(You may need to click twice or if you wish Go Directly to the clip on YouTube or Google Video)
(You may need to click twice or if you wish Go Directly to the clip on YouTube or Google Video)
This- is Mississauga.
Lots has been written about the verbal-bludgeoning Carolyn Parrish took at the tongue of Hazel McCallion as Parrish attempted to shine a molecule of sunlight on The-Power-that-Dare-Not-Speak-Its-Name --(read in whisper) Enersource.
What no one reported was the eloquent Enersource Bottom Line Report by Enersource Board Member, Councillor Nando Iannicca regarding the "Rubber on the Road" Excellence of Enersource Delivery of Service.
Enersource Board Member, Mayor Hazel McCallion also added her seal of approval to Enersource's Commitment to its shareholders (90% Us). Here's Councillor's Iannicca's June 20, 2007 Enersource Speech.
(You may need to click twice or if you wish Go Directly to the clip on YouTube or Google Video)
Not even a week later...
Tuesday, June 26, 2007, I attended a Peel Police Services Board meeting and on my way home I stopped in at the Wendys/Tim Hortons at Glen Erin and Eglinton (approx 6:30 pm). As I drove up I noticed an Enersource truck just idling away.
(You may need to click twice or if you wish Go Directly to the clip on YouTube or Google Video)
As luck would have it I had my Canon Powershot camera with me, Video confirms an idling time of 7 minutes 46 sec the driver returns from Wendys and pulls away.
I'm not sure, of course, exactly how long in total that Enersource truck sat idling. (How long does it take to walk into Wendys, order your meal (around 6 pm), eat it, and get back into the truck?)
I'm also not sure why the driver left his Enersource truck idling while he was inside Wendys having his dinner. I do know that it leaves me wondering how many other Enersource drivers leave their trucks running like this.
And for the very few of us who monitor Council meetings, and know about the discussion regarding what Councillors felt were "disappointing" Enersource dividend payouts, it leaves me wondering how much a bigger shareholder value there'd be if Enersource "walked the walk".
And no, I didn't (and won't) complain to Enersource Board Members, McCallion, Corbasson, Iannicca and McFadden about this. Learned my lesson.
Moving Forward...
On June 20, 2007 Councillor Parrish stated, "I have chosen to make a study of Enersource". I've chosen to make a study of The Corporation of the City of Mississauga. And so...
THE GOOD NEWS
There is a bright side to the June 20, 2007 Council Enersource Debate. In replaying my video and comparing that footage with the ROGERS telecast (yes, I really do investigate "that deep") there is one bright side.
Martin Powell --he's the Commissioner of Transportation and Works.
Most times I only ever get to see the back of his head but no matter. Seems to me that Mr. Powell is one professional class act. Best of all, he seems to be a really nice guy. Mississauga citizens can find enormous comfort in that.
While my findings are "very preliminary" ("very preliminary" used several times at yesterday's afternoon Budget Committee meeting by the Director of Finance) --if Martin Powell ever decided to run for Council --he'd get my vote.
RELATED TOPIC
As we know, The Big Yellow is really hot on awards. I don't have one that I can give Mr. Powell. But him being the "Works" in Transportation and Works, I'm going to share a fun "Works" URL just for him.
You know, Technology at its best.
So. For Mississauga's class-act Commissioner of Transportation and Works, Martin Powell (and I hope that he enjoys this)....
HIT IT!
(You may need to click twice or if you wish Go Directly to the clip on YouTube)
Signed,
The (I wonder if Mentos and Diet Coke have Missisauga Transit applications...) Mississauga Muse
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All "Antonio Batista Pothole Poet Trial" Blog entries:
THEIR MISSISSAUGA, yes, and ever increasingly --THEIR MISSISSAUGA (May 27, 2007)
Hypocrisy Democracy (May 28, 2007 7:27 am)
"What would Edward R. Murrow do? What would he want me to do?" (May 28, 2007 11:55 pm)
"We have to send a message to the public" Crown Attorney. (May 29, 2007 2:51 PM)
A pothole never loomed so large (John Stewart's "Random Access") (May 30, 2007)
"The government must not silence its critics by force." ---Clayton Ruby (May 29, 2007) (May 31, 2007)
"she does not think how you feel" Antonio Batista (June 4, 2007)
"Mrs. McCALLION what is wrong with the City of Mississauga?" (Antonio Batista) (June 5, 2007)
"Reasonable Person Test" --Crown Witness (June 6, 2007)
"We must employ every possible tactic to dissuade those who try to silence us with fear"
---The Mississauga News Editorial (2007-03-24)
Click here for John Stewart's Blog
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Comments (6)
I wonder when you make comments about the hydro workers how many of you work under the same conditions
1. no bathroom
2. no coffee machine
3. no lunch roon with a place to wash your hands or to sit for 30 minutes and chew the fat with your co-workers.
