Recap of Candidates Debate in Kohler

It has been five months since my last entry because I have been too busy with the kids, house, job and school. However, elections always seem to warm up to write something. I attended last nights debate for the Federal election in Kohler because I had no clue who to vote for.

I will sum it all up by candidate:

1)Steven Elgersma: I always love Mr. Elgersma as he agrees with pretty much everything that other candidates have said before he is allowed to speak. I think his view is narrow minded but needs to be expressed. He is running for the Christian heritage Party.

2) Diane Finley: Incumbent and not so well liked at the moment. She had a lot of information available because she is in government. That did not stop her from blaming the other parties for past screw-ups. She got visibly irritated as the night went on but was able to tell us what a Conservative government is proposing and has committed to. No real action on the Caledonia issue though.

3) Dr. Eric Hoskins:I liked him as speaker, is well mannered seems genuinly concerned and is not afraid to point out his short comings. However, he is, just like Diane, blaming the other party for many things. He represents the Liberals.

4) stefana Johnston: The Green Party. Needs to be represented, but seems to have an unrealistic view on national politics. Lots of big plans but no cost provided for many of these programs. It would seem that our life would become quite expensive as we are being punished for being consumers with a carbon footprint. She is a good speaker, but I would prefer to send someone a bit younger to Ottawa as I got the impression she was a bit tired.

5) Gary McHale: The Independent. He has been making himself heard over the last couple of years and has said himself that he is not afraid of intimidation. He is a good speaker, seemed to have knowledge of all the issues that were discussed and was eager to point out the bickering between the Conservatives and the Liberals. However, he really did not provide an answer either to the questions asked. He seemed to blame everybody else.

6) Ian Nichols: Also a good speaker, but needed a lot of reference from the NDP handbook (platform). Seemed to have some short-sighted answers to some intricate questions.

I wish them all good luck and I was able to narrow down my choice to 2 instead of 6. I need to do a bit more thinking. I tend to vote for the person that is the best person to represent us rather than for a party.

Highway 6 Blockade

In case people did not know; the highway 6 by-pass around Caledonia has once again been blocked by Native protesters. This is in response to the arrest of Sean Brant (a well-known Native protester) in Desoronto. This person has finally been arrested and should be held accountable for his actions. I have no problem that people are protesting against his arrest, but I do think the people protesting the arrest should make their way to Queen’s Park where most of the protest usually take place.

I do not believe it is fair to anyone that uses the by-pass around Caledonia to be affected by a protest. Clearly, the protest is against the OPP and thus the Province of Ontario. Therefor the protest should take place at Queen’s Park.

I have not been affected by all this, but it brings back bad memories in a town where the original problem of a landclaim has not been resolved yet. It could potentially rekindle the situation as it was a year ago, when anger and frustration were running high. Many of the protests with regards to the landclaim took place at Queen’s Park or in areas of town that would not impact (or minimally) the flow of traffic.

Protests are sometimes necessary but make sure you pick the right location. 

HDI

The creation of the HDI or Haudenosonee Development Institute could have been positive but I think that this is just a method to obtain funds from developers, who already have received aproval from the government, to fund projects on the Six Nations reserve. It looks to me that this is some kind of lease agreement as it is my understanding that the HDI does not charge a one-time fee. Forcing developers to pay this fee plus a “donation” seems to be a form of blackmail to me. Someone please correct me if I am wrong!

I do think that the branching out of the HDI into Hamilton (Ancaster Fair has encountered them as they are preparing to build a new location) is good news. I hope that they will continue to do this in other communities and hopefully the Province and Feds will wake up and do something about it. HDI could work as a consulting institiute but not in its present form.

 

People Unite!

Haldimand is shut out of the $450 million of Provincial money. Wow! I am really getting anoyed by the treatment this County is receiving from both the Province and the Feds. Apparently it is possible to receive Provincial money to build a new rec centre, but when Haldimand County wants to upgrade waste water infrastructure in Hagersville to increase capacity and thus attract more business to the area, it all of a sudden seems to be impossible to get hard needed dollars for that! The County is only looking for $8.4 million for that project!

