MISSISSAUGA and Peel --The W----I--D-------E-----N-------I--N----------------G DIVIDE (Mississauga Musings)

MISSISSAUGA and Peel --The W----I--D-------E-----N-------I--N----------------G DIVIDE

Hey, check out the MissyNews Letter to the Editor about "Family Day".

Optional opening

By: Irex Cheung

March 6, 2008 09:37 PM - Dear Editor:

I read The Mississauga News regarding the proposal to allow stores to open on holidays and I want to express my concern. I am the owner of a small gift shop in a shopping mall. I am counting on the days off when the mall closes on holidays so I can have some time off.

Is it that important to make another dollar on eight more days a year, especially on a holiday that we call "family day"? If (the government) really wants to give people an option to shop on holidays, at least they should give the shop owners the option and the choice of whether they want to stay open.

So when the Retail Business Holiday Act is amended, that option should be put into the Act so that for those people that don't want to work or shops that want to stay close can do so without any penalty or repercussion.

Furthermore, if we really are going to open 364 days a year, think of the family life of all the people that work in retail. What are we really gaining? And whats next, 24/7?

That certainly was my take on things too when I sat in on the Mississauga Board of Trade "WE'RE LOSING MONEY!" Family Day deputation in front of Mississauga Council.

It seems that the wealthy Mississauga enterprises roar to be open --because the owners are rich enough to take the day off, while struggling businesses need --well, a Family Day. When you also consider the number of people actually forced to work (or be fired) for minimum wage (no overtime for special days) and no benefits, there's just one more day in the Ontario calendar for the Working Poor to be exploited.

Mississauga Mayor and all Mississauga Councillors supported the Mississauga Board of Trade opening for the next "Family Day" but one councillor was especially Gung-ho-$Gushy$ as only he can be.

Seems, as a student he "loved" those special holidays --since he got DOUBLE-TIME-AND-A-HALF SALARY on those days. So, was he fretting at all about the exploited saps forced to work for Minimum-Wage-on-a-****-Sandwich on Family Day?

Here is the video, "FAMILY DAY" MISSISSAUGA --THE WIDENING DIVIDE featuring Councillor "I got paid double-time-and-a-half as a student".

(Click here to go directly to YouTube or Google Video)

And speaking of Family Day and the Widening Divide...

Here's video of a presentation to Peel Regional Council (February 28, 2008) related to Peel newcomers:

PEEL REGIONAL COUNCIL "2006 CENSUS HIGHLIGHTS" 080228

(Click here to go directly to the clip on Google Video)

This presentation launched a discussion questioning the success of "Multiculturalism" and urging "Integration" instead. If you've watched "PEEL REGIONAL COUNCIL "2006 CENSUS HIGHLIGHTS" 080228" you won't need to see this --you've just seen it.

However, for those who just want to follow the February 28, 2008 Peel Regional Council "Multicultural vs Integration" debate, here's the 9-minutes of it.

PEEL REGIONAL COUNCIL on "INTEGRATION vs MULTICULTURALISM"

(Click here to go directly to YouTube or Google Video)

UPDATE: Saturday, March 8, 2008.

Beautiful, truly-beautiful Letter to the Editor in the Mississauga News. (And whoever at MissyNews thought up its headline, good on ya!)

Here we go.

Money trumps family

By: Dr. Catherine Zacal Mississauga

March 7, 2008 10:10 PM - Dear Editor:

What irony that people are lobbying to work on Family Day. Each holiday is supposed to nurture our private relationships for the betterment of society.

Our 52 family days per year (Sundays) are a thing of the past. It is hard enough to keep in touch with family and friends as it is. I truly shudder at the reference from the last editorial how shops will still remain closed Good Friday. In our secularized society, undoubtedly that will go by the wayside, too.
How about spending some time with family and friends?

I wonder what Ontario would've looked like today had politicians kept those 52 Sundays "closed"... like, held the ground right there. Held that sacred ground right there. Like, you know, instead of worshipping at the Altar of M$$$y.

