Page Turners of 2024…so far

In 2023 I set a goal of reading 30 books, I met and exceeded that by reading 31.  I set the same target for this year.  As I reach the one third mark of the year how am I doing?  Well, I’ve completed 12 books and started reading “The Next Age of Uncertainty” by Former Governor of the Bank of Canada, Stephen Poloz, it’s my 13^th read of the year.  I am two books ahead of my goal.  Here is quick look at those 12 books.

As I look back to the past few months of reading, I’ll bunch a few books together, the first, the political and historical  books, here are three books: The Duel, Steve Paikin’s John Turner and the Biography of Senator Marie Charrette-Poulin.  

Of these, “The Duel” was my favourite.  It highlights how successive governments can work together and how they don’t.  From the Liberal PM Louis St. Laurent to Conservative Diefenbaker and Liberal Lester Pearson, there are threads to link each of the governments.  Author John Ibbitson take us from the earliest of Canada’s 13^th and 14^th Prime Ministers.  Here is a Steve Paikin interviewing the author on the TVO show The Agenda, https://www.tvo.org/video/the-making-of-modern-canada.

I really enjoyed this, the playing off of each PM was fascinating.  What would a Harper vs. Trudeau version of this look like?  

Speaking of Paikin he does a good job of telling the life story of another Prime Minister in John Turner in An Intimate Biography of Canada’s 17^th Prime Minister.  Turner was a victim of circumstance of Pierre Trudeau coming out of Lester Pearson’s shadow in the Liberal leadership of 1968.  Those years of the late 60’s and early 70’s were golden years to be a Liberal in Canada.  There were many liberal bright minds who all could have served as PM after Pearson.  Turner had to wait until both Trudeau Sr. and Jean Chretien served to take his turn as PM. In this account of Turner’s life, we learn more about the Turner-Mulroney battles on Free Trade, elections, and the debates. We also read of his loyalty to the party and previous leader, even though it may have cost him the election in1984.

In “She Dares to Succeed: A Biography of the Honourable Marie-P Charrette-Poulin”, Fred Langan shares the story of a Senator and her rise through self-determination, hard work, kindness, and the appreciation of others.  I’ve known the Senator for a few years but got to ‘know’ Marie through this book;  Her trials, tribulations, and successes personally, professionally, and politically send a message that to succeed you must persevere and push on in what you believe.  On personal note, some of the accusation made of the Senator by the government cause me extreme discomfort and disappointment and disillusionment. 

The next stack of books would be under ‘autobiographies’, Here I have Bernie Taupin’s Scattershot: Life, Music, Elton and Me;   Draft Day: How Hockey Teams Pick Winners or get Left Behind by former NHL GM Doug MacLean and Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator  of Nike by Phil Knight.  

I picked up Draft Day after hearing him on the podcast “The Steve Warne Project”.  Steve Warne is an Ottawa broadcaster most known for his time on TSN1200.  It was a good read and the behind the scenes in hockey was fascinating to read.   A must for the hockey fan, especially while playoff are taking place.

Shoe Dog was recommended to me, and from the start this memoir read like a movie about a man (Phil Knight) with a dream and not allowing any country, person or other shoe stop him from what he truly believed in.  The determination of Knight was undeniable from the moment he realised what he was meant to do.  If you’ve never believed that hard work brings good luck and good luck comes to those that work hard, you must read Shoe Dog.  This will be one of my top reads of the year.

I wondered when, after Elton John published “Me” I might be able to read Bernie Taupin’s take on the rise the two of them experienced. Scattershot: Life, Music, Elton and Me takes us behind the glamour of the 70’s and into a life fans of Elton never knew.  Taupin’s ride into fame not unlike Elton’s, each had demons they fought through.  Looking at life from backstage, as Taupin did was a unique look at the learning, the work, the songs, the fame, the loves he experiences.  

His tale seemed a bit darker and that was entirely expected as Taupin was the ‘writer’ of the pair and he use of words was more descriptive, for the better days and the bad.  I felt this was a realistic telling of what being a star was really like in the 70’s and 80’s with the booze, drugs and the life of a rock star.  Like Shoe Dog, this is top shelf book for my books of 2024.

Alright, in a few words here are my thoughts of the other six books I’ve read so far this year.

Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann, like Shoe Dog is the story of true-life events and is the basis for the heralded move of the same name.  Killers of the Flower Moon tells the story of the deaths members of the Osage nation in Oklahoma who became rich in the early days of oil in America.  The investigations of the US Marshall into the killings are the early days the FBI.  Read this book and then watch the movie.

Signal Moon (Kate Quinn) and A Very English Murder (Verity Bright) are period mysteries that were enjoyable.

Simple Lies another from David Baldacci I’ll keep reading his books as long as they remain page turners.

