Mail Box Police Targeting Rural Customers Again

After having spent several years and thousands of dollars forcing rural customers to move their mailboxes due to 'safety issues', many of which have been in use in the same location without a problem for many years it now seems that these mail boxes are now causing 'injury' to postal workers because they may be an inch or two lower than specified or are on an arm designed to swing out of the way when the snowplough swipes it going by! Many rural mail delivery folks have been doing this without a problem for years and years and as contract employees have not been paid anywhere close to the kind of wages and benefits that full time 'employees' have been receiving, even given that they were forced to join the union a few year back they still use their own vehicles for the most part and I suspect that they are poorly paid for this. Its hard for the pubic to tell because as with any union – employer issue it is not considered 'our business' even when we the taxpayer are the employer!

To add insult to injury it seems that adjusting the height of a few mailboxes and purchasing right hand vehicles for all those rural route workers will SAVE $10-$15 MILLION! Say What? Apparently some rural and suburban mail carriers have complained of "ergonomic concerns" related to reaching across their vehicles to deposit mail out their passenger-side windows into rural mailboxes. It seems that some of these poor folks SITTING IN THEIR VEHICLE are complaining of "ergonomic concerns" related to reaching across their vehicles to deposit mail out their passenger-side windows into rural mailboxes. The corporation notes that these "awkward movements" increase risk of repetitive strain injuries and generate additional expense for the corporation due to costs associated with injury on duty.

Seems to me that if reaching across your vehicle holding those heavy letters strains some muscles then perhaps you are looking for an excuse to suck the taxpayers in to pay for a few days off to be paid by you overly generous sick leave benefits. I know full well that this is NOT brought on by the average rural route postal delivery person but by a very small minority of union types who simply want something for nothing. I thank the many who have delivered my rural mail for years without ANY problems and even gone out of their way to deliver that 'special package' right to my door, I appreciate your service and dedication I would suggest that you are doing yourselves no favours by remaining silent about those few 'shit disturbers' who seem to be present in any organized labour collective!

Finally I note that our urban neighbours are now also under attack by the postal 'service' and that 'community mailboxes' are going to become the norm, please don’t think that the rural folks are free of this affliction, many rural routes have been 'converted' to this service reduction, the difference being that our 'block' can be considerably bigger than yours in distance and we have NO sidewalks. I also note that in this discussion of second class citizens that if you live in an apartment of sufficient size the you WILL get delivery to 'your door' (even if it is the one at the bottom of the elevator ride) but the folks who own a house and pay higher taxes are the ones who will be forced to trudge through the snow to get their mail.

The question has to be asked is our 'postal service' an essential government service or an individual 'pay for service'. According to our federal dictators many of such similar services must 'pay for themselves' so that they can waste our tax dollars on promoting themselves and their corporate friends in the Chinese oil industry.
Nuff said, rant OFF!

Justified Destruction

Just in case you thought that the Environmental Review of the Northern Gateway Pipeline proposal means anything.............



Shell Canada’s Jackpine oilsands mine expansion plan has received the go-ahead from Ottawa, despite the environment minister’s view that it’s “likely to cause significant adverse environmental effects.”
In a statement late Friday, environment Minister Leona Aglukkaq concluded that the effects from the 100,000-barrel-per-day expansion are “justified in the circumstances.”...........
The Jackpine expansion would allow Shell to increase its bitumen output by 50 per cent to 300,000 barrels a day..............
A review panel concluded last July that the project was in the public interest but warned that it would result in severe and irreversible damage so great that new protected areas should be created to compensate.
The review concluded that the project would mean the permanent loss of thousands of hectares of wetlands, which would harm migratory birds, caribou and other wildlife and wipe out traditional plants used for generations. It also said Shell’s plans for mitigation are unproven and warned that some impacts would probably approach levels that the environment couldn’t support.
Shell has said Alberta’s new management plan for the oilsands area will provide more concrete data to assess and mitigate environmental impacts. The company has purchased about 730 hectares of former cattle pasture in northwestern Alberta to help compensate for the 8,500 hectares of wetland that would be forever lost.
More on this at The Common Sense Canadian

 
And just in case you have any further doubts as to the impact scientific research will have upon decisions of this sort...........


Last week the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, which is closing five of its seven libraries, allowed scientists, consultants and members of the public to scavenge through what remained of Eric Marshall Library belonging to the Freshwater Institute at the University of Manitoba.

"It was a world class library with some of the finest environmental science and freshwater book collections in the world. It was certainly the best in Canada, but it's no more," said Burt Ayles, a 68-year-old retired research scientist and former regional director general for freshwaters in central Canada and the Arctic.

"The loss of this library and its impact on fisheries and environmental science is equivalent to Rome destroying the Royal Library of Alexandria in Egypt. It's equal to that," said Ayles. At the time, Alexandria boasted the world's largest collection in the ancient world.


