OC Transpo is out of Council's control

Somebody on city council better wake up pretty soon to the fact that OC Transpo is out - way out - of control.

The cost of bus service is going up and the service is crashing down. 

Just when we are trying to struggle to understand why a new bus barn goes 100% over budget, comes the news that Transpo may buy double decker buses that do not even fit into the $100 million new structure.

Who is running this mess?  It certainly does not appear to be city council.

It is a matter of degree?

If I am a member of PETA and hit you with a tofu pie, according to PETA, that's just peaceful discourse - not assault. 

If I am a member of PETA and hit you with a stone.  Is that assault? 

What if I am a member of PETA and hit you with a tofu pie that has a peach pit in it.  Is that assault?

What if the tofu pie filling got into your eye and blinded you?  Is that assault?

If I hit you with a feather or a pie or a dump truck in an attempt to intimidate you - that's assault!

Expect a contract to be put out on Kevin Page

President Steve has got to be cursing the day he made Kevin Page the Parliamentary Budget Officer. After all, Steve is in charge and what he says is the Word of God. That a mere mortal, such as Page, should contradict the Word of God is good reason to strike with a bolt of lightning.

The current misunderstanding between God and Page is over the chance of Canada entering a period of structural deficit. In a recent report (Page ignored the edict from above to vacate the Hill during prorogation), Page opined that there was going to be a structural deficit going forward if the government did not make the right (according to him) moves.

"Unfortunately, you've got to start dealing with the structural fiscal problem that's going to get bigger and bigger and bigger," Page said in an interview, "We're saying right now the government has no targets. That's not a good place to be. We don't know how much of this debt is going to be passed on to future generations."

Not so, insists Harper. "If we do what we've said we'll do, which is end stimulus spending when the recession is over. . . and if we discipline spending growth in the future, I don't think that should be a serious problem. If you look at Canada's deficit compared to other countries, it is much lower, and more importantly our debt levels are much, much lower. So the possibility of getting into a debt-interest-payment trap is, in my judgment, not high."

Well who can you believe? Page, who calls a spade a freaking shovel? Or Harper, who refused to see an economic tsunami coming and had to be pushed into acting?

I know who I believe.

“When a government starts trying to cancel dissent or avoid dissent is frankly when it’s rapidly losing its moral authority to govern.”

Sounds like a very enlightened comment.  Surely worthy of being quoted now that Stevey Harper has decided that Parliament is a thorn in his side and that democracy is not good for Canadians.

I wonder who it was who said that?  Let me look that up in my quote encyclopedia.

No!  It can't be.  The sage advice is a quote from Steven Harper in a Canadian Press interview on April 18, 2005.

Hypocrit!

Is this any way to run a country?

The shear arrogance of Harper is clear in this work!

For a PM who ran on a platform of transparency and accountability, his arrogance and true nature shines through like a beacon in the fog.  Beware the beacon!

Competent city staff?

I am all for letting professional managers run the city.  That would free up councillors to develop a vision and policies to move us forward.  But what happens if you have an obviously incompetent manager - such as Alain Mercier.  Mercier is responsible for OC Transpo and OC Transpo is any but efficient.

You can blame the unions if you want and you can blame councillors for making it tough on managers - but in the end the responsibility falls on Mercier.

His job is simple in scope.  Keep the buses moving on schedule and within budget.

Is he up to the task?

Civic political parties? Boo, Hiss!

If we want to make civic politics more relevant to Ottawans then we need good and bright people to step forward for office.  We need ideas... not stuffed shirts.

The idea of political parties at city hall is one of the dumbest ideas possible.  It is floated out as a panacea to dislodge the deadwood lifer politicians that clog up city hall in great numbers.  But would it work?

Let's look at those levels of government where parties do exist.  Both the provincial and federal governments are liberally strewn with lifers.  They are kept in power BECAUSE of their party affiliations.  Both the federal and provincial systems are subject to the perversion of parachuting "desired" candidates into ridings even if the local party members don't want them.

Party members meet as a caucus and generally vote as a block.  What happens to local rights if the decision of the caucus is contrary to a riding decision?

The party system is anathema to democracy.  This has been shown time and time again.  When an ego the size of S. Harper can overrule the conscience of all Canadians, such as with the Afgan detainees controversy misunderstanding, it makes one long for a RETURN to independent MPs.

Two thumbs and eight fingers down for municipal political parties.