Librarianist from Canadian author Patrick deWitt, a story of…wait for it, Bob Comet, a Librarian .  I wish there would have been a turning point somewhere in the story.  Even the greatest surprise in the story didn’t affect the life of Bob.  Maybe the idea of The Librarianist is some lives just don’t have exceptional turning points.  I will give this to The Librarianist,  is a well written and I always felt the need to carry on until the end.

Murder Most Royal (Her Majesty the Queen Investigates #3) by S.J. Bennett is the third in a series and was published after the death of the Queen.  I’ve groewn fond of this series and look forward to the fourth “Death in Diamonds” reaching Canada soon as Bennett takes the storyline back to 1957 and the early years of her reign.

Now back to reading book 13, “The Next Age of Uncertainty” by Stephen Poloz.

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Thank you for reading this post; to catch all my posts and be notified as new ones come up, please follow me on WordPress.  I can be found on X @robertdekker & @RedHrtBlueSign and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/rob.dekker.54.  If you prefer email, please contact me at rdmedia@bell.net.

Playing Dominos in Ottawa Centre

A little news scoop by the Kitchissippi Times Editor Charlie Senack on March 14^th has created a game of political dominos in Ottawa Centre.  Senack reported that Ottawa Centre NDP MPP Joel Harden filed his papers to run as the Federal NDP candidate for Ottawa Centre in the next federal election now expected to be October 27, 2025 following the tabling of C-65 an Act to amend the Elections Act.   Here’s a link to the scoop, https://kitchissippi.com/2024/03/14/joel-harden-submits-papers-to-run-federally-for-the-ndp-in-ottawa-centre/.

Photo by Ron Lach on Pexels.com

This one little news scoop may have every party at every level in the Parliamentary Precinct riding of Ottawa Centre scrabbling; dominos are going to fall. 

Domino #1 Joel Harden does win the nomination for the federal campaign expected in 2025.  What becomes of his role in Queens Park, does Stay on as MPP until the federal election.  To date Harden has not spoken publicly about running federally, he won’t do that until the NDP accepts his papers and allows him to seek the federal NDP Nod. At that time he’ll be forced to answer why he is making the jump from Queen’s Park.  

Considering he’ll want as much time to campaign as possible, the latest he remains as MPP could be the summer of 2025.  Voters in Ottawa Centre will not support their MPP campaigning to be their MP.  One last consideration here is Harden’s future as the MPP if he does not win the Federal NDP nomination; does he walk away from Queen’s Park before the 2026 Ontario General Election?

Domino #2 We might assume there are not others interested in battling for the federal NDP nomination, but we cannot think former Somerset Ward Councillor Catherine McKenney will not throw their hat into the ring.  One very strong argument for McKenney to take the NDP nomination is the ties they had to Ed Broadbent, Ed and Catherine worked very closely together when Mr. Broadbent was the Ottawa Centre MP.  McKenney will have closer ties to the National wing of the party than Harden will.  

Domino #3 Considering Harden does win the nomination for the federal election, McKenney will be there for the provincial by-election that will come when Harden resigns his provincial seat, but McKenney will have to get the nomination first.

Domino #4 Following up on Domino #3, with Harden’s provincial seat up for grabs this will be a hard-fought nomination battle with not only Catherine McKenney, but Capital Ward Councillor Shawn Menard likely to be strongly urged to seek this nomination.  This has the potential to set up some sort of decision for the City of Ottawa if Menard succeeds provincially as the next City of Ottawa elections are not due until 2026 and the Capital Ward seat at the Council Table could be vacant.

Domino #5 Yasir Naqvi, the current MP for Ottawa Centre has faced Joel Harden before.  In 2018 Naqvi was a popular local MPP running for a party with an unpopular leader and Premier.  Joel Harden prevailed, now Harden is seeking a potential second chance at running against Naqvi as an incumbent.  In 2025, Naqvi will seek a second re-election federally in the riding. As everything sits now (in 2024) Naqvi is a popular MP running for a party with an unpopular Prime Minister.

Domino #6 The Ontario Liberal Party will have to move up their calendar for a provincial candidate.  With either McKenney or Menard on the orange sign though, the Ontario Liberals will still be going up against the Ontario Juggernaut of the NDP.  I say that because I’m not convinced Harden is as endeared to the Federal NDP membership to the same level McKenney night be.  The wildcards for the Ontario Liberals are Liberal Leader Crombie and NDP Ontario Opposition Leader Marit Stiles; The performance of these two leaders will play into the outcome of any Provincial By-Election, by that I mean whoever stumbles first or worst will affect their local candidate. The newly elected Executive of the Ottawa Centre Liberal Provincial Association should have this at the top of their “to do” list.

