Hwy 3: Trail of Tears for the Crowsnest Pass

Betty Dodds letter to the editor in this week's Promoter was an excellent read on Hwy 3 being an on-going pressing problem for our municipality and region that is long overdue in being properly addressed in a timely manner.

Years back when on council I was one of the founding members of the Hwy 3 Association made up of municipalities from Medicine Hat to the Crowsnest Pass. Back then we were on a role, had Ed Stelmach as our Infrastructure Minister at the time, had an economic study done to back our demands for action to be taken and basically felt we had all our ducks in order to get things done. At that time B.C. had not even got off the ground floor with respect to addressing Hwy 3 on their side of the border, we were light years ahead of them. Then all of a sudden things came to a stand still, and have remained there ever since. For more on this 'stand still' business read this.

Over the years there have been many such incidents and initiatives like Hwy 3 that have 'mysteriously' occurred resulting in us as a community being held back from realizing our full potential. Has a certain influential person and his cronies been behind all these misfortunes, or has it simply been bad luck? We'll soon see when we have the changing of the guard in October, whether it has been all bad luck... or 'local politics'... by those who have a vested interest in keeping things the way they are for their sole benefit, at the expense and lost opportunities of those in our greater community?

I for one will be pushing to bring back new life into the Hwy 3 Association and with Ed Stelmach as Premier, Evan Berger as our MLA, and Ted Menzies as our Federal MP, things will start to happen! Because I believe all these fine gentlemen, despite being conservatives, are liberals at heart :-) and want nothing better than to serve their constituents in addressing a long standing and pressing problem dear to the hearts of those living here in southern Alberta, and to our neighbours to the west in B.C. It's just good politics to do what needs doing, and getting the job done.

I, as Mayor, and my council will be proactively reminding them of this, as will the newly revitalized Hwy 3 Association.


Nothing is as powerful as an idea whose time has come.

Chasing Ideals vs A Time For Action

Last night I attended a meeting, by special invitation, comprising of about 50-60 people, which was hosted by an informal group of concerned residents. These people were from all walks of life and professions representing the creme de la creme of our community. They gathered together to see what they could do to encourage good candidates to run in our upcoming municipal election.

Those attending participated in a short exercise to envision a realistically attainable ideal future for the Crowsnest Pass. The results from this exercise were similar in many respects to what was recently accomplished with our Integrated Community Sustainability Plan (ICSP) and Strategic Plan, as well as from the Pass to the Future from some years back, and a whole host of other workshops, studies, vision quests, etc.

For me the central theme that came out of this most recent attempt is that people are basically fed up with more studies, plans, etc. and instead want action from their leaders on council. They want to see their vision and hopes for this community acted upon, not studied to death anymore. The time for talk is over with. In other words, the chasing of ideals is over... its now time for action. Tourism, small business, industry, while maintaining our quality of life and lifestyle is our goal, attaining these should be our current mission.

As someone who has advocated for this for over 10 years now and tried unsuccessfully to be that 'catalyst' for change that our community so desperately needs, I feel that the time is now right and that both this community and myself have finally caught up to one another. With my practical and educational background in hospitality & tourism and small business experience and know how, along with my prior experience on council combined with my passion, commitment and vision for this community, I know I am the man needed at this time to take this community forward into the 21st century. Give me a council of like-minded individuals and there will be no end to what we can do and accomplish on behalf of the good residents in this, our community of communities.

I can't wait to get started, just as this community can't wait to turn the page and get going on creating a brighter future for us all. Oct. 18 can't come soon enough! When it does, vote John Prince For Mayor.


An ounce of action is worth a ton of theory.

Bill Bradley's House of Cards Continues to Fall

Got an email today from one of my readers who asked me to comment on council's recent denial of an Affordable Housing development rezoning bylaw request by Bill Bradley, the by now infamous developer (sic) of the River Run project, as reported on in this week's edition of the Pass Herald.

