The Barron Blog

Tuesday, 18 June 2013

Great Crusades By Canadian Politicians

As we go through life, it's important to have a cause or causes that we really believe in. We define ourselves in what we fight for and what we fight against.
While there are many crusaders in this country that fight for noble causes, I've narrowed the subject matter in this blog to only politicians.
Two that are closest to my heart are Paul Martin's fight against Canada's deficit during the 1990s and Elijah Harper's fight against the Meech Lake Accord in the late 1980s.
Martin also fought against the Americanization of Canada's banks during the 90s and this helped us to weather the 2008 financial crisis better than other nations.
Canada's native people got a huge shot in the arm after Elijah Harper's stand against Meech Lake.
Some may say, that the greatest crusader of all time was Tommy Douglas who created Medicare in Saskatchewan which lead to Universal Medicare in Canada. He was voted the top Canadian of the 20th century in a CBC poll.
Despite having a minority government, PM Lester Pearson fought for and won a distinctive flag for Canada.
In 1964, I remember him campaigning for the Canada Pension Plan in our high school, Barrie North Collegiate. The CPP went on to become one of the stablest pension plans in the world.
The next Prime Minister, Pierre Trudeau, fought against Quebec separation and helped create a Canadian constitution that included multiculturalism within its text.
In the 1980s, PM Brian Mulroney obtained a Free Trade Agreement with the United States, that started the ball rolling towards a more liberalized trade atmosphere in the world.
There are many threats to prosperity and well-being in the world.
In Ontario, this is the deficit and Metrolinx's Big Move which I've discussed in many blog entries.
Hopefully, an Ontario party leader will come forward with a master plan to deal with the issues that trouble us now and in the future.

Posted by qualteam at 7:41 AM EDT

Updated: Tuesday, 18 June 2013 8:20 AM EDT

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Thursday, 6 June 2013

Moving Towards A Genuine Canadian Theme Park

The above photo is a display of an authentic Canadian tradition, "The Mounties Musical Ride". It has been seen at "The Canadian National Exhibition" many times.
An other long lasting tradition is "The CNE Airshow".
Despite the fact, the CNE runs for only three weeks and it often resembles a glorified flea market. It has touched the hearts of many Canadians and tourists. There's lots of things to do and see at the Ex.
Ontario Place hasn't done as well as the CNE and the Ontario Government is trying to reinvent it.
In my last blog entry, I was looking at creative ways to help finance Metrolinx's Big Move.
This blog entry is "A Big Move" towards a Canadian theme park.
The best place to put this "Canadian Theme Park" would be in the brand-name venues of Ontario Place and the CNE. Certainly, this would bring in more revenue than just a three week exhibition.
Celebrate Canada and invite others to the celebration.
Besides the musical ride and the airshow, you could build Canadian themes into the games, rides, exhibits. Here's a brief list of what I came up with:
The Games
Paintball with beavers: Actually, it's paintball with park staff dressed as beavers. A fun Canadian game for the whole family.
Ball hockey with moose: Again, it's park staff dressed up with moose antlers playing against all comers.
The CFL Football Toss: Throw two footballs through a tire and win a stuffed mascot of any CFL team (e.g. Tiger, Lion, Eskimo, etc.)
Beat The Goalie: This is self-explanatory. Score on the goalie and win a prize.
The Baseball Throw Dunk: This is an old midway game. One of the park staff has a mask on of a disliked politician, if the thrower hits a lever that dunks the politico, he/she wins a prize.
The Canadian Trivia Contest: Answer three questions correctly about Canada and win a prize.
The Rides
White Water Rafting On The Ottawa River: This would be a simulated rafting experience using scenic backgrounds and moving seats.
The Polar Bear Express: I see this as an incredible rollercoaster ride into the Arctic where one encounters blizzards, polar bears, icebergs, Inuit, and the Northern Lights. At the end of the journey, the adventurers take a dog sled run to the North Pole to meet Santa Claus.
The Agawa Canyon Train Ride: This would be a shorten simulation of the 572 mile scenic tour of Northern Ontario from Sault St. Marie to Hearst. The train in use could be a steam locomotive that would give the passengers a sense of discovery.
The Exhibits
Exhibits tracing the history of the five main groups that founded Canada, the English/Scots/Irish, the French and the First Nations
The journey of Canada to true Multiculturalism as it is today.
Provincial Pavilions of the culture and distinct qualtities of each province in Canada.
I'm sure you could imagine other great things that could exist in a Canadian theme park. Please send me an e-mail if you do.

