Author: Mike Cluett

Stunts failed

Mike Cluett

As I mentioned last post, the Green Party of Canada has been doing its best to get “into the picture” and be relevant to Canadians.

A few months back, Elizabeth May and Stephane Dion came up with a “deal” that she would run against Peter MacKay and the Liberal party would run no one against her to help her win in Nova Scotia. Whether that works or not is a different story. Personally I think she’ll fail.

Just recently, a former Liberal (booted out of Dions supposedly “democratic” caucus) joined the Green Party to make history and be the first official Green Party MP in the House of Commons.

These stunts were pulled off with the intention of getting Elizabeth May in the leaders debate in the present Federal election campaign. Thats all it was…a couple of stunts to “raise awareness”.

Problem is, it didnt work. The broadcasters in charge of the leaders debate said, no Green Party. Supposedly 3 of the 4 party leaders said “HELL NO” to Elizabeth May. NDP Leader Jack Layton, said nothing. Bloq…same thing. Conservative Party Leader Stephen Harper was a bit more direct than others by saying that given the “deal” between May and Dion, the Green Party is just another version of the Liberal Party…and shouldnt be included in the leaders debate.

Id much rather have a discussion about the environment without all the BS and the tree huggery that goes on. Instead Elizabeth May has turned the GP of Canada into a joke, deal making party instead of the option it should be for Canadians.

The Green Party is missing something. Its missing a leader that can sell environmental issues to business. No one wants to be preached to. No one wants to be told what to do. Thats what the current leadership of the Greens does.

The message the GP of Canada has is important and needs to be heard. But it doesnt have to come at the expense of tricks and smoke n mirrors. If people would sit down and read what the GP of Canada has to offer they’d read that there are more to the GP than environment. Theres tax issues that need to be discussed. Incentives for businesses to help them move towards a better policy.

Jim Harris started this upward swing towards legitimacy. Too bad the party took a step back with Elizabeth May. As a business person, if you say something that makes sense, both environmentally and fiscally, Im going to listen. Elizabeth May, however good her intentions, fails miserablely.

Green Party Stunts

Mike Cluett

Its hard to ignore these past few years. You see it in almost every commercial on TV. Its on every piece of material we get in the mail. RECYCLED this or GREEN that. Its now a part of our every day life.

Halton lawns are lined with the green bins every trash day with more and more people taking part in it. The question is how many but as far as I can see in Hawthorne Village, the participation rate is quite high.

Its even moved to politics now with the Green Party of Canada getting more and more noticeable as a federal election gets closer. Many years ago when someone brought up the Green Party ones thoughts would move to someone wearing sandals, long hair and a pony tail carrying a SAVE THE PLANET sign like someone straight out of the 60’s.

Not any more. Jim Harris took the Green Party from the fringe status and made it a household name. Combined with societies change to environmental awareness, we are now hearing about the Green Party with every political poll and hearing of the growing amount of support.

A couple of years back, Elizabeth May took over as leader and well…something changed. Some for the good and some for the bad.

Having a woman as leader of a federal political party never hurts. I’m sure she wasn’t chosen leader because of her gender as only hearing what she has to say proves she knows her stuff. She has continued where Jim Harris left off in raising awareness of the Green Party and what it stands for in the eyes of Canadians. Some have said that Jim Harris legitimized the Green Party sounding more like an accountant than someone talking about the environment. Many of the Green’s policies sound like they belong in the Conservative Party platforms as they discussed tax cuts for using environmentally friendly products.

Can May bring her party to that next level? The level of where each of the candidates in all the ridings could be taken seriously with that MP qualifications. Sadly many of the GP candidates in ridings are volunteers with no real desire to serve in the House and whos job is mainly to raise awareness of the Green Party.

The only problem is the stunts they’ve had to pull off to get even more notice.

Elizabeth May and Stephane Dion had made an arrangement where as if she herself runs in a Nova Scotia riding (against former Conservative leadership candidate and now cabinet Minister Peter Mackay) the Liberals would NOT run anyone against her. This would ensure May gets the advantage of not running against the GREEN SHIFT directly and almost making it a 2 horse race. That’s like taking one of the favourite horses from a race and then calling it fair.

If they were looking to become legit in the eyes of Canadians, let them stand in a fair race and may the best candidate win.

