IN YOUR FACE, LOSER
I think 2026 is gonna be a long year….
When my sons were teenagers, they had an especially obnoxious habit of crowing and shouting gleefully when events broke their way, personally.
“IN YOUR FACE!!!!!!!!!!!” one would shout to another, aggressively shoving an open-palmed right hand straight into the other’s face. It was not unusual for them to actually make physical contact in their zeal to make certain their sibling knew what a sad, slow, pathetic, disgusting Loser he was, and how vastly superior was the Winner in that particular scenario.
As a Canadian citizen residing in Ontario and working with industry members in Toronto, I feel like someone has been shouting “IN YOUR FACE” in my face all week. What’s worse, all of the people shouting “IN YOUR FACE” as loudly and as obnoxiously as it is possible to yell are being paid with my taxpayer dollars, which makes it infinitely worse and more contemptuous.
On Monday, we were reminded that Prime Minister Mark Carney has thrown the concept of winning a democratically elected parliamentary majority to the wind and is simply actively wooing MPs who will cross the floor to give him the votes he needs. While it was a relief to see at least one – BC’s Scott Anderson – tell Carney to take a hike, it’s shocking to see how blatant Carney dares to be in his quest.
IN YOUR FACE, all you silly voters who think the way you voted meant something more than giving you a warm, fuzzy feeling. Your leaders can undo the effects of your vote at will. Get over it.
Not to be outdone, Chrystia Freeland then shared with voters that she has accepted a position as “Special Financial Adviser” to Ukraine, while she is still a sitting member of federal Parliament.
Paycheque paid by Canadian taxpayers; working for Ukraine; helping the Prime Minister decide how much money to send Ukraine. IN YOUR FACE, Canadians!
At the provincial level, I listened with a perfectly straight face while a government relations professional explained how hard it’s going be to prevent Uber from doing anything it wants to do in Ontario, given that it has retained Rubicon Strategies as its lobbying firm. Rubicon Strategies was co-founded by Doug Ford’s Campaign Manager Kory Teneycke, which the Ethics Commissioner says is OK to do. IN YOUR FACE, ground transportation providers who aren’t Uber!
This morning, I got a reply from the City of Toronto’s Media department on the status of “Emergency Protocols” needed by Police in the event of urgent, live-or-death situations in which the cops need to track down a Vehicle for Hire driver that might have accidentally driven away with someone’s kid, or been killed in a drunk driving incident.
“Staff continue to work towards addressing outstanding Council directives, gathering feedback from stakeholders and pursuing operational improvements and data and public reporting advancements to both meet the objectives of the vehicles-for-hire by-law and improve accessibility in the industry. In 2026, staff are working to incorporate updates to emergency protocol procedures and provide information to law enforcement agencies on how to activate these protocols, where necessary,” helpful Media staff wrote me.
That’s a lot of words to say what basically amounts to “IN YOUR FACE, TAXPAYERS!”
You think the cops should have one clear, simple, phone number to call on an urgent basis when help is needed to save a life? Maybe, after we pay an entire staff full of employees a year’s worth of salaries to discuss the idea, we will get you that number.
Meanwhile, IN YOUR FACE, safety-concerned citizens and service providers.
It’s only January 8th, and I cling to the idea that this year can get better. We have 51 more weeks to go, after all…could it get any worse?
