So why the interest in IVF?

So after my first post on In-Vitro Fertilization the hits to my blog have been through the roof for me, however that has not translated into posted comments.  Instead I have received emails, many without links to blogs and the majority of them anonymous.  I will say that I have had some really nice, supportive comments from IVF supporters and like-minded Conservatives, and some not so nice comments from the other side – anti-IVF folks, what I suspect might be Liberals and general complainers. 

To the detractors, I say, go find something better to do.  I have made up my mind and since this is my blog, I choose the topic and I posted my opinions after doing a lot of research looking at all sides of this issue.  When looking at both sides of the coin the one thing that jumps out at me over and over again is the financial benefit to the Province and the taxpayers, should the government fundi this procedure.  If you can argue there are no cost savings, then please enlighten me.  If, however, you want to tell me we should not be interfering in G-d’s work, then please, don’t.

I have also had conversations with aspiring political leaders on the left and on the right and they both agree this needed to have been funded back in 2007 as the Liberals promised and that this McGuinty promise fell by the wayside with many other incentives the Liberals brought forward to get themselves elected.  It’s a very telling tale.

In discussing this post among people who have read this, I have been asked a few times why the interest in IVF, and I’ll tell you why.  I know a lot of families who have gone through IVF and I know many who were preparing to go through it.  In most of these cases it come up when we start talking about having kids and itgoes from there.  But the cost… $10,000.00 a treatment, really adds delays to the conversation.  That’s a lot of money and that amount is only the correct amount if it works the first time.  In cases we have known, couples have spent 5 or 10 times that amount in effort to have children.  They have taken loans, used up savings, by passed down payments on houses in order to grow a family.  That is dedication and I respect that a lot.  It just goes to show if you really want something bad enough, everything else is insignificant.

While IVF is not guaranteed to work 100% of the time, it does give couples hope that they will be able to conceive children of their own and in the cases I know about where the procedure did not work out as planned, the couples were that much more overjoyed when going through the adoption process (also VERY expensive, mind you).

So let’s take a step back and look at IVF, and why is it necessary?

As a refresher to those people who forgot grade 10 health class, or who may not know, women are born with around 400,00 eggs in their ovaries.  Once a month, during a woman’s regular cycle, her body produces hormones to grow and mature some of these eggs which nest in the wall of the uterus.  When these eggs are mature, ovulation occurs, and the egg(s) are ready to be fertilized by the male’s sperm.   If the egg(s) are not fertilized they disintegrate, and about 2 weeks after that, menstruation begins and the cycle restarts.  

What IVF does, is that medication is given to stimulate the ovaries to allow for many eggs to grow and mature.  Those eggs are then surgically removed once they are mature enough and they fertilize in a laboratory.  As the embryos grow, they are then placed back into the uterus in the hopes that they will implant and cause a pregnancy.  Not exactly rocket science, but a very scientific process.

So how many Ontarians are impacted by infertility issues?  Would you believe 1 in 6.

When Quebec recently introduced funding for up to three cycles of IVF to help create families.  It was found that this also helped reduce the number of multiple pregnancies in that province from 27.2% to 5.2% in just 6 months.  As a result, Quebec is now on track to save hundreds of millions of dollars as the number of twins and triplets in neonatal intensive care units is expected to drop significantly.

No surprise that Ontario could realize similar savings by providing OHIP coverage for IVF — between $400-$550 million in savings over 10 years.

So I’m still puzzled as to why we’re discussing this?!?

For more information I recommend you drop by Conceivable Dreams, http://www.conceivabledreams.org.

Conceivable Dreams, the OHIP for IVF Coalition, is the provincial voice for thousands of infertility sufferers and their supporters across Ontario. Their goal is to have OHIP coverage of IVF funded by the Ontario government as is being done in Quebec. With an election coming up right now in Ontario, now is the best time to ask all candidates where they stand on public funding of IVF.

Why Is In-Vitro Fertilization NOT an issue in the 2011 Ontario Provincial Election?

Can some please explain to me why In-Vitro Fertilization is not a major issue in this 2011 Ontario Provincial Election?

As we near the election day – the 40th general election in Ontario on October 6th, 2011 - I find many people still unaware of all the major issues, one of them being Progressive Conservative leader Tim Hudek.  I really feel that the PC’s missing a great opportunity to  put pressure on the Ontario Liberal Party for an election promise they made in 2007 that they have since reneged on.  Sure, Dalton McGuinty and the Liberals are great at making promises, then not doing what they say – see taxes… Lots of new taxes, but this issue is a can’t miss win for the PC’s and I’ll explain why if you continue reading.

Let me first be clear about my intentions here.  I was approached by an organization called Conceivable Dreams, http://www.conceivabledreams.org/ asking if I would be interested in writing a couple of posts about IVF with the hopes of raising awareness and getting this on the election radar of voters and of the political parties.  Sure, the ultimate goal of getting IVF funded by the province is also in mind, but getting this out there to the electorate was the number one priority, so here it is. 

So what makes me qualified to have this discussion with you?   I have been involved in politics for as long as I can remember and as a father to 3 beautiful children who experienced stress, delays and questions surrounding childbirth, I know some things about IVF so I jumped at this opportunity to learn something new and to ask some questions that I am pretty sure have been asked by everyone else already.  I learned that it makes sense for the Province of Ontario to fund this procedure much in the same way that the Province already funds vasectomy’s and abortions. 