Furthermore, there was some money available from the Feds to replace cast iron water mains in Dunnville, a photo-op was set up and a cheque for $1.265 million was handed over by our MP Diane Finley, but now it has become clear that that money was not even formally approved.

What is the cause from all this? Does it have to do with the internal problems our council ha(s)d in order to function as a cohesive unit? Is it because the continuing problems in Caledonia? Is it because the County is looking for compensation in a recovery program? Is it because there are several community groups working on their own agenda and creating a blurry picture of what is best for Haldimand County? It may be a bit of everything at this point.

Maybe the Province and the Feds will not take us serious because of these issues and figure that there are only 45.000 people to please in the area. I think our council has decided to unite (except for councilor Dalimonte!) and I think the residents should unite as well behind their council! (I still do not like the way they work together).It is time to resolve the outstanding issues.

The Way I See It

I do not wish to offend anyone and I am trying to give an objective opinion of the situation with regards to land claims. After 2 years of negotiating the Federal government came up with a figure of 26 million to settle an old claim. After deliberation on Six Nations it was deemed not enough and thus rejected. Six Nations counter offer was 1 billion!? Acrued interest was to be blamed for this over-inflated figure.

This is what I have noticed over the last 2 years. Negotiators for either the Province or the Feds are people that are closely tied to the party that is currently in power. These people have been handed a cushy contract job that pays really, really well! If I were to be paid 1200 dollars a day for negotiating, why on earth would I want to resolve the issue as soon as possible, I would put myself out of a job that pays over 6000 dollars a week!

Same thing goes for Six Nations negotiators. After two years they reject, what seems to be a reasonable offer, although first offers tend to be on the low end of the scale, and counter with a number that no one in their right mind would agree to. Negotiations seem to be back at square one. There seems to be no drive from either side of the bargaining table to resolve land claim issues.

This shows that the current system for land claim settlements does not work. No one seems to be motivated to settle the dispute and the people of Haldimand County are suffering and kept in the dark. The only thing we now know, and that has not been disputed by Six Nations as far as I know, is that the claim to the Douglas Creek Estates is not valid. Can someone tell me why there are still flags and people there that are not supposed to be there? 

Correction

I just want to clarify my position with regards to our local council. I read on Donna’s blog (haldimandsunheardvoice) that some people thought that I had switched my position with regards to my views of council.

I want to point out that I made a comment that Council does care about Haldimand County, but that does not necessarily mean that I approve all their actions. The comment on Donna’s blog about council not giving a damn was a little to extreme for my liking and I felt I needed to defend our council with that respect. To simply assume that I have flip-flopped on my views of council are dead wrong. Just read my previous entry!

To say that I wanted to appeal to potential voters with regards to a potential by-election are also not true. This is not a thought that crossed my mind. The only reason I mentioned that I MAY run again in a potential by-election in Ward 2 is because: A) it was relatively close to the last Municipal election we had and B) I was asked by several people to run again.

I hope this will clear some of the confusion.

Where does my money go?

As some people may know, the list of the “richest” County employees was released earlier in the week and it showed that we have 10 people making over 100,000 dollars a year. It was pointed out by a fellow blogger that some of these individuals received an increase of about 20% in one year! That is a rediculous amount of money to throw around when the County seems to be in such dire need of fiscal responsibility. Everything is getting more expensive, infrastructure is getting older and needs to be replaced sooner rather than later. I only need to mention the bridges and the watermains and sewers.

I am happy (I am being sarcastic) to see that our council has chosen to take the responsible approach by allowing 28,000 dollar raises and squeeze the residents a bit more to make up that amount of cash. It doesn’t look like a lot of money in a municipal budget, but when revenue is down and almost no development is happening, is it really a reponsible move to hand out large salary increases. I tend to buckle down if I am going through hard times, not increase my spending.

It is actually a kick in the teeth to read in the same paper the headline news of sky rocketing water and sewer increases. These rates already went up by about 15% in the last three years, if I am not mistaken. There comes a point where people in Haldimand County will make the same decision like the people who have lived in Binbrook for a long time. Let’s sell the house and get the hell out of the area, becasue we can no longer afford to live there.