More at The Mound of Sound

Generating Bullshit

Lets see Ontario’s Energy Minister Bob Chiarelli says the AVERAGE household will pay an extra $12 monthly for electricity next year and that this will bring the monthly bill to $167 from the current $125 for a household using 800 kilowatt hours. He goes on to say that this will be a SAVING of what it could have been under the previous plan and that the AVERAGE annual residential increase over the next 20 years will be 2.8 per cent, down from a projected 3.4 per cent. This according to the Star.
Other reports say
A new Long-Term Energy Plan says the average monthly residential bill of $125 will rise to $178 within five years, a 42% hike. Hydro bills are expected to dip slightly in 2019 to $177 a month, and then rise again until 2022 when they’ll hit $193 a month. A second price decrease is forecast for 2023-24 and then the trend for prices is onward and upward for the foreseeable future. This from the Sun
Then there is CTV who say
Ontario electricity consumers can expect their bills to jump almost 50 per cent in the next three years under the new long-term energy plan unveiled Monday by Energy Minister Bob Chiarelli. However, Chiarelli said the average homeowner will pay about $100 a year less than they would have if the Liberals hadn't (changed their plan)

I don’t know about you but it seems to me that both the minister and the media need both some lesson on disseminating factual material and some math lessons here. I dont know where the press got all their figures from other than from the ministers rather vague and self-serving statement, I did go looking for a press release but did not find such, it could be all tucked away in the PDF of the `plan`but I was not about to wade through all that at this time. Either way this is all a crock of shit!

First of all the term the average household is so totally meaningless that it can only be described as deliberately misleading. Judging from my monthly bill there must be a lot of `householders` who are rarely home and eat out a lot, I know we out here in the boonies have to pump our own water which adds a little to the bill, but we do cook with propane which should balance things out, and it would be really nice to see a bill below about $170. Of course our `cost of electricity is less than half of that but the delivery, other charges and TAX quickly fix that!
Secondly a reduction of the estimated future cost is NOT a saving its simply a POSSIBLE reduced future cost. And my math says that an average rise of 2.8% per year on a bill of $125 would bring it to $128.50 not $167 and over 5 years to $142.50 not $178 so either there is a great deal of creative accounting going on here or hydro prices will drop dramatically around 2020. How gullible do they think we are.
Frankly the press has done a terrible job of reporting this and the facts are seemingly not permitted to interfere with a good story and so without a lot more digging who can really say what the Ontario government is predicting, but one would think that if their plan is so good they would make it more readily available rather than the pages of BS and spin that is currently on the Ministry of Energy’s web site 


So remember when you see your hydro bill increase next year you are saving money as you empty your wallet.

Canada v Philippines

The Philippines appeal to the world at the climate talks in Poland......
"We cannot sit and stay helpless staring at this international climate stalemate. It is now time to take action. We need an emergency climate pathway," said Yeb Sano, head of the government's delegation to the UN climate talks, in an article for the Guardian, in which he challenged climate sceptics to "get off their ivory towers" to see the impacts of climate change firsthand.
Sano, whose family comes from the devastated town of Tacloban where the typhoon Haiyan made landfall on Friday, said that countries such as the Philippines did not have time to wait for an international climate deal, which countries have agreed to reach in Paris in 2015.
"What my country is going through as a result of this extreme climate event is madness," he told delagates from 190 countries, as UN climate negotiations get underway for a fortnight today in Warsaw. "The climate crisis is madness. We can stop this madness. Right here in Warsaw. Typhoons such as Haiyan and its impacts represent a sobering reminder to the international community that we cannot afford to procrastinate on climate action..



And Canada's official position on climate change......
Canada has dropped any remaining pretences of supporting global action on climate change by urging other countries to follow Australia's example in gutting its climate plan.
In a formal statement, the Canadian government said it "applauds" the move by Australia this week to repeal a carbon tax on the country's 300 biggest polluters.
"Canada applauds the decision by prime minister Abbott to introduce legislation to repeal Australia's carbon tax. The Australian prime minister's decision will be noticed around the world and sends an important message," the formal statement from Paul Calandra, parliamentary secretary to Canada's prime minister, Stephen Harper, said.
The Harper government withdrew from the Kyoto protocol on climate change in 2011 and Canada has failed to meet its own international emissions to cut greenhouse gas emissions – almost entirely because of its mining of the carbon-heavy Alberta tar sands.


A pox on the Harpler regime and its anti science pro oil industry stance!

UPDATE:-
  Canada was awarded a ‘Fossil of Disbelief’ as part of the long-running ‘Fossil of the Day’ awards series at the UN climate talks in Warsaw. The special award was granted for the Canadian government’s recent public support (expressed by the Prime Minister’s Parliamentary Secretary) of a broad move by the Australian government to repeal that country’s comprehensive climate legislation.

And the bad news is........

A massive audit of federal conservation policies by Neil Maxwell, the commissioner of the environment and sustainable development, paints a picture of mismanagement and neglect when it comes to Canada's natural heritage.