Posted by qualteam at 12:48 PM EDT

Updated: Saturday, 8 June 2013 12:05 AM EDT

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Wednesday, 29 May 2013

"The Big Move Casino and Theme Park"(Promoting Ontario)

Sometimes you have to be creative in order to raise money for a cause or a project and Metrolinx is no exception.
I'd much rather give my $477 to the Ontario Government through an OLG casino than give it through a sales tax, gasoline tax or some other "revenue tool". This would be more fun and I might win something.
Preferably, the casino would be both high-end (i.e. Singapore) and low-end (i.e. Fremont Street, Las Vegas), so that it would attract both high rollers and average tourists. The former would go into "The Conrad Black Room" and the latter into"The Red Green Room"
The Red Green Room would be more responsible to the average gambler than the high-end room. I stated this vision in the blog entry,"A Modernized OLG Would Promote Tourism And Intelligent/Responsible Gambling".
I have no problem with millionaires blowing thousands of dollars on a good cause, but the Red Greens of this world have to know their limit and play within it. "Comps" to encourage this activity would pay off in better gamblers and better public relations.
Instead of using pretty girls as blackjack dealers, The OLG would be using dealers dressed as hockey players, mounties, moose, beavers, Canadian comics, etc.
The Big Move Theme Park would contain rides (e.g. LRT's) that would take tourists through mock ups of scenic Canadian wilderness and sights: Niagara Falls, Algonquin Park, Mines in Timmins, Lake Superior, Moose Factory, Ottawa's Rideau Canal, etc.
Canada's Wonderland doesn't promote Canada. There's a great opportunity here to boost tourism in Ontario with the sights and sounds of our great outdoors and scenic cities.
Both the casino and theme park will be uniquely Canadian.
I believe the best place for this casino and theme park is Ontario Place.
Lets promote Canada and Ontario in a big way and make lots of money for the Big Move.

Posted by qualteam at 5:31 PM EDT

Updated: Wednesday, 29 May 2013 11:01 PM EDT

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Monday, 27 May 2013

Paying For Metrolinx

Today is report day on "Metrolinx Big Move". The highlights or lowlights were the increased taxes on retail sales(1%)and gasoline(5 cents a litre). The average tax hit on Ontario households would be $475.00 a year.
Needless to say, we pay plenty of gas taxes and what is needed is that more gas tax money should be transferred for "The Big Move" project. The increased sales tax would only drive more citizens over the border and that would be detrimental to retail stores. Additional gas taxes would also take more money out of the pocket of the consumer and he/she would spend less in the local economy.
Most of us just get by from week to week.
It should be noted that Metrolinx underestimated the cost of "The Presto Transit Cards" and instead of costing 300 million it ended up costing 800 million with an 18% use rate.
Transit expansion can be a tricky business. Look at the debacle of "The Sheppard Subway Line". Even the Spadina/St. George Line was created before it was really necessary in 1979.
There's no substitute for prioritizing between what really needs to be done and what's just convenient. I don't like the idea of paying $500 a year to get somewhere 5 minutes early.
Metrolinx also didn't go through all the ways to raise money for this project. This would include:
Increased federal transfer payments to Ontario, evening out what Ontario/Toronto gives to the Canadian Government
Special big lotteries going for this project similar to hospital lotteries
Additional revenues raised by casinos and tourist incentives
Raising money by removing waste and inefficiencies in provincial government departments.
Corporate/Government partnerships that would increase investment in infrastructure that would lead to increase productivity.
Just throwing money at transit isn't the way to go. Look at what happened to E-health, Orange and the gas plants.
Spending on transit has to be closely monitored and desirable results must be achieved by each step of the Big Move.
If you want transit to be used in the GTA, then travelling into the city or cities should be discouraged. There could be a toll on automobiles during rush hour.
Those who use improved services like a special toll lane should pay for it. Look how successful the 407 is.
If Ontarians aren't burdened by heavy taxes, they can stimulate the economy with local spending.
The ones who should pay the most are the ones who will be using and benefiting from transit. This includes companies who have employees and trucks that show up on time.