4. no A/C in the outside air
5. Rain, hail, wind, drunk drivers, street racers, heat shall keep these fellowa from doing their jod not even the grow op homes. How does your commfy office job compair. Do you know how hard it is on those trucks to be turning them on and off???
No only that but you have ever Mississauga person watching what your doing never really knowing the full extent of what has been going on before they got there.
Posted by susan | July 2, 2007 12:15 PM
Posted on July 2, 2007 12:15
Hi Susan,
It's ironic because just a couple of Council meetings ago, there was a deputation made by a group trying to get Mississauga to ban sweatshops.
You make it sound like Enersource is something of a sweatshop and in violation of legislation regarding rights of workers.
I will pass on your comments to the Mississauga Mayor and Councilllors (McCallion, Corbasson, Iannicca, McFadden are on the Enersource Board)
Thank you for giving us a heads up on this as sub-regulatory labour practices is like so many other things, an embarrassment to Mississauga.
Signed,
The Mississauga Muse
Posted by The Mississauga Muse | July 3, 2007 3:28 AM
Posted on July 3, 2007 03:28
You just glossed over and came up with sweatshop workplace. I find you petty. The conditions are like this for any person who works outside of an office. You seem to be waisting your mind on dribble against the hydro. Are there not other causes for you to fight where you could be working toward the greater good of man kind instead of tearing one down.
Posted by susan | July 4, 2007 2:51 AM
Posted on July 4, 2007 02:51
Hi again, susan
You wrote:
Actually, I didn't come up with the sweatshop scenario; it was something I'd seen during a recent council meeting.
Hazel McCallion told the sweatshop deputant (yes, there really was one) that a sweatshop or any bad labour practice can be directed to (I think this is right) the Ontario Labour Relations Board.
If Enersource employees are denied basic needs such as washroom facilities and coffee breaks, I believe that's serious enough for employees to register an official complaint.
However, I've just re-read your initial email and realize the conditions you are describing might be for the outside workers only. And not the desk jockeys. (I got your first email within hours of a long plane flight and I'd assumed you were referring to all working-stiff Enersource employees.
Again, I will forward both your emails to the Mississauga elected officials on the Enersource Board.
You wrote:
I am working toward the greater good of mankind --I'm studying Ontario municipal governance and accumulating evidence to prove that from a "reasonable person" point-of-view, Ontario municipalities are unaccountable.
Regarding research, Enersource is just a sideline --of interest only because Mississauga owns 90% of it.
Because of Mississauga's presence, I hypothesize that the governance and practices of Enersource are at least somewhat reflective of The City of Mississauga's practices.
Therefore of interest.
Hope this helps.
Signed,
The Mississauga Muse
Posted by The Mississauga Muse | July 4, 2007 10:15 AM
Posted on July 4, 2007 10:15
Hi,
Not all hydro employees are bad workers just as not all blogers are bad. It would be a wonderful world IF everyone where perfect. I think we need to clean up our own back yards before we take on someone elses. What about the plight of hungery childern, homeless people, poverty people so many things and yet it seems that this is just a vendetta of crap against Enersource. Do you sit at a desk all day and work or do you blog on company time in that airconditioned affice??
Posted by susan | July 4, 2007 11:47 PM
Posted on July 4, 2007 23:47
Hi again, susan,
You wrote:
"It would be a wonderful world IF everyone where perfect."
Sorry, have to disagree. I've discovered through bitter experience that "It would be a wonderful world IF everyone were perfect" means, "It would be a wonderful world IF everyone thought like I do."
The other thing I've learned "It would be a wonderful world IF everyone were perfect" is almost always a comment of intolerance usually originating from white Christians.
You wrote:
"I think we need to clean up our own back yards before we take on someone elses."
And that means being aware of the impact we have on our environment and observing common sense solutions like recycling, no littering and adhering to anti-idling laws.
You wrote:
What about the plight of hungery childern, homeless people, poverty people so many things and yet it seems that this is just a vendetta of crap against Enersource."
Clearly you haven't been reading this Blog for very long. One of the things we-here are so on about is the unwillingness of Mississauga to acknowledge the Vulnerable People who need good government the most.
You wrote:
"Do you sit at a desk all day and work or do you blog on company time in that airconditioned affice??"
Actually, I'm just an aging citizen, (retired) don't work for the Mississauga News and have no journalism background.
For almost five decades I believed in Government (can you believe that stupidity?). Then I learned the truth.
So now I'm just a citizen fed up with Puffery and doing my best to provide balance to the Corporate Spin at mississauga.ca.
As for Enersource, you really need to direct your anger where it belongs --it's Mississauga Councillors who said they were disappointed with Enersource (dividend) performance, not me.
Frankly, I'm far more concerned about Mississauga Corporate governance than anything Enersource can do.
Including leaving every single truck idling forever and a day.
Peace.
Posted by The Mississauga Muse | July 5, 2007 2:46 AM
Posted on July 5, 2007 02:46