“Management plans for some 12.4 million hectares of designated national wildlife area date on average from 1992, says the audit. It found half a dozen wildlife areas and 22 migratory bird sanctuaries that should have been removed from the list because they no longer meet the criteria.
At Canada's national parks, funding for "heritage resources conservation" — effectively the natural beauty of the parks — decreased by 15 per cent last year compared with the preceding six years, "with further reductions planned as part of decisions flowing from the 2012 federal budget."
Staffing for conservation at national parks has declined 23 per cent and scientific staff positions are down by more than a third, says the report — and that was before the latest round of cuts.”

We all know that there is no magic source of funds for such programs and that it all ultimately comes from the taxpayer however it seems that our federal government has no problem finding funds to promote oil pipelines through some of the most unique and vulnerable natural areas in Canada. Seems to me that their priorities are all out of wack! But don’t worry there will be an announcement just before the next election touting some 'new' funding for such programs...........!

Good new for a change!

“This week, the Ontario Government made history by becoming the first province in Canada to provide a tax credit for farmers who donate fruits and vegetables to local food banks. Beginning in January 2014, farmers in Ontario will receive a 25 per cent tax credit based on the fair market value of produce that they donate to local food banks and community meal programs.”


This should be a no brainer for all the provinces and indeed even the Feds but please note that it is a tax CREDIT so that small producers who may well be having difficulty in making any great profit will receive minimal benefit for it. Tax credits, be it for donations or medical expenses or whatever, are great for those who's income is such that they pay substantial taxes but does little for those living closer to the subsistence level.


Still every little helps and the food banks certainly need the help for there are still thousands of families in Canada who rely upon them.

Are the Grey-Bruce Greens in Trouble?

Regular readers here will know I am a supporter of the Federal Greens, mostly for their strong stand on protecting and improving our democracy, something on which their Leader Elizabeth May stands head and shoulders above her fellow MP's, but also for their clear and documented stance on a broad range of other issues. I bothers me greatly then when it appears that the local (Grey-Bruce-Owen Sound) Green EDA (Electoral District Association) is once again got one foot on the slippery slope to de-registration due to lack of support and difficulty in retaining an executive core group. This is even more troubling when one considers a little history in the riding and see that just a few years ago both the Green Party of Canada and the Green Party of Ontario in this riding received some of the highest percentage of votes for the Greens from all of Canada.


I dont know if this difficulty is common to all political EDA's , just those in Grey-Bruce or just the local Greens, nor do I know if the number of folks who are members of the GPC is typical, percentage wise, compared with other riding’s or Partys. Of the thousands eligible to vote in this riding only about half bother to do so and of those only a very small percentage voted for the Greens last time around. That number is still in the thousands but insofar as I know only a few hundred are interested enough to be members of the GPC and of those just a small handful are active in maintaining a presence in the riding in the form of a District Association. Herein lays the problem.


Its hard to see what has caused this drop off of support, is it a general discontent with all things political, is it that folks are too busy trying to find and keep a job to be bothered with it, is it that the decision of whether to support the best person, the best party or the best leader has become too much of a catch 22? Perhaps its that many of us have already decided to vote ABC (anybody but conservative) in order to rid ourselves of this corrupt and dictatorial regime and will thus support whichever candidate seem most lightly to defeat the current sitting MP. We all know that the interest falls off between elections and that just a few weeks before the next election is due there will be a resurgence with legions of supporters knocking on doors and trying to get the householder to vote for THEIR party or candidate, the big boys will spend thousands on slick TV ads extolling the virtues of their particular platform and leader. But what of the little guys? The Conservatives have successfully cut of the miniscule amount that all partys got from per vote funding leaving the Greens in particular in a very tough position, it will be up to local EDA's to fund any election expenses be that simply signage, radio or newspaper ads or whatever, Thus local active support will be essential. I do not believe that such support can be effectively mobilized at the last minute, it must be built up over a period of time and this is where the EDA of a political party comes into play.


Whilst most folk think that an EDA is just there to select and support a local candidate I believe that if they are going to be effective they should also strive to keep their political viewpoint in front of of the citizenry between elections. In order to do that they must have an active communications strategy and the members willing to devote the time and energy towards both those things. If left to a small handful of supporters this simply falls by the wayside due to a number of reasons, not the least of which is reduced enthusiasm brought on by lack of support. Also on the list is 'burnout', other commitments, personality conflicts and other such thing as may be found in any volunteer organization. There is little doubt that such things have plagued the GBOS Green EDA in recent times and perhaps more could be done to communicate with supporters to encourage their active involvement, they have tried, their web site has been updated, a facebook page created, even a newsletter was mailed out to members but non of these things seem to have been effective and each requires those dedicated volunteers to maintain the conversations.


This then is the situation for the supporters of an up and coming political party and where the local Greens seem to be sitting right now, will the overdue AGM occur soon, will a new and enthusiastic executive suddenly appear on their doorstep, will members willing to devote some time into writing newsletters or articles for the web site show up, or will they once again be simply scrambling to provide the minimum required to remain registered with Elections Canada? At this point I don’t know, but I do know its up to you Green Party Supporters!