Another tradition destroyed

The new Mayor of Cobourg warned us he would be different, and one of his first actions shows it. I am talking about his decision to cancel the Mayor's New Year's Levee and replace it, two days later with a 'meet and greet'. His reasoning is that because it is a Sunday Staff will have to be there overnight - where he got that from nobody knows probably from the Staff who don't want to work on the weekend. Just remember we have had Levees on the Weekends for years!

Just one adjustment to this post, the reference to the Town Crier was wrong - She is being allowed to be there and cry. How that will fit in with a bunch of people at a soiree is to be determined by those who are there eating off charcuteries and sipping wine. 

Now I realise that sometimes cultures and traditions have to be changed to reflect changing times but in order to remain constant some traditions should stay. But this change is one change too far. No more trudging up the Vic Hall stairs to be met by a line of people starting with berobed Mayor and the phalanx of Councillors. No more staid speeches, no more Town Crier, no more Poet Laureate, no more uniforms, no more Concert Band tunes, no more meeting of the usual Town personalities and the greatest crime of all - no more egg salad sandwiches. These will be replaced by a Jazz band and wine to be sipped by people standing around as the tradition of eating those sandwiches at round tables  is offensive to the 'New Order'.

I also realise that the new mayor dislikes the trappings of office, he had to be reminded by the last mayor that he should wear the chain of office at official times. He also appeared on Remembrance Day without a tie - a total lack of respect for the occasion. But this is one change he should hear about from his Citizens.

Now perhaps I am both dating myself and showing up as a 'behind the times fuddy-duddy' but the destruction of the Occasion - the Levee, is too much. This move will be unique, Has Queen's Park cancelled theirs, has Ottawa cancelled theirs - No. I bet the Town Crier will be crying about not having to write a new Cry. The Concert Band will now have to find something else to do on New Year's Day and the Mayor will not have to stand in front of his people and be accountable with his speech for the New Year - sad.

My usual visit to the Dentist

For many years I have been using a Dentist in Mexico. Going to the Dentist is usually an endeavour of confidence. Well I have the most confidence in my Dentist, here in the Plaza. An ambitious businessman he has graduated from being a partner in a dental office to a solo operator and then this year he is now leading an office of five people and recently moving into the most modern office I have ever seen.

Anyway to cut to the chase, I needed a tooth fixed. One of my oldest and most filled teeth lost a piece of its side a few weeks ago. Nothing painful or life-threatening so I decided that Arturo could fix it when we arrived in PV. 

I arranged a visit and went for the prep work yesterday. "I will grind the tooth away and give you a temporary filling." Eighty minutes later I walked away with an epoxy stump and an appointment for the next day to finish the job.

Impressions from this exercise: Arturo is not that busy - perhaps waiting for the Tourist rush in the next three months, his prices have risen - probably to pay for his new office and the service is both immediate and impeccable.

Yesterday I heard a horrifying story

 

As I was waiting for my Pizza to be cooked at the Mall I noticed a local man who lives down the hall from us. We had spoken a few times last year so I went over to reintroduce myself.

As the small talk progressed about the average politics of Mexico I mentioned that AMLO (the nickname for the present President) might be acquiring the bad habits of his predecessors. He retorted strongly that he did not want to hear any criticism of AMLO and then told me that he - AMLO had intervened after his wife had been the victim of oligarchical violence.

He told the story of how his wife - Susana Carreño, a renowned journalist had been chasing down a story about the corruption in a local land deal that would have had severe ecological and social consequences if it had been allowed. Susana Carreño, with a colleague, had been returning from an interview with the local village Mayor and soon to be affected residents, when another jeep rammed her on the road and two men jumped out. One held a gun on the colleague while the other slashed her neck with a big knife and stabbed in her stomach a couple of times. Read a story about this here

Frederick, her husband believes that she was not shot but stabbed as a warning to other critics of the development. The attackers quickly left and while the lady was applying pressure to her neck, to stop the bleeding, the colleague phoned the local hospital. Help quickly arrived and she was whisked to the hospital and treated. After treatment she went into rehab and then into a safe house. AMLO, through an agency setup to pay for journalists who get attacked, has paid for all her bills.