As many pundits have pointed out, the strength of the Green Party is not out east; its not in central Canada. The strength of the Green Party lies in the west. Out in BC the Green Party out polls the Liberals almost 2 to 1. As a strategist, that’s where I would put my strongest chance at a seat in the House of Commons. Having a Green MP makes it impossible to ignore. They would be part of every leaders debate in a federal election and their voices would be heard. Some would argue that more people in a leaders debate is bad.

I mean 9 provinces and 3 territories have to listen to a leader (BLOQ) that they cant vote for…so why crowd the stage because they poll high. When they start getting elected to the House of Commons, THEN we can put the leader in the debate. Thats a discussion for another time.

The fact is that if a political party is represented in the House of Commons, they should be represented in the leaders debate. This leads me to stunt #2.

Recently former Liberal MP Blair Wilson crossed the floor to join the Green Party after leaving the Liberal party due to some election finance issues. Apparently he didn’t appoint an official agent before raising funds and incurring expenses. Its something that most people running for office would know if they were paying attention, but alas he didn’t and while under investigation from Elections Canada he quit the Liberal caucus until it was over. Quoted in an article back in July his first priority was to rejoin the Liberal party and get re-elected in his riding.

That didn’t last long as Elizabeth May and the Green Party woo-ed him over. So fast that he hasn’t been able to change his website yet www.voteblair.ca

Now from July 20th until recently, Blairs priority was to re join the Liberal party. What changed? Did political opportunism rear its ugly head and change his mind? Having someone cross the floor to the Green’s isn’t a new idea seeing as recent as a few years ago, former CPC now Liberal MP Garth Turner even considered joining the Green Party.

Does the Green Party need this kind of stunt to be “relevant” in Canadians eyes? Can the Green Party take that next step without the help of political arrangements and floor crossings to get its message out?

The message is out there beyond a shadow of a doubt. Now in many cases you can lose business if your company isnt green enough for consumers. Hybrids, eco friendly this and that, recycle, green bins, composting, carbon taxes. The Green Party can be relevant if it only stuck with what got it to the dance…policies and awareness. Will they win a seat in the upcoming election? Maybe not. Will they be on the minds of voters as we head to the polls in October (maybe)? You bet they will.

Maybe they need a few more steps in the evolution of a political party to get them to that next step. Jim Harris took them to point A…Elizabeth May has taken them to point B…who can take them that next step to having their first ELECTED Green MP in the House of Commons.

Steam Era Weekend is coming

Mike Cluett

Or as some people call it Labour Day.

This coming weekend (its pretty sad its Tuesday now and Im already looking to Friday) is Steam Era at Milton Fairgrounds.  For those who are new to town (and for those already here who havent gone) you are missing a blast of a weekend.

You can go directly to the site www.steam-era.com and check out the line up.  Corn roasts every night, mini tractor pulls and showcases of the evolution of tractors from the early 1900’s as well.  If youre nearby listen for the tractors and the steam WHISTLES blaring from the fair grounds.  Lots of other activities and things for the kids to do as well.

Cost is only $6 for adults and 12 and under are free.  It is worthwhile to check it out by the fairgrounds this coming Labour day.

Have you taken Milton Transit?

Mike Cluett
 
Aug 20, 2008

I moved to Milton a day before the new transit system was introduced in 2004.

For the first two years I used it sporadically to take a quick ride downtown or to the mall, as the 30-minute wait has never been something easy to plan around when you have children in tow.

For the last two-and-a-half years I have depended exclusively on public transit to commute to and from work each day.

Like most of the other regular users, I have had complaints about the wait times and connection choices to GO trains during rush hour. There are six trains leaving Milton every morning, but the buses only meet three of them, and the same thing happens in the afternoon.

But since the introduction of the new buses the service has declined drastically. The new buses break down constantly. We can never count on the buses because, just like it happened August 11 with the scheduled 7:06 bus (Route 2: Holly and Laurier stop), it may never come.

As a clarification, Route 2 got as affected by the previous weeks’ problems as any other route, contrary to what was published in the paper.

We hear everywhere that we should leave our cars in the garage and adopt public transit to help reduce the carbon emissions. This can’t be achieved in Milton solely because our public transit isn’t reliable.

For some, the problem is even worse due to the fact that they don’t have a car to drive to the station if the bus doesn’t show up.

We have been dealing with the whole ‘chicken and egg’ excuse from the people in charge. They would like to have a bigger ridership before they can implement upgrades to transit.