Now let me say from the get-go that I am no fan of the BBoys and I can understand the gang of four on council who are fed up with these guys, no longer trust them, nor do they feel like or want to give them the time of day any longer. Once burnt, twice shy comes to mind here. I don't blame them, and I believe most folks in this community probably agree with their actions. However, in my opinion, they were wrong.

Due process, or as Gary Taje rightfully stated, "it is the rule of thumb that first reading is always passed, even if there are issues", and even if you don't like the fellow in front of you. Doing what was done is a dangerous precedent and sends the wrong message to both those inside and outside our community that we play by different rules here, and therefore are not a good place to do business. We've had that reputation for some years now with this mayor but I thought with this council we were finally getting rid of it, but with this action it looks like we have not. That's too bad, because this was totally unnecessary. It should have and could have been handled better by, as I have already said, following due process by approving first reading. Then after the public hearing going yea or nay, depending on the project's merits or not. That would have been the proper time to kill it if you so chose to do so... not before.

In addition, off-site levies for a development of this nature are typically waived to support the development of affordable housing, and although I agree with Dean Ward's comment "We can't afford to walk away from any dollars", we also can't afford to walk away from housing of this nature either. Safe guards, including 'security deposits' could have been insisted upon 'this time' to ensure these guys did not pull another fast one on us.

All in all a decision I can understand, but unfortunately cannot agree with. Gary, Irwin and Larry were right on this one.


A committee can make a decision that is dumber than any of its members.

And Now We're Headed For The GREATEST Depression, Says Gerald Celente

YAHOO! FINANCE

The fake "recovery" was nice while it lasted, says famous apocalyptic forecaster Gerald Celente, founder of the Trends Research Institute. But now the fun's over, and we're headed for what Celente describes as the "Greatest Depression."

Specifically, the always startling Celente says the country is headed for rising unemployment, poverty, and violent class warfare as the government efforts to keep the economy going begin to fail.

The crux of the problem, Celente argues, is that the middle class has been wiped out. America used to be a land of opportunity for all, where hard-working people could build their own small businesses in their own communities and live prosperous and fulfilling lives. But now a collusion of state and corporate interests that Celente describes as "fascism" have conspired to help only the biggest companies and the richest Americans. This has put a shocking amount of the country's wealth in the hands of a privileged few and left the rest of the country to subsist on chicken-feed wages and low job satisfaction as Wal-Mart "associates" -- or worse.

The answer, Celente says, is to bring back the laws that prevented huge companies from getting so big and powerful, and put some opportunity back in the hands of ordinary people. But doing that is going to take a while. And in the meantime, we're headed for trouble.

(Celente's dead right about U.S. wealth inequality, by the way. It's shocking. And it's getting worse. For a quick overview, see "15 Mind-Blowing Facts About Wealth And Inequality In America)


Note: For years, I have been talking about the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer, the elimination of the middle class both in the States, in Canada and world-wide. Read the above article and see for yourself. The stats say it all!

Thanks for this Jose!

CONSERVATIVE TAXES HAMMER SMALL BUSINESSES

Goodale commentary:

At a time when the Harper government is promising to slash federal programs and services to fix its deficit – its self-imposed and unnecessary deficit – Conservative business tax policies are out of whack.

On the one hand, for the biggest and wealthiest corporations, Mr. Harper is going to borrow another $6 billion every year so he can cut the Large Corporation Income Tax Rate by a further three points (i.e., another 20%).

Corporate tax cuts on borrowed money (i.e., while the government is running a deficit) make no sense.

The large businesses benefiting from this Conservative largesse – at your expense – have already had their tax rates slashed recently by more than one-third. Those rates are already the second lowest in the G-7. They’re already 25% lower than US rates.

These extra tax cuts for big corporations are simply unaffordable right now, and unnecessary.

On the other hand, for small and medium-sized businesses – the ones which generate 80% of all Canadian jobs – Mr. Harper is promising only a tax increase.

At the end of this year, the Conservatives are going to increase payroll taxes by driving up Employment Insurance premiums – by a whopping 35%. These escalating Conservative EI taxes will become the fastest growing source of revenue for the Harper government.