Ontario’s new slogan:  Want to not get pregnant?  Come to Ontario.  Want to get pregnant?  Go to Quebec.  

So in order to prepare for this post I did a LOT of research – I read a lot of opinions – saw a lot of comments and came to this conclusion;  There are 2 very distinct views on this topic.  The first view, is that the Province has no right funding this procedure.  It’s not Ontario’s fault that couple cannot conceive children, it’s G-d’s decision, so these people need to go adopt some of the millions of orphaned children in the world.  There are lots of kids available who need a good home.  Then there is the other side, the side that says parents who want children of their own, and I mean REALLY want children of their own that they are willing to find the $10,000.00 per procedure in effort to get pregnant are more than likely the kind of parents the Province of Ontario wants to have. 

So why has funding this procedure not yet come to fruition?  Probably because all we ever hear about is the $10,000.00 per procedure cost and that is a lot of money to be spent on a procedure, except when you look at the other side of the coin.  At $10,000.00 it is more common – from what I have read – for doctors to implant more than one fertilized egg, meaning there are greater chances that there will be multiple births (twins, triplets, etc.)  With multiple births, there is a greater chance for the children to be born earlier, for there to be complications to the children and with the expectant mother which in turn means a great reliance on the health care system.  Those costs FAR exceed the costs of the procedure.  In addition if the procedure were funded then doctors would not have to implant more than one embryo and with the reduction in multiple births, comes a reduction in costs to OHIP (the Ontario Health Insurance Plan). 

So now you might understand why Quebec has funded this procedure in 2010.  In Quebec they earmarked $30 million dollars for the first year of this program and expected savings of $30 million dollars in that year.  Those are crazy numbers.

So what do the detractors say?

From what I’ve read the comments are pretty down-right mean and nasty.  Very cold comments mocking parents who cannot have children, making references to G-d wanting it that way, and it’s their fault that they waited too long to have kids, or that they chose an infertile partner.  Some pretty unnecessary stuff indeed.  I can guarantee you the majority of these couples who look to IVF are not looking for an easy way out because they have tried the ”natural” way and have been unsuccessful, so they want to pay $10,000.00 a shot in hopes of having a child this way.  I can also come to the conclusion that IVF is not the only treatment that these couples have tried or will try in effort to get pregnant, so don’t worry IVF-haters.  You won’t be asked to fund that too.

But all in all, I do not understand the fuss.  When an individual files for bankruptcy and their creditors are not paid all the money they are owing, who gets hit in the end?  All of us, through rising costs, and increased insurance rates.  Should I get mad because others cannot budget properly?  Or what about all those people who are not working but who have a plethora of social programs at their need.  Who funds those?  I do, through property taxes and other levies and user fees.  Should I post negative comments about people who are unable to work and how its not right for me to be paying their way?  Absolutely not!  I may comment about the city wasting money but never as it relates to those less fortunate that me.  I would never tell anyone how to live their life, how many children to have, who they can or cannot marry and what techniques they can and cannot use to get pregnant.

Step back folks, and take the emotion out of this process.  It’s not about you.  It’s about the province funding a process and saving your tax dollars and my tax dollars while helping couples become parents.

So please Tim Hudek, take this issue to debate and call Dalton McGuinty on this.  In 2007 he campaigned on this issue and now almost 5 years later they are still “investigating” this matter, in the words of Deb Matthews the Ontario Minister of Health.  Tim, take a stand, and this election is yours!  But please take it one step further and fund this procedure.  The haters will always be haters.  The parents struggling to conceive will have one less thing to worry about.

Urban Daddy’s 3rd Annual Coffee Shop Rankings – 2011

Without further delay, please enjoy reading this urban daddy’s 3rd annual coffee shop rankings for 2011.

These rankings are based on the following criteria;

1.       Taste

2.       Price

3.       Freshness

4.       Other intangibles, such as snacks, how to pay and additional perks.  

 

So sit right back with your cuppa java and let’s go!

1. Java Joe’s

2. Tim Horton’s

3. Starbucks

4. Coffee Time

5. Timothys

6. Second Cup

7. Tim Horton’s US

8. Country Style

9. Dunkin Donuts

10. Seattle’s Best Coffee

11. McDonald’s

 

So how did I come to these conclusions, you may ask???  Easily.

For value, taste and freshness, Java Joe’s is the hands down winner this year.  I have found that the flavours are fantastic whether it is their Cinnamon Hazelnut, Jamaica Me Crazy, Raspberry Chocolate, Banana Cream, Caramel, or even their Irish Cream (and I detest Irish Cream!)   Even the regular coffees they sell have some great flavour to them.I go to Java Joe’s when I want a good cup of coffee full of flavour and body.  When I just want a coffee that I can savor I put to no price on that.  As well, their containers that they use to hold the coffee after it is brewed keeps the coffee hot and does not water it down (from condensation) nor does it cause the coffee to continue brewing and therefore get bitter. If you have read this blog before, you may recall that the Java Joe’s I frequent opened up near my office and that was how I came across them.  Before Tim Horton’s finally started taking debit, I would always hit up Java Joe’s who take debit, credit, and cash.  In addition, their food (sandwiches, wraps, soups and salads) are way better than can be had at any coffee shop on this list and they also have a wonderful selection of organic teas, cold iced drinks plus the full range of hot drinks like latte’s, Americano’s, mochachinos and cappuccinos.  The staff are great and the place has cool tables and chairs, WiFi and a flat screen TV which you can watch while sitting next to the built-in fireplace.  Eat-in or eat-out.  Don’t forget the catering.

