Toronto Community Housing Corporation should repay “misspent” money
March 4th, 2011 | Comments (0)
I need some help here. I’ve been racking my brain trying to figure out how the “misspending” at the Toronto Community Housing Corporation is not fraud. According to the auditor, they spent money, thousands and thousands of dollars on frivolities like Christmas parties, manicures and chocolates instead of using that public money to oh, say fix the buildings under their care.
I can recall countless stories about the sad state of public housing buildings in Toronto so in my opinion this is a truly heinous crime. While people are living in buildings that have a myriad of problems the people holding the purse strings are living the high life.
Accountability, that’s what’s needed in this case. It’s not enough for the board to resign I think there needs to be repayment after all it was the public dime this high life was based upon. If they had to pay out the money and wait to be reimbursed I highly doubt the Toronto Community Housing Corporation would be in this situation.
I’m also not impressed that they lost 50 million dollars on the stock market. How does that happen? Why wasn’t that money re-invested back into their properties so repairs and upgrades can be done. I wouldn’t call this a case of misspending because that indicates that no one knew what was going on and to me the whole situation wreaks of willingly playing fast and loose with public money. I think if charges don’t fit; repayment is in order.
To me it’s elementary…I’m Sandra Watson
Weather with a chance of … weather
March 2nd, 2011 | Comments (0)
Apparently there is a chance of weather over the next three months. Shocking, I know, but nevertheless Environment Canada didn’t let that fact deter them and the weather agency released its three month outlook for spring on Tuesday. They predict cooler temperatures and lots of precipitation whether it be snow, rain or even freezing rain. Yuck, definitely not the weather we wanted to hear but not surprising given it is March, April and May in Canada.
Now their predictions have a couple of major variables — Mother Nature and the hanger-on Old Man Winter. Weather is a gamble on the best of days because we can watch the radar, the Doppler, the wind patterns, the air flow and take an educated guess on what weather will greet us on a given day, but if one thing changes then that prediction literally goes out the window.
Environment Canada’s track record of late has been a little suspect, especially for an agency whose sole role is to watch the weather. Think the snow storm that wasn’t at the beginning of February, another call for big snow several weeks ago that never materialized and then more than the predicted snow during the past weekend. Now they have approached it a little smarter call for everything and be right either way and of course if Environment Canada has mispredicted and we get warmer, sunnier weather, well I suppose that’s the best way to be wrong.
To me it’s elementary … I’m Sandra Watson
Nothing like oatmeal in the morning
February 28th, 2011 | Comments (0)
What is it about a warm bowl or in my case a mug of oatmeal that can suddenly make the day look a lot brighter? Here I was dragging my feet a bit; I’ll admit I was a little slow to get moving today. I mean it is Monday and it was pouring rain this morning. Those are two ingredients that make it definitely one of those days to just throw the covers over your head and ignore the insistent beep of your alarm clock.
But then 9 o’clock came around and it was time for my midday snack. Yes when you’re up at 3:30, 9 am is midday. I trudged to the staff kitchen, turned on the kettle and waited for the familiar click. From then on Monday improved… the whiff of the maple syrup and brown sugar oatmeal as soon as I added water – brilliant invention! Thank you, Mr. Quaker for creating instant oatmeal. Then when I took my mug back to my desk, the sun came out for a brief time – a sign for sure — of what I’m not too sure but a good sign, nevertheless, in my opinion.
As I’m eating my oatmeal and typing this commentary, I can actually feel my mind working its way out of the Monday morning fog, clarity is coming, I feel like I could conquer the world — or at least the rest of my day.
To me it’s elementary… I’m Sandra Watson
Running on fumes over gas prices
February 25th, 2011 | Comments (0)
Were you like me this week? Watching gas prices go up and scrutinizing your own gas gauge to see if you could squeak out a few more days of driving before you were forced to pull into a gas station and shell out your hard earned money. Prices did not have to go up this week and they definitely didn’t have to go up 6 cents in two days. It was too immediate. Unrest in Libya and suddenly panic by wholesalers and up goes the price.
I don’t think the instant the oil is out of the ground in the Middle East is it anywhere near being ready for a gas pump in North America. So realistically if losing Libyan oil has a true value that necessitates an increase at the pump then we should be seeing that increase in 3 months or more when the oil from this particular time frame is actually being used in Canada.
Even the markets are starting to settle down as traders realize the world’s oil supply will not fall to shambles if the crisis in Libya persists. In fact other OPEC nations have come forward saying they could pick up the slack – therefore there is no immediate oil crisis. Now in light of this I would expect that the price of gas drop back down but I know that’s as likely to happen as the price of gas not to go up just before a summer long weekend.
To me it’s elementary … I’m Sandra Watson
Ontario Energy Board
February 23rd, 2011 | Comments (1)
How’s this for customer service? A number of public utilities are fined millions of dollars for charging too much interest on late payments. So now they have to find the money to pay the fine and the court costs.
Hmmm… maybe they should use reserve funds from the companies? Nahhh. Should they consider a salary freeze to pay for it? Nahhh. Take a loan out? After all it was their bad and they got caught. Nahhh. What should they do? Oh yes, you in the corner waving your hand excitedly, what should they do? Hmmm. Hmmm. You say they should ask the Ontario Energy Board for a rate increase so their customer base pays the fine for them? Great idea! Let’s hit our customers in the pocket again when we were just fined for doing so.
Really? You’ve got to be kidding me. How can the Ontario Energy Board agree to such a plan? Why not send them back to the drawing board? I’ll pay for energy I’m using. That makes sense even if the time of use doesn’t agree with my schedule. But tell me why should I and every other hydro customer be paying a fine that the utility companies incurred for charging too much in the first place? Come on Premier McGuinty step in and make it right.
To me it’s elementary … I’m Sandra Watson