Babel-on-the-Bay
Babel-on-the-Bay is the personal website of Peter Lowry. It is a vehicle for political commentaries.
Babel-on-the-Bay

Toronto Mayoralty Morning Line.

by Peter Lowry

This is the most tentative morning line we have ever prepared. These horses have different types of work-outs. Some are running out of their class. We are only rating 10 of the 65(?) registered candidates. If the candidate is missing from our 10, you know we consider the individual a 100 to one, really long shot.

Here are the top ten:

  1. Ana Bailão            3 to 1

If you were Toronto mayor, you would want this candidate on your team. This might just be bad timing on her part. To drop out and then jump back in for the by-election seems to be a mistake and there is no prize for second place. 

  • Brad Bradford      6 to 1

We would put him on the right-wing of council. He is not the type to lead and he has too many other right-wing candidates to climb over. 

  • Olivia Chow          3 to 2

Name recognition and lack of other NDP candidates puts this candidate in a strong position. Her only problems are that she is 66, been out of politics too long and is from a past generation of NDPers in Toronto. Her chance of winning depends on a poor turn-out among suburban voters.

  • Rob Davis             12 to 1

We are not sure why this conservative is running in a field of too many conservatives. He does bring some experience to the plate. Just not enough.

  • Anthony Furey      15 to 1

If there is one thing we love about Toronto is that it has never fallen under the control of the far-right wing of politics. Toronto is a ‘live and let live’ city and Mr. Furey is not.

  • Mitzie Hunter       4 to 1

Mitzie Hunter is likely the best suited to help fix some of Toronto’s major problems. Her experience in running Toronto Housing Corporation, her years at Queen’s Park and her contacts with the federal government make her ideally suited to getting things funded and moving. All she needs to do is get her strengths across to the voters. 

  • Giorgio Mammoliti          14 to 1

Another conservative in the running. He couldn’t get elected mayor in Wasaga Beach. Toronto hardly needs him.

  • Josh Matlow                   9 to 1

The trouble-maker of council, Matlow needs to learn how to play nice with staff at city hall. Making friends might not be his strong suit. 

  • Anthony Perruzza           20 to 1

It is hard to figure out why this gentleman is in the running.

  1.  Mark Saunders              13 to 1                 

The last and the least of the conservative candidates, the former police chief is still seeking a second career in politics. He has much to learn about politics.

When reading this, the wife asked me if there was still time for some big name to jump into the race and maybe win the prize?

I assured her, first of all, that this job is no prize. Yes, there are still a few days for John Tory to say “All is forgiven” and jump back into the stew. He could win!

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Copyright 2023 © Peter Lowry

Complaints, comments, criticisms and compliments can be sent to:

[email protected]

Doug’s Decision.

by Peter Lowry

It is not often that premier Doug Ford makes a decision that pleases some of the people in Ontario. I figured it was just a typical Doug decision because he had to. It was probably the last thing someone in his offices suggested, so he went with it. He is moving the Ontario Science Centre. And it is not lock, stock and barrel. No, he is moving it to Ontario Place, because nobody liked any of his ideas for Ontario Place.

Ontario Place is some artificial islands that were built in Lake Ontario just off the shore at the Canadian National Exhibition grounds and its amusement park. It was the delight of our children and even some of adults as it had a water park for summer fun and a huge movie theatre in a geodesic dome with an Imax screen. 

You can just imagine all the thoughts running through premier Ford’s brain while making this decision. A: Nobody liked any of his ideas for Ontario Place. B: Everybody liked the Ontario Science Centre. It was a place that our children liked and it helped encourage them to like science.

This decision ignored a small problem. He had already signed off on a deal for a foreign-owned luxury health spa to be built on the west island of Ontario Place. This is such a big spa that they want to dig down in the island so the luxury customers can park their luxury automobiles under the spa. This spa would leave less room for the new science centre. Ontario would be lucky to get a half-size science centre.