What’s the logic in that? Just when our economy is struggling to recover from a recession, the Conservatives impose a big new tax-on-jobs. The Canadian Federation of Independent Business says Conservative EI taxes “will kill jobs and undermine economic recovery”.

It doesn’t have to be this way. To help battle a previous Conservative recession that burdened this country in the early 1990’s, a new Liberal government coming into office in 1993 cut EI premiums, year-after-year, 13 consecutive times – by 40% overall.

That helped to generate 3.5 million net new Canadian jobs!

Ralph Goodale, M.P.
goodale@sasktel.net

CONSERVATIVE “DOUBLE-SPEAK” ON THE DEFICIT

Goodale commentary:

When Stephen Harper laments the federal deficit and claims he has to cut programs and services to save money – here are 10 things to remember:

1st -- When these Conservatives came into office in 2006, they inherited a thriving economy, the best fiscal situation in all the G-8 group of world-leading countries, declining debt and taxes, and budget surpluses of at least $13 billion per year.

2nd -- Mr. Harper squandered all that financial strength by 2008. He overspent at three-times the rate of inflation, slashed all contingency reserves and prudence factors from the federal budget, and put the country back into deficit again while the world economy was still buoyant and BEFORE there was any recession.

3rd -- The Harper government turned a $13 billion Liberal surplus with a $50 billion Conservative deficit.

4th -- The Conservatives are making their deficit worse, by $6 billion per year, by further cutting taxes for the biggest and wealthiest corporations (which already enjoy one of the most favourable tax rates in the world).

5th -- Mr. Harper runs a bloated Cabinet, and now he’s increasing the size of his own office by another 20%.

6th -- The Conservatives have wasted more than a billion dollars on extra partisan consultants and self-serving advertising.

7th -- According to the Parliamentary Budget Officer, Mr. Harper is increasing prison costs in Canada by $10-$13 billion.

8th -- By dumbing-down the Census, the Conservatives will actually increase StatsCan administrative costs by $30 million – to collect unreliable data.

9th -- Mr. Harper blew $1.3 billion on extravagant arrangements for G-8/G-20 meetings, which accomplished nothing of any consequence.

10th -- The Conservatives are pushing $26 billion out the door to buy new military equipment, without a whiff of competitive tendering.

How is any of this “fiscally responsible”?

Ralph Goodale, M.P.
goodale@sasktel.net

My First Campaign Promise: 'TIM BUCK' Boulevard

On my previous blog post Spirit of the Crowsnest: The story of unions in the coal towns of the Crowsnest Pass I got to thinking about our proud political and labour heritage here in the Crowsnest and how despite having all sorts of 'societies' e.g. Heritage Initiatives, Crowsnest Historical Society, Crowsnest Museum, etc., etc. none do us justice in this regard. Sure they are always raising money to put up monuments to some disaster or other, or to preserve some building or other, or to glorify rum runners (criminals?), etc., but none that I can think of that glorifies real political and labour heroes like the Blairmore Communist Council we had back in the thirties (Canada's only ever democratically elected communist council) or the legendary labour leader Tim Buck. These were real heroes for their times and should be recognized as part of our proud history, yet we have no lasting monuments or memorials here in the Crowsnest to recognize them as such.

Many people today who have benefited handsomely from the blood, sweat and tears, and in some cases the lost life's of these 'socialists' owe their present day good fortunes and comforts to the sacrifices these people made on their behalf. I'm thinking of teachers, municipal employees, mine workers, etc. all earning good livings in comparison to most, because of people like those I mentioned above, who today are looked down upon and mostly forgotten. Sadly, the acts of hypocrites and carpetbaggers, or ungrateful, ignorant fools.

Anyhow, I think we should recognize our past and in fact promote it to our advantage, much like the Town of Vulcan does with their Star Trek theme. We can start by renaming Main Street Blairmore back to its former name 'TIM BUCK' Boulevard. What do you think? Let me know if you want to hang with me... as a 'commie sympathizer', or not? :-)


Government is too big and too important to be left to the politicians.

