if it runs against the popular wisdom of the day.

Sat, 2010-04-24 09:27

#54

Tommy_Paine

Oh, and I'll see if we can make it up there for another visit next weekend.

Tue, 2010-04-27 17:41

#55

Tommy_Paine

Coyotes seemed to have touched this off. Well, today, a black bear was shot in London.

http://www.lfpress.com/news/london/2010/04/27/13737996.html#/news/2010/0...

I think it's people from the Bruce driving down here and releasing them in the city.

Sat, 2010-05-01 16:32

#56

Fidel

Quote:
[url=http://www.timminspress.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2551473]Wayne Snider wrote:[/url]

It looks like Northern Ontario will get the shaft again, when it comes to representation in both Ottawa and Queen's Park.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper recently introduced legislation to add 30 new members to Parliament due to population growth. Under the plan, 18 would be added in Ontario, seven in British Columbia and five in Alberta.

Meanwhile, Premier Dalton McGuinty said he would consider adding a similar number of seats in Queen's Park to mirror federal changes. /.../

So when new political boundaries are carved out, the power centres will become even stronger. If the North is given a token riding or two, it is essentially meaningless in the big picture.

The best thing that could happen to Northern Ontario, in terms of political boundaries, is for Toronto and the 905-crowd to go ahead with their scheme of making a separate province out of their region.

That way they can keep their GTA-based lobby groups, Toronto-centric policies, knee-jerk reactions and bad decision making.

Sat, 2010-05-29 13:15

#57

Stuart_Parker

fidel, I'm curious: How is every person in Northern Ontario having the same voting power as everyone else in Ontario them getting the shaft? Why should people in the North have 1.5 times as many votes as someone in Brampton?

I'd just like to point out that I find it a little disturbing that current districting practices give the most voting power to places with large white majorities and the least to the places where most non-white Canadians live. Aside from the current system managing to give certain groups of indigenous people magnified voting power, it seems, on top of everything else, to be racist to give 30% more per capita voting power to Timmins over Brampton.

Wed, 2010-06-02 19:23

#58

Tommy_Paine

Donated bales of granola and straw are already stacked on site for use.

That's a typo, isn't it, didn't they mean bales of canola, not granola?

Sat, 2010-06-05 12:58

#59

Tommy_Paine

"One thing that everyone seems to agree on is that we don't have a lot of good field data on exactly what the overall noise levels are around some of these wind turbine developments and I think the Ministry of Environment is taking some steps to do more documentation or assessment of that," Copes said. "I would also argue that we should probably be doing some more background work of sound levels in many parts of Ontario because I think overall that noise exposure is perhaps an underappreciated public health problem."

In the audible range, there certainly is data and it's well travelled territory. It's the infra sound, or noise below what is it, 20hz that's the issue.

And you know, you measure the infra sound levels from a variety-- heck, ALL of the windmills in Ontario, determine what they are.

Then you take 5000 or so people and have a double blind trial to see if they can in the first place detect feeling different when exposed to the worst examples of infra sound recorded from the windmills.

And then you take a smaller sample of people, say 30, and run a double blind test over a few weeks to see if any negative physiological symptoms present themselves.

Tarnation, this aint rocket surgery.

Tue, 2010-07-06 23:39

#60

RevolutionPlease RevolutionPlease's picture

Good riddance even though I kind of liked his way of doing politics differently.

Wed, 2010-07-07 02:55

#61

RevolutionPlease RevolutionPlease's picture

Probably even worse, a placated and whipped Tory.

Wed, 2010-07-07 09:34

#62

Farmpunk

Bummer.

I agree somewhat with the dissenting view of the artist quoted in Webgear's posted story: Murdoch's political persona may have interfered with his job. But I really enjoy seeing a pol of any stripe suggest that the current structure of elected government and party politics is not democratic enough.

"We elect dictators."

Wed, 2010-07-07 09:52

#63

Tommy_Paine

I wonder if a well financed independant candidate might do well in that ridding.

Wed, 2010-07-07 20:07

#64

adma

Heck, if John Tory were still provincial leader, Murdoch might well have wound up supporting the Green standard-bearer...

Wed, 2010-07-21 06:39

#65

Farmpunk

Just heard on CBC Radio that Schmidt, of raw milk fame, is going to try for Murdoch's seat. It was unclear - or I don't remember - if he's simply running for the seat or running for the PC spot.

I suspect Schmidt is something of a one trick pony. Still, he might be fun to follow.