Yes, the news is important and serious. But geez, can we laugh a little now and then? It’s good for your mental health, which is very serious.
by Hans Wienhold One slow afternoon, I was given a delivery order. The instructions were to pick up a prepaid order from The Love Shop on Parkdale Ave. N. The bag they handed me contained some lubricant and a red
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No one saw it coming. It came out of nowhere. Much like the attacks on 9/11. It was one of those surreal moments in your life. Everyone knows where they were on 9/11. But for the beef industry a more memorable day was May 20, 2003. That was the day the Canada/US border slammed shut with a shockwave that hit not only the aforementioned trading partners but 40 additional countries that trades with Canada.
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I dragged myself to the Committee meeting room and took my seat in the row of speakers. Everyone was there for the same reason: to ask for funds for their program from the limited Tourism budget. My group, Taxis on Patrol, was asking for $7,000 to help fund an annual program which presented awards to cab drivers that had helped improve safety on Toronto streets. It also had a strong impact on improving the often-tenuous relationships between the cab industry, the city, and police.
My favourite Taxis on Patrol (“TOPS”) story was of a driver who saw a woman being beaten by a man on the street. He swerved to the curb and threw open his front door: the woman jumped in, he auto-locked the doors and just kept driving.
In our most famous file, a driver had a mother in the back seat whose fevered baby had gone into convulsions. The driver contacted dispatch who contacted 911 who walked the driver through every step to restore the baby to consciousness – we actually got permission to release the dramatic 911 tape of that event, and when it was played for Metro Council, several of the councillors were crying at the end of it. The baby lived.
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The Canadian Taxpayers Federation presented its 25th annual Teddy Waste Awards to the governor general for racking up sky-high bills for airplane food; the Quebec government’s app that made people line up for hours; and, a Charlottetown councillor who built her driveway around a power pole and charged taxpayers for moving it.
“Governor General Mary Simon’s bill for airplane food on one trip was almost double the prime minister’s grocery bill for the whole year and, for that amazing accomplishment, she’s winning a Teddy Award,” said Franco Terrazzano, Federal Director of the CTF.
Read moreThe United Kingdom and other Commonwealth nations celebrated the Coronation of King Charles on May 6th, 2023. Notably not celebrating was anyone who needed to drive in London, as the Google Maps traffic snapshot for that day indicated most of
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“Today, we express our gratitude to the journalists who continue to report the facts, give a voice to the voiceless, and often put themselves at risk to deliver timely and accurate information to the world, including those covering Russia’s ongoing, brutal invasion of Ukraine. We stand in solidarity with journalists in Iran who are facing brutal repression and severe restrictions for covering the Iranian regime’s crackdowns on protests. We also recognize the brave work of journalists in Sudan and other conflict areas around the world, who are keeping the world updated on conflicts and the horrifying impacts they are having on people.
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The ongoing occupation of Wellington Street and other parts of downtown Ottawa by striking Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) workers is providing a source of ironic humour on social media. “PSAC is taking the Confederation Bridge!” reports “Far Right
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The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is calling on federal opposition parties to reject the $13 billion subsidy the federal government is giving Volkswagen. “Taxpayers don’t have $13 billion to give to a multinational corporation,” said Franco Terrazzano, Federal Director of the
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The April 21st press conference announcing that Canada and Ontario are funneling billions of dollars to Volkswagen for a new battery plant in St. Thomas was an epic event.
It wasn’t just epic for the number of times politicians got to use the word “epic,” which they used an epic number of times.
It wasn’t even epic considering the truly impressive ease with which politicians can prattle on for minutes while saying exactly nothing, or the skill with which politicians can shamelessly make statements that have no basis in reality (whoops, at least 10 jurisdictions have a higher growth rate than Ontario. Someone alert Doug Ford.)
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