I had watched when the first part of the Ontario Science Centre was built. It is by a river valley that tends to flood. And that is why the science centre does not go to the bottom of the valley. It is not as buildable or as big a parcel of land as it looks. Doug Ford calls the old science centre structure a tear down.

But it needs more space than is available at Ontario Place. It should also be more central to the city with lots of parking for the buses that bring the school children.

I will cheerfully admit that the previous liberal government dithered for years about what to do about Ontario Place. I believe Mr. Ford should have continued to dither.

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Copyright 2023 © Peter Lowry

Complaints, comments, criticisms and compliments can be sent to:

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Training Mr. Ford.

by Peter Lowry

I sometimes wonder if Ontario premier Doug Ford has ever taken a train anywhere? It looks like he has even forgotten that the liberal government, his conservatives had followed into office, where in the process of converting Ontario’s GO Trains to electric. They were also eliminating the level crossings.

While this might seem expensive, it is the least expensive way to double the capacity of the system. Electricity-powered trains can come up to speed faster and stop faster. Combined with no level crossings, the province can effectively double their overall capacity. By using electricity, there is the added benefit of reducing pollution.

But Doug and his fellow conservatives seem bent on building roads through our good farming land and our wetlands, that act as reservoirs for our farmlands. They want their developer friends to build on our carefully preserved Greenbelt. They want the gas-guzzling family automobile to remain king in Ontario.

And did you know that Ontario was once a leader in intercity trains. As a youngster, I loved those trains. I used to take the intercity trains between Galt, Hespler and Preston (now known as the City of Cambridge) and then from there taking a coal-burning train back to Toronto.

But I liked the electric trains best. They were usually a baggage car for parcels and one or two cars for passengers. And they were fast.

And, don’t forget, we were also talking about building the first high-speed electric trains starting between London, Ontario and Toronto in that previous liberal government as well. My old friend David Collenette from East York who had served as Jean Chrétien’s transport minister was the point man on the project for the Ontario government.

Ideally, the first high speed trains in Canada should be a triangle route from Toronto to Ottawa, to Montreal and then back to Toronto. It would be faster than plane service to the three cities, cheaper and less polluting.

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Copyright 2023 © Peter Lowry

Complaints, comments, criticisms and compliments can be sent to:

[email protected]

Conservatives Colliding.

by Peter Lowry

It seems there is a growing rift between Doug Ford, premier of Ontario and Pierre Poilievre, leader of the federal conservatives. It is a bumpkin versus an idealogue. It is a street fighter versus a sleaze. They are not even in the same weight class.

And it is not only the Volkswagen battery plant that stands between them. Ford has already professed his admiration for deputy prime minister and finance minister Chrystia Freeland. He considers her his pal. Yet there is this shrill voice from the Ottawa cowboy screaming that Volkswagen is a waste of money. Poilievre is a half-ton trucker himself.

And you cannot expect Justin Trudeau not to keep rubbing salt in that wound. You would think he is toying with Ford just to annoy Calgary-educated Poilievre. It might cost the Canadian taxpayers a few billion dollars but it should pay off handsomely down the road. After all, what is Poilievre doing about the environment? What would he ever do but deny global warming?

Poilievre only drinks the Kool-Aid of the tar sands. Doug Ford goes with the flow. Of course, Doug looks after his pals. He gives up Ontario wetlands and good farmland to serve his developer buddies from Toronto city hall. He constantly shafts Toronto to revenge the treatment of him and his late brother when they were both in city hall.

But it is the liberals in Ottawa who are dealing with industry to bring more jobs to Ontario. Of course, it would help if the province had the housing for workers and they could afford to live there.

What seems to be annoying Poilievre the most is Mr. Ford’s saying that he stood shoulder to shoulder with the Ottawa liberals to invoke the Emergencies Act and sending the ‘Freedom convoy’ home to pout. Those truckers were Mr. Poilievre’s friends and he needed their votes to win the federal conservative leadership.

On top of that, Ford ordered the longest lock-downs in Ontario during the pandemic as well as making all his conservative candidates in the last election have their COVID shots. Pierre Poilievre and Doug Ford are not kindred spirits.