Spirit of the Crowsnest: The story of unions in the coal towns of the Crowsnest Pass

Next Year Country

Alberta Federation of Labour

The first booklet in the Project 2012 series is the “Spirit of the Crowsnest”. It tells the stories of miners and their families in the Crowsnest Pass.

The miners of the Pass were crucial to the birth and growth of the Alberta labour movement. Miners were faced with conditions of hardship and economic insecurity, which produced radical responses. Their struggles resulted in some of the most fundamental gains for Alberta labour, including workers’ compensation and a basic union right to be recognized in the workplace.

Feel free to download the booklet and pass on the web address so that others can learn about the fascinating history of the Crowsnest Pass.
Download here


Note: My First Campaign Promise: 'TIM BUCK' Boulevard


People might not get all they work for in this world, but they must certainly work for all they get.

Crowsnest Promoter newspaper: where's the news?

Picked up my copy of the Crowsnest Promoter newspaper today expecting to see stories on Gary Taje's notice of motion on the transmission power line relocation issue, and Dean Ward's notice of motion on security deposits on developments. Also expected to see a story on Mayor John Irwin's startling announcement that he will not be running for mayor but for a councillor's seat instead? None of these stories were in this week's issue? Due to their ongoing and never ending cutbacks is the Promoter no longer covering council meetings?

As I mentioned in an earlier comment on one of my posts, with the sale of their building, getting their employees to work from home, along with their recent announcement that advertising has to be delivered to them at least one week or more prior to their next publication, and now news stories in effect taking just as long, if not longer, one has to wonder, why do we need this soon to be 'out of town' newspaper any longer? Especially in lieu of the fact that it now looks as though they will be taking their cue and lead from the Pass Herald, as to what news stories to write and how to write them, as it appears the Pass Herald will now be coming out with the local news before they do?

As everyone knows, I'm not a fan of the Pass Herald because I think they are to keen on brown nosing to the establishment types while pushing the political agenda of their heroes on council (Irwin, Gary and Larry) while at the same time doing their best in covering up their misdeeds and transgressions against this community. I do, however, despite their politics, consider them all to be friends and neighbours which is more than I can say about the Promoter and their out of town and out of province corporate masters.

As far as what was in this week's Promoter newspaper vs. what I was expecting... well, I feel like I have been ripped off for my loonie. However, I'm sure I will get my loonie's worth from the Pass Herald next week, which will be money well spent. Although, as usual, I will probably not necessarily agree with everything they say. But with them people have gotten used to knowing how to read between the lines, whereas with the Promoter it looks like from now on we will have to settle for a regurgitation of what the Pass Herald said, days before. Not sure, I for one want to waste my money on that anymore?


Wry attitudes and unsettling realities behind the news.

Mayor Irwin running for councillor position... or how I won't let go

Got a call last night from one of our councillors informing me that Irwin made an announcement at council stating he will not be running for mayor in our upcoming election... but he will be running for a councillors seat? This news has been confirmed on Dean Ward's blog which I have just visited and commented on.

Let me say this came as a shock. On the one hand I am relieved we won't be having him as mayor no more, and not because I am running for mayor myself, but because he represents the past and this community desperately needs a future. On the other hand, I am distressed and would be lying if I said I am pleased at the possibility of having him on my council, knowing his Machiavellian ways. No thanks!

The last thing this community needs is another dysfunctional council with more backroom intrigues and infighting.

No this won't work, nor is it something this community needs or wants. It's time to quit John and let go, for your sake and ours. Bow out gracefully while you still can, before you are thrown out. Your values and ethics are out of sync with our present times and needs. You are a relic from the past whose time is up whether you realize it or not. Your desperate attempts at holding onto power by making room for a puppet while thinking you can remain as the puppet master is just that... desperate. Your legacy is bad enough without adding this to it. Have some pride for yourself and some compassion for this long suffering community. Enough is enough! It's time to go.


Of all the stratagems, to know when to quit is the best.