Dominos #7 to ?? Go to the Federal and Provincial Political Parties that need to take advantage of the shake-up that is could be taking place in Ottawa Centre.  The Ottawa Centre Conservatives have been in a search for a candidate for months, but now the potential for an Ontario by-election means the Ontario PC Party is also now looking for a candidate as will the Greens of Canada and Ontario.  

This one little scoop has caused so much consideration in one riding.  I have either run or managed a campaign for the Ontario PC’s in Ottawa Centre since 2011, the type of confusion that could be coming in the electoral district means every party has a shot at winning.

Let the dominos fall as they may.

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Thank you for reading this post; to catch all my posts and be notified as new ones come up, please follow me on WordPress.  I can be found on X @robertdekker & @RedHrtBlueSign and on Facebook athttps://www.facebook.com/rob.dekker.54.  If you prefer email, please contact me at rdmedia@bell.net.

Nick Vandergragt: A voice silenced (too soon) but forever remembered

In the 4^th week of January, Nick Vandergragt, surrounded by his wife, children and grandchildren took his last breath in Victoria BC.  It was a long journey to get here and there was so much optimism that his death would not be the outcome.  Nick’s death was the result of a freak fall while working on his boat, Summersong, the boat that was to take him and Alison on their next worldly adventures.  Oh the stories that we would have read if Nick and Alison had been away at sea. 

Like many in Ottawa, we knew Nick as “Nick at Night”, talking politics and current affairs on CFRA.  I met Nick on a couple of occasions, both were while I was running for provincial office.  Unlike now, CFRA once had local hosts that talked to local people who wanted to discuss local issues.  During campaigns he welcomed all candidates of all parties to sit with him and have their 15 minutes on-air.  I had my on airtime with Nick during the 2011 Ontario General Election.  Over his time on CFRA he must have interviewed hundreds of municipal, provincial, and federal candidates.

CFRA at the time Nick and other locals were on air was a meeting place to talk local news, politics and share opinions.  He was famously known as the host of Nick at Night and Sunnyside Nick. As CFRA became more of a Bell Media station, evenings became more of a satellite station for radio shows and sports, the local voices were silenced.  

After CFRA, Nick went online and continued his on-air presence with the Nick and Joe Show, Joseph Ben-Ami co-hosted with Nick.  The loss of local voices on-air has a direct link to the slow decline of radio across the country.  I am sure if he were here today he would have a lot to say about the recent losses of great radio personalities in Ottawa and across the nation.

I only knew Nick from the edge of his life, so my remembrances are few.  I reached out to a few people I know knew Nick much better than I and asked for their stories and remembrances of Nick.  Here they are.

Beth Trudeau

I first talked to Nick on CFRA when he was Nick at Night on Friday nights on CFRA radio.  His Conservative values and respect of veterans was a major attraction.  He always had a historical story or a joke to tell.  He continued this when he became Sunday morning Sunnyside Nick.  

I think I first met him in person at a Free-Thinking event that was regularly held at the National Archives.  It was thanks to Nick that many groups fighting for Canadian rights and freedoms, were given a voice.  In return, Nick was asked to speak at events such as Ontario Landowner meetings and even Emceed the Canadians for Language Fairness annual St. Patrick’s Day brunch, several times.  He was very much a friend of mine and a champion of those fighting for our God-given rights and freedoms.  

He will be sorely missed.  May he rest in peace.  

Debbie Jodoin

When meeting Nick you were immediately met with man of understanding, curiosity, warmth, and compassion. 

He had wonderful voice and mind for Talk radio. There was not a subject he didn’t take on and those who listened to his show felt they were listened to and their issues addressed . Even if you disagreed, he was still open to hear your side.

I was fortunate to get to know Nick, his beautiful wife Alison, and children. Exploring their farm and life meant much to me and others that were fortunate to be welcomed to their home . Nick has gone on his journey alone but will always be remembered 

Ron Barr

I got to know Nick through my association with the Greater Ottawa Truckers Association and my political advocacy that aligned with this true patriot. Recently, I was able to help Nick and Alison wrap up matters in Eastern Ontario so they could set sail into retirement, but unfortunately, it didn’t go as planned. God bless this unique soul; he gave so much and expected so little!

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Over the Family Day weekend the Funeral Mass for Nick was held in Killaloe Ontario, about 2 hours west of Ottawa,  The church in Killaloe was filled with friends new and old from across Canada, his radio days, his navy days, as they shared their sadness with Nick’s family.  He touched so many people and they all came out for one final goodbye.  

“A fair wind, a following sea”

Photos courtesy of Danno Saunt

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Thank you for reading this post; to catch all my posts and be notified as new ones come up, please follow me on WordPress.  I can be found on X @robertdekker & @RedHrtBlueSign and on Facebook athttps://www.facebook.com/rob.dekker.54.  If you prefer email, please contact me at rdmedia@bell.net.

