Sure it is April but it has been so cold up until now. On
the day that I started writing this Blog, last Friday, it even snowed. Believe
it or not!
Could it all be changing shortly considering this---even if it is only for a few days and even if there is a bit of rain:
However, I have to admit that I am not very happy when it's raining out because I would like to go for a walk in some warmer temperature finally. As you know, that is what I have generally been doing for the last few summers. It is such a pleasure being able to do so and being able to see so many fascinating sites around this area while going out several times a day for a stroll.
Keep your fingers crossed, dear reader, that our weather
really will be changing soon so that we can go out for a walk. And by the way,
let's hope that the Summer cannot become unrealistically hot so that we cannot
go on for long strolls but get stuck in our house to get some air conditioning
to keep us cool.
In the meantime, I still have some time to stay inside and
do some writing. Here are some new matters that I have seen recently and for
which I am doing this article.
WHAT A REMARKABLE ACTION
Can you imagine all those people complaining! How silly they
are. Our Windsor
politicians know exactly what they should be doing.
Oh, I know that some of you got so upset because Windsor was going to get
rid of its main Library branch downtown. How foolish you were. There was, of
course, a real reason for this to happen. Here it is now:
"Windsor
police are not just walking city streets — they've also started patrolling
stacks of books to protect library patrons.
The Windsor Public Library has hired police officers to monitor
the central library as a proactive measure to take on drug activity and
violence.
"Because this is a public building, it's open to
everybody. [Making sure] everybody feels welcome and they feel safe, that is a
really high priority for us," explained the library's CEO Kitty
Pope." (Meg Roberts, CBC News, April 5, 2018)
There, the real reason that has just been announced so that you can praise the Mayor and
Councillors for their magnificence in the way that they acted.
NO WONDER PEOPLE HAVE FINANCIAL DIFFICULTIES
It is becoming much more difficult for people to carry on
well financially anymore.
Just consider the price of groceries as one example of how
expensive it is becoming for people to live these days. The price of food and
other products that we buy at grocery stores does increase. Sometimes the
increase is high because the food is brought in from other areas and even
countries. Think about gasoline prices that are supposed to really rise later
on this year. Have you noticed how high the price of the house has risen recently
and might go up even higher.
The problem is when the increase in price covers products
that are so fundamental to us. We have to pay it and there is not very much we
can do about it. Notwithstanding what I have pointed out above, as examples, we
must not forget that there is one way that we lose a lot of money every year
and there is very little that we can do about it.
This story that I saw in the Toronto Sun tells you how bad the situation
has become and how difficult it will be for most people to live a very good
life without working very, very hard. It may be even more difficult for so many
more people many months after it was published...
"This country badly needs a tax revolt.
According to a report released this week by Vancouver’s Fraser Institute, the average
Canadian family earned just over $82,000 in 2016 and paid taxes of just over
$35,000.
That means the typical family saw 42.5% of its income
gobbled up by one level of government or another.
That’s a higher percentage than families in every other G7
country, except France."
(Lorne Gunter, TorontoSun, August 26, 2017)
Go take a look at this story and see how the author makes a
number of comparisons that should make you quite upset in my opinion. Here is
just one:
"According to Fraser, the 42.5% we surrender to
federal, provincial and municipal governments is more than we pay for food,
clothing and shelter – combined! We pay 37.4% for the basic necessities."
While I would like to post some other comments from this
story for you to read, I am not going to do so. I want you to read the story
yourself to see what will make you feel quite upset about what he has written.
The issue we have to face is how do we resolve these
financial difficulties. Regretfully, I cannot give you an easy answer. One does
need to consider the person who receives our vote as Legislator and hope that
this person can start making the situation better for us.
WHO WILL GET THE CREDIT
Here is something reported that could be great news for us
in Canada:
"White House Tries to Pull Nafta Back From Brink as
Deadlines Loom
WASHINGTON — After months
of fraught negotiations and stalled talks, the Trump administration is aiming
to announce a preliminary deal on the North American Free Trade Agreement this
month, moving to resolve one trading conflict as a separate clash with China
looms.
A final agreement is far from guaranteed, but the White
House is revising some of its more aggressive demands, particularly related to
automobiles, which had been a source of tension with Canada
and Mexico.
A new proposal would require an automobile to contain components made by
workers earning a specific wage level to qualify for Nafta’s preferential
tariffs. The administration had previously demanded that vehicles contain a
large percentage of auto parts produced in the United States...
President Trump, who earlier this week called Nafta an
“embarrassment,” said at an event in West
Virginia on Thursday that a deal could be announced
shortly. “We’re working very hard on Nafta with Mexico
and Canada,”
he said. “We’ll have something I think fairly soon.” (Ana Swanson, New YorkTimes, April 5, 2018)
Seriously, we have had problems in the past making us think
that the whole thing might fall apart. Then there were stories saying that we
might finally get a resolution. Then it fell apart again and now it looks
better.
"The talks, which appeared to be on the brink of
collapse just a few months ago, kicked back into gear in recent weeks as
political and practical realities prompted a newfound urgency among American
negotiators."
Whew, that is pretty tough stuff for us residents in Canada
to handle since the auto industry is so important for our economy.
Of course, NAFTA is very important for our region from an
economic perspective. Our automobile industry is quite dependent on it.
Naturally then, what our people do would have to be considered if thanks are to
be given out for helping to obtain an Agreement that is positive for us. Take a look at what was written in the
Windsor Star recently. It was about some recommendations given to the
Government of Canada. Here though is important one:
"Our message is (that) on top of huge international
issues they are working on, there are some really local pressing ones from the
Windsor-Essex region they need to know about,” said Justin Falconer, senior
manager for Workforce WindsorEssex, which assembled the report...
A primary recommendation of the report is the recognition of
the auto sector as a “key priority” throughout negotiations. The supply chain
for the industry can not be negatively impacted, the report said.
“As (Tecumseh Mayor Gary McNamara) said, ‘Let’s see them
build a car without this agreement,’” Falconer said." (Dave Battagello, Windsor Star, April 6, 2018)
As you can see, dear reader, pressure is being put on by
local people to make sure that our region's needs are to be viewed as important
if there is to be any kind of a resolution. This action has to be constantly
undertaken considering that the Canadian people who are negotiating this deal
are not from our area and may not really appreciate how vital our role is in
negotiating a good settlement.
We can only hope that a positive agreement will be
negotiated soon by the three Country Governments. That action will clearly help
our economic position and keep people working.
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