Signed,
The (Ontario, DEADLAST in Accountability) Mississauga Muse
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"Corporate Security Policies and Procedures are proprietary." (Mississauga Corporate Security --February 16, 2006)

MISSISSAUGAMUSEQUEESPARK080303
"The impact of the Unconnected can't be underestimated" - Mississauga Visionning Symposium comment (February 23, 2008)

"We must employ every possible tactic to dissuade those who try to silence us with fear" ---The Mississauga News Editorial (2007-03-24)

Want (or worse, need) to learn more? Link to MISSISSAUGAWATCH.CA
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Posted by Ursula Bennett on March 7, 2008 11:25 AM | Permalink

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Comments (1)

Anonymous:

We're lucky to have Andre Marin on our side

The Toronto Sun
Sun 09 Mar 2008
Page: O5
Section: Editorial/Opinion
Byline: BY ALAN SHANOFF

Police officer Richard Wills murdered his lover Linda Mariani. Instead of owning up to what he did, like a man, he made up a cock and bull story about how Linda died accidentally.

The jury saw through this ruse but not before Wills' bizarre behaviour cost Ontario taxpayers almost $1.5 million.

How this shocking waste occurred was dumped into the lap of Ontario Ombudsman Andre Marin. In his characteristic fashion, Marin got to the heart of the matter in about three months.

He discovered negligence at Legal Aid Ontario. LAO has already agreed to implement Marin's proposals.

Watching Marin's speedy, effective work on the Wills' file got me looking into Marin's overall track record.

In less than two years as ombudsman, Marin has had a huge impact in Ontario. In that short time, he has arguably done more for Ontarians than anyone else.

Do you buy lottery tickets? Thank Marin for blowing the whistle on the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation's shameful protection of unscrupulous retailers stealing the winnings of legitimate lottery purchasers. Ontario now has a secure system to protect lottery winners.

Are you a recent parent of a newborn? Thank Marin for the additional disease screening tests now undertaken shortly after birth. Before Marin became involved, we were no better than a Third World country and our list of tests had been stagnant for 27 years, resulting in preventable baby deaths every year. Now we are a world leader.

Do you own a home? Thank Marin for the (so far limited) reforms of the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation. Marin exposed questionable and unethical practices used by MPAC. It's too bad the government hasn't adopted all of Marin's recommendations. How about it, Premier?

Have you suffered injuries from a criminal act? Thank Marin for outing the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board, which had adopted policies and practices intended to obstruct victims from getting compensation. Claims took an average of three years to be processed. Speaking of the CICB, when is the government going to get around to raising the paltry limit of $25,000? That was put in place in 1971. Not having an increase for crime victims in 27 years is criminal.

Are you a parent of a special needs child requiring residential care, who doesn't want to surrender your child to the CAS? Thank Marin for being able to keep custody of your child. Sixty-five children were returned to the custody of their parents after he intervened.

Retroactive benefits

Approximately 19,000 disabled Ontarians were able to obtain retroactive benefits previously denied. They were entitled to them, but weren't getting them, due to lengthy, bureaucratic delays.

Marin has helped cancer patients get reimbursed for expensive cancer treatments not available in Ontario.

He doesn't use big words. He's a plain speaker. Of MPAC and OLGC he said: "Both forgot they were actually public servants. They treated the public as an annoyance and even an adversary."

He criticised the Ministry of the Attorney-General for giving him the "proverbial brush off" in its response to recommendations arising out of the Wills fiasco. He insists public servants provide public service.

How refreshing. People who get paid to serve the public should be doing so and Marin exposes those who don't. Wouldn't it be fabulous if we could set Marin loose on fixing the court delay problem? He'd get to the bottom of the mess without worrying about who he offends.

Limited power

But the Ombudsman isn't Superman. He can't order the government to do anything. He can only shame it to fix things. He doesn't have any power to investigate wrongdoing in hospitals, long-term care facilities, schools or universities, children's aid societies, police or municipal governments (except in a narrow area relating to closed meetings). That means he was unable to deal with about 1,000 complaints related to those areas in the past year.

It's up to the McGuinty government to pass legislation fixing this gap. The Ombudsman's office gets about 20,000 complaints a year. Not every complaint can be treated as a priority. Complaints that relate to systemic problems are. Marin's not perfect but with a budget for is office of about $10 million, we are sure getting our money's worth with this guy.

alan.shanoff@sunmedia.ca

Posted by Anonymous | March 9, 2008 8:50 AM

Posted on March 9, 2008 08:50

Mississauga Musings

Ursula Bennett