All of this makes Java Joe’s #1 on my 2011 rankings.

Tim Horton’s comes in at #2 this year for a couple of reasons.  First of all I have found that they are becoming inconsistent – a cup of coffee at one location will not taste the same as one in another location and it also varies during the time of day usually based on who is making it.  There are 4 Timmy’s within 10 blocks of my office and the one I normally go to have done something to their coffee (possibly using 2 packets of coffee for 3 pots of water) and I cannot go there again.  Secondly, their Roll up the Rim contest was very disappointing this year as I bought 2-3 coffees a day every day of the contest and barely won at all.  Yes, their addition of oatmeal gives them top marks – but you have to order it with just berries – no brown sugar powder – otherwise it’s not healthy at all, and I found they put in the sugar powder whether you ask for it or not.I do like the 3 new bagel flavours at Tim Hortons, however a blueberry bagel with strawberry cream cheese still gets top marks for me with my large double double.  I have not eaten anything else there since I got sick eating a bowl of their chili along with a colleague of mine who got sick as well.  A visit there won’t break the bank, and in some areas they seem to be on every block.  Sure, they rarely stir the coffee, but for $1.65 for a large… You can’t go wrong.  And where else would I be able to say, I’ll have a large double double, please”, and get a smile and a “yes sir”.

Starbucks, while pricey, and serving very strong coffee come in at number 3 mainly because of their fantastic Cafe Americano’s, which are a very smooth drink and costs slightly more than the price of a regular coffee.  At the suggestion of our friend, Mr. Real Estate Marshall Cohen, I got hooked on having the Americano with a pump of mocha (free if you have a convenience card but you have to police that as they will more often than not charge the $0.35 for that shot) and during the holidays I added a pump of mint too.  Plus, their give you a coupon for a free anything if you don’t like your drink, or waiting too long for it AND, often offer free samples.  Their oatmeal is the perfect treat for a toddler as is their cheese plate (although really pricey).  My kids love the wooden stir sticks (sticks) and the automatic doors.  It’s nice to be able to sit at Starbucks, do the Guterman.

Coffee Time actually has really good coffee with surprisingly nice flavor, more so I found than Tim Horton’s do nowadays, however the coffee must be consumed when freshly made because Coffee Time still uses the pot directly on the burner brewing so the coffee stays hot but gets stale really quickly.  They also have some very interesting treats which are not outstanding but if you are hungry and cheap, hits the spot.  I have often walked in to have a coffee there because I feel sorry they don’t do a better job getting their brand out.  When the place is busy you have a wide selection to choose from – drinks, soups, donuts, treats, muffins, but come in during a quiet period and you won’t be able to find any donuts, let alone a staff member to help you out.  Drink the coffee then, and you will understand why the low price.  I almost feel like they have lost touch with their client base and are a day, week, month or year from bankruptcy.

Timothy’s comes in at number 5 this year because I think they have found their comfortable niche in the coffee marketplace as on giant step below Starbucks for price and one giant step below Tim Horton’s for flavor but light years ahead of the Second Cup for choices of flavors and price on extras.  The flavors sold at my local Timothy’s are great and it’s busy enough that the coffee rarely gets bitter but I have always said when fresh, Timothy’s could be one of the best but their coffee is rarely fresh, a large is $2.00 and it takes 4 sugars and lots of cream to bring down the bitterness. Also they need to do is find a way to keep the coffee fresh and they’ll save a ton in other stuff.  They also need to focus on the name and stock their locations with the history.  Build the brand!

Second Cup comes in at number 6 because I hate their old, bitter coffee and stupidly high prices for this crap – but I had a coffee there today (first in months) that was half Butter Pecan (their best flavour) and half Holiday Blend.  Sure I needed 4 sugars but it was actually quite good.  They need to find a way to keep their coffee fresher – I doubt they would have the traffic to keep making new pots every 15 minutes like Tim Horton’s but they could try picking a flavour and for that specialty flavour, they will make a fresh post every 15 minutes and see what the responses from their customers are.  The other main issue Second Cup needs to address is their choice of coffees.  Normally they have 5 or 6 different types.  One decaf, one is a medium and one is a strong.  There is a mild – something like a Paradiso (whatever the heck that means) and then the flavour… I hate Irish Cream!!!  Detest it!  That is usually their one flavoured coffee and when asked why, I was told, it is because it is popular.  Probably because they don’t regularly offer their good flavors like Butter Pecan and Caramelo in high rotation – as everyone knows that flavoured coffees need less sugar and cream to mask staleness or bitterness, which means less costs.  They’re sweets are poorly chosen and to be honest I can’t eat them after piling all that sugar into my drink.The Second Cup does not take advantage of is the space they have in most of their shops which they could totally utilize to capitalize on families by offering a safe environment for kids and snacks under 5000 calories – something healthy.  Anything healthy? 

Seriously, a place for parents to take their kids after dinner to hang out and buy healthy treats might save a few locations… Better than being empty, eh?

