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Thursday November 22, 2012

By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator, Thursday November 22, 2012

McGuinty laments Harper’s refusal to attend premiers’ meeting

Lame duck Dalton McGuinty quacks about Harper’s summit absence

Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty and other premiers are criticizing Prime Minister Stephen Harper for passing up a chance to co-operate on a national economic strategy with provincial leaders this week.

“I think we’re all disappointed that we couldn’t get an opportunity to meet with the prime minister and to build a strong plan for economic growth together,” McGuinty said in Toronto on Tuesday.

“We will do our very best,” he said of the premiers’ meeting. “We’ll see what it is we might be able to do by way of a concerted effort.”

Provincial premiers and territorial leaders gather in Halifax on Thursday and Friday at a time when the struggling economy is threatened by deteriorating business conditions in Europe and a potential U.S. economic meltdown.

But Harper’s office confirmed Tuesday he won’t accept the premiers’ invitation to attend.

McGuinty suggested Harper is missing an opportunity to follow up on a deal reached during the last recession in which federal and provincial governments agreed to invest in economic stimulus.

“We’ve now entered into a period of prolonged slow growth and I think we could do better by developing some broader policies, acting in concert with the federal government, whether that’s by way of stimulus or, I think, particularly investing in innovation and higher levels of skills and education would be very helpful to all of us.”Source (Source: Toronto Star) 

 

Thursday August 23, 2012

By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator, Thursday August 23, 2012

Prince Harry’s latest on-camera escapade

Prince Harry has been caught on camera doing something embarrassing — again.

Celebrity gossip website TMZ on Tuesday posted photos of the 27-year-old royal cavorting nude with an unidentified woman in a VIP suite in Las Vegas. It’s hardly the first time the prince — who allegedly disrobed as part of a game of strip pool — has been filmed misbehaving. The third-in-line to the throne was famously photographed wearing a Nazi uniform for a costume party, and in another photo-gaffe he was seen cupping the breast of a female TV presenter. Some would argue footage in which he was heard to utter a racial slur while teasing a fellow army cadet from Pakistan was more serious.

If the reaction of Britons to Harry’s Las Vegas adventure was anything to go by, the nude photos will do little to tarnish his generally positive, party-prince image. The Associated Press asked an assortment of royal watchers and British subjects about what they thought about the prince’s naked romp.

The blurry, low-resolution photographs appear to have been snapped from inside a hotel suite, and it isn’t clear that the prince was aware that they were being taken.

That could be a violation of the royal’s privacy. It might also explain why Britain’s scandal-hungry tabloids – normally avid consumers of titillating photos – were steering clear of the images. Shirley Ashard, a caregiver, said the only outrage she could muster was against the photographer.

“That’s out of order,” she said. “How would you like it if someone took pictures of you in your hotel room?” (Source: CTV News) 

 

Wednesday August 22, 2012

By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator, Wednesday August 22, 2012

More rigour needed on ward spending

Back in 2011, Hamilton city council set out to slay the big scary dragon named area rating — the formal name for tax discrepancies in various parts of the city that date back to before amalgamation.

Council succeeded and struck an agreement, and part of that agreement resulted in Wards 1 through 8 in the so-called “old city” receiving equalization payments to offset paying artificially high taxes. Not everyone was happy, but it was a relatively constructive solution.

Fast forward, and we’re seeing how councillors plan to spend those “special capital levy” dollars. There are some surprises, some eyebrow-raisers and many common sense decisions. But there’s also a problem.

Traffic and pedestrian signals, sidewalk replacements, streetscape improvement, park improvements, road resurfacing and pedestrian walkways are all common uses for the money, which, for 2011 and 2012, amounts to approximately $1.26 million per ward.

Then there are the less common uses: Ward 4’s Sam Merulla wants to use the money to buy the notorious City Motor Hotel, with the innovative twist that once the site is redeveloped, some of the tax revenue generated will flow back into ward projects.

Ward 6’s Tom Jackson wants to buy the Barton Secondary School site to allow for more local control when the school becomes surplus. Creative to be sure, but should Ward 6 taxpayers be getting into the landlord business?

Ward 8’s Terry Whitehead has one of the more unusual plans — along with a number of infrastructure projects, he also wants to add $40,000 worth of golf simulation and instruction programming at the rebuilt Westmount Recreation Centre. (Source: Hamilton Spectator)