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Copyright 2023 © Peter Lowry

Complaints, comments, criticisms and compliments can be sent to:

[email protected]

Mayday, Mayday.

by Peter Lowry

Being ex-Air Force, ‘Mayday’ has always been a signal of distress for me. It seems that the real distress at this time is the Toronto mayoralty shenanigans. If I was still a Toronto ratepayer, I would sue John Tory for the millions this by-election is costing. Being a human male and preferring female companionship is hardly an excuse for him to quit and inflict this expense on the city.

There are some 50 people running around Toronto today who think they have a chance at being mayor of the city. At least one of them will but I am waiting for May 5 to announce the odds on possible winners. These public opinion polls that are periodically announced are not helping. They seem to keep the media happy as they can blame the polls for their choices of campaigns on which they can lavish their attention.

The only reason Olivia Chow is leading the parade of losers, according to the pollsters, is because she has the name recognition. It does not necessarily become votes on election day. What votes she does have are the diehard NDP votes in the downtown area. She has never endeared herself to the suburban voters and they can outvote the NDP if they are not spread across too many opposing candidates.

Another loser with name recognition is the former policeman. Saunders should have recognized his dismissal as a candidate for elected office when he ran as a conservative for Mr. Ford in the recent provincial election. I think Ford already regrets that endorsement.

It looks like Matlow made a mistake in not running as a conservative. He could have parlayed his experience at city hall into a better base vote playing to the Poilievre faction of the federal conservatives.

It looks like those votes will go to Bradford. It would certainly hurt Toronto’s chances getting better funding from the Ford Tories and the Ottawa liberals if an extreme right-wing candidate like Bradford won the mayoralty.

I am still trying to dope out Ana Bailão’s constituency. Without a base vote she has a tough challenge to pass better known candidates.

In the same way, I am waiting for Mitzie Hunter to demonstrate her organizational strength. I would also like to hear from some random voters who feel motivated. More to come..

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Copyright 2023 © Peter Lowry

Complaints, comments, criticisms and compliments can be sent to:

[email protected]

Call it ‘Compuphobia.’

by Peter Lowry

Compuphobia’ is my word for the ongoing irrational fear of using the Internet for voting. It amazes me that it is people who have little understanding of computers and computer safeguards who are blocking the simple step to using the Internet for voting. It is finally a by-election in Preston, Nova Scotia that is claimed to being used to test a secure system. It is only when you listen to the details of the system, that you realize that they are using computer tablets to print the ballots for the voters.

This is not computerized voting.

The test in Preston is using a tablet to mark the ballot. It is only coincidental that the system counts the ballots, before printing them. It is the paper copies that are supposed to be used if there is a judicial recount.

But they have solved the problem of spoiled ballots. The computer does not spoil them. If they are marked for a specific candidate, then that candidate gets the vote. When you stop and think about it, why would you need a judicial recount? The judge only rules on questionable ballots. The computer does not print questionable ballots.

We all have a lot to learn on this subject. My kid brother has a PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and is a retired professor, whose hobby is designing secure computer systems.

But any locked door requires a key. That is the weakness to any secure system. You have to trust the person or persons with the key.

It is why I have always been skeptical of the conservative party leadership contests, with the with the ranked balloting and the weighting to 100 votes per electoral district. Everyone waits breathlessly for the next counting as they drill down the count. Yet we all know that the count is measured in minutes on the computers. The people running the computer program are just catering to the anticipation.

I think we should all forget the ‘James Bond’ style spy. The secret operatives for countries of the future will be computer programmers.

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Copyright 2023 © Peter Lowry

Complaints, comments, criticisms and compliments can be sent to:

[email protected]

Chuck’s Crowning Coming?

by Peter Lowry

If Bob Hepburn of the Toronto Star had not advised us, would we have known a crowning was coming? The coronation could have come and gone and many of us would have cared less. It always puzzled me in high school just why we were being steeped in the lore of the British monarchy.  It seemed all the early British kings were nasty blokes, but we assumed that you had to be to survive in those early days.