Ring in the New Council

There is a lot that’s new in the Ottawa City Council that was sworn in this week.

There is a new Mayor, there are 10 new councillors, 1 councillor returning after leaving council in 2014, 13 councillors were re-elected, there is a new Ward (Barrhaven East, with Jan Harder retiring it looks like they needed two wards and two councillors to replace her).  (Photo from @_marksutcliffe Instagram)

Due to the boundary review there are a whole slew of name changes to wards.  For this reason alone I hope that the city decides to drop the ward numbers completely and adopt the ward names as their identifier, continuing to use both is very confusing and causes headaches when you stop to try and figure it all out (don’t get me going on School Trustee Zones!).

There hasn’t been this amount of turnaround and change at the city council table since amalgamation in 2001.

By the end of the last term of council it was clear that the club atmosphere around the table had to end.  There was much noise made of how decisions would be made based on which club and what appointments were made.  The new council can break the mould and start anew with consensus building and collaboration as a means to serve the City of Ottawa.

I will be looking for how the returning half of council interacts with the new half of council and how the councillors line up on the issues.  I’m also interested to see if Mayor Sutcliffe’s open-door policy to all councillors will work.  This will depend on how he staffs up his office, will he find the person who can be welcoming and open to the councillors while being true to the Mayor’s vision as his Council Liaison?  Where will the Mayor bend to have that consensus agenda at City Hall?

I have great hope that council will get together under common themes of working for the citizens, delivering core services, improving the social umbrella, and increasing the inventory of affordable housing to get families out of shelters and city run motels into rental properties that take the burden off the city for maintaining properties.  The campaign brought many issues to the forefront.  These include “Rural vs. Suburban vs. Urban”, a climate policy that works for everyone and where to put and how to build housing.  

The three big issues for the Mayor and Council to address immediately are the 2023 budget; Catherine MacKenney was right when she campaigned on retooling a tired and outdate budget process.  Making sure Phase Two LRT isn’t launched in the same manner of Phase One and how to approach a Phase Three are key to making the city move and grow economically.  

Last, but just as important is the relationship between the Mayor, the Ottawa Police Services Board and the new Chief, Eric Stubbs who began his term as the Chief of the OPS on November 17^th.  Whoever Sutcliffe names as the Chair of the Police Services Board will be a key instrument in Stubbs having a successful run as Chief.  Sutcliffe needs to decide if he puts a re-elected councillor in that role or a newby.  My suggestion would be to place Steve Desroches in that position.  He is back at council after a few years away; he has council experience but has had a view of the OPS as a resident.  Having a OPSB Chair looking at the OPS from both sides would be beneficial to Sutcliffe and the City.  

With that, let’s ring in the new council and let the fun begin!

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Thank you for reading this post; to catch all my posts and be notified as new ones come up, please follow me on WordPress.  I can be found on Twitter @robertdekker & @RedHrtBlueSign and on Facebook athttps://www.facebook.com/rob.dekker.54.  If you prefer email, please contact me at rdmedia@bell.net. 

Dominos

It all started Friday morning and by that evening the dominos started to fall in place. That first domino was the expected (in my mind) announcement from Mayor Jim Watson of stepping away from the mayor’s office and choosing not to run in next fall’s Ottawa elections.  Now another from the class of 2010 (https://redheartbluesign.wordpress.com/2021/11/20/ottawa-city-council-class-of-2010/)  is stepping aside leading the next council to be one of the greatest transitions around the council table.

Photo by cottonbro on Pexels.com

This announcement, within hours of it being public, has started the run for the mayor’s chain.  Councilors Diane Deans (Gloucester-Southgate) and Catherine McKenney (Somerset Ward) have announced that they will run to replace Watson.  Two more open wards lead me to suspect that this election will truly lead to a major transition at City Hall.  Councilors Moffatt and Harder previously announced their retirement from council; with two more council seats and the mayors chair now open, Ottawa is only a few strong challenges and a couple more similar announcements from sitting councilors from the largest shift in Ottawa’s municipal political scene.

Deans and McKenney were followed a few hours later with a tweet from former mayor Bob Chiarelli stating, ‘I am in as candidate for mayor’.  Ottawa area MPP Lisa MacLeod and former Ottawa Centre MP Catherine McKenna have taken their names off the list as candidates.  There will be a few others considering options including Rideau-Vanier Councilor Fleury who has stated he is thinking about it. 

Nominations open on May 2^nd, between now and then a lot can happen.  Those looking to fill the councilor seats vacated by Deans, McKenney, and maybe Fleury best wait until they have officially filed their nomination papers for mayor.  

