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HST and economics: two minus one equals three?

28 June 2010
Posted by Ian Chadwick in Pointless legislation, Provincial folly
I'm obviously a dunce when it comes to mathematics, much less economics. To me, the simple equation two minus one would equal one. Dalton McGuinty's government, apparently, has a new math, and in their calculation two minus one equals three. My schooling was obviously inadequate.

McGuinty's Liberals are boasting how more taxes will...

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Tags: HST, McGuinty, provincial sales tax, PST 0 Comments


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Duncan's pushes back on patios

21 June 2010
Posted by Ian Chadwick in Pointless legislation, Election 2010, downtown-BIA, Collingwood's municipal m...
Duncan's Cafe has launched a series of colour newspaper ads in response to the unpopular but determined efforts for five members of council to force restaurants to move their patios to the curbside. Here are three so...

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Tags: Collingwood's Municipal Madness, downtown, patios, council 2 Comments


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Licensing bylaw gets its second reading, sent back for changes

17 June 2010
Posted by Ian Chadwick in Pointless legislation, Election 2010, downtown-BIA, Collingwood's municipal m...
The proposed "comprehensive licensing bylaw" was the main - and oft contentious - topic of debate at council, Monday night. We had been given a draft version to consider and discuss with our constituents, 10 days earlier. But the version we got in the agenda package, Friday, was very much altered from the previous draft (which in turn...

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Tags: bylaws, patios, buskers, council, Collingwood's Municipal Madness 4 Comments


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Brother, I Can't Spare You the Time

16 June 2010
Posted by Ian Chadwick in Pointless legislation, Music and ukuleles, Election 2010, downtown-BIA, Collingwood's municipal m..., Uncategorized
Brother, Can You Spare a Dime is one of the most memorable songs of the 1930s, written at the height of the Great Depression, by the son of Jewish immigrants, Yip Harburg, with music by composer - and another Jewish immigrant - Jay Gorney. It was written in 1931, and later included in a musical, New Americana, in 1932. I thought it might...

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Tags: bylaws, patios, Collingwood's Municipal Madness, council 2 Comments


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Patio issue defused - for now

02 June 2010
Posted by Ian Chadwick in Pointless legislation, downtown-BIA, Collingwood's municipal m...
The patio at Duncan's restaurant can stay where it is - for now. The councillors who wanted to repeal the old patio bylaw decided at the last moment to defer the motion (moved by Councillor Jeffrey, seconded by Councillor Labelle). Had it passed, it would have made all downtown patios illegal until (or if) a new patio bylaw comes into...

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Tags: patios, BIA, downtown, Collingwood's Municipal Madness 11 Comments


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Toronto: patios, buskers and an animated downtown

30 May 2010
Posted by Ian Chadwick in Social values, Pointless legislation, Election 2010, downtown-BIA, Collingwood's municipal m..., Collingwood life
I just returned from a few days in Toronto, attending the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) annual convention. Picked up a lot of good ideas (especially around open government and open data) and information, which I'll post at a later point. What I wanted to write about here is how the host city handles its downtown and its patios,...

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Tags: buskers, downtown, patios, Toronto, Collingwood Municipal Madness 0 Comments


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Downtown slowly reopening, farmers' market returns, patio causes headaches

22 May 2010
Posted by Ian Chadwick in Collingwood life, Collingwood's municipal m..., downtown-BIA, Pointless legislation
Construction proceeds apace downtown. Susan and I walked downtown (with Sophie) early Saturday to see how the newly-re-opened first block looked, do a little local shopping, and to gander at the farmers' market on its first open weekend (and buy a few odds and ends there, and downtown, too).*...

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Tags: Collingwood Municipal Madness, patios, downtown, council, closed for business 4 Comments


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Civil rights at risk with new bylaw

18 May 2010
Posted by Ian Chadwick in Pointless legislation, downtown-BIA, Collingwood's municipal m..., Collingwood life
[size="2"][size="2"]It's frustrating when we have a public meeting about an important, new bylaw and it's evident from the discussion that no one else at the table actually read the thing. Councillor McNabb had no idea there even was one, and even had to get up in the middle of the meeting to go outside to look for a...

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Tags: responsibility, deputy-mayor, Collingwood Municipal Madness, bylaw, reading 10 Comments


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Toxic HST launched by province this week

07 May 2010
Posted by Ian Chadwick in Social values, Provincial folly, Pointless legislation
The much-dreaded Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) snuck into our Ontario lives like a nasty thief in the night, this week. Unsuspecting home buyers who expected the HST to kick in July 1, met with a nasty, expensive surprise. Home purchases had another 8% tacked on, as of Saturday, May 1.

So did delayed closing costs, gym memberships, landscaping and...

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Tags: tax grab, Ontario, provincial, PST, HST, GST, McGuinty 0 Comments


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Newspaper story confusing about patio move

06 May 2010
Posted by Ian Chadwick in Pointless legislation, downtown-BIA, Collingwood's municipal m..., Collingwood life
I've been getting some calls about the headline story in today's Collingwood Connection. Seems to some people the opening is murky about who voted for what. Unless you were there, it may not be very clear. The newspaper reported:

[quote]It appears patios in...

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Tags: Collingwood Municipal Madness, mayor, patios, downtown, BIA, newspaper 11 Comments



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