Everything is gonna be ok

cuz we have a task force !!!!!!!!

A task force ... for what ..

To pressure the Libs into finding another use for Rideau Regional ??

NOPE

To find a new buyer for the Hershey plant ??

NOPE

It's gotta be something REALLY good, right ??

WRONG AGAIN !!!

Nope ... this one is to pressure Hershey into keeping The Chocolate Shoppe open ... does nobody else think this is the dumbest plan since..well .. since we elected the NDP to run the province !!!

I ask again who is going to come to Smiths Falls to buy a chocolate bar from a company that "cuts and run" to Mexico ??

Incredibly ... Councillor Chris Cummings acknowledges that this is unlikely to attract many tourists ... I ask: why waste the energy ???

Cummings said he realizes people aren't likely to flock to the town to buy a Hershey chocolate bar.

Instead, he said council wants to work with the company to create an "attractor" that could include such things as a virtual tour and other unique features in addition to a place to buy chocolate.

That model, he said, has worked elsewhere - notably in Hershey, Pennsylvania.

HEHE .. a virtual tour of the production that used to take place here ... that's a good one... He is joking, right ???? I fear not.

Here is an idea for a task force or four that might just help the Town ... instead of us looking like a bunch of ass kissing fools ....

1. Pressure the govt to find an alternative use for RRC.

2. Find another buyer for the factory ( Did they not consider that having the shop open might just discourage others ... just a thought.)

3. Get a light rail link to Ottawa

4. Pressure the government to supply incentives for industrial development ... similar to what they did for Toyota in Woodstock ???

Yep, this proves it ... they just don't get it !

Hillier promises to toe the line ...

So says he.

I'll reserve judgement until October. That is the point. First, before you can accomplish anything.... the team has to get elected.

Take a look at the You Tube link I gave in the last Randy post. 23 seconds..... 23 seconds to completely blow the campaign that cost countless thousands of hours and millions of $. The man has provided some wonderful sound bites in the past... I have no reason to believe that will stop. Just wait until the mud starts slinging in the campaign... George will be throwing the cow patties left, right and center... how in the world will Randy resist the urge... and give him exactly what they want... "they" being the Libs ... and who could blame them ... the media.

You can be sure ...he'll be making headlines in Toronto ... in fact, he is today. Already. Yikes.

While Hillier vowed to "continue to protest against injustice" if elected, the long-time maverick promised to toe the party line and "be in harmony" with the Tories.


Ya, Right.

Good luck, John.

Change at the top ..

of OPSEU ...

And some still think they are saving Rideau Regional ! Umm ... I don't know where they have been.. but it's just about a done deal ... Go take a look around out there.

This region suffered a great deal” under Casselman, Smith said.

Lundy works at the Rideau Regional Centre in Smiths Falls, which is scheduled to close. He said the concerns of workers at the centre were virtually unheard by Casselman.

With Thomas in charge, Lundy said he expects the union to fight the closure.

Here's a hint ... pressure the government to find another use for the facility ... that might save some jobs. Focusing your energy on something that's done is .. well.. a waste of said energy.

RELATED:No surprise here ... the union hates the Tories:

Formalizing ties with the NDP would have been “a step forward,” Rapaport believes.

“The parties aren’t all the same,” he said. “Their roots, their orientations … ideologically, I think we’re a lot closer to the NDP.”

“We absolutely oppose the Tories. We know where they took us,” Ryan said.

“I would put it to Smokey that he would find out very quickly where the Tories [will go] because there was no union that suffered more [during the Harris regime] than OPSEU.”

Ummm.... it looks to me like the OPSEU members suffering most are those souls who are about to lose their jobs at RRC ... aren't the Libs in power ???

Still in charge ...

Fallout from Randy Hillier's nomination on the weekend has started already.

"Health Minister George Smitherman, who is also deputy premier, predicted Monday that Conservative Leader John Tory would come to regret his decision to allow Hillier's nomination as a PC candidate."

Even the Lib's are warning him ....

G-string George is still harping on some back-room deal that John Tory supposedly made for Hillier's nomination ... One would have to ask: Why ??? Hillier is a liability, not an asset.

"I think that it was a deal with the devil,'' Smitherman told reporters.

"How else can one explain why Mr. John Tory, this modern remake of the centrist Conservative Party, would have the most divisive candidate nominated by a political party in some time?''

"(Hillier) is a hurt machine. Every time he opens his mouth it's to divide up Ontario and to demonstrate some way in which he's distinct from the rest of us.''

I'm just afraid what might just come out of that yap come late September .... and kill John Tory's chance of winning ...

Tory is still in control !

So glad to hear JT asserting control over the party .. After reading some of the stuff on freedominion you would think he won the leadership Saturday.

"He has said he will support that and be a good team member and follow my lead in terms of how we express our views,'' said Tory.