The big question will be if Jim Watson will stay out of it and NOT endorse any one candidate?  Watson hold considerable sway (both for and against him) so any endorsement could help or hinder a potential candidate.  No member of ‘Club Watson’ has jumped into the pool, though let’s be honest so far, the declared candidates have all been vocal against some big policies that the mayor has put forward.  If a member of the club decides to run, Watson’s support could be behind the scenes pushing his supporters to his preferred heir for votes and financial contributions.

I’m looking forward to this story developing over the next few months, especially to see how Deans and McKenney use City Council to push their ideas for their run for mayor.  All three (Deans, McKenney and Chiarelli) have said Transit (and LRT), housing and climate change will be their lead issues in their campaigns.  It will be interesting to see how they line up on these issues and the cost of their platforms to support their plans for the City of Ottawa.

The dominos have started falling, and it started at least a month earlier that I expected.  I thank a few more will fall, faster now with these four announcements.

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Thank you for reading this post; to catch all my posts and be notified as new ones come up, please follow me on WordPress.  I can be found on Twitter @robertdekker & @RedHrtBlueSign and on Facebook athttps://www.facebook.com/rob.dekker.54.  If you prefer email, please contact me at rdmedia@bell.net. 

Ottawa City Council Class of 2010

This week Rideau-Goulbourn (to be renamed Rideau-Jock) Ward Councillor Scott Moffat announced he would not be running for re-election in next years Ottawa Municipal elections.  Moffatt’s announcement will start speculation on the future of the remainder of the class of 2010, ‘rookie’ Councillors, and Mayor in the 2022 election.

Courtesy of CBC

The election of that year saw a change at the top with Mayor Larry O’Brien toppled by Jim Watson who would start he second run as Mayor that fall.  Other members of the class of 2010, those elected for the first time included Mark Taylor (Bay Ward), Keith Egli (Knoxdale-Merivale), Tim Tierney (Beacon Hill-Cyrville), Mathieu Fleury (Rideau-Vanier), Peter D. Clark (Rideau-Rockcliffe), Katherine Hobbs (Kitchissippi), David Chernushenko (Capital Ward), Stephen Blais (Cumberland) and Allan Hubley (Kanata South).  

The Class of 2010 saw 9 new councillors and a (old) new Mayor elected; it was almost a clean wiping of the slate around the council table.  Of the 10 elected, six remain; along with Moffat there is Watson, Hubley, Fleury, Tierney and Egli.  

Mark Taylor bowed out in 2018, keeping a two term promise he made.  Stephen Blais left mid-term in 2020 when ran to fill the Provincial seat of Orleans, Clark did not seek re-election in 2014. Hobbs was defeated in 2014 and in Capital Ward David Chernushenko served until 2018 when he was defeated by current seat holder Shawn Menard.

With Moffat now out of the running for 2022, the remaining members of class of 2010 may also consider what they’ll do in ’22.  Let’s do some speculating.  

Tim Tierney has been very popular winning each election with a clear majority.  Beacon Hill-Cyrville is his for the keeping if he wants it.  His name will be on the ballot again, but does he want to be the big fish in the small pond and run for Mayor – only Tim knows the answer to that.  

Keith Egli is an enigma to me; he keeps quiet but plods along and does what he should without making waves.  The voters must like that as he has increased his vote in subsequent elections.  After 12 years, is there something else Keith Egli would rather be doing?

I wrote about Jim Watson two weeks ago, (https://redheartbluesign.wordpress.com/2021/11/07/ottawa-election-22-look-whos-back-lrt/) will he want to risk a loss?  Will the upcoming Provincial inquiry into the LRT help or hurt his re-election chances.  These are question he’ll have to debate with himself.

The final two members of the class are the most interesting races that may or may not take place.  

Allan Hubley in Kanata South, the chair of the Transit Committee, and as a Councillor for the west end, transit is key.  He delivered on Phase two going west, but can he avoid the troubles of Phase one if he seeks re-election?  Kanata has seen massive growth with Hubley as the councillor, and in 2022 he will be 64 years old; will he want to do this one more time, and does he think he’ll ward off a younger challenger?  I think not, I expect Hubley to follow in the steps of Moffatt and step aside.

In 2010, Mathieu Fleury fought and defeated Georges Bedard by 88 votes. His tale of victory is a story of determination; a former lifeguard Fleury knocked on doors and out worked Bedard to become, in 2010, the youngest ever elected Councillor.  Now 36, Fleury, with 12 years under his belt may want to wear the chain of mayor around his neck. He’ll need to decide if he’ll out wait Watson to make that decision.  He is young enough that he can step down and not run 2022.  He can spend the next four years with his young family while investing energy and networking to run for the top job in 2026 if he doesn’t think he can win it now. If Watson is off the ballot for Mayor, Fleury likely will be.