She is still in protective custody and even when she arrives to see Frederick she is escorted by "twelve soldiers with guns."

The first day is always hectic

"This is da man" Ever since I needed a broken tooth fixed about seven years, whilst on the Mexican sojourn Arturo has been my dentist.

Three crowns and many yearly cleanings later I went to see him today. "I need a cleaning and a tooth fixed" I told the lady at the front desk at his dental clinic, well it was until this week! "Oh you need to see Dr. Arturo he has moved around the corner." Going around the corner I entered an ultra-modern little office and explained myself again. "OK how about at 2pm this afternoon?" Going back to the coffee shop I had just say down when I spotted Dr. Arturo, he is not hard to miss at 6' 8" obviously looking for me. "Can you come in now we have an opening?"

Teeth cleaned and inspected for damaged teeth I was informed "you have a broken side on a heavily filled tooth. I can make a crown or we can patch it" Nice to be given a choice. I chose the crown - another two sessions needed and it will cost 8500 pesos, about $600 cdn with the credit card fee.  A great deal; about half the price of an Ontario crown! Sign me up! Two sessions scheduled, I could have had a session today but felt one trip to the dentist was enough in one day.

A trip to the dentist and two more trips to the SuperMercado - 6500 steps before Noon. An afternoon nap seems to be the next event.

 

I can't get away from this man

Having travelled 4,000 miles away I really don't think I can get away from Ontario Politics. we live with many nearby Canadians, although many do not come from Ontario they all know about Doug Ford and his wrecking ball. 

With a subscription to the Toronto Star and daily reads of various blogs I can keep up. What I read doesn't make me a happy person. His latest outrage is Bill 39 - the Bill that allows Toronto to be governed by minority rule. The Mayor can pass bylaws with only a one third of the votes of the Council. A total affront to democracy as we know it.

I have known many people of different political stripes in my lifetime and have discovered that most of the people who populate the 'right' side of the spectrum do not believe in complete democracy. They want 'to get things' done and if the means gets the ends they really don't think that minority rule is a bad thing. In fact most of them want to be ruled by a 'benign dictator'!

So it is no surprise that Doug Ford (DoFo) is of this ilk. However the thing that interests me is the response to Bill 39. The Mayor of Toronto has been 'outed' as the person who asked for this amendment, the original Bill did not have it. The only other Mayor (of Ottawa) with the same powers has stated that he will not use it; but we have to see if he does.

The Voters do not understand this and will probably remain ignorant until it is used against them, but then little could be done after the fact.

The Big Gift

One topic of conversation has dominated the political chatterati this week - Ontario's Bill 23. The bill that takes land from the GreenBelt and gives it to his rich developer friends.

With very few supporters, apart from the trained seals who sit on the benches of the Ontario Government side of Queen's Park and his rich developer friends, this legislation has been universally condemned and decried by almost all of the usual commentators.

The problem here is that it has failed to be grabbed by the public's imagination and observed by many as 'politics as usual'.

From the Toronto Star/Narwal story that outlined the links between the land being taken out of the GreenBelt and its developer owners and their donations to Doug Ford's election funds to the huge opposition papers from many of Ontario's Municipalities the reaction has been the same - total opposition. 

So where do the critics and opponents of this Bill go from here? It appears to me that the Bill, now having been passed into law, will be tough to kill. One municipality has proposed that a line item be inserted into its municipal budget showing the cost to the municipal taxpayer, others have suggested that municipalities should not fund the extra costs need to fill the gap of the changed development charge, and some still do not know how to respond.

Here's my suggestion: using the mantra "There is only one taxpayer" - Ford should remember who made this memorable, his friend Mike Harris - the Municipalities should fund a constant ad campaign outlining the actual cost to a taxpayer in next year's budget. Drive home the fact that the loss of money coming from the Development Charges could be at least a 5% tax increase people will take notice.

Taxpayers are naturally angry, give them a target for their anger - Doug Ford and his rich friends.