"I welcome the diversity as a means of making sure we can represent the different points of view across the province, but Mr. Hillier's not going to change me. The only deal we have is he signed on to support my leadership and support the policies of the party, which I enunciate, not him.''

Dancin' in the Streets

I told them not to do it ... and I gave them the best possible reason I could think of not to.

THEY DIDN'T LISTEN !!!

Randy is the new LFLA candidate.

Guess who broke the news online ...... You got it, the Libs.

Return to Harris Era, Ontario Conservatives nominate radical candidate

"Randy Hillier opposes safe meat and clean drinking water standards"


John Tory's job just got a whole lot harder.

Mark my words.

Disaster in the campaign.

Just you wait and see ....

Remember this ??



It sunk him.

Maybe they don't get it ...

Hey Bob ... Maybe you were right !

In the post above, I quoted Bob Runciman saying:

"People aren't really grasping the gravity of the situation yet I don't think and what it means for the future," he said.

I didn't think there was anyone who didn't get what kind of future Smiths Falls has in store, barring some kind of drastic measure.

I'm starting to think Smiths Falls Town Council doesn't get it. How else would you explain the story found on page 14 of this week's Record News ...

"Group home zoning amendment doesn't see much support around at council table"

Seems The Mills Community Support Corporation purchased a home in Town to house some discharged souls from Rideau Regional Center. It would also seem that at the time The Mills were unaware of a stupid by-law in Town that does not allow for two group homes within 300 m... and the new home sits just inside of that 300 m "buffer zone" (in this context ...what's that ??).

The Director of Planning for the Town stated that it would be "precedent setting for council to consider" allowing the group home to proceed in this location....

Ummmm ... did they not consider that the Town was in some pretty unprecedented times ... and that some unconventional thinking might be in order to prevent the "impending doom" facing the Town ???

Why anyone would be opposed to a group home of this variety is beyond me ... go ask a neighbour of one of these facilities what his or her personal experience has been ... I'll put money on a bet that you will get a favorable response.... Opposition to a group home full of troubled youths I understand ... this I do not.

Consider also that the Town is giving up somewhere in the neighbourhood of 10 or 15 FTE good-paying jobs in the process ... jobs that the Town can ill afford to give up.

Speaking of giving up ... The Mills has no interest in fighting a negative decision from the Town ... they state they will "sell the home rather than engage in an exercise that has no support from the Town of Smiths Falls". Who could blame them ???

I really don't get the Town's stance on this... unless of course it's rooted in discr ..... NA.... it wouldn't be that, would it ???

California backlash ?

Sadly ... some people just don't have the courage of their convictions... from the Modesto Bee

...said she hasn't decided whether she'll stop eating Hershey products, partly because she's a confirmed choco-holic.

"I really feel bad for the workers, and I'd hate to be in their shoes," she said.

"It's been here a long time, and it's sad," said Howard, 30. "But I'll buy everything the same way."

Sooo happy to hear you feel bad .. so bad you won't give up ONE brand of chocolate bar ??? WOW.

"When I think about the water in Mexico, I wonder about the chocolate," she said.

Ummm.. you should wonder ... it would take me all night to write what Neo gets across in a few short words ... so i'll just quote him:

"moving to mexico.. . the land of "the big bite"... where every significant transaction yields someone a bribe... means that consumer safety just dropped right off the radar.

i'll buy my chocolate here in canada... and i'll sleep easier at nights."

Smiths Falls got lots of mentions with this latest closure (around 60 separate news releases) ... from the looks of this article, the Town is still holding on to some pipe dream ... or are they talking about The Chocolate Shoppe ???

"We've recently heard that Hershey's decision is final," said Elaine Mallory, planning and administrative director for Smiths Falls. "But our hope is that they'll have a continued presence here."

A park for Montague ..

Clive will post soon on this ...

The buck stops with Lenny....

By the sound of this editorial, I was right on the money when I said Oakdale was much like Smiths Falls ... check this out .. what a way to start ! These are my favorite parts .. reading the whole thing is worthwhile.

It's always easy to detest the greedy little bean counter CEO who closes a plant.

While the employees, in some cases, will lose the only job they've ever known, he's telling the rest of the world that the Great American Chocolate Bar can and will be made more cheaply in Mexico.

And while Hershey — as much a part of Oakdale's fabric as its cowboy culture — leaves a huge void in the community, its public relations folks want you to know they'll be ramping up the Hershey Track & Field meet for the kids. Sweet.

Consequently, there is nothing Lenny or anyone else at Hershey can do to spin this as anything but corporate pocket-lining, stock-boosting, Wall Street-pandering greed.

....he'll be getting richer and they'll lose their paychecks. He's the guy making the decisions and the millions, and with it comes any well-deserved animosity.

Morning reflections ...

Captured at sunrise this morning in Kemptville