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Growth Shouldn’t Be Our Focus

Ever since campaigning for council in 2018, there has been this message floating around that Sarnia needs population growth. Somehow it worked as a campaign strategy for councilors saying they were going to focus on growing our population. More recently the mayor has been touting that “we need to get that percentage number up,” said …

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“The Battle For Justice In Palestine” Quotes

Some important quotes from The Battle For Justice In Palestine: The Case for a Single Democratic State in Palestine by Ali Abunimah. What an important read and should be required reading for anyone discussing Palestinians rights. So now let me qualify my opening claim: the Palestinians are winning the argument and Zionists are losing it. …

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Why Adding Secondary Dwelling Units Is Great For Sarnia

Back in August I made a motion “that staff report on reviewing our policies surrounding secondary dwelling units, especially to address the urgent and growing issue of student housing. This report should include the impact that the recent provincial changes have on our municipal policies, any possible collaboration with Lambton College, and an overview of …

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Logitech USB Unifying Receiver from Amazon Not Working and Finally a Solution

I lost my tiny little USB unifying receiver so I ended up buying a new one on Amazon. It detected fine by my laptop (on Windows 10), but for the life of me the Logitech Unifying Software failed to recognize it. I tried everything and went deep into Google to try and uncover the problems. …

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On Racism in Canada

I’ve had a few requests to do some clarifying on some of my comments around race and Canada on some previous conversations I’ve been having online. I thought I would post some of my thought process for what it means that as a Canadian, that we are all guilty of racism in one way or …

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Record Rates

the Amazon is burning at a record rate, glaciers are melting at record rates, kids are dying at borders at record rates, overdoses are killing at record rates, facism is increasing at record rates, andpopulist candidates are winning at record rates when will peace see record rateswhen will love set a record ratewhen will awareness set a record rate …

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Flag Poles and Crosswalks

One of the things that I did agree with in installing the greeter desk back in the lobby of city hall is it’s intended emphasis on hospitality. It’s important that we make hospitality a value at the center of our city. Judging by the comments of my fellow councilors who voted in favour of restoring …

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Further Motions Regarding Mike Bradley’s Sanctions

Tomorrow’s meeting is going to be interesting! Further to the motion that I commented on from Sarnia Councillor Bill Dennis there is another motion by Dave Boushy that is identical and then takes it even further. There are two items that he added: e) Removal of the Workplace Investigation section from the www.sarnia.ca (all reports will remain publicly available); f) Staff …

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Committee For Compensation Recommendations

Sarnia Councillor Bill Dennis Has a motion on the table at the next council meeting “that any compensation related matter (including eligible expense criteria or other financial reimbursement matters) for Sarnia City and City/County Council members be referred to a Committee of private citizens (to be established) for recommendations to be submitted to Council for their …

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Removing Mike Bradley’s Sanctions and the Infamous ‘Wall’

A motion is coming, “the workplace sanctions previously imposed against Mayor Mike Bradley shall be lifted immediately. This includes restoring the Mayors ability to communicate directly with City staff, his ability to freely access City Hall at any time and the removal of the wall.” This is a complicated motion because it mixes rhetoric, rumour …

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Suggestions On How To Talk About Struggling Neighbourhoods

The recent news of three business owners leaving Mitton Village is really heartbreaking that they found themselves unable to sustain their businesses in that area. It really sheds light onto larger set of issues that we face as a city. I’d like to make a few suggestions to guide our discourse about these things that …

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Choosing Your Own Salary

I have spent most of the last twelve years being the lowest paid staff of any of the businesses I am a co-owner of. I don’t make decisions based on my own financial gain, but in the best interests of the overall vision in which we are striving towards. So speaking of my own salary …

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Lower Taxes Is Not The Answer

Lower Taxes! This is the mantra of the masses, propagated by politicians. It is a message of fear that attempts to shift the citizen’s focus away from what is actually going on. An honest politician has to catch themselves feeding into the narrative that lowering taxes helps keep more money in your pocket and continually …

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Municipal Infrastructure Lending

Coming off the heels of my first budget city council meeting, a motion was made today to increase our contribution to reserves (aka. savings account) of $3.5 million (approx 1.5% increase of taxes) to start the process of tackling our looming $350 million infrastructure deficit. That motion was rejected with some of the stated reasoning …

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The Difference Between ‘Having Debt’ and Being ‘In Debt’

Debt is a trigger word in politics, and when we use it, we end up using it no different than how the average consumer talks about credit card debt. In business however, debt is a tool, among many, for growth. We cannot speak of a multi-million dollar corporation’s debt as if they are “in debt” …

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