It smacks of cronyism

Dean Ward raised a good issue in his letter to the editor in last week's Promoter (the editor at the Promoter is very selective as to what appears online and in this regard Dean's letter is unfortunately not available. But I see her recent knock against me still is, even after personally apologizing to me? :-().

In essence he takes issue with how Stantec for years has been getting all our municipal engineering contracts, or as Dean put it "... for at least the last seven years, (we have) handed over millions of dollars in taxpayers' money to one company to do all of our engineering with no competition to see if we are getting the best deal."

For years, I have been concerned about this mayor's cozy relationship with his good friend Jeff Drain over at Stantec and whether all the questionable infrastructure projects and the costs associated with them have been both prudent and of good value for money spent. Years back when I was on council UMA Engineering was then getting all our municipal engineering contracts. Again, with Jeff Drain being with UMA at that time. Coincidence or what but all our municipal engineering contracts seem to follow the man, rather than the firm, don't they?

Having raised this issue over the years with various councillors (including Dean) I am glad to see it finally being addressed.

As mayor, one of my first priorities will be to ensure we have a competitive tendering process that ensures beyond question and doubt that we are getting the best bang for our buck. In addition, my council will undergo a serious reevaluation of our past priorities with respect to these 'questionable' multi-million dollar ongoing infrastructure projects that have depleted our reserves, put us in debt, and which have been given top priority status, at the expense of everything else in our community.


UPDATE: I have just been informed by my friend Marie in Toronto that Dean's letter to the editor is now posted on his blog here.


It smacks of cronyism.

Girl quits her job on dry erase board, emails entire office

This is just so cool and she really is a HPOA :-) ... check it out!

I LOVE this adorable gal, and wish her much success. This theChive.com site is pretty cool too, so I've added it to my sidebar under Sites of Interest.


UPDATE: Jenny’s identity revealed! CLICK HERE.

On-going 'media tyranny' in the Crowsnest Pass

As most people are probably aware by now, having read this past week's Promoter and Herald newspapers, my PRESS RELEASE announcing my candidacy for mayor in our upcoming municipal election has finally been published (although near or in the back section of both papers, without fanfare or commentary, and treated by them almost as a 'begrudging' inclusion, and non-event).

I guess I should be happy because at least it was finally published, but not before my having had to meet with the editors of both papers and discussing common sense and fairness issues, with them doing the right thing with respect to this matter, as discussed previously in my earlier post below:

Media tyranny in the Crowsnest Pass, or how we 'don't' report the news... if we don't like you

I'm sure our media's performance and fanfare will only improve once candidates more to their liking come forward. In the meantime, those of us who do not measure up (in their minds) and/or who have been critical of their past and continuing adversarial bent and manipulations, will have to settle for being placed at the back of the bus... out of sight and out of mind, so to speak. :-(

But be warned media people, like Rosa Parks (the mother of the freedom movement) we will not go quietly. We will act defiantly against those MEDIA who would oppress us.

WE SHALL OVERCOME!!

On October 18th, vote John Prince for Mayor


…contrary to the usual image of the news media as cantankerous, obstinate, and ubiquitous in their search for truth and defense of justice, in their actual practice they defend the economic, social, and political agendas of the privileged groups that dominate domestic society, the state, and the global order.

Mayoral candidate announces intentions

Crowsnest Promoter - PRESS RELEASE
Pass Herald - PRESS RELEASE


John Prince has already served one term as Municipal Councillor and is presently seeking election to the Mayor’s chair.

He and his wife Diane of 40 years have lived in the Crowsnest Pass for over 16 years and have developed a strong sense of community. They both are actively involved as volunteers in many organizations throughout the Pass.

With over 20 years in the Hotel and Airline industries, Mr. Prince has a wealth of knowledge and management experience in Hospitality and Tourism, gained from having worked and lived in three provinces. As well, he is a graduate of British Columbia Institute of Technology (B.C.I.T.) – Hospitality, Tourism & Business Administration. He and his wife have also been owner managers of several small businesses in the retail sector. At present, he is a Realtor® with CENTURY 21.

Service to the community and a passion for politics along with a firm belief that there's no point "just complaining about things, you have to do something about them" is why Mr. Prince is running for Mayor.

