Things that bug me (1)

One thing that has bugged me for a while is how "Toronto" is mispronounced by non-Torontonians. This is even evident when listening to Canada's national radio station CBC Radio 1. This is likely because most of the radio announcers come from outside Toronto. So, this is how Toronto is pronounced:

Tor 'ronno

Note: the second "t" is silent
emphasis on the second syllable

Sometimes you will hear:

Tar 'ranna

but this is incorrect.

John's Egg Business

John was in the fertilized egg business. He had several hundred young layers (hens) called pullets and ten roosters to fertilize the eggs. He kept records, and any rooster not performing went into the soup pot and was replaced. This took a lot of time, so he bought some tiny bells and attached them to his roosters. Each bell had a different tone, so he could tell from a distance, which rooster was performing. Now, he could sit on the porch and fill out an efficiency report by just listening to the bells. John's favorite rooster, old Butch, was a very fine specimen, but this morning he noticed old Butch's bell hadn't rung at all! When he went to investigate, he saw the other roosters were busy chasing pullets, bells-a-ringing, but the pullets, hearing the roosters coming, could run for cover. To John's amazement, old Butch had his bell in his beak, so it couldn't ring. He'd sneak up on a pullet, do his job and walk on to the next one. John was so proud of old Butch, he entered him in the Renfrew County Fair and he became an overnight sensation among the judges. The result was that not only that they awarded old Butch the No Bell Piece Prize but they also awarded him the Pulletsurprise as well. Clearly old Butch was a politician in the making. Who else but a politician could figure out how to win two of the most highly coveted awards on our planet by being the best at sneaking up on the populace and screwing them when they weren't paying attention!

Vote carefully this year, the bells are not always audible!

The Original Insalata Caprese

In August, Sheryl and I made a visit to the Amalfi Coast and while there we made the trip over to the island of Capri. It is the vacation spot of choice for the rich and famous. We did a little shopping (Sheryl bought shoes, of course) and walked around the narrow streets.

We also stopped at a small outside restaurant for a light lunch. One of our favourite foods is insalata caprese which originated in Capri. We ordered this and it was fabulous. Nice ripe tomatoes and rich, ripe, soft buffalo mozzarella cheese, drizzled with balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Delicious!

Coalition Government? Why Not?

I know I'm grasping at straws now but I wonder if we should be thinking about a coalition government. I know this hasn't happened in Canada for a long time. The last Canadian coalition government was the Union Coalition under Prime Minister Robert Borden which lasted from 1917 to 1920. So this is a rare event but just think of the possibilities:

Jack Layton could be the Prime Minister;
Stephane Dion could be Finance Minister;
Elizabeth May could be Minister of the Environment;
Michael Ignatieff could be External Affairs;
Bob Rae could be Industry and Trade
Gilles Duceppe could be Minister of Defence and Senior Quebec lieutenant
Olivia Chow could be Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Culture and Heritage

Sounds better to me than a Harper Government.

Minority Government? Let's Hope so.

Although it is difficult to predict what's going to happen on October 14 when Canadians go to the polls, let's hope that Harper doesn't manage to squeak out a majority. If you think that some of the things that he is threatening to do if elected sound extreme - and they are - just think of all those things that he is not telling us about. Harper is somehow managing to muzzle his extreme right wing fringe so far, and he may be successful in doing this until the election. But just you wait until they are elected and see what scuttles out from under the carpet. We'll be lucky to have any funding for the arts. Or social programs for that matter.

Fortunately, the existence of the Bloc in Quebec and the fragmentation on the left, makes it very difficult for any party to get a majority. Let's hope that the Bloc and the Grits don't completely self-destruct. And let's hope that Elaine May and the Green Party are able to take a few seats this time around.

Minority governments are a great way to provide a little protection from our elected representatives and make sure they don't get carried away. Vote Liberal on October 14.

Park Lake 2007

This is a test post only.

Here is a photo of Steve Gallagher, fly fisherman extraordinaire with one of his many brook trout trophies.

Halloween Horror from Jim Flaherty

Last week Canadians were treated to another example of Conservative incompetence and ineptitude when Jim Flaherty announced the change in the taxation of income trusts. Despite promising less than a year ago not to do this, the Conservatives went ahead and announced that income trusts would be taxed, resulting in a 20% decline in the value of income trusts and a loss in value for investors of over $20 billion.

In any other developed country, someone who intentionally mislead investors in this way would be prosecuted by the relevant securities and exchange authorities. I can't think of any other developed nation where the government has had this kind of impact on the capital markets. It certainly makes Canada look like a third world country.

One can understand the government's concern about the increasing number of corporate conversions to income trusts and the resultant impact on government revenues. On the other hand, the government has recently announced that it appears to have an inexplicable increase in its tax revenues. Perhaps the reason for this is that investors have been paying tax on income trust distributions.

Even if one agrees that further conversions to income trusts are not in the best interests of Canadians, one shouldn't make changes in the tax regime in such a way that disrupts capital markets in such a major way. Normally, when such tax changes are implemented, they are implemented such that they only affect decisions going forward but don't result in retroactive clawbacks in value. If the government had simply enacted rules which would preclude any further trust conversions, it would not have had the same catastrophic impact on capital markets.

I sure hope that the Canadian voters punish these incompetent idiots in the next election.