There are still 18 other councillors that will have to state their intentions for 2022, if any of them have made up their mind and they are going to leave council they’ll announce sooner rather than later.

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Thank you for reading this post; to catch all my posts and be notified as new ones come up, please follow me on WordPress.  I can be found on Twitter @robertdekker & @RedHrtBlueSign and on Facebook athttps://www.facebook.com/rob.dekker.54.  If you prefer email, please contact me at rdmedia@bell.net. 

Ottawa Election ’22: Look who’s back – LRT

Well, the hammer has been lifted, it hasn’t come down yet, but it might do that very soon.  The hammer is the province withholding $60M for LRT Phase 1.  Why is Ontario doing this?  It is all due the issues that the “new” LRT in Ottawa is having, in fact the LRT has not been running since September 19^th when a derailment took place. There is no firm date for the return of the trains running at the time of me writing this post.  I can’t be sure even if the promise of a month of free rides in December on the LRT will happen.  The train might not be running!  

Facebook John Redins

It is not shocking that LRT will be the main topic of discussion for a third straight Ottawa municipal elections taking place on October 24^th, 2022.  What is shocking is that it will be a top issue in the election because of its failure, not success! That Councillors might have assumed that they could run on the successful implementation of LRT in Ottawa is accurate – no one plans for something to fail but fail it did. Whether it was flat wheel, doors jamming or cold weather the LRT never really had a chance.  That sink hole at Rideau and Wellington streets really was a talisman of things to come.

A successful launch of LRT would have extended the election success of incumbent councillors, what will its failure mean to councillors?  No one has really been held to account for how LRT has flat wheeled been rolled out.  Blame, by the Mayor and the City, has been laid at the feet of the Rideau Transit Group, however not one person from the City of Ottawa has been held accountable.  Should any members of our current council be held accountable? 

The official election period for the municipal elections begins in May when nomination papers are being accepted.  The unofficial election period has already started.  In this period leading up to May ’22 there may be announcements of Councillors (and a mayor?) not seeking re-election.   That runours of who will run for Mayor will begin, former Mayor Bob Chiarelli who is on record as saying ‘I am seriously considering (a run for mayor’ to the Ottawa Sun’s Sue Sherring, https://ottawasun.com/opinion/columnists/sherring-ottawans-deserve-options-and-bob-chiarellis-ready-to-oblige.  

Councillor Diane Deans, who is back to full fighting form following her battle with cancer is another serious contender.  Until Jim Watson makes his public declaration about running again, he must be considered.  In the current climate, a small ballot of 2-3 strong candidates running against Watson will seriously affect his chance for re-election.  Watson has yet to lose an election, he won’t want his last to be his first and the one that knocks him out of politics.  With two stints of Mayor under his belt, a walk in the snow is certainly something he’ll need to take to consider his political future.

The last time there was a reset around the council table was following the strike at OC Transpo. Is the public ready to make another such statement in October of 2022?

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Thank you for reading this post; to catch all my posts and be notified as new ones come up, please follow me on WordPress.  I can be found on Twitter @robertdekker & @RedHrtBlueSign and on Facebook athttps://www.facebook.com/rob.dekker.54.  If you prefer email, please contact me at rdmedia@bell.net. 

My Election Journal: Day 24

It’s Friday August 27^th in the evening and there 23 days left in the election.  I find myself at Pearson waiting for a midnight flight to Ottawa.  I’m back in the Nation’s capital for the Ontario PC Nomination vote in the riding Lanark-Kingston-Frontenac.  The winner of this nomination will carry the blue flag in a riding that is held by former PC and now Independent MPP Randy Hillier.  It’s not known if Hiller will run as an Independent in the June 2022 Ontario election.

Waiting for a midnight flight at Pearson International Airport

I’ll be landing in Ottawa at 1am and must be up in time to be in Perth for 830am.  It’s been two weeks of #elxn44 and here is a round up how the week went.

The surprise of the week was a good old Canadian Double Double.  Derek Sloan left his Ontario riding to plant his “Sloan” flag in Alberta to run against CPC MP Blake Richards in Banff-Airdrie.   Richards was the Opposition Whip in the Conservative caucus and would have been key in the ousting of Sloan from the CPC Caucus.  It seems Sloan is going after some pay back.  Now Derek running in Alberta doesn’t mean a Sloan won’t be on the ballot in his home riding of Hastings-Lennox and Addington.  It was announced today that his wife, Jennifer will be running under the “Sloan” banner in the same riding her husband won in 2019.

I think I can safely say that O’Toole and the Conservatives had another good week, I only know this because of what I didn’t hear.  I didn’t hear mad voices on the phone, and I wasn’t interrupted by friends messaging me on Facebook with a big, huge W-T-F!  Being as busy as I am, I am practically in a Barrie-Innisfil bubble with only a small amount of time at the end of the day talking with John and his wife about who said this and who did that.  I kind a like being in that bubble, this ignorance is bliss keeps me from anxious moments that might make me lose sleep or cause me shut everything out.