I ranked the US version of Tim Horton’s at number 7 because an American double double tastes VERY different from the Canadian version.  As well, a large US version is the size of an XL Canadian version and a XL US version is like the size of a take ten.  But seriously, the US Tim Horton’s coffee is okay, but it’s not great.  I feel bad for Americans who hear us Canucks rave about our coffee and then have to drink that. 

Country Style comes in at number 8 because it used to have good coffee, much better than Coffee Time, but no longer.  Country Style sponsors the Toronto Rock Lacrosse team, however Tim Horton’s coffee is served at the Air Canada Centre.  There is a Country Style near my office and the 3 times I have gone there to get something, I have been disappointed every time.  The first time was for donuts – the selection was terrible – the second time was for a coffee – it was bitter and stale – and the third time was for a cold drink on a very hot day and that drink was barely adequate.  So for a chain with new colours and large, spacious locations, they need to conduct some more product testing to see what people will actually buy.  Very disappointing.

Dunkin Donuts comes in at number 9 because I heard so much about this brand from this side of the border and I was dying to try it.  So when in New York, I tried it.  Then again in New Jersey… and in Florida.  Boy do I feel sorry for Americans coffee drinkers.  This stuff is the most watered down “coffee” I have ever purchased in a chain.  Sure I can get it in super-duper large sized, but Dunkin Donuts makes the only coffee I have thrown out without finishing… Twice. 

Seattle’s Best Coffee comes in at number 10 because I have only tried it once… At Newark Airport.  I scraped together $2.00 for a cup (I believe there were only 4 “flavours”) and then after putting in a lot of sugar and cream until I could taste it, I looked at the person behind the counter and said, “If this is Seattle’s BEST, I’d hate to see their worst…”  Hey, isn’t Starbucks from Seattle?  I got through half a cup.

Last year I gave honourable mention to McDonald’s coffee which I tried that year for the first time when it was free, and then again this year when it was free.  But, can I tell you all… It’s so bad that I won’t even drink it for free.  That stuff is terrible. 

So???

What are your thoughts on my rankings??  What’s your favourite coffee?

Thursday Thirteen. 13 Things I liked about the 2011 Global Corporate Challenge.

This is my list of the 13 things that I really liked during (and after) the 2011 Global Corporate Callenge.

13. The actual Exercise – It was nice at first keeping track of my steps during a normal day, then during a day in which I went to the gym, and finally on a weekend when I took the boys for a 2-3 hour walk.  But as my numbers climbed, I found that I would walk a lot more at night, and always take the stairs, no matter where I was (see post on our holiday where were all took the kids from the 5th floor to the 12th floor numerous times a day).  Then it became routine.  Every day for 16 weeks. 

12. Losing inches – It was nice during the GCC to notice that while I was getting stronger and my endurance was up, that I was losing inches in places where I have wanted to lose inches.  A nice surprise.

11. Feeling lighter on my feet as the event went on. At first I was dragging my ass around, but the more I exercised, the easier it was to move… Funny how that works, eh?

10. Having walking meetings with my staff. It gave me an opportunity to speak with them in a neutral environment and I found they had more suggestions, some great recommendations and they were more eager to ask questions which were HR related or industry specific without the threat of having someone question them on something they should have knoen..

9. Competition – I love competition.  Once I saw that it was going to be a close race to the finish I turned it up and walked, more, exercised more and busted my ass to make sure I did the best I could and help my team win.  I’m really competitive.  REALLY. 

8. I hate to lose way more than I like to win – This challenge reinforced that I hate to lose more than I like to win. Now that the competition is over and my team came in first out of all our company’s teams in North America; 309th out of 28,249 in the world for and 6th in Canada out of 809 teams. That is all warm and fuzzy, but it’s over and I am so past it. But when we were losing… That got my ire up.

7. Saving my ass – By beating all the teams I trash talked in the early stages of the challenge, I saved my ass from ridicule and the fear of being mocked was part of my motivation to get the job done!

6. Knowing I had no choice but to walk / run / swim / cycle. With this challenge and your teammates depending on you plus the fact I was the team leader, I felt more was expected of me. With that “pressure” I had to keep moving… all the time. That meant I only went to sleep one day out of the 16 weeks before midnight because I reset my pedometer at midnight, so I used every spare minute to walk, walk and walk.

5. Being able to spend time walking and thinking about life, work, family and other things. The quiet was refreshing and it was nice to get out late at night to just walk around. When I run, I run late at night – 10:30 or 11pm, so I am used to getting out that late, but I’ve never been a fan of late night walks… Until this competition.

4. The race at the end. Since there were 4 teams really close together, I was fixated on the step entry and seeing who made personal bests, and the sort. It was a lot of stress but also a lot of fun!

3. The change to my body shape was a nice touch. My legs and torso are slimmer, my upper body more muscular and overall, I feel better.

2. Seeing all the locations on the http://www.gettheworldmoving.com site as we moved trough the course and the final drive to complete the course which we did not. Seeing that in Canada there was snow made me laugh since it was August and obviously there is NO snow here in the summer.

1. I’ve changed my ways and in addition to all the exercise I regularly do in a day (before GCC I was averaging between 12000-14000 steps without the gym, and 21000 with the gym) I find I’m more than ever walking to keep moving.

So what benefits did you find from the GCC? If you did not take part, would you enter it next year if your company took part?

So you want children, eh?

So… You really want children, eh?  I certainly did.  Now that I’m exhausted and running around every weekend taking the three of them to birthday parties, I have a different perspective on how to keep these kids from beating each other up on a daily basis.

