The Sherman’s Death Photo

Posted on December 16, 2019 by Skid

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I was up early on the morning of December 15, 2017. I had gone through my normal routine of brewing a Buffalo Soldier coffee and toasting some Amazing Grains Raisin Bread before turning on the early TV news.

The first image that came up on the screen is burned into my memory. It was a photo of two bodies dressed in white robes, at the edge of a luxurious swimming pool in what appeared to be a Dan Brownesque ritual death.

The bodies were beside each other, almost posed in a surreal state of eerie calm in the midst of their apparent wealth. It turned out the bodies found in a that wealthy Toronto neighbourhood belonged to billionaire couple Barry and Honey Sherman. The theories surrounding their bizarre deaths circulated as quickly as that photo disappeared from the TV screens.

For anyone who saw the photo that day, the immediate reaction was of a ritual murder or suicide pact. It was too posed, too staged. There was a message being sent in the way the bodies were arranged so calmly beside each other in their final rest. There was no blood or gore, no house smashing struggle, no dragging of battered victims across the pool deck. No.

There was only this photo of two bodies symbolically seated beside each other gazing out over their swimming pool as if in final contemplation of their wealth. The initial judgement of the police was that the Shermans had died either in a suicide pact or a murder-suicide.

Enter the Sherman family lawyers, and a private autopsy, Extreme wealth has its privileges. Also, suicide has a deleterious effect on the settlement of estates and insurance policies. Especially when one of the parties wills seems to be missing. After much high profile back and forth, the police declared that the Shermans were murdered, by perpetrator or perpetrators unknown, and still unknown to this day.

Today, two years later, the police will be updating their report on the mysterious Sherman case. One of the missing pieces of the puzzle appears to be that Honey Sherman revised her will only two days before her death. My mind flashes back two years to that photo that is imprinted indelibly in my memory. Maybe I have read too many Dan Brown novels about symbols and ritualistic deaths, but I stand by my first impression. Someone was sending a message. Who?

An Election, Writ Large, Part 2

Posted on September 13, 2019 by Skid

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In Part 1 of this series, I predicted that Canada would wake up to a minority Liberal government on October 22.

Here’s why. Canada is not the U.S.A. and most of us do not want a Trump type Prime Minister. Under Trudeau and the Liberals, regardless of the slings and arrows flung by mainstream media, Canada is doing just fine, thank you very much. We are in the top three countries in the world in which to live, an economy and job market that is steady with wages growing, an unemployment rate below 6%, and a well regulated banking system.

We also have a Prime Minister who is more admired on the world stage for his intelligent global perspectives than he is in the local tar pits and colonial coffee shops. Although Canada under the Liberals is recognized globally as a shining star, we tend to self-deprecate, even deny, our successes here at home.

That, of course, is largely due to a mainstream media that spends most of its time reporting plane crashes rather than safe landings. Yes, our leader has had bumps along the way: Khan vacations, Khalistan dress-up shows, Kinder-Morgan pipeline politics, and the expulsions of Wilson-Raybould and Philpott.

On the other hand, our leader does not wear a Yellow Vest, does not associate with Ezra Levant or Faith Goldy or Tanya Granic Allen; he loves diversity, welcomes new immigrants, energizes youth, and handles himself with class in the company of other world leaders, He has led Canada to continue to be a successful nation among nations. He espouses a strong belief in economic stability, environmental security, and social justice. And let’s face it – he looks good doing it – style and substance.

How are the Prime Ministerial wannabes doing? The Green’s Elizabeth May, who I admire deeply and who is one of my environmental education icons, has stumbled heading in to this one. The premature attempted seduction of Jody Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott fizzled. The NDP to Green candidate swap controversy was bizarre, and the recent confusion between the leader and the party on major issues was unsettling. Those missteps could have stopped a Green advance in its tracks.