"As a community, we are at a crossroads in time", he says. "New leadership, with vision and a plan to take us forward is what is needed here, at this time. Some people think as a community we have hit rock bottom. I say, if that is the case then we can only go up from here. In this regard, I believe the sky is the limit as far as this municipality’s potential is concerned. Tear down the firewalls that have held this community back and get ready to embrace the world, I say. We really can be all we can be if people here are ready to believe in themselves again. My job will be to bring people and this community together again in a common effort to instil that spirit of 'Mountain Freedom' in God's country, here in the 'beautiful' Crowsnest Pass."

It’s time! It’s time for a new voice with fresh ideas. It’s time for change!

http://www.johnprince.ca/election2010

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(Comics are stored in long-boxes holding approx. 300 comics each.)

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(Election Campaign Fundraiser. Proceeds will be going towards the Prince For Mayor election campaign.)

Friday Humour - 'JUST FRED'

JUST FRED

A cop stops a Harley for traveling faster than the posted speed limit,
so he asks the biker his name..

'Fred,' he replies.

'Fred what?' the officer asks.

'Just Fred,' the man responds.

The officer is in a good mood and thinks he might just give the biker a break and, write him out a warning instead of a ticket. The officer then presses him for the last name.

The man tells him that he used to have a last name but lost it. The officer thinks that he has a nut case on his hands but plays along with it. 'Tell me, Fred, how did you lose your last name?'

The biker replies, 'It's a long story, so stay with me.' I was born Fred Johnson.
I studied hard and got good grades.

When I got older, I realized that I wanted to be a doctor. I went through college, medical school, internship, residency, and finally got my degree, so I was Fred Johnson, MD. After a while I got bored being a doctor, so I decided to go back to school.

Dentistry was my dream! Got all the way through School, got my degree, so then I was Fred Johnson, MD, DDS.

Got bored doing dentistry, so I started fooling around with my assistant and she gave me VD, so now I was Fred Johnson, MD, DDS, with VD.

Well, the ADA found out about the VD, so they took away my DDS.

Then I was Fred Johnson, MD, with VD. Then the AMA found out about the ADA taking away my DDS because of the VD, so they took away my MD leaving me as Fred Johnson with VD.

Then the VD took away my Johnson, so now I am 'Just Fred.'

The officer walked away in tears, laughing.

Note: Tell me the guy above does not have an eerie resemblance to our very own Councillor Ian MacLeod?? :-)

Dean has no ideas?

Having just visited Dean's site I was surprised to see what appeared to be an obvious 'plant' of a comment followed by an answer intended to put me on the spot, and have me answer questions Dean appears unable to? Below is both the question and Dean's answer to that question:

Q. On John Princes blog he talks about the Municipality having a spending problem. On his Mayor's site he talks about the Municipality committing to Affordable housing, Indoor Swimming Pool, and a Community Transportation System. How can he do all of these things and reduce spending.

A. I have no idea how that is possible, but I would suggest that you put that very question to Mr Prince.

Before I deal with the question asked, I have a question of my own. Is the above answer Dean's new campaign slogan, "I have no ideas?" :-) Not surprising as sadly his track record seems to be one of complacency; lacking in imagination and initiative. Always asking questions but never giving answers or solutions to the many problems facing our community is not my idea of how to run a municipality such as ours. For example, in a recent post of his he gives us the appraised value of the CLC but over the years has never offered any ideas as to what could and should be done with it, except sell it to the highest bidder and get rid of it. Not much vision or initiative with that solution, is there? The same can be said about the River Run development project, no ideas, no initiative, no plan and no action here either. I could go on with a whole slew of other examples, such as the ones mention by the questioner above. The point is that sadly Dean does not seem to be a man of ideas. Well, thankfully, I am!

Now, to answer the questioner's question with respect to how things can get done while also not taxing our residents out of their homes?