Here are some things the kids have done in the past few days which I had to share.

The other night after Stewie went to bed, I heard music coming from Linus’ room.  I walked inside and there he was sitting on rug in the middle of his room, clock radio playing some am radio station, and his little sister Berry dancing in front of him.

“Change the station, Daddy”, he said.  “Put on something with a Rockstar” he said as he strummed his imaginary guitar. 

I put Q107 and Enter Sandman was playing .  He stood up and started dancing with his sister.  Then he got down on the floor and started break-dancing.  I was laughing but I sat down on the edge of the bed to watch.  The highlight was when he got off the floor and said to Berry, “your turn” at which point she lay down on the carpet and began breakdancing too. 

Hilarious.

The kids and I danced for a couple more songs, then we all went off to bed.

 

Tonight after having a going-to-bed snack Berry was laying on our bed with my wife.  We have developed a routine to get Berry into her crib without freaking out.  I ask her who is in her bed, and her and I name off the stuffed animals sleeping in her crib. 

Tonight as I picked her up off the bed she reached out to her arms, looked me straight in the eyes, and said to me “dumb ass”.

Still resenting that brilliant idea of mine to teach her those words.

 

This morning Linus was annoying me, our nanny and his brother – par for the course.  He had a piece of “mail” in his hand – something written on lined paper folded in four and with a sticker of the Thing on it.  I was running around trying to get him ready for school – Stewie was too sick to go but then decided he was going and I had a lot on my mind so when he tried to give me the mail, I waved him off.  I’m pretty sure he tried again but I ignored him on that too. 

Fast forward to this afternoon, I found that piece of mail in my laptop bag.  It was the letter.  I opened it up and it read;

“I love you”.

I looked at it.  I choked up.

I thought about him the whole way home and when he greated me at the door I gave him a huge hug and a kiss and told him I loved him too.

Kids…

 

So how then, do we clean up this mess?

Boy, am I frustrated. I see tweets, status updates and posts on Facebook from all these really smart people – much smarter than me – who have all the solutions for how to handle Toronto’s almost $800 million dollar budget shortfall.

The common theme: Ignore it. David Miller ignored it and he’s a lawyer. He’s smart. He probably even goes into libraries. GASP. Rob Ford is fat. Him and his brother don’t use libraries. Therefore they don’t know what they are talking about.

David Miller was a New Democrat in every sense of the word. Rob Ford is (shame) Conservative. Ford runs a business and wants to run Toronto like a business. Toronto is NOT a business cries the left. Toronto is our city. Toronto is also our city that is going bankrupt because it does not have enough money to meet its current obligations.

Toronto needs to balance its books. Most in this city would agree. However the way to balance the books differs greatly across the spectrum. The view from the left is to not touch social programs and keep that spending set, but make up the difference by taxing the “wealthy”. Let those SOB’s pay! Good for nothing rich folks. The right, however, want to look at what the City is really responsible for, and trim some of the fat associated with the city’s duties. Do we need 32 librarians making over $100,000/year? Probably not.

I feel the biggest issue here is that people from the left think that Mayor Ford wants to cut, cut, cut and that once all the social programs are cut there will be nothing left for the poor, but that could not be further from the truth. What the Mayor as said repeatedly – however maybe not clear enough – is that the City needs to look at what the city offers first and foremost to see if the city needs to be in that line of business.

Should the city be funding parades? Should the city be contributing money for festivals? How about checking into city run organizations to make sure that there is enough work for the staff to do and that all the positions are needed. Not only is that fiscally responsible but it is morally responsible for this Mayor’s office and city council to do these checks and balances since the majority of the funding they get is from taxes of you and of me.

And as for the fact that there seems to be some sort of tie in between the “rich” and “conservatism”, it might have something to do with the fact that those who have more money pay more taxes. End of story. Sure they may pay less income tax than others, but property taxes are huge and growing and then there are all the additional consumption taxes that are being gathered from this class of Torontonian. To piss them off could mean a sudden mass move from Toronto to surrounding areas and their tax dollars too.

Surely even those on the left who want equality among all citizens even can admit that having wealthy and ultra-wealthy in the city is a boon for the rest of us as their taxes go a long way to keeping this city moving.

So I have clearly given a lot of thought to the predicament the City of Toronto is in, and I look around the world at countries in deep financial hardship like Greece – due to their unions and retirement at 52 years old – and Iceland, and all the countries seeking bailouts, then I look south of our border to the US where there is a deep divide between the democrats and republicans over how to get the US out of trouble and I worry.

I worry that in Toronto we are going to get caught up in the troubles they have in the US and that is going to delay out way out of this crisis and eventually push it on to our children and their children.

I think socialists, liberals and conservatives alike can all agree that there are few viable options aside from either cutting spending or increasing revenues.

Every time Toronto’s mayor, Rob Ford announces he is looking at ways to cut expenditures, he has always said that; “Toronto does not have a revenue problem”, at which point, up pop the socialists who demand that he not cut anything that they like. They say no to libraries, zoo’s, farms, the TTC, programs, grants… the whole lot. As a matter of fact, I have not heard one viable way to get out of this mess from any of my friends on the left.