Jagmeet Singh is genuine and articulate and empathetic and smart, but the NDP’s slow candidate selection process and a populace bombarded with alt-right conservative sound bites may not be able to accept his left-leaning brilliance. Timing is everything in this blood sport.

And then there is the candidate who wants to cut the red tape, deregulate, and open Canada for business, the Conservative Party’s Andrew Scheer, whose policies eerily reflect what is happening in the one-man show south of us. If that populist infection has spread too deeply into the Canadian psyche, we could see a Conservative minority. If only the basest get out to vote, we could wake up to four years of a Harper light majority.

With all due respect, the so-called Peoples Party of Canada and the Bloc may be left out of the running, so Bernier and Bouchet might want to prepare for the long, cold, lonely winter of our discontent.

This 2019 Federal Election will come down to a cage match between Justin Trudeau and Andrew Scheer. In moving forward, Canada will be much better off with the fabulous flawed human that we know rather than the devious dubious wolf in sheep’s clothing that we don’t.

The way I see it.

****

Skid Crease, Caledon

An Election Writ Large, Part 1

Posted on September 11, 2019 by Skid

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Yes, the writ was dropped today for the next Canadian federal election, Parliament was suspended, and October 21 can’t come any too soon. It’s big decision time for Canada to either choose forward or the rear view mirror.

If we look back eighteen years into the past, it was a day that changed all of out lives when an act of unspeakable terror paralyzed our world. If we look eighteen years into the future, what kind of a world will we and our youth inherit. The next four years of governance in Canada – locally and globally – rests with an apathetic electorate who are too easily seduced by catchy songs, slogans, and spin masters.

But for those who are paying attention, here is my nutshell prediction for Election Day October 2019.

The NDP will bleed to the Liberals, and the Greens will simply bleed. The CPC will hold their yellow-vest and white colonial base but may lose their extreme alt-right to the PPC as the BLOC get blocked. We will potentially end up with a Liberal minority government where the balance of power could be held by Green or Independent MPs. If the Ford Factor comes into full play in Ontario, it could be a Liberal majority.

Either way, we will end up with a country where the foothills and the Prairies have turned hard right, so here’s hoping that the rest of the country can find centre ground and liberate us from a reign of sheer terror.

That’s the way I see it on September 11, 2019.

***

Skid Crease, Caledon

Dear Karma,

Posted on June 19, 2019 by Skid

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Two years ago, when I began reporting from a media desk for municipal council meetings, I discovered that not all who enter politics do so to serve the people they represent. Some get to power owing favours to the private funders who pay for their campaigns. Although donations to municipal candidates are capped, and although financial records must be submitted for public scrutiny, wealthy corporations and individuals find ways around the rules.

Our little Town is only a microcosm of the problem that was exposed in the May 2018 “Public Money, Private Influence” series by the Globe and Mail. This investigation delved into intimidation and corruption of public officials at municipal and provincial levels. It was shocking, but more shocking still was the silence that followed from local press.

We know that the temptation of being seduced by lobbyists exists at all levels of government. But the big action is at the municipal level where developers with deep pockets begin their lobbying. That is why resistance to Schedule 10 was so necessary and why it is important to review and revise the upcoming Bill 108, a thinly veiled attempt to bypass environmental regulations and give developers a carte blanche under the guise of “jobs and affordable housing for the people, my friends.”

Sorry, but a literate society throws up a red flag when they hear the words, “We’re cutting the red tape to get rid of those pesky environmental regulations that slow down projects. Gosh darn it, we can’t let some Environmental Assessment Act stand in the way of economic growth! Ontario is Open for Business!” Bill 108, like Schedule 10 before it, shifts the responsibility to the municipalities, effectively narrowing the focus of influence peddling.

Let’s say Corporation A, or business person B, want candidate C to get elected to further their development agendas. A and B take their multi-thousand dollar donation and spread it out over family, friends, and associates who each contribute their qualifying amount to the candidate’s campaign.