I am soo happy I have a well and a septic bed! At least one bright light in the gloomy distance.

Change of Attitude

I really don’t know where this entry is gonna go, but I gained some inspiration with regards to a previous posting. I still believe our councillors care about the County. I also think that there should be some serious changes within the organization of the County. I specifically would like to mention two points:

1) There seems to be a  high turnover with regards to employees at the county, specifically at the management level. There have been some drastic changes in the last year and I wonder if this has to do with how the County is operating. Has their job become too demanding or were their voices not heard by the CAO, upper management and council? Maybe they just got more money offered from somewhere else.

2) Thank God there are a new CAO and treasurer in town and they will do things differently from their predecessors. I think it is now time to replace Karen General as I get the impression that she is pulling the strings too much. She has been there for a long time and it is quit possible that her working methods and ideas have bocome somewhat stale. It is time to obtain a fresh approach, but how do you get rid of her?

These two concerns will affect the effectiveness of our council, and let’s face it, they can do a whole lot better!   

Just Wondering

The County has hired a consultant to come up with options with regards to the arenas in Dunnville and CAyuga. They are both about 60 years old and need significant investment or replaced all together.

I wonder if the County really needed to spend the 50 or 75,000 dollars to come up with some options. I think people form the community are more than willing to sit around the table with representatives from council and the appropriate departments within Haldimand County.

I am sure that these people could come up with the same ideas that the consultant came up with. This is such an obvious issue within these communities that it seems to be a waste of money to have an outsider tell these people what they need!

Upgrading a 60 year old arena to current standards is expensive and a waste of money as you still have a 60 year old arena in the end. Would you spend a ton of money on that old stereo to keep it running, or would you spend a little more and get the latest and greatest? I don’t need a consultant for that!

Replacing two arenas with a twinpad. I like that idea, but in which community is it gonna go? People from Dunnville don’t want to drive to Cayuga and vice versa! I don’t need a consultant for that.

I think a group of community members can accomplish the same thing. Also, I think it is important to see what money is available from the different levels of government. That should give you a ball park idea that you can work with.

Ultimately it comes down to this; It is EXTRA work for our councillors and County staff to be involved themselves in the consulting process. I think we could have saved 50 or 75,000 dollars (it could most likely be more!) and put it towards the new arenas.

I would like an arena with more than one purpose, like curling, indoor soccer, meeting rooms etc. 

Our Councillors Do Give A Damn

This is a comment with regards to a posting that can be found at Haldimands Unheard Voice http://haldimandsunheardvoice.blogspot.com (see link in my blogroll). Donna, who runs the site, is obviously disgruntled with our local council because they seem to disregard e-mails from her and the Mayor with regards to a petition that deals with the fair share of the gas tax. Haldimand County does not get anything and she created an online petition to spread the word and hopefully make a change. http://www.petitionsonline.com/donnap/petition.html

She is arguing that our local council does not care about this issue or many of the other ones that are brought to the surface by concerned residents. I think there are several reasons, but I would not say that they don’t care at all! It would be impossible for the County to function and run a balanced budget, and even save something for the future, if our councillors would not give a damn.

It is all about priorities. They are in the middle of a budget and they all have a genuine concern about the state of current residential, commercial and industrial development in Haldimand County. If there is no growth or steady stream of development, it will affect our property taxes. This is what will hit everone in the County; their wallet! Further more, our councillors have genuine interests in revitalizing downtown areas of Dunnville, Caledonia, Hagersville, Cayuga etc. by upgrading sewers and water mains, as well as beautifying the shopping districts because, again, taxpayers will notice it in their wallet if there is no new development, if the County is unable to support new development due to a lack of water and waste water capacity and if there is a lack of tourists!

I think our councillors do care, but they have set their priorities. Also, I don’t think that Donna has any supporters on council, except for our Mayor. I am not trying to put anyone down or in their place, but this is how I see it!