I wonder if in 1974 when Riverdale Farm was closed for almost 5 years, if residents blamed the mayor and said that the local government was chasing away tourism or taking the “culture out of Toronto”. I happen to think that the 1.8 million visitors to Riverdale might be better to turn their tourism dollars over to the Toronto Zoo which desperately needs funds too, or is that thinking too far forward? Does the City even need to run the Toronto Zoo? Does the City of Vaughan run Canada’s Wonderland? No, it’s run by private interests. Paramount Canada’s Wonderland, I believe.

Yes there are more Tim Horton’s than Libraries in Councillor Doug Ford’s ward, but there are 3 within a few blocks of each other and that seems like a waste. I know on Avenue Road, there were 3 TD Banks within 3 blocks of each other and fast forward a year later, now there is one amazing state of the art branch and the other 2 locations were sold off and taken as a huge profit to the bank. Why can’t the city do this without getting flack for wanting to destroy the culture of the city. He’s not closing ALL the libraries… He’s consolidating them and putting the city in a better position to upgrade the remaining ones.

My point… Even though some things are done a certain way, it doesn’t make it right. Would you consider moving to a new house without selling your old one? No, because it doesn’t make sense, so keeping old outdated libraries just because Margaret Atwood thinks it is important – as an author – doesn’t mean it makes sense.

I think it’s time we, as Torontonians take her words and the words of others for what they are… Opinions of interest groups. Atwood has an interest in libraries as an author – probably not the same interest she has in selling her books, but she has a cause. As a staunch supporter of the NDP and their policies, it is her requirement to stir the pot at City Hall in order to make the Ford’s look goofy. Much in the same way other interest groups have stepped forward to gain support for their causes. I would never consider Atwood for the mayor of this city, much in the same way I would not look to the Ford’s to write children’s books.

Can anyone truly stand back and watch something they believe in or like be cut for the betterment of all of society? Heck no. I think if Atwood took a step back and realized the dire straights the city’s financial records are in she would give a second thought to all options for reducing expenses and if she has a better solution that cutting waste, then let’s hear it.

I, for one, as a conservative, think that putting our head in the sand and hoping this goes away is the worst approach to take and I do object to increased taxes because I already pay a lot, but if after exhausting all means for cutting expenses, increasing my taxes for a short-term to make ends meet is the only way to balance the books, then sign me up and fast.

As a citizen of Toronto who has participated in this process by being involved in residents groups, considered running for city councilor and helps my community in any way needed, I just want to know that the current mayor has looked under every rock for ways to save money before coming to me for more taxes. Yes, I do pay more because I choose to live in a bigger house in a nicer neighbourhood, and that is my choice. Paying additional taxes to keep 3 libraries open 3 blocks from each other is wasteful and I wouldn’t waste that kind of money personally, nor would I expect my staff or my employer to accept that kind of waste, so why would I tolerate that from the City that I live in.

So my message to you, mayor Ford, is to keep finding ways to save the city money, keep those programs open and keep helping others. If after all your work you still need some additional tax money from me, I will gladly pay it and consider it money well spent, helping those less fortunate.

It’s a welcome change from the previous left-leaning governments who spend, spend and spend without a substantial plan on how to pay for everything.

The last thing we need right now are special interest groups gathering resources to protect their own interests and not look at the big picture. We are one city. One large city in deep financial crisis. If we take the Atwood approach: She had this to say in the Toronto Star; “Expressing contempt for creative people turns people away from Toronto as a venue, and that’s a pretty serious consideration. If you’re thinking of having a convention, you’re thinking of having a concert, you’re thinking of going to a festival, and that’s the attitude? Why wouldn’t you spend your dollars somewhere else.” So she takes the attitude that if getting finances in order means touching anything “cultural” then stay away from Toronto. So she really does not like Toronto if she is that closed minded to want to damage the city she weeks ago cared so deeply for.

“You start with tossing off latte drinkers, gay Pride and bicycle riders and me, what’s the message? The message is: ‘We don’t want you people here.’ I’m sure Hamilton or Burlington or Oshawa would be very happy if some of those festivals and conventions moved there. Why shouldn’t I spend my creative dollar in New York if I’m not welcome in Toronto?” Does she really take herself that seriously that she thinks people are going to stop spending their money in Toronto because a Councillor doesn’t know who she is? Really, Margaret? Does she also think that all the large corporations and organizations in Toronto are going to pick up their people and ship them to Oshawa or Guelph because the City of Toronto wants to cut waste? That has to be the dumbest comment I have ever heard. No wonder the Star carried this story.

Maybe there is a bit of irony in the fact that Ford, as Toronto mayor wants to stop funding non-core items, yet Atwood who has become an opponent to the mayor’s office was busy writing, “in the woods, without electricity,” last week when this all stated. She wasn’t even in the city! So who is she speaking for? The downtown elite, or herself?

I think every time I see someone criticize the mayor’s office for being thorough investigating ways to save money in the city and for looking at core business services they are cutting off their noses in spite of their faces. Is it really so bad that they want to balance the books now… For good, so that your children and your children’s children won’t be saddled with your debt and our parents debt wondering why we didn’t do anything when we had the chance.

I suspect if this was left to fester again, in Miller-like fashion, future generations will be calling us the greedy generation – too caught up in our own self interests to help others.

How did your kids handle the first week of school?

How did your kids handle the first day of school?  How about the first week?

This year I have all three kids in school;

Linus in grade 2.

Stewie entering into senior kindergarten and;

Berry in nursery school.