First of all, if you read my blog and election website you will see that I have already answered these questions but I will summarize as follows, but first. Today on the radio, I heard where Pincher Creek is getting a new $12m seniors development that will be completed by next spring by a company whose investment in this project is the first they have made in this province. Why did they not invest here? Why does nobody invest here while they do invest everywhere else around us? It's simple, we are rightfully perceived as a community to not do business in. For years, under our current mayor, we have had firewalls up that kept investors out and kept things the way they are, in. This in my opinion was a deliberate and calculated move by the powers that be in this community to maintain their control and status quo within the community. After all, according to their way of thinking, it is better to be a big fish in a small pond than a small fish in a big pond. In this regard, whereas Irwin and his gang over the years have continually put another brick in the wall, Dean's actions, in all fairness, over this last term has put a crack in their firewall. I intend to finish the job, by smashing this rotten edifice, that has held this community back, to the ground.

Second, our priorities have been all wrong. This mayor and current and past councils have taxed our taxpayers beyond measure and pumped all this money into 'questionable' infrastructure projects at the expense of everything else, including: affordable housing, seniors housing, a new community centre (with indoor pool), an efficient and all inclusive public transportation system, emergency shelters, etc.... and the list goes on.

My plan will be to change our priorities while holding down taxes (the later will not be difficult as for years they have risen to what they are today in order to fund all the 'questionable' infrastructure projects we have been saddled with). With the above in mind and giving it my full attention, at least for the first year or two, I would work closely with my council, CAO (administration), chamber of commerce, community futures and other key players (including our different levels of government both provincially and federally) in seeing what can be done to encourage and entice business and industry to our area, as well as to deal with our long neglected social inclusion issues.

No rock will be left unturned, no idea will be considered to small or impossible, and no resource will be left untapped. Naysayers and do nothings will be shown to the back of the bus and those with vision, know how, experience and the 'can do' types, no matter their station in life, will be given every opportunity to bring their vision and ideas to the front, where they will have a chance at fruition. In doing so, we will "accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative, and latch onto the affirmative".

My council will be one of ideas and initiatives... and action! On October 18th, vote John Prince for Mayor


An ounce of action is worth a ton of theory.

Stockwell Day gets tough on imaginary crime

What timing!! Stockwell Day to the rescue! This video just goes to make my point on an earlier post of mine...

http://blog.johnprince.ca/2010/07/ralph-goodale-on-census-and.html

in the comments section where I said...

Knowing the Harpercons as I do I suspect their real reason for wanting to dump the long form is to not have it get in the way of their failed ideology, such as getting tough on crime (when in fact we have an aging population and crime has gone down 17% over the last decade in this country). Their diabolicalness is always so predictable. In other words, they don't like the facts to get in the way of their truth...

And these guys are running our country! :-( They are such hypocrites and liars. When are Canadians going to say, 'Enough is Enough'!, and get rid of these Neocon Neanderthal blathering idiots? Oh ya, they would have to replace them with Iggy whose 'status quo' philosophy on things like the legalization of marijuana, crime, NAFTA, etc. is every bit identical to the Harpercons. Is there no one out there in our political wilderness who can lead us out of the morass we find ourselves in? No one who can stand up to the 'foreign influences' who control and dictate to us our daily lives. Must we remain wage and debt slaves forever, living lives of quiet desperation?

Give me liberty or give me death, I say! And to prove it, I'm prepared to sacrifice Stockwell Day, or at the very least give him 99 years to life (whichever comes first :-)) in one of his very own super prisons, that he is so keen on building to house all of us... 'unreported criminals'.

Thanks to TV and for the convenience of TV, you can only be one of two kinds of human beings, either a conservative or a liberal.

Out and about in the City of Mississauga with Mayor Hazel McCallion

Rick Mercer

You have got to watch this.

This is an 88 year old Mayor of the sixth largest city in CANADA.

She plays ice hockey (watch her skate!). And her city has NO DEBT

( Plus 700 million dollars in reserve funds) !!!

It is absolutely amazing! (watch it all .. hilarious!)

Note: This lady puts ALL Politicians to shame. Definately someone all mayors should try to emulate. Hazel for Prime Minister! woot!