In my foray into politics I was struck early on of the different kinds of politicians that there are. At the risk of oversimplifying, I would put them into two categories. The first group are those that are politicians based on their values. They have a worldview that is made up of certain values, and […]
Back in June 2019, Councillor Bill Dennis made the following motion. That Staff be directed to complete a staff report on the potential to regulate short term rental platforms (such as Airbnb) within the City of Sarnia within the next 30 days. I understand the Planning advisory Committee is looking at bed and breakfasts under
death is death even though not all death is the same as the space between one death and the next lies a heart that has been broken and mended and then put back together and then shattered again and now that heart exists in many spaces and with many people and with many memories and
In our corporate strategies meeting last week, I brought up what I thought to be an important issue on how the staff and council communicates big projects to the public. I said that: I’m thinking of something like Centennial Park where staff was here, public was here, and council was here. And everyone was on
Ever since campaigning for council in 2018, there has been this message floating around that Sarnia needs population growth. Somehow it worked as a campaign strategy for councilors saying they were going to focus on growing our population. More recently the mayor has been touting that “we need to get that percentage number up,” said
Some important quotes from The Battle For Justice In Palestine: The Case for a Single Democratic State in Palestine by Ali Abunimah. What an important read and should be required reading for anyone discussing Palestinians rights. So now let me qualify my opening claim: the Palestinians are winning the argument and Zionists are losing it.
About five years ago I set out to write a book on money and Christianity. I wrote a number of chapters, I researched what I could for the depth of the audience I was intending to hit and tried to lay out a plan for how to best approach it. Everything I knew about church,
Back in August I made a motion “that staff report on reviewing our policies surrounding secondary dwelling units, especially to address the urgent and growing issue of student housing. This report should include the impact that the recent provincial changes have on our municipal policies, any possible collaboration with Lambton College, and an overview of
I lost my tiny little USB unifying receiver so I ended up buying a new one on Amazon. It detected fine by my laptop (on Windows 10), but for the life of me the Logitech Unifying Software failed to recognize it. I tried everything and went deep into Google to try and uncover the problems.
I’ve had a few requests to do some clarifying on some of my comments around race and Canada on some previous conversations I’ve been having online. I thought I would post some of my thought process for what it means that as a Canadian, that we are all guilty of racism in one way or
There has been some press about a matter between myself and Marilyn Gladu, our federal member of parliament for Sarnia-Lambton. I called attention to her religious extremism and she didn’t take too kindly to it. Some people have asked me, “Why did you attack Marilyn Gladu?” or, “Why does any of this matter?” So I
the Amazon is burning at a record rate, glaciers are melting at record rates, kids are dying at borders at record rates, overdoses are killing at record rates, facism is increasing at record rates, andpopulist candidates are winning at record rates when will peace see record rateswhen will love set a record ratewhen will awareness set a record rate
This story is only one of a multitude where Marilyn Gladu, Sarnia-Lambton MP, reveals her bias and ineptitude for the role of MP, but I wanted to add my personal experience to the archive so that it’s on the record and that hopefully she will be held accountable one day. It’s important to remember what
One of the things that I did agree with in installing the greeter desk back in the lobby of city hall is it’s intended emphasis on hospitality. It’s important that we make hospitality a value at the center of our city. Judging by the comments of my fellow councilors who voted in favour of restoring
Tomorrow’s meeting is going to be interesting! Further to the motion that I commented on from Sarnia Councillor Bill Dennis there is another motion by Dave Boushy that is identical and then takes it even further. There are two items that he added: e) Removal of the Workplace Investigation section from the www.sarnia.ca (all reports will remain publicly available); f) Staff
Sarnia Councillor Bill Dennis Has a motion on the table at the next council meeting “that any compensation related matter (including eligible expense criteria or other financial reimbursement matters) for Sarnia City and City/County Council members be referred to a Committee of private citizens (to be established) for recommendations to be submitted to Council for their
Chris Cooke is ‘concerned’ about me and my politics. He’s not wrong to be concerned. My style of politics is a direct affront to his. I call out BS, I don’t write it. I want to see our administration thrive and he actively looks to disparage whoever he disagrees with. Let’s grab a beer sometime
A motion is coming, “the workplace sanctions previously imposed against Mayor Mike Bradley shall be lifted immediately. This includes restoring the Mayors ability to communicate directly with City staff, his ability to freely access City Hall at any time and the removal of the wall.” This is a complicated motion because it mixes rhetoric, rumour
The recent news of three business owners leaving Mitton Village is really heartbreaking that they found themselves unable to sustain their businesses in that area. It really sheds light onto larger set of issues that we face as a city. I’d like to make a few suggestions to guide our discourse about these things that
I have spent most of the last twelve years being the lowest paid staff of any of the businesses I am a co-owner of. I don’t make decisions based on my own financial gain, but in the best interests of the overall vision in which we are striving towards. So speaking of my own salary