Labour Day Parade

It is unfortunate that the Labour Council has chosen to exclude the Mayor and Council from the Labour Day Parade because they don't like the way the dispute with CUPE was handled.
I believe this is a serious error on their part as the Mayor and Council were doing their jobs representing all the residents of Windsor. It is clear that they had a significant level of support (over two thirds by any poll I saw) from the taxpayers.
Labour disputes are rarely pleasant but when its over the task of all parties is to learn to live with the result and mend any fences inadvertently damaged. Some union members carried on in an unprofessional manner but that has not turned us against unions or given us any reason to exclude them from community activities.
The unions in Windsor have historically been strong supporters of charities and stood up for the "little guy". This has earned them a great deal of respect but I think this latest move is going to demonstrate a level of parochialism that may diminish that respect.
The Labour Day Parade belongs to the unions and they may choose as they have but I believe it is an error to snub the leaders of our City whether one agrees with them or not.

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Harmonized sales tax

The HST proposed for Ontario can be considered a good thing in terms of efficiency by replacing two taxes and sets of reporting with one. However, the proposed implementation appears to be a major tax grab rather than being revenue neutral. It appears that seniors will have to pay significantly more for services and goods because many of these things currently are not taxed at the PST level. This includes financial services and fees. It includes purchases by condominiums and it includes additional taxes on fuel amongst other things.
There is a fairer way to have an HST and that is to maintain the same exemptions that exist in the current PST. This should not be difficult as there already are going to be exemptions to part of the HST on certain items.
I urge you to look into how this HST will affect you personally and let your MPP know - in no uncertain terms - that it is not acceptable. In this area we can impact on this situation because the Minister of Finance is Dwight Duncan and he probably would like to get re-elected.

Welcome

Hi everyone
Welcome to my blog. This space will be used to talk to you about my ideas, reactions to what is going on in the area and world and sometimes to urge your support for some kind of political or charitable action. I will always try to be positive and where I am opposed to something will try to present positive alternatives to consider.
I appreciate feedback, debate and, of course, support for any of my ideas.
Richard