Back to school has always been a lot of fun for me, since I loved school – I was not as focussed as I should have been, mind you – but I loved school.  Seeing my friends, new classes, new friends, new challenges.

So I was not surprised that my mini-me, Linus had this to say to us at the end of the first day of school; “I LOVED school today”.

Very surprising since he never loves anything in his life, except for his blankie (hence the name Linus) and his kitty (my avatar – that ucky grey – was white – stuffed cat).  The next morning, however, he was back to normal.  Sitting on our bed he had this assessment about his future;

“I’m staying home today.  I’m finished with school”.

Us: “Huh?  What?  You’ve been in grade 2 for only one day!”

Linus:  “I learned everything yesterday.  I’m going to quit school and get a job”.

Us: “What are you going to do with a grade 1 education?”

Linus: “I’m going to be a tax manager, like Daddy!”

Oh boy!

My wife: “Daddy went to grade 2, then all the way through high-school, university, graduate school after and he took lots of courses.  You need to go to school, learn to read, write, and take courses to be something you like.  You said you wanted to be a dentist, or policeman…”

Linus – thinking: “Okay.  I’ll go to school today”.

Then the conversation with Stewie… Ahh, Stewie.

Us: How was school, Stewie?”

Stewie: “It’s too easy.  All they ask me to do is colour.  I’m tired of colouring.  I’m bored”.

And so it goes…

Berry, on the other hand, had to be peeled off of my wife’s leg every day that she has gone to school.  I figure since it took us only a year-and-a-half to get her to bathe without freaking out, she should be fine to go to school on about the second last day of the year…

It’s going to be a long year.

Where you were on 9/11 and when did you realize the world was changing forever?

I’ve had this post sitting in my draft folder for a couple of years.  Each year I look at it, tweak it, then don’t post it.  Probably because out of all the tributes and sorrow that are focussed on, my pales in comparison.  Having recently been to New York City with my family and seeing the site of the old twin towers in addition to the new twin towers, I thought I would take a stab at cleaning up this post and publishing it.

I remember where I was on 9/11 and can recall that day as if it were yesterday.   Sometimes you just know that you are experiencing an event that will change the world forever, and September 11th, 2001 was one of those days.  Much like when John Lennon was shot, or the space shuttle Challenger disaster (watched that live on TV) but to a MUCH greater extent.  From this day, nothing would remain the same.

I had arrived at work around 7:30am at the Canadian government’s taxation department and was going about my business when a colleague called me and asked me if I had heard about an airplane colliding with the World Trade Center in New York.  Intrigued, yet mortified (we have family out there), I asked her for the information they were relaying on CNN.

As she was trying to determine if it was an accident or on purpose, I managed to get a radio from a colleagues desk and turn on 680NEWS, our all-news radio station in Toronto.  I called my wife and left her a message at her work and called my mother at home (who else do you call, lol).  While we were all listening, and the second plane hit and by now, there was a large crown around the TV that I had arranged for from the training unit.  We were watching the events live and the room was so silent you could hear a pin drop. 

It was unreal…

Watching the replay of both planes hitting – from all angles – and from people’s video cameras was riveting, and the footage of people jumping off the tower rather than getting burned alive was disturbing.  The floor was silent.  There were about 65 of us, mouthes wide open looking in horror at what was happening on TV, while reports of other planes flying around looking for targets was still suggested by CNN.

Planes from New York were being diverted to Toronto too…

The Pentagon was hit, a plane went down in a field in Pennsylvania…

I asked our director to please let us all go home – it was unsafe – there was speculation – massive loss of lives and planes with potential terrorists were coming to Toronto.

She would have no such part of it.

I begged her to let us go.

She laughed me off.

10 minutes later she evacuated the building and asked us to decide if we wanted to stay and wait out the happenings in NY, or if we wanted to just  go home. 

It turns out her sudden change of heart was the result of some half-wit called in a terrorist threat to our building (we were in a 21 story building), saying that a plane was going to be flown into all tax buildings, so the police were on their way to secure the ground and watch for airplanes.  I remember as I was leaving the building that the police were dusting a phone booth across the street for finger prints.  I asked an officer and he said it appears that someone called in a threat to our Barrie office (a small 2-storey office about 1 1/2 hours north of Toronto) and upon hearing that, someone – possibly a current employee - was caught on camera calling in the threat to our office and the other 4 GTA offices.  Nice.

So I went home and watched CNN over and over again.  I could not comprehend what was happening a mere 8 hours from Toronto.  The more I saw, the harder it was to understand why.  Sure the perpetrators find the west to be terrorists and I’m sure they felt justified, but seeing the kids in the street in some Arab countries and in the Gaza Strip celebrating the loss of innocent lives made me angry.  When I heard that the US was dropping bombs in Afghanistan, I was over joyed, figuring US intelligence knew something and was getting revenge.

So fast forward 10 years…

Osama Bin Laden is dead and his body dumped in the ocean.

Nothing has changed in Afghanistan.

Terrorist threats are still a real possibility on a daily basis.

Iran wants nuclear weapons.

Radical Islamists in England burned the US flag.

Man are we in for another rocky 10 years.  The US has to realize it has few real friends out there aside from Canada.

We’re all fish here, right? Oh, we’re not fish, we’re in a fish… Okay!

