Apr 23

Why Should Toronto Care About Denzil Minnan-Wong’s Foreign Travel Funding? (Feat. Rob Ford)

  • April 23, 2014

Denzil Minnan-Wong

Denzil Minnan-Wong: Thumbs down to chairs, thumbs up to foreign travel expenses!

City Council’s executive committee recommended today that councillors who receive external funding for trips outside the country should provide financial details. It’s a logical request, one often requested of people in businesses, universities, or virtually any organization with sensible governance. There are important reasons to do this; partly to keep the bean counters happy, but also to ensure there aren’t conflict of interest problems.

Rob Ford tore into councillor Denzil Minnan-Wong today for a trip he took to Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam in 2013. Ford said that Minnan-Wong claimed $1,265 for ‘meals and incidentals’ over 18 days- what wasn’t exposed was how much the Canada-Vietnam Friendship Association paid for his hotel and airfare (nor who paid for his visa service).

In an interview with the Toronto Star Minnan-Wong stated that only 7 days of the trip were expensed, and the rest of the time was personal travel. He then kicked into spin mode saying:

“Is the mayor complaining because taxpayers didn’t pay for expenses paid by the organizing group? If he’s complaining that a third party is paying for it, doesn’t that save the taxpayers money?”

Okay, so nothing to see here, right?

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Permanent link to this article: http://www.genuinewitty.com/2014/04/23/why-should-torontonians-care-about-denzil-minnan-wongs-foreign-travel-funding-feat-rob-ford/

Apr 21

Letter To Kristyn Wong-Tam About The Cost Of Policing Toronto’s Events (Feat. Christopher Hume & QUAIA)

  • April 21, 2014

Kristyn Wong-Tam is not amused (neither is Your Humble Narrator)

Kristyn Wong-Tam is not amused (neither is Your Humble Narrator)

Hi Kristyn,

I was (begrudgingly) reading the Toronto Star this afternoon when I came across Christopher Hume’s article about how Toronto Police officers Make Out Like Bandits when working to provide security at our city’s events. I don’t agree with you very often, but I must say that I’m absolutely on the same page. I’ve covered dozens of our city’s events, and have always been uncomfortable with the amount of money that’s been spent on policing- that said, there have also been disturbing incidents where the police failed to show up and left dangerous people free to wreak havoc.

Unfortunately, though we both agree that the costing of policing the city’s events is often egregious, it appears that there’s a big gap between us when it comes to analysing the root causes. While it’s most certainly true that the payoffs of all that event-related overtime are a great way for Chief Bill Blair to keep his troops happy (Ontario’s Sunshine List says it all), it’s incredibly naïve to write-off the fact that city events face some clear and present dangers.

Of course, I’m being incredibly generous using the word ‘naïve’- your history indicates you know a lot more about what’s going on than you claim…

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Permanent link to this article: http://www.genuinewitty.com/2014/04/21/letter-to-kristyn-wong-tam-about-the-cost-of-policing-torontos-events-feat-christopher-hume-quaia/

Apr 21

Kevin Annett Over-Celebrates 4/20, Declares He’s Dissolved the Catholic Church! (Feat. Henry Makow)

  • April 21, 2014

Kevin Annett: Davin Ouimet's "bud"dy & mentor

Kevin Annett: Davin Ouimet’s “bud”dy & mentor

In a week where the world has been captivated by the intersection of the earth and the moon, there’s been another intersection this week. Sunday was not only the Christian holiday of Easter, but it was also 4/20- a date when marijuana enthusiasts around the world gather to light-up a joint at 4:20pm. Tens of thousands of pot smokers around the world gathered (after church, presumably) to imbibe their beloved Mary Jane- and, inevitably, some individuals made fools of themselves. Some idiots went as far as to set a palm tree on fire in Victoria, BC.

There’s no better proof of the old adage that “the world is full of idiots” than BC’s homegrown con-artist extraordinaire Kevin Annett. Not that he’s an idiot, far from it, the man has been able to get 100’s of people around the world to believe he’s the one man who can save the earth from the evils of the Catholic Church. The real idiots are Annett’s followers- people so desperate to see change in the world (or so corrupt) that they’re willing to believe his tall tales without demanding some sort of evidence.

There’s a sucker born every minute…

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Permanent link to this article: http://www.genuinewitty.com/2014/04/21/kevin-annett-over-celebrates-420-declares-hes-dissolved-the-catholic-church-feat-henry-makow/

Apr 17

TDSB Administration Cancels Anarchist Field Trip! (And The Failure Of Their Safe Space Policy)

  • April 17, 2014

sakura-saunders-profiting-off-line-9-enbridge-hijacking

Sakura Saunders: Role model for The Student School

Last Friday this site broke the story of how pupils at Toronto’s Student School planned to join a group of anarchists at their annual protest against Barrick Gold’s AGM. Led by American professional protester Sakura Saunders, the anti-Barrick protests are perfect example of how Toronto’s union affiliated activist community has evolved into a distasteful self-parody.

Many readers were alarmed to hear that a school in the Toronto District School Board had approved their students to engage in illegal activities (side-by-side with a convicted and imprisoned ringleader of the violence during the 2010 G20). That said, people who have been following the antics of the TDSB weren’t really surprised at all- our city’s school system has become highly politicised.

The word started to get out about the Student School’s plans, the story got linked by a couple other websites, people started to speak up- and, today, Your Humble Narrator has some great news to share…

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Permanent link to this article: http://www.genuinewitty.com/2014/04/17/tdsb-administration-cancels-anarchist-field-trip-and-the-absurdity-of-their-safe-space-policy/

Apr 12

Save The Whales! Screw The Auditors? (Feat. PHS, Sarah Blyth & KPMG)

  • April 12, 2014

Sarah Blyth: Defender of whales and poverty pimps

Sarah Blyth: Defender of whales and poverty pimps

The Vancouver Aquarium is a beautiful facility, the first time Your Humble Narrator visited I was truly impressed- they’ve got great lighting, informative displays, and an amazing selection of creatures to peer at. That said, it was somewhat disturbing when we got to the whales. The first question I asked myself was “how did they let this happen”? Then I leaned over to my partner and commented “How does a city with such a progressive government allow this to happen? You’d think someone would have spoken out about this!”.

Six years later, they’ve finally spoken out. Vancouver Parks Board commissioners Sarah Blyth and Constance Barnes announced on April 5th that they want the Vancouver Aquarium to shut down their whale and dolphin enclosures. Blyth admitted this isn’t a new issue, and that the Parks Board has been going back and forth on it for the past 20 years. Since then, Mayor Gregor Robertson has come out in agreement.

This leads us to the question; why is this issue coming to the forefront right now? We’ve known about the problem for decades, Victoria’s Sealand of the Pacific was shut-down in 1991. Blyth’s story is that they’re motivated by Blackfish; a movie about whales kept in captivity that was released in December 2013. But is there more to the story, perhaps it’s meant to distract us from something?

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Permanent link to this article: http://www.genuinewitty.com/2014/04/12/save-the-whales-screw-the-auditors-feat-phs-sarah-blyth-kpmg/

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