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Gutting the committee structure

03 February 2011
Posted by Ian Chadwick in Collingwood's municipal m...
The way it's supposed to work: council creates policy. Staff implements it.

The way it happened Monday night: staff created policy, council approved it.

The policy in question was to decide for council, and the community at large, what committees and boards should be dissolved, and which should survive. Staff created the list of which...

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An unfortunate decision

01 February 2011
Posted by Ian Chadwick in Collingwood's municipal m...
Last night Collingwood Council made a decision that will fundamentally change the way council works with the public, tilt the axis of policy making away from council to staff, and further isolate council from residents.

Based solely on a staff recommendation (from a report that council did not request), five committees were dissolved without a...

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Tags: Collingwood's Municipal Madness 1 Comments


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Community, culture and Collingwood's future

30 January 2011
Posted by Ian Chadwick in art, culture and reviews, Music and ukuleles, Collingwood life, Collingwood's municipal m...
There's an old joke that goes, "What's the difference between (insert a city name here) and a cup of yogurt?" The answer is, of course, that a cup of yogurt has culture. I first heard this with Calgary as the city, back when I lived in Banff. Not very flattering, of course.

Collingwood, on the other hand, has oodles of culture....

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Tags: events, Collingw, Collingwood's Municipal Madness, art, culture 3 Comments


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Music and demographics

26 January 2011
Posted by Ian Chadwick in Personal reminisence, Music and ukuleles, art, culture and reviews
ACCORDING TO THE 2006 CENSUS, the average age in Collingwood is 46. Almost 30% of residents are between 45 and 64, and just over 22% are 65 and over. More than half the local population in Simcoe County is older than 45.* That means we are locally, on average, a greying population.

So why do some local radio stations play music aimed at the...

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Amazing accomplishments

21 January 2011
Posted by Ian Chadwick in Federal follies, Collingwood's municipal m..., Collingwood life
ALTHOUGH I'VE BEEN A WRITER all my adult life, I have never been very good at writing fiction. I've tried. I've tried many times. I've read and studied fiction, taken courses, joined writing associations. I just don't seem to have the knack.

The writer of...

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5 Comments


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Tequila show on The Wine Ladies

20 January 2011
Posted by Ian Chadwick in Tequila, mezcal and Mexico
This is link to a show I did for Internet TV's show The Wine Ladies, last week, all about tequila. The production house and studio is That Channel, at Bay & Dundas, in Toronto. Funky little place where they produce a lot of neat local...

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Tags: TV, Mexico, tequila 0 Comments


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Arbitrary decisions have no place at council

11 January 2011
Posted by Ian Chadwick in Election 2010, Collingwood's municipal m...
It wasn't about the food. It was about the process. And that process was wrong.

That was my first argument, Monday night, when a motion was read to end our pre-meeting meals. That motion read, "THAT Council herein authorize discontinuing the provision of meals prior to meetings of Council for Council and staff that attend, in an effort...

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Tags: Collingwood's Municipal Madness, mayor, council, budget 12 Comments


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Bass, electric bass and EUB (or EDB)?

25 December 2010
Posted by Ian Chadwick in Personal reminisence, Music and ukuleles
Been thinking a lot about bass lately. Not the fish, but rather the musical instrument. I want to play one, at least a lot better than I can now.

Back in the mid-60s, I was in a garage band. They already had two guitarists, so I sort-of played bass, but I played it on the low strings of my six-string electric guitar (a Kent, as I recall). I went...

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Tags: music, bass, ukulele 3 Comments


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Order of Collingwood recipients announced

24 December 2010
Posted by Ian Chadwick in Collingwood life, Collingwood's municipal m..., Social values
The list of recipients for the Order of Collingwood, to be awarded on January 9, 2011, has been released. It includes:
  • Wilma Davies
  • Doug Garbutt
  • Gerry LaChance
  • Donna Mansfield
  • Marie Campbell Raithby
  • Barbara Sneyd
  • Gail Synnott
  • Kent Walton
  • Norman Wingrove

The recipients for the Companion to the Order of...

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Tags: Order of Collingwood 0 Comments


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User fees approval deferred

22 December 2010
Posted by Ian Chadwick in Social values, downtown-BIA, Collingwood's municipal m...
Big topic on the agenda last Monday: the proposed 2011 schedule of user fees. These are the fees charged by the town for all sorts of services not covered by your taxes, from dog licences to photocopies. The list is 40 pages long. Council got it in the agenda, Friday night, and was expected to pass it, Monday night - and pass it without a full...

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Tags: Collingwood's Municipal Madness, user fees, budget 0 Comments



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