This week John was the first of the Barrie-Innisfil candidates to be confirmed as a candidate by Elections Canada.  We had the signatures, and the paperwork was all submitted correctly.  It took 36 hours for Elections Canada to their work, but it’s 36 hours of waiting I don’t like.  We were expecting to have a 5-candidate ballot in the riding, but the Green Party candidate withdrew from the election.  Colin Nelthrope, who is also the President of Fierte Simcoe Pride, made the decision that running a mediocre campaign to have a great Pride celebration wasn’t something he could do.  Nominations must be into Elections Canada by Monday August 30^th, so it’s uncertain that a new candidate will be found that can fulfill the needs requirements of nomination papers before then.  I wish Colin well and look forward to fabulous Fierte Simcoe Pride this year.  The full article on his withdrawal is here from Barrie Today, https://www.barrietoday.com/canadavotes2021/green-party-candidate-in-barrie-innisfil-pulls-out-of-the-race-4252941.

Finally, I voted.  I voted for Carol Clemenhagen in #OttawaCentre in Barrie.  It was easy and there were no line-ups.  If you want to vote now, I suggest you, do it, especially if you are wary of crowd during the advance poll weekend of September 9^th to 13^th or likely longer lines on September 20^th.  If you do vote by special ballot, you’ll be writing in the name of the candidate you’re supporting.  Make sure you know how to spell their name as a simple error in spelling could cause your vote to be spoiled.  Visit http://www.elections.ca for hours of voting while you can vote via special ballot.

My question to you is simple, how, and when are you voting?   Are you voting via a special ballot, mail in ballot, during advance poll days or election day? 

I am off to board my plane to YOW, and I’ll be back in Barrie Monday morning in time to open the campaign office.  Have a great weekend!

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Thank you for reading this post; to catch all my posts and be notified as new ones come up, please follow me on WordPress.  I can be found on Twitter @robertdekker & @RedHrtBlueSign and on Facebook athttps://www.facebook.com/rob.dekker.54.  If you prefer email, please contact me at rdmedia@bell.net

300

I have reached the milestone of writing my 300^th post for this project called #RedheartBlueSign. I began this October 2011 following Ontario General election that year and it has allowed me to comment on politics, music, books and what was happening around me.  The name comes from a profile on my campaign written that election, https://emilydickinsoncu.wordpress.com/politics/red-heart-blue-sign/.

Image from Three Angry Nerds Podcast

There have been posts that have resonated with you the readers of RHBS and others not so much.  Some posts that I have been very proud of did not get many reads, and others have led to other opportunities.  

The post “Y2KXX a new normal’ was written about a recent vacation that took place just as COVID-19 shutdown Canada.  It described a wedding we attended in BC and how the pandemic was going make all of us adjust to a different reality.  COVID continues to do that 5 months later.  That post led to being asked to expand the post to be included in a book being compiled of stories of kindness and hope in a pandemic.  Honestly, it was a huge moment for me, I will forever be thankful to Heather Dawn and Wintertickle Press for the opportunity.  It has opened the door to doing more long-form writing of longer than a 700 words blog post.  The book “Not Cancelled: Canadian kindness in the face of Covid-19” not only includes my expanded reflection, and 48 other stories that show the kindness from across Canada. 

I took the blog on the road last fall to Barrie Ontario and wrote a series on the election that was not political (well maybe a little) and gave a glimpse into campaign life.  The nine posts during written between August and October and through those posts shared my campaign experience.  If I do it again, and I know there will be more campaigns, I’ll bring more of campaign life to #RHBS. 

There have been many books read and reviewed here. I have purposely read books I would never pick up for recreational reading; these books were all about learning from others.  Books by Naomi Klein and David Moscrop confirmed what I thought about some left leaning writers, especially Moscrop whose ‘Too Dumb for Democracy” is one on the worst and most left partisan books I have ever read.  Happily, that same post in March of 2020 was mostly about the best book I’ve read in a while; Beyond the Trees by Adam Shoalts and a completely partisan book in the favour of our nature and the beautiful and unforgiving terrain of Northern Canada. 

One book review that continues to get views is from Ottawa’s Brian McGarry, posted May 2012. The book was his life and the life with the McGarry Funeral Home, which has, as the book title suggests “From Paupers to Prime Ministers: A Life in Death.” It is a fascinating look at his life and service to his community.

Some of the older posts are also good reads; there is December 2011’s “Collective Benefits of Ending Homelessness”, sadly we still haven’t solved that.  My post on Canadian music “CANCON: The Making of MAPL Music” from May 2017 still gets attention.

