TAX, TAX, TAX, TAX, TAX, TAX....

Hooray!

I'd like to personally inform everyone that we're on our way to additional taxes & Fees! Oh yes, you heard it here folks! Our Canadian politicians believe in taxation and fees over responsible spending.

What? This doesn't sound right? You think I'm going crazy? You think our politicians spend responsibly and don't looks at us taxpayer-constituents as no more than inexhaustible money wells?

This is where you're wrong!

You see, two recent news pieces may have slipped by unnoticed. The first being the request by a City of Toronto Mayoral candidate Which is being backed by some councilor), looking to find a subway line by taxing drivers who use highways that lead into the city.; The second being a CRTCs decision that gives TV broadcasters the right to damned fees from TV distributors for the relaying of TV signals.

Thompson is proposing a $5 fee per ride on the DVP to cover the costs to develop a subway line (article here). Do't get me wrong. I think that enhanced public transportation throughout the GTA and surrounding areas is an important endeavor. My feeling is that we are already paying $3.00 a ticket to ride the TTC, shouldn't some of that money go to route development? With the thousands of riders the TTC gets daily, don't you think a $3 fare would cover the costs of maintenance, employee salaries,, operating costs etc? Unfortunately, TTC money is spent on incompetent consultants, nepotism, mismanagement, and a general sense of irresponsibility. Transit in, out and around Toronto is expensive enough as it is. It's almost cheaper to drive if it weren't for parking costs in the city. Did the City really need the expensive 'Wave" decks in Toronto? I'm sure the cost of construction and design alone would have put a nice dent in the subway expansion costs.


While the TTC continues to squander its rider-fares through mismanagement; the CRTC finds it fit to reward mismanagement through charges for free services. Yup! The free over the air signals that our cable companies are relaying, have been deemed chargeable by the CRTC (Article here). It's like the old saying "Selling Ice to an Eskimo". Well the CRTC sees fit that TV companies like Bell, Rogers, and Cogeco, should now be charged for relaying free over the air signal. The Broadcasters believe the money collected through this new fee should go to supporting local broadcasts. Everyone who pays for cable will have to pay into this local support system. Why should everyone paying for cable in Canada have to pay for late-night local access TV in moose-lick Manitoba? Paying for these services do not benefit me in the least. What's worse, is that Shows broadcast locally, are also broadcast for free. Why don't the local citizens who want to watch their local crap, just tune their TVs to Antenna-mode and watch their Local station?

Look at it my way. Imagine you live on a nice street with 10 houses. 9 of the 10 home-owners keep their lawn maintained, and clear their own driveways when it shows. The 10th home-owner however, doesn't mow his own lawn or shovel his driveway. Instead of doing the work himself, he hires a gardener, and plow service. The 10th home owner then goes to each house on the street, and demands $10/month from every home-owner, so they can assist him in paying for his driveway services. My solution to this is simple. Either move out, or raise the money yourself.

Both situations can be dealt with through responsible money management, and strategy. Unfortunately, we seem to be viewed as inexhaustible wells of money.

I'm Gonna Call Bullshit on this one! Cop causes sisters to miss funeral By JOE WARMINGTON, QMI Agency

This is some incredible Journalism on the part of QMI. Joe Wamington has really gotten to the root of the issue, without sounding biased or unintelligent.

Article Here: Canoe.ca

To Summarize:
A car-full of sisters were en-route to a Funeral. They got lost, and had the driver of the car use a phone to call and ask for directions. The story claims that the direction-giver didn't speak the same language as all the sisters, and the driver had to translate. While translating, driving, and holding a phone, the car was pulled over for contravening the Ontario Law, banning the use of handheld devices while driving.

The sisters are upset because the cop caused them to be late for the funeral.

You really have to be kidding me on this!

The situation sucks, but in the end, only the driver is to blame for this incident.

1) The Cop didn't cause them to be late. They were late because they didn't get proper directions before leaving.
--Was this a surprise funeral? Were attendees only notified of the funeral details minutes before the service? I would think not.

2) There were more option available than to have the driver talk on the phone.
--I can't think of many phone that don't have built-in speaker phone
--The person giving the directions could have passed the phone to someone who spoke English, or another language one of the sisters would have understood
--They couldn't call the Mosque for directions?

3) Receiving a ticket only takes a few minutes. How late were these girls?
--I was pulled over in the past, and I have been issued tickets. It doesn't take more than 5-10 minutes. If the 5-10 minutes it took to write a ticket up made them late, then they most likely would have either arrivedjust in time, or would have beeen late on their own.
--They should have left earlier. There's nothing worse than being late for a funeral.

4) Everyone in Ontario, who hasn't been living in a cave knows about the ban on the use of wireless devices while driving.
--She took her chances and lost.
--She tried to talk her way out of it and couldn't.. Tough luck

Yeah, the situation sucks, but there were many reasons why these sisters were late for the funeral, and neither were the Cops Fault. There were many ways to avid this situation altogether, and neither was taken.

Don't blame the Police for your own mistakes.

Readers may wonder why I'd defend the police in this story. The answer is that the Officer who issued the ticket wasn't at fault. It was the driver.

Sucks, but it could be a lot worse.