At the same time riders would like to have consistent, reliable and improved transit before they can jump on the bandwagon for good.

There’s a saying, “If you build it, they will come.” The Town should take that to heart and improve the transit system so we can finally be able to depend on it without fear of being stranded at the bus stop for 40 to 60 minutes waiting for the bus.

I don’t need the Town giving us free transit to apologize for not having buses when we need them. We need the buses to run on time, consistently and at a better frequency at rush-hour.

That would be the key to improving ridership.

FLAVIA TARZWELL, HOLLY AVENUE

Did the Town of Milton suffer from the “chicken and the egg” syndrome?  Did they spend millions of dollars unnecessarily to get brand new buses that could fit more people BEFORE the people actually take the bus?

It looks like this writer / rider agrees.  As I’ve stated in the past, I do beleive Milton needs a transit system for its increasing population.  There has to be a way for someone to get downtown Milton from lets say Hawthorne Village for the Farmers Market on Saturday instead of getting in the car, trying in vain to get up Thompson Road, turn left at Main and head on down.  We all know the downtown area isnt meant for lots of vehicle traffic and the bus would be the preferred way.

Only problem is that no one is taking advantage of it.  Recent Milton Transit reports show that the only time ridership on the buses increases is when there are FREE TRANSIT days, sponsored usually by corporate citizens like Mattamy Homes, Fieldgate etc. and go back down to almost non existant levels when Miltonians have to pay.  While we will need a transit system in town, it has to be economically viable.  We cant just keep throwing money at the issue and hope someone will take the bus.  We cant have a program if no one is using it.  The town can throw money around and try to educate people that taking the bus is the better way.

Right now, it takes me less than 10 minutes to go downtown Milton to Troy’s Diner but if I took the bus Im looking closer to 3/4 hour or more.  Ten minutes vs. forty five minutes.  That can be the big deciding factor and needs to be taken into consideration and even if its free, its not that much more of an incentive for me to chose transit.

With Thompson Road STILL under construction and Derry Road east here in town about to be Halton’s newest parking lot TIME has to be the biggest consideration.  Why bother sitting on a bus in slow traffic on Thompson when I can be in my car listening to Sirius Radio in more comfort.

Someone seems to like what Milton has been doing.  Heres a press release on the award the Town of Milton received for its FREE FARE Transit program.

Town of Milton’s innovative transit program honoured with prestigious awardMilton, August 20, 2008 – The Town of Milton was presented with an award from the Association of Municipal Managers, Clerks and Treasurers of Ontario (AMCTO) for its Fare-Free Transit Pilot Program at Monday evening’s Council meeting. 

 The Town was a recipient of an E.A. Danby Award in the Municipal Finance Category for municipalities with a population of 20,000 or more. The award recognizes municipalities that have demonstrated outstanding achievement through innovation with respect to municipal management activities or practices implemented for the purpose of delivering improved municipal programs and services.

“On behalf of Milton Council, staff and the Milton community, we are honoured to be recognized with such a prestigious award,” said Town of Milton Mayor Gord Krantz.“I would also like to thank Milton residents who, by participating in our transit system, are helping to grow this important aspect of a healthy community. A special thank you also goes out to our sponsors who made the fare-free program possible.”

“The Town of Milton is a worthy recipient of the 2008 E.A. Danby Award,” said AMCTO President, Raymond D. Callery. “We hope that our recognition of the Fare-Free Transit initiative will inspire other municipalities to develop equally innovative models for improved service delivery.”

Sponsored by Mattamy Homes Limited Halton Division and Fieldgate Developments, the Fare-Free Transit Pilot Program provided free transit from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily between June 2007 and January 2008, as well as for special events in 2007. The program was initiated to increase transit ridership during off-peak travel hours, and targeted Milton residents who could most benefit from a fare-free service, including seniors, students and families with infants/young children.

A staff report presented to Milton Council earlier this year shows that ridership during the Fare-Free Transit program increased by 63 per cent compared to 2006 levels, and that an average of 3,800 additional rides per month can be attributed to this program.

Milton was the first community in Canada to provide system-wide free transit for an extended period of time.

 


For more information :
Jennifer Reynolds
Director, Community Services
905-878-7252, ext. 2180  

When the fare free program is on, ridership goes up.  When the program is over, the levels return to normal.  Does this mean the Town of Milton will want to pass on the cost of free public transit to the taxpayers? 