My 4-year-old son Stewie just told me, over a plate of leftover Shanghai noodles – his before bed / dinner snack, that our house is actually a submarine and its dark outside (besides being 8pm) because a shark swallowed us.

 

He went on to say that we get out of the shark’s stomach in the morning when the shark sneezes us out.

 

Oh yes!

 

When I asked him to repeat this story, he said we were fish and stuck in the shark’s stomach, but then changed it into a submarine. 

 

Hey, I don’t make this stuff up!!!

Dalton McGuinty’s Immigration Platform is not so new afterall…

So, the Liberals election platform has been “leaked” and boy is Dalton lucky that he doesn’t have to defend this mind-boggling promise.  You see, the Liberals somehow think that offering employes a $10,000 credit to hire new immigrants is going to stimulate the economy, keep Ontario out of a recession and help build a brighter future for everyone.

Wait a minute…

Are the Liberals aware that this already exists and is a gigantic failure.  Are the Liberals also aware that they cannot appeal to the public to vote Liberal so that the Conservatives won’t dominate all three levels of government.  They Libs are months away from being destroyed much like the Federal Liberal party was until Jack Layton’s untimely – and very sad – death making them relevant again.  With Happy Jack removed as the figurehead of this party, supporters will see them for what they really are… A pro-union, spend, spend, spend party who will bankrupt the country within 5 years.  The Liberals have always been 3 things;

1. Somewhat central and therefore deemed to be a safe choice
2. Corrupt
3. Cocky (or is that confident) enough to know that they can win any riding at any time with whomever they parachute in, or appoint to run.  It’s that arrogance that helped in their destruction in the last Federal election and Dalton’s been drinking from that same red drink.

But before I begin, I want to make clear that the views contained in this post are not meant to be negative to those people who currently working in any level of government, nor are they the fault of anyone working there.  They individuals are wonderful people who want to eke out a living as you and I do.  It’s the bureaucrats who put these policies in place, not the worker-bee’s.

Back to Dalton’s brain-storm: 

The concept of “encouraging” employers to hire certain segments of the working population is nothing new to Ontario, nor Canada.  All levels of government already employ this tactic.  I worked for the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) for over 10 years in many progressive positions, so I’ve seen it all.  The CRA went through its own affirmative action / negative discrimination and I witnessed first hand how new immigrants were sought out, hired for positions which not all of them were 100% qualified for and I saw how other employees reacted – people of all nationalities – to this policy.

I saw a lot of inexperienced, unqualified people bring their very strong work ethic but lack of Canadian business acumen to the government and I won’t lie to you, there were some serious language short comings as a result.  Dealing with the public and having language issues is frustrating for everyone, the worker, the levels of management and the taxpayers.  Getting things done sometimes took twice as long and often times work was re-worked to make it clearer.   I recall one recently promoted manager referring to her staff as being “all babies, who need to grow up”.  I remember sitting with her an explaining the way government operates and her telling me that it didn’t matter how she liked to manage or how she managed back home, that if she continued to push the envelope and make people work harder, that they would fight back and file grievances against her.  She did not listen and the backlash was long and furious.

At its worst, this policy saw promotion opportunities closed to most of the current workforce and productivity declined as much as motivation did.  I even recall when 2 “white guys” were given temporary 6-month promotions and all the staff were shocked and talking about how unfair it was considering the need to hire up in order to meet quotas… It was terrible.  Instead of focussing on work, staff were concerned with who was going to get the next promotion and who deserved the next promotion.  Many management positions were filled based on criteria other than merit and for me, the straw that broke the camels back was upon completion of my MBA when not one, nor 2, but 7 management positions were filled while I sat there waiting for my opportunity.  With only the director of the office with a MBA I sought out an answer and was told point-blank that I would not be given an opportunity and I should leave.  So I did.  Picked up my ass off the chair one day, walked out of the office and never ever went back. 

I worked with some brilliant people who were also never given a chance to show their worth.  They came from all walks of life, but whenever there was a quota to be filled or a cash incentive lurking in the bushes, people were hired, transferred and promoted to benefit financially and stay in the good graces of senior management instead of based on who will help the organization move forward. 

I heard a Liberal spokesperson on the news today explaining that the Conservative have this all wrong.  It’s not about encouraging employers to hire new immigrants to positions which they are “qualified” for in order to receive a cash incentive, but it is about getting new immigrants who are qualified into jobs… First…

Pot.

Kettle.

So I think the Liberals need to take a step back, speak to some of their government workers and see how well this incentive has worked at all levels before they go shooting off their mouths about how they think the province needs to be run.

It needs to be run conservatively!

As an aside, I recall Finance Minister Dwight Duncan speaking at the Canadian Tax foundation annual conference luncheon about the HST and how no other provincial leader had the balls to bring in the HST because it would have cost them votes, but while the recession was on, that was a good time to increase taxes…

I shook my head then and I shake it now.

As a result of initiatives like this one, certain government jobs are closed off for large segments of the population.  The government went from being a great place to work, with little pressure and amazing benefits – for some – to a giant bureaucratic mess which has lost sight of it’s true objective – serving the public. 

So I encourage you to send a message to the Liberal party, right to Dalton McGuinty himself that if he wants to keep Ontario prosperous he should not tax us more, he should not fool with the employment pool, and that he should find ways to keep people working – lower payroll taxes, lower minimum wage… Oops.  That ship already sailed on them. 

I’m ready to welcome Premier Hudek.

Are you?