Previously, the limit for municipal campaign contributions to one candidate was $750, but that was increased to $1,200 in 2017, just after union and corporate donations were banned. So now, a wealthy donor seeking influence can take $120,000 and distribute it to 100 people who make 100 legal donations to a candidate. The financial records reflect no wrongdoing, and the lucky candidate C has brochures, signs, and a tech savvy staffed campaign office to die for. The candidates without those wealthy sponsors are left with the trickle down votes.

Sadly, I discovered that some journalists are also not immune from this circle of influence, slanting articles to create a crisis where there was none, and giving a platform for the loudest candidates to get name recognition. That is a violation of journalistic integrity. That truly is “fake news” for the purpose of distracting us from legitimate issues that will affect our present and future.

Before I became a journalist, I taught for 30 years in the North York School Board, one of the most vibrant and creative school boards in Canada until ravaged by amalgamation. During that time I counseled six teachers out of the profession – people who were either unethical, incompetent, or incapable of giving their students the best personal and professional care they could deliver.

I expect the same from members of my new profession – clarity and truth, I expect the same of my elected officials – integrity and honesty. When I began my reporting career a good friend gave me a coffee mug with a meaningful quote on the front . My friend knew The Count of Monte Cristo was my favourite novel. She said, “Don’t let them get away with lying.” The quotation said, “Dear Karma, I have a list of people you missed …”

The way I see it.

**”

Skid Crease, Caledon

BUS 38 WHERE ARE YOU?

Posted on June 17, 2019 by Skid

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I had just landed back in Toronto after four inspirational days in Montreal attending the Movin’ On Summit 2019. As a member of an international media team, I was privileged to bear witness to the future of sustainable mobility for our communities. Hosted by Michelin and friends, this Summit presented a world of decarbonized, autonomous, community friendly, healthy and safe transportation systems to move us from rural through rurban, suburban and into urban environments and back again.

The emphasis, of course, was on a vibrant public hybrid energy transportation system that would make private fossil fuel vehicle dependency a relic of the past.

My bubble was quickly burst when I picked up the local paper at my front door and saw the headlines that our GO bus service, the sacred 38 and 38A upon which all Caledonians in need of public transit relied, to Bolton was about to be cancelled. As a senior without a car, the GO bus was my only connection to services in the urban GTA. Hell hath no fury like a citizen deprived of mobility! Within seconds I called the Mayor’s office for an interview. “Mr. Mayor,” I said, “We are going to buy our own electric ARMA or NAVYA mini-bus and run it between Caledon East and Bolton and the King City GO train station! And I’ll start fundraising now!”

After calming me down, Mayor Allan Thompson scheduled an interview for the next day. And this is what I learned. First, our Mayor was already on the case and way ahead of the game. After the news of the potential cancellation reached the Town, the Mayor immediately had a number of conversations with MPP Sylvia Jones asking for her help He also had a productive telephone conversation with the Minister of Transportation, Jeff Yurek, where he got a commitment to have Ministry and Metrolinx staff meet with Town staff.

He then asked MPP Jones to delay the cancellation to allow for the meetings with the Town of Caledon. This was all confirmed by our Mayor in a letter to The Minister of Transportation, Jeff Yurek. The Mayor also asked Town staff to meet with riders and impacted residents, date TBA. As well, at the last Town Council meeting, he moved a motion, along with Regional Councillor Groves, asking the Region of Peel to help with the advocacy.

He assured me the Town will continue lobbying at every opportunity to ensure that our residents have access to a public transportation link from Caledon into the urban core. Why do I believe him? Allan is a beef farming man who has seen the light test driving around in an all electric pick-up truck. He knows the future is here. And he has networked with other Mayors nationally and internationally who are facing the same sustainable mobility concerns.

One way or another, we will have our public tranist propane bus, or hybrid bus, or ARMA/NAVYA e-bus, or light rail, or MagLev high speed train, or hovercraft, or … does anyone remember the Jetsons?