There needs to be a basic system in place to form the skelaton of the system and then when ridership numbers go up, we put on the meat.  Problem is we have these wonderful new buses with Milton’s logo on them, acquired at a significant cost to taxpayers, running on their routes less than half empty.  I see a few buses in and around Hawthorne Village and its rare I see more than 3 to 5 people riding them.

I think when town council made the decision to buy these buses they felt that people would flock to them, ditch their family mini van or suv, pack up the kids and walk to the nearest bus stop and wait….and wait.

With another future tax increase on the way, Milton council needs to know that every penny is being watched and any further expenditures to the Milton transit system without SIGNIFICANT increases to ridership will be scruitinized.

Time to expand Greenbelt?

Mike Cluett

This from todays Globe and Mail.  With the changes that are being made and expanding the provinces green belt (ie cant build here legislation) it could definately throw a monkey wrench in municipalities plans for further growth.  Just a couple of years ago, Dalton McQuinty made changes to the “Places to Grow” quotas for population growth and places like Georgetown, Oakville and Milton among others made changes to their development plans.

Now it seems the province wants to change the rules again without making amendments to the other legislation.  This esssentially means that the province wants more people in smaller areas.  Seeing how theyve laid the ground work for more people or population density in a specific area…they have now made that specific area much smaller.

For those of us who like Milton the way it is (minus all the highrise apartments that dot the skyline of places like Toronto, Mississauga etc) might be in for a fight.  WIth Premier Dalton and the Ontario government making these changes, it will force municipalities to make more changes to their official plans for growth, change bylaws that are in place for height restrictions on buildings like we have here in Milton, and before you know it Dalton and his boys have just erased the view of the escarpment for 90% of us. 

And its not just that.  Milton, for all its good and bad, has a certain feel to it.  We can drive in along Derry Road or Britannia Road, enjoy a bit of farmland (at least for the time being) and have our view unobscured by large apartments and condo developments.  Things are definately in for a change.

New greenbelt rules poorly timed, industry says

JAMES RUSK

August 25, 2008

A move by the province to give municipalities authority to expand the 1.8-million-acre Greater Golden Horseshoe Greenbelt has come at the wrong time, according to the development industry.

Last week, the province published criteria for the expansion of the protected lands at municipal behest. It included a requirement that municipalities could propose changes in the greenbelt boundaries only after public consultation and approval by both local and upper-tier municipalities.

The new rules are unlikely to have an immediate impact on the development pattern in the Golden Horseshoe. However, they have the potential to drive the next generation’s development farther away from Toronto, if municipalities close to the city choose to expand the greenbelt.

To get provincial approval, a municipality would have to show that the new boundary meets the same criteria for the protection of land with environmental or agricultural importance that the province used to establish the original greenbelt legislation in 2005.

When the province created the greenbelt, some municipalities, such as Waterloo Region and Wellington County, argued that it should have been larger. The province brought down its new rules in response to this pressure.

What upsets industry is the possibility that the latest change could throw a last-minute curve at municipal efforts to bring official plans in line with the provincial Places To Grow Act, which sets population and density targets for the most populous urban area in Canada.

“This is premature and a potential distraction,” Stephen Dupuis, chief executive officer at the Building Industry and Land Development Association, said in an interview.

Municipalities have been scrambling to align official plans with the Places to Grow Act by a provincial deadline of next June, but under the new greenbelt criteria, a municipality “may initiate a request to grow the greenbelt at the same time as it is undertaking its Growth Plan conformity exercise,” the province said.

“All these municipalities are working on a conformity exercise, and hopefully, they are going to meet the deadline. But you throw this into the mix, and they could be sidetracked. The next thing you know, this could be an excuse for delay,” Mr. Dupuis said.

Tony Guergis, warden of Simcoe County, a municipality in which environmentalists have said the greenbelt should be expanded, said he welcomed the new greenbelt authority for municipalities as a confirmation of the county’s ability to protect the environment.

Even so, he said, “we could have planned without it. The County of Simcoe’s new official plan protects over a third of the entire county as it is. I think we are well on the way to achieving and meeting what it is … that is what this direction from the province is trying to get at.”

As well as Simcoe County, other areas where an expanded greenbelt might come into play are Caledon, Halton Hills, and the outer parts of the Golden Horseshoe such as Waterloo Region or neighbouring Wellington County, which surrounds the city of Guelph, an industry analyst said.

But attempts to expand the greenbelt could pit countryside landowners against city folk.