Posted by qualteam at 5:16 PM EDT

Updated: Tuesday, 28 May 2013 11:02 AM EDT

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Tuesday, 21 May 2013

A Modernized OLG Would Promote Tourism And Intelligent/Responsible Gambling

If you've seen the commercials on TV of three sevens and three bars dancing with each, you know that the OLG is promoting neither intelligent nor responsible gambling. The one-armed bandits are mostly a losing experience.
Slots offer you the worse odds of any game. There are many games that offer you better odds and you can find out about them in "The American Casino Guide" which offers gambling tips and discount coupons on gambling, restaurants and shows from casinos/hotels around the U.S.
The OLG is on a modernization trend, right now. Hopefully, this will result in increased tourism and increased revenues for Toronto, the GTA and Ontario.
With threats on the horizon to either increase taxes and/or give us new taxes, Ontarians need a break.
My vision of a modernized OLG includes the following:
Blending the advertising for casino gambling with other tourist activities. Check out this "Atlantic City Article".
Offering discount coupons for casino games and restaurants, shows, hotels, etc. similar to The American Casino Guide.
Discontinuing the promotion of slots and changing to the promotion of intelligent/responsible gambling at the casinos. This could be infomercials on how to play table games and/or information on the best bets in the house.
Discontinuing the practice of giving big comps to losers or obsessive gamblers and instituting rewards for gamblers who know their limit and play within it.
Setting up policies on how the deal with problem gamblers (banning them or rehabilitating them) Then religiously enforcing those policies.
Regulating the minimum return on slots at the casinos. In Las Vegas, I believe it's over 93%.
Reducing slot machines in Ontario casinos by at least 20%.
Properly handled, I believe casinos/conference centres/entertainment complexes will stimulate tourism for Toronto, the GTA and Ontario.

Posted by qualteam at 12:32 PM EDT

Updated: Wednesday, 22 May 2013 11:12 PM EDT

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Sunday, 19 May 2013

Modernization Of The OLG Is A Major Political Issue In Next Provincial Election

The OLG is the "The Ontario Lottery and Gaming" organization run by the provincial government. Presently, it brings in 2 billion dollars a years into Queen's Park (The seat of the Ontario Government.)
Ontario's former Premier, Dalton McGuinty began to "modernize the OLG" in order to bring more revenues into government coffers. The Ontario Government has a staggering deficit and there are demands for further "revenue tools" for transportation and infrastructure improvements.
The modernization efforts were momentarily derailed when former OLG CEO Paul Godfrey was fired by new Premier Kathleen Wynne. The problem was Toronto's share of the casino's profits.
The issues at stake are more than just casinos and revenue sharing. There is the 10,000 job project that would assist young people in the tourist and construction industry.
Needless to say, one of the major industries in Toronto is the tourist industry. There's, no doubt, that a casino would be more attractive there rather than in Brampton, or Markham.
The idea is to raise money from tourists rather than raising taxes on the citizens of the Greater Toronto Area and Ontario.
If you don't do it this way, then you have to do it some other way, maybe painfully.
Where do the parties stand on modernization of the OLG? How does it fit into their plans?
Only in an election would you get some answers.

Posted by qualteam at 10:57 PM EDT

Updated: Sunday, 19 May 2013 11:27 PM EDT

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Wednesday, 15 May 2013

Leafs Make History

Leafs became the first team in NHL history to lead a Game 7 by three goals in the third period and lose.
Joffrey Lupul said "That hockey game will haunt me until the day I die". Other Leafs feel the same way and they are planning to write a book called:
How did this come about? How did the Leafs end up in the prone position like goalie Reimer in the above photo?
An excellent article on this game was written by Dave Feschuk called "An Anatomy of a Collapse".
Basically, it appeared that many Leafs (i.e. management included) were daydreaming of playing in the second round. Coach Carlye didn't even call a timeout to remind everyone that they had to play hard to win this game before they advanced.
The Bruins played hard along the boards and won many faceoffs. This created lots of scoring opportunities and Reimer wasn't handling rebounds well in the last 10 minutes.
There were also poor efforts in both leadership and defence by certain Leafs. It's highly likely that certain players won't be around in the fall.
Please remember that Boston three years ago squandered a three game lead to Philadelphia. They lost game 7 after taking a 3 to 0 lead (not like the Leafs however). The next year, they went on to win the Stanley Cup.
As you might know, Boston was up 3 games to one in this series. No doubt an earlier bad memory can motivate a team to do great feats in the final minutes of a big game. "If it doesn't kill you, it will improve you".
Randy Carlye said "The Leafs ran out of gas" Well, Boston, an older team, didn't "run out of gas". They played 100% for three and half periods. The Leafs played 100% for 2 and a half periods. This was better than the "Tampon Leafs" who were only good for one period.
The late Yankee, Yogi Berra said "It's never over until it's over". A respectable playoff team doesn't run out of gas or intensity with 10, 5, or 1 minute remaining.
An empty net during the last two minutes was a big target to shoot at.
When the final buzzer sounds, you look up at the scoreboard and find out who the winner is.

