Brrr, Getting Colder Out Now

Yes, it is getting chilly outside now. Oh sure, some of the temperatures are in the 60s which is not all that bad but it sure feels a lot different than the summer temperatures that we had a short time ago that were in the high 80s, low 90s.

We are also approaching our Thanksgiving and people are obviously going out to buy good food to celebrate the holiday at their family gatherings. It should be a lot of fun very soon.

There are lots of things going on politically as well. We are approaching the municipal elections voting time in our area. I wonder who will be elected this time around. Fortunately, in my area some of the key people were acclaimed and there is a good election campaign going on for one of the key positions. In the City of Windsor, it is a horrific mess as far as I'm concerned. There are a lot of people running, especially for re-election, whom I could not support and for whom I would not vote. Yet, I'll be surprised if any of them lose office.

The fight going on between United States and Canada over NAFTA was settled late last night but what other fights will there be? 

Politically in Canada it would not surprise me if a federal election was called earlier than expected. There is no doubt in my mind that this will happen since the Federal Liberal Government got a satisfactory solution with the US. It gives something for Trudeau to brag about. A "plus" factor like this along with Opposition leaders who are not all that well known would make it much easier for him to be re-elected now rather waiting for the "official" election timeperiod.

Do you see what I mean? While it may be rather cool outside, inside sitting at my computer and dictating new stories makes things very hot here.

Here are some of the stories now.

BUYING A HOUSE

Have you seen how house prices have risen so dramatically over the last little while? I just cannot believe the size of the increase. Mind you, I have seen this dramatic increase happen before in the past so what is taking place now does not really surprise me. Nevertheless, I understand how difficult it may be for people to afford what is going on now in the marketplace.

Take a look at this quote:

"Canada’s housing affordability has reached its worst level in 28 years and is bound to deteriorate even further, say Royal Bank of Canada economists.

The share of income a household would need to cover ownership costs hit 53.9 per cent in the second quarter of 2018, the economists said in a report released Friday.

Based on their analysis, the cost of owning a home in the country hasn’t been this bad since 1990, when the share of income a household would need to cover ownership costs was 56 per cent." (Jonathan Hayward, Canadian Press, September 28, 2018) 

I have to admit that I do not understand all of their remarks. Quite some time ago, I remember interest prices rising dramatically. The interest percentage cost rose unbelievably to around 20% quite a number of years ago in order to get a mortgage back then. Can you imagine how people would react today if the interest rate rose that high with the amount of debt that they would have to pay every month given the principal outstanding!

I really don't know what is going to happen. I don't expect to see interest rates drop dramatically because they are pretty low now anyway. I do expect to see the rates rise slowly because that seems to be the position of the people involved in the financing these days.

With the high purchase prices of homes these days along with the increasing interest costs, it will be interesting to see how this plays out.

THE UPCOMING WINDSOR MAYORAL ELECTION

I have to admit that the municipal election this time around is really quite boring. I don't see very much going on. The news media just don't seem to be reporting an awful lot in events among the various candidates running for office.

The best example I can give you is the campaign for the Mayor of Windsor. I don't see very much of an electoral fight between the Mayor, Drew Dilkens, and his main opponent, Matt Marchand. Oh sure, the Windsor Star posted a story recently about Marchand written by Anne Jarvis and another one by her about the Mayor's position on the E.C. Row Parkway. But what good is that since we're so close to the actual election? There are no long and detailed comments in those articles by one of them against the position of his opponent.

There's going to be an electoral debate on October 3 but it involves all of the five people who are candidates for Mayor. That means there will not be very much time for there to be real debate action to be taken between the top two candidates.

Then there will be a Chamber of Commerce debate on October 10 only involving Marchand and Dilkens. It starts at 11:15 in the morning and goes on until 1:30 in the afternoon.

Now that should be a pretty exciting one I would think. Except the debate itself is only an hour long starting at 12:30 with the rest of the time for eating lunch.

Moreover, if it is only written in one story in the Star and covered by a few minute story on radio or TV, then who would know what is really being argued between the two men. The public probably would not learn very much about what the candidates' positions are and whether the candidate should be supported or not. 

Heck, it is being set up so close to the actual election date then I don't think that too many people will be too interested in it anyway because their minds will probably have been already been made up. Or, more likely, most people are not going to go and vote anyway no matter what is said.

WOULD YOU VOTE FOR THIS PERSON 

I don't live in the City of Windsor anymore. Thank goodness for that after seeing what has not been done for the last four years there. I hope that good people are elected this time around to improve the conditions of Windsor. If you want to know why I'm saying this, take a look at what I am writing below.

Unbelievable, in a story in the Windsor Star, a person running for the office of Mayor of the City of Windsor has told us how bad the condition of Windsor is now. How could it have happened?  It is disgraceful!

Based on what this person said, I do not believe that any of the people who are on Council now can possibly be re-elected. Unless, the Council member can demonstrate that he/she is not in support of what Council has done, or rather, not done.

Here is just a brief summary of what the Windsor Story is all about:

     -- A vast improvement to E.C. Row is required. 

A massive amount of work would be required to get environmental assessment accomplished and the work done. The cost of the project would be huge and the  project would take years to complete.

     -- There are “nine other reconstruction or repaving capital projects covering city roads and intersections.” 

I am not going to detail what these projects are. You can see them for yourself by looking at the Windsor Star story. What is amazing to me though is that all of the people on Windsor Council for the last four years seem to have done very little to get these projects started, nevermind completed. Why would you want them on Council for the next four years!

If you want more details, take a look at this story in the Windsor Star that I referred to above:

"Dilkens promises E.C. Row will be 'world class roadway'” (Anne Jarvis, Windsor Star, September 28, 2018) 

I trust, dear reader, that you understand now that I am talking about Mayor Drew Dilkens who is trying to get re-elected. He is the one who has set out in the Jarvis story how horrible the situation in Windsor has become and has not been fixed up while he was the one in the Mayor's seat for the last four years.

Why would you vote in favour of him coming back again as Mayor?