When the province set the greenbelt boundaries three years ago, some councillors in Halton Hills thought that another 7,000 acres of the town should be included, but they backed off when farmers complained that it would deprive them of retirement incomes when they sold their farms.

In the longer term, the possibility of expanding the greenbelt raises two other vital issues.

One is where growth will go once current development areas are built out. Currently, the land zoned agricultural that lies outside urban boundaries acts as a reserve for the period beyond 3031, when urban areas are expected to be built out.

If the greenbelt line moves, it will change the urban development pattern. “Growth pressure had to find an outlet,” Mr. Dupuis said.

The other issue is that the new plan could create political tensions inside two-tier municipal and regional governments. If lower-tier municipalities respond to pressure to limit growth by proposing changes to greenbelt boundaries, it would shift the growth pressure to a neighbouring municipality, said a development-industry executive who asked not to be named.

Talk about future tax increases

Mike Cluett

A number of friends have sent me an email to let me know a letter to the Milton Canadian Champion editorial department was printed in this Friday’s paper. Thanks to everyone who noticed.

The letter is pretty much word for word what my last posting talked about and I’ve received a number of emails from people all over the town supporting my thoughts. What seems to get me the most is that there doesnt seem to be a sense of urgency on council to say “hey…this is wrong. We need to fix this now!”

There hasn’t been many voices on council talking about this. After this story was printed I had expected to read a few responses from councillors around the table with their views on the potential increase. Nothing.

Another week passes…still nothing. Why is the question? Why wouldn’t these individuals, trusted by the votes of Milton residents for a four year period NOT want to say something? Why isn’t there any outrage or a showing of concern at the impact this potential (and some would say inevitable) tax increase on people in Milton.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that things aren’t going swimmingly for our economy, and those of our neighbours to the south the United States. Gas is at all time highs and bouncing up and down on a weekly basis, putting incredible pressure on our budgets. The cost of food is increasing for many items in the store which lead to a further tightening of the belts. It just seems no one cares. Its all going to work itself out and the council will accept whatever town staff dishes out.

Some councillors in the past like Paul Schere and Colin Best (among some others) have been very vocal about what council is doing with the budgets, spending and other programs. Where are the voices now?

Is this catastrophic? Will this lead us down into the depths of dispair? Not likely. From an email I received last week, I was told I was being a bit too melodramatic with the potential impact of high municipal tax increases. Not so, because the Town is just one portion of the tax bill.

Town Council seems to forget there are 2 other levels of municipal government that have been sharpening their pencils to take more money out of the ONE taxpayer. The Region of Halton is also projecting a tax INCREASE and school boards (both public and separate) are getting ready to do the same.

We are only one taxpayer. There are numerous levels of government lining up to take what they feel they need to do the business of the “people”. Governments at all levels tax, tax and tax, but they fail to remember its just one taxpayer.

As the cost of everything continues to go up, and confidence in the economy for the short and long term begin to wane…tax increases are going to be a further kick in the shins to people in Halton, Milton and across Canada.

It seems to be an exercise in futility but everyone needs to do what they can to let Milton Town Council know that more needs to be done. Tax increases are inevitable and I have never said there shouldnt be an increase. Common sense would say that government should live within its means as every other household has to. If a family cant afford something, it has to wait. Simple as that. Priorities have to be made and maintained. That simply isnt being done here.

There are a number of areas in the last few budgets that could have been put off until later so they can re-build reserves higher and save for the future. Milton needs more fire fighters. Thats a fact not in dispute. But the Town has to look at their priorities and see if it fits. If not, we wait. Hard pills to swallow but a fact is a fact. You cant do everything right away. It simply wont work.

Did we need almost $3 million dollars spent on brand new buses when the other ones were doing just fine? Again, Im not against a public transit system. Many of the readers of my blog know that as this town grows we NEED a reliable transit system for the future that needs to be properly maintained and kept an eye on. Once its in place, its a slippery slope to more money out the window. The last couple of budgets have proven that with the expenditures on these buses. Could they have waited? Perhaps. Maybe not. Perception of this is that Council merely rubber stamped it so they could expediate the 2 day budget process in December.

There needs to be more leadership on council. Some voices to say, this isnt right and we need to look at things more closely. If it means extending the budget approval process an extra day or go into the long hours of the evening debating line by line…then so be it. Thats what people elect their representatives to do, no matter what level of government.