Aucontraire.ca

My current thoughts in many public areas are now on my website, http://www.aucontraire.ca
 Enjoy.

I'm back

Well here it is June 2009 and I am here to report that the TTC is still operating the 122 extension and have expanded the hours of operation and the bus shows up now on weekends too.

One would think this expanded service was a response to increased ridership but that appears not to be the case. A casual observation of todays ridership compared to stats collected 3 years ago shows that ridership is about the same, maybe less. Empty busses can still be observed parked all over the place (engines running of course) for the same reasons but now it is 7 days a week.

Well here it is February 2017 and the 122 is alive and well but sadly still no riders, It seems to be doing its duty as a place to plug in drivers that need to be busy 8 hours a day because they are being paid for 8 hours a day.

Retail Gasoline Boycott

A few thoughts on the Retail Gasoline Boycott being promoted here in Toronto recently at http://www.boycottgas.ca I agree with the idea and will support it but I think a better plan is necessary in order to elevate the Boycott from a “nice try” to a “winner”.

Arbitrarily choosing a Company to boycott could set up the organizers for a law suit for all kinds of reasons and we know who has the deep pockets around here. Rotating all the companies through a schedule would not work either.

The selection could be facilitated by the municipal government that issues their business licence. As a condition of maintaining that licence all the Majors (Esso Shell etc) could be required to post a price on the first Monday of the month at which their products will be sold in the following month. No duplicate prices will be allowed and the prices may not be changed for the 30 day period. This is not price fixing or limiting, the oil companies can charge any price they like but must bear in mind that we are all going to patronize the lowest priced retailers.

The solution to the current gasoline pricing mess lies not in regulating the price but in regulating the capricious changes in price that are so annoying. The price of your home heating oil doesn’t bounce up and down 4 or 5 times a day for no reason what ever.

Independents would enjoy a guaranteed wholesale price geared to the average of the big boys and would be free to charge anything they like at the pumps.

The media would publicize the results of the Monday morning auction. Compliance couldn’t be easier, every motorist with a phone could be an inspector.

Don Hamilton

Police Chief needs more officers

“Police chief needs more officers” say the headlines. I would feel better with more cops on the job but maybe managing the manpower they have more efficiently might help.

I live in a quiet residential Toronto neighbourhood that rarely sees or needs a Police presence which is why the events of August 11th are so remarkable.

In the early evening a lone door to door canvasser became irrational and started pounding on the door of a house and shouting “I want my book back” over and over. A call was made to 911 because, although no immediate threat was evident, the situation was not improving because the young man wouldn’t respond to various vocal efforts to calm him down.

A cruiser arrived and the 2 officers attempted to remove the young man from the front porch of the home, a struggle ensued and one officer was heard to request back-up. Within minutes another cruiser appeared and the situation seemed to be under control. Then a third car arrived, lights flashing, then another cruiser and another and another until we had a total of TWELVE police cars responding to a pretty minor incident, many staying there for up to half an hour or more.

What were these officers doing that was less important (or fun) than joining this little circus? I didn’t know 33 Division had 12 cars on the road on a week day evening.

Good guys recognised too

Lest this Blog be characterised as all TTC, all day, every day we have other stuff to say, some of it is good.

No one works harder for me and the citizens of Toronto than the people who drive the recycle truck in my neighbourhood. The guys who pick up my garbage are great too, take a little time to make their job easier and they will respond, at least that is my experience.

How was your summer?

How was your summer?
Mine was great, thanks for asking. I am back on the job with a few interesting observations and examples of your tax dollar being mishandled here in Toronto.
My doctor advised me to get some exercise every day so I have been walking the neighbourhood every morning and occasionally walking to the store instead of driving. Guess what, often there are more people walking around than there are people on the bus.

My walkabouts have convinced me that the TTC really has no control over the people driving the 122 Graydon Hall route. The drivers still park with their engines running all over the place and I have observed and reported a driver driving with one hand on the wheel and the other holding a cell phone. Twice.

I will likely do another ridership count this week, stay tuned.

Thank you Mr. Ducharme

I received an e-mail message from Richard C. Ducharme, the Chief General Manager of the TTC on Friday. It was in response to my complaints about TTC vehicles parking in a school zone for extended periods of time with the engine running.

Mr. Ducharme regretted these occurrences and assured me that steps have been taken to inform operators on this route that the ONLY place a bus may lay over is at the Fenelon drive loop and that idling the engine is not permitted. They will monitor adherence to this directive.

I thank Mr. Ducharme for his prompt action on this matter. I say prompt because he notes in his letter that he first heard of the problem earlier this month. The residents have been complaining about parked, idling vehicles since the first day the bus showed up 9 months ago but nothing changed until now.

It is great to know that someone at the Commission cares and is willing to respond to the concerns of the public but why must we go to the very top for action?

An audience with Denzil

I attended Councillor Denzil Minnan-Wong’s Recycle affair last night at Parkwoods Plaza on York Mills Road.

After parking my car and removing the box of toxic stuff I brought for disposal I looked up to see Denzil staring at me “here’s the bus chaser” he said. I cheerily acknowledged his greeting and went about finding the proper location to drop off my toxic load and then came back to engage him in conversation.

Denzil stated that he had not read my Weblog or website and had no intention of doing so because I was biased and had an agenda. When asked what my agenda might be he said he wasn’t sure but he didn’t want to know anyway. I am curious about his agenda (apparently we all have one) at least mine is out in the open if not too popular in certain quarters.

To make a long story short he said he considered the 122 Bus route extension to be a done deal based on the positive results of his survey among the people in the neighbourhood even though, oddly enough, most of the people who indicated that they were in favour of the bus route extension obviously don’t use it.

He believes the Ridership numbers published by the TTC are accurate, mine are wrong. I invited him or any one he designates to participate in an actual counting exercise with me at the hour and day of his choosing. He refused, missing a huge opportunity to make me look like a fool.

I am apparently still considered a constituent but not one he wants to hear from.

Some more odd numbers

Some more figures to ponder from the TTC website.