Politics remains a topic of interest to write about, and thankfully still being read.  Focusing on Ottawa I’ve written on a few municipal cycles that receive a good response.  Another municipal election is here in a short two years, next month.  With a Ottawa ward boundary review now upon us the 2022 election presents some unique situations and decisions by our local elected officials.

I have enjoyed sharing my music with you.  I’ve reviewed new music by many and looked back at music and the part it plays in our lives as I did in the September 2017 post “No Music No Life” written after seeing a movie on Tower Records.  I’ve also written about music in my family with the post “Ode to my Father” September 2016 and the influence of having music in my home from a very early age.  The last two weeks I’ve shared a playlist with 60 years of music, I now have the playlist of  those songs on my Spotify profile https://open.spotify.com/user/dekker.ra?si=eNdAD9eYTrmJA1DUheSdGA,  take a listen and let me know what you think.

As I wrap up post 300, number 301 is already swirling around in my mind; thanks to all the readers, especially those that follow #RedHeartBlueSign, your ‘likes’ and comments are all appreciated.

Thank you for spending a few minutes of your day reading this, please leave a comment and if you like what you’ve read please click the follow button.

Cheers,

Rob

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Thank you for reading this post; to catch all my posts and be notified as new ones come up please follow me on WordPress.  I can be found on Twitter @robertdekker & @RedHrtBlueSign and on Facebook athttps://www.facebook.com/rob.dekker.54.  If you prefer email, please contact me at rdmedia@bell.net

Profiles of a possible (Conservative) Leader: Derek Sloan

This is the last of four posts looking at the candidates running to replace Andrew Scheer as the Leader of the Conservative Party of Canada.  The previous post was a glance at the campaign of Erin O’Toole.  In the last of our candidates I focus on Derek Sloan.  

Derek Sloan

I had no idea who Derek Sloan was when the announcement was made that he was going to run for the leadership of the party, I knew he had won back the riding of Hastings-Lennox and Addington for the Conservatives from the Liberals.  Here is what I knew about Sloan, he is a lawyer and has run several small businesses – all this from his website.  He won the Conservative nomination over three others.  His riding association has asked the Conservative Party to strip Sloan from the party because of statements he has made about gender identity.  He had only sat in the House of Commons seven days before he became a candidate for the leadership of the party.

In an interview with Tony Clement on the podcast “And another thing”, Sloan told Clement his reason for running was all about not apologizing for being a conservative.  He has stuck to that mantra; his campaign slogan is ‘Conservative. Without apology.” According Sloan, party members want a conservative, not a ‘liberal lite’, as their next leader.

Now, he has not had the smoothest sailing through the campaign.  He’s hit a few rough spots and hit some controversy.  Issues of conversion therapy, family values, marijuana and his criticism of Dr. Theresa Tam make him different from the other three candidates – from what I can see, he welcomes the stage to stand apart from Leslyn Lewis, Peter Mackay and Erin O’Toole.  It was that criticism of Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer that gave him headlines; it was the call from some members of the Conservative Caucus to have him removed as a member of the caucus and a leadership candidate that gave his campaign life from the section of the party that supported him with emails of support to the Conservative MPs and donations to his campaign. But for all the controversy Sloan may generate, he stands behind every word and policy his is presenting in his campaign, without apology.

Each of the candidates know their target audience, what I found interesting in the Sloan campaign is that it is the only campaign that is working hard to attract the Chinese vote with a translation of his website in Chinese.  

Sloan’s campaign touches on similar themes as the others; Carbon Tax, Freedom of Speech and Canada’s international duties.  It is on this last theme he veers away from the other three with a ‘Canada’ theme of pulling out support for the WHO, withdrawing our signature from the Paris Agreement and slashing Canada’s immigration by 200,000 people/year. There are Canadians on the (extreme) right and left who will agree with Sloan’s sovereigntist approach.

Does Derek Sloan have a chance to win the leadership?  Of, course there is always a path to victory; but will a path to the leadership of the Conservative also take Derek Sloan to the Prime Minister’s Office?  Derek Sloan is not who I think should be leading the party, the divisions in the party would be too great and the swing voter would swing away from a Derek Sloan led Conservative Party. 

To learn more about Derek and his platform visit www.dereksloan.ca.

Thank you for taking to time to read this post and the entire series of posts with the candidates for the leadership of the Conservative Party of Canada. 

Stay safe, wash your hands and if you have a ballot for the CPC Leadership make sure you get it to the party before August 21^st.

Rob

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Thank you for reading this post; to catch all my posts and be notified as new ones come up please follow me on WordPress.  I can be found on Twitter @robertdekker & @RedHrtBlueSign and on Facebook athttps://www.facebook.com/rob.dekker.54.  If you prefer email, please contact me at rdmedia@bell.net