Posted by qualteam at 11:00 PM EDT

Updated: Thursday, 16 May 2013 12:15 AM EDT

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Tuesday, 7 May 2013

Resurrecting The Bay City Rollers

It's hard to believe that The Bay City Rollers last played in Ontario in 1976. They were a teenie bopper group back then and I didn't like them because I was a cool classic rock and roller from the 50s and 60s.
In the late 1970s, I bought an LP that played "Bubblegum Music" like "Goody, Goody Gumdrops" and "Chewy, Chewy". Unbelievably, I started to like songs that 13-year old girls liked.
These tunes had this incredible youthful energy that I dig even to this day.
Last Saturday, my wife and I saw another bubblegum group called The Bay City Rollers. It was a very entertaining evening, especially, the bubblegum songs like "Shang-A-Lang", "Saturday Night", and "I Only Want To Be With You". The audience consisting mostly of middle-aged women shook the place literally with their dancing and jumping.
The lead sing Les McKeown did well on the classic hits of the Rollers, but he didn't do as well on the group's "Power Rock Ballads". These were tunes that sounded similar to material put out by 1980s bands like "Journey", "Foreigner" and "Loverboy".
While I do like some of the "Power Rock" songs of the 1980s, I'm a bigger fan of bubblegum music and "The Do Wop of the 1950s".
I have spent hundreds of hours trying to get the perfect music mix on my Ipod from the hits and the rare oldies of yesterday.
It's great that there are many websites dedicated to perserving our musical heritage.

Posted by qualteam at 10:57 PM EDT

Updated: Tuesday, 7 May 2013 11:50 PM EDT

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Sunday, 28 April 2013

Leafs Make Playoffs For The First Time In Nine Years

Many Toronto Maple Leaf fans are often more enthusiastic than the situation calls for. For this reason, they are gouged on playoff tickets at ridiculous prices, anywhere from $500 to $13,000.
While I no longer subscribe to "The Leafs Suck Website", I'm definitely more cautious than "Leaf Experts" about estimating their survival time in the playoffs.
Over the last 7 games, Leafs haven't shown the desire or toughness that they demonstrated during this shorten season. In the last game with Montreal (a 4 to 1 loss), they went through the motions as if they were trying not to get hurt.
I feel they will go out in the first round either 4 games to two or four games to three. If they loose 4 to 0 or 1, they will carry the label "Leafs Suck In The Playoffs" again.
The Leafs have the longest drought of being out of the Stanley Cup finals of any NHL team (i.e. 44 years). They last won the Stanley Cup in 1967.
The Leafs main goal was to reach to playoffs for 2013. They played well to do that. Unfortunately, they'll be up against teams with a great deal of playoff experience.
P.S. The Leafs are playing Boston in the playoffs. Boston is a team that the Leafs have only beat once in ten tries. This link analyzes the strength and weaknesses of each team and makes a prediction.

Posted by qualteam at 12:32 PM EDT

Updated: Monday, 29 April 2013 8:34 PM EDT

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Friday, 26 April 2013

Remembering George Jones

I was never a George Jones' fan until I met my wife Irene. She was both a big George fan and a big classic country fan. The only time, I recognized country was when it crossed over to the pop charts. Marty Robbins, Johnny Horton, Jim Reeves had big pop hits and I listened to their tunes on radio stations like CHUM AM.
George appeared too hillbilly for my liking. I liked my music to rock not to weep.
In the early 1990s, karaoke didn't do any service to George because the only Jones' song in the song library was the sappy "I Stop Loving Her Today".
Well Irene persisted in playing George Jones songs and gradually, I started to like some of them. I put many of his songs on her MP3 player and some on mine.
As time went by, I realized what a prolific country artist he was. He was to country what Elvis Presley was to Rock and what Frank Sinatra was to jazz.
A few years ago, we went to see George at Massey Hall in Toronto. It was his "50 hits in 50 Years Tour". The concert was terrific and George actually sang many of his fifty hits including those he made with fomer wife Tammy Wynette.
In going through George's music, I discovered that I liked his rocking stuff the best. He wasn't always singing weepers.
Here's my top ten favourites:
Who's Going To Fill Their Shoes? It's a tribute to all who have left their mark on country music including George, very moving.
The Corvette Song: Probably, the first time a fast girl, a fast car and a rocking beat were used in a country song.
White Lightning: This is moonshine that gives you a quick and powerful drunk. A perfect song for George. His first 1st number one hit.
Love Bug: This is what happens when a ladies' man gets stricken by an insect.
I Don't Need No Rockin' Chair: The possum may be older, but he still rocks.
Picture Me Without You: When we saw George live, he seemed to direct this tune to the audience, very tender and moving.
I Always Get Lucky With You: George was doing some country crooning at its best. Frank Sinatra would have been proud.
She Thinks I Still Care: It's a real hurtin' song and George sings it from the heart.
Golden Ring with Tammy Wynette: It's probably the story of George's and Tammy's relationship in a 3 minute drama.
He Stopped Loving Her Today: This is everything a sappy country song should be. Not a personal favourite, but definitely it is with most country fans.
George's best songs stand up to the march of time. Good music is good music, no matter what genre it is, or what time it comes from.

Posted by qualteam at 4:23 PM EDT

Updated: Friday, 26 April 2013 6:13 PM EDT

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