A Very Warm Springtime

I know, I know. I am not supposed to talk about the weather BUT what is happening this year is very interesting.

In case you have forgotten, our winter started quite late and seemed to last much longer this year. Our spring seems very peculiar as well. It started off rather cool and we have just experienced some quite warm weather. Now, it is back to being cool again!

Oh, don't worry. I just checked some long-term weather forecasting and the prediction is for some very hot weather a few days or so from now. I am not sure how one's body deals with that. I am very careful in dealing with these changes and managing the temperature fluctuations so that I do not catch a cold or some other more serious illness.

I am not going to give you a guess about why the weather is changing the way it is. I really don't have one to be direct about it. I am sure that there are all kinds of theories that different people are giving explaining what is going on. It is fun reading about them.

Oh well, with all of the political events that are taking place these days around the world, weather in our area is not the most important subject to discuss in my Blogsite but it really is one that fascinates me.

Here are some other issues that I want to write about that I trust you will want to consider.

BORDER CROSSING

Do you really believe that this is going to happen:

“The Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority (WDBA) plans to select its private partner "in the coming weeks," according to Doug George, Canadian consul general.

George said the team narrowed down potential private partners to three groups, who put in bids earlier this month. The bids will be analyzed and the authority will pick a partner before breaking ground. 

"We expect to be choosing a preferred proponent in the relatively near future and hopefully have a groundbreaking this summer. Significant construction will start this year," George said.” (Dana Afana, mlive.com, May 31, 2018)

You might ask why I published this. It is hardly significant. However, it seems to me that there is one serious mistake in it. I'll let you try and figure out what is wrong. When you do, you might want to wonder why Government Canada is involved even now in thinking about building a new border crossing in our area.

COULD THIS POSSIBLY BE TRUE

This is an amazing statement made by the gentleman who is the Head of the PC Party who is running to be the Premier of Ontario:

"In his daily encounters with journalists during Ontario’s election campaign, Doug Ford seems eager to avoid confrontation — a contrast to the angry outbursts he directed at the press when late brother Rob was mayor of Toronto.

But in a series of recent email blasts to party members, there’s been a different message, one that accuses the news media and polling companies of conspiring to try to stop Ford’s Progressive Conservatives from capturing Thursday’s election.

“The media, the pollsters, they don’t want us to win,” said one blast a week ago. “So they’re making up numbers to write stories about NDP momentum.” (Tom Blackwell, National Post, June 5, 2018)

Unfortunately, I do not know if what is said is true or not. Presumably, we all should have a better idea after the election is finished because then the numbers will come out and then one can compare those results with what the various news media and polling companies have predicted.

I have to admit that I find it surprising that the Progressive Conservative Party's numbers seemed to crash while the NDP figures seemed to be doing so well. I must admit also that I do not understand how that may have happened and so quickly too. Oh sure, I am hardly someone who is that thrilled with Doug Ford becoming Premier. However, my recollection of him, when he was helping his brother when he was Mayor of Toronto, was that he was a very involved person and seemed to be doing well for him. As was said recently:

"Seeing himself more as co-mayor than the first-term city councillor that he was, Doug Ford would ensconce himself in the chief magistrate’s office when his brother was out and hold official meetings, recalled Mark Towhey, the late mayor’s former chief of staff.” (Tom Blackwell, National Post, May 25, 2018)

BORTOLIN APOLOGY

I have to admit that I have difficulty with this matter. This whole episode, based on a comment made by the Windsor Councillor that apparently got him into serious trouble, has been hard for me to understand.

I am hardly a fan of this Councillor. Yet, at the time this all started, I really did not think that his comment was so bad that it should get him into such a horrible mess and that a major investigation should take place. Apparently it was and it did.

What is also interesting to me is that the decision of the Integrity Commissioner was made public now, just before the Provincial Election this Thursday and the Councillor just gave his apology. Of course, you must know by now that Councillor Bortolien is running to become a Liberal MPP in that election. I wonder how the negative decision made against him will influence the votes of people in his riding. Will it cost him any chance to be elected or will his voters be sympathetic and support him?

Here is something else that I found rather interesting. The Councillor is not very happy about the decision and is going to appeal it.:

"It’s likely it will be several months before the application for a judicial review, filed by Bortolin’s lawyer David McNevin on June 1, makes it to a courtroom. It seeks to have both the Integrity Commissioner’s report and council’s May 7 decision set aside for “error of law, misapprehension of facts and the denial of natural justice.” (Brian Cross, Windsor Star, June 5, 2018)

Let us assume that the Councillor lost provincially. Presumably, since I think the timing of the Appeal takes several months, it might be heard very close to the municipal election day. Now isn't that something remarkable especially if the Councillor suffered a loss provincially in the election! Why would anyone want to vote for this person to be a member of the City Council if he ran again to be re-elected!

I found these comments by Mayor Dilkens so amusing:

“Mayor Drew Dilkens described Bortolin words as a “sorry, not sorry” statement. “But he did apologize for the words he used, which is great,” the mayor said, adding he’s looking forward to the results of the judicial review.”

I wonder if he is hopeful about when one ought to see the Court decision especially if it is another negative one against the Councillor. Wouldn't it be quite something if the Councillor loses again and the decision is made public just days before the municipal election.