But times have changed. Why haven’t the Brits done something about their outmoded and debilitated monarchy? Sure, Elizabeth the Second was a much nicer person than her vague ancestor Elizabeth 1. The queen would have been an equally nice person as plain Mrs. Mountbatten—even if she had divorced that philandering husband, Phillip Mountbatten.

It is good to see that there is a bit of a movement going on in the Old Blighty with yellow signs saying ‘Not My King.’ It is hard to understand why the Brits, Scots and Northern Irish put up with those regressive conservatives who seem to hold the British Isles in servitude. It seems to be a form of self-abuse to keep themselves subjugated to such an outmoded and backward-facing government.

And they always go back. Who was surprised when Brexit doomed the country to many years of suffering under the disapproval of a progressive continent. And we want to share a king with them?

Maybe those people with their signs saying ‘Not My King’ are just rooting for the next king, who would be Billy 2. I would think it would be funnier if they locked Bill and Kate in the tower along with the crown jewels. Then Harry and Megan can be made regents for the young King George.

We could pretend that they are all just chess pieces, that we move around the board of our fantasy lives. When it comes to Canada though, we really need forward-thinking, progressive politicians. We need to tear into our constitution and bring it up to date into the 21 Century. We want politicians who can earn their salaries and quit wasting their time telling us how bad the other guys are.

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Copyright 2023 © Peter Lowry

Complaints, comments, criticisms and compliments can be sent to:

[email protected]

The Plaint of the Pedant.

by Peter Lowry

It might have given a false impression the other day when I was complaining about the stupidity of certain conservatives. I hardly have the right to be pedantic. Despite his deplorable lack of respect for education, Doug Ford actually has more formal education than I.  Neither of us has a university degree. And I have never been excessively concerned with detail unless I have responsibility for things happening that depend on detailed follow-through.

The difference between Ford and I is probably that I have a much more varied life experience and I worked hard at university extension courses and different trades training. I have also had wonderful mentors in many different aspects of working life. For example, how many writers have their news releases critiqued by a former publisher of a major regional daily newspaper. I surprised Ted Rogers and some of his people when I first went into his make-shift studio on Adelaide Street in Toronto. When they told me I was producer, director and switch operator for an as-live production, I got to work. Nobody had told them of the time I had worked with a brother’s TV production company.

I also have to admit that I have learned from my mistakes over the years. You cannot always know which road to take. I had my fill of public relations work in the 1990s and went to work selling for Bell Canada. I found out why so many people had given up on Bell. When I retired from Bell it was my manager who was disappointed as I had always made his numbers look good.       

But I still loved to write I registered Babel-on-the-Bay.com shortly after coming to Barrie, Ontario. I was experiencing condominium life at the time and was not ready to give a blog any attention. When the wife and I had enough of Ontario condominium rules we gave up our wonderful view of Kempenfelt Bay.

After twelve years of writing Babel-on the-Bay, I have a good sense of what my readers like and dislike. Talking with an aspiring blogger a while ago, I was telling him what my readers seemed to like and what did not appeal to them. He interrupted me and said “That’s the difference between us. You have readers.”

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Copyright 2023 © Peter Lowry

Complaints, comments, criticisms and compliments can be sent to:

[email protected]

Dumbing Down with Ford.

by Peter Lowry

Premier Doug Ford of Ontario is dumbing down the province. He keeps taking us down rabbit holes for the less literate, the less learned. Today’s lesson from the fount of all ignorance is that new police people do not need to complete high school. We are sliding down a snake in a continuing game of Snakes and Ladders. Only in this case, the snake is named Ford.

First, with the help of the pandemic, he destroys our healthcare system. Nurses and other professionals are fleeing a profession where they are exhausted with impossible workloads. And what is the “stupid” solution from Ford but to promote private clinics. We still seem to have a finite number of healthcare workers, so Ford promotes the less trained to do the nursing task.

It is nice to see that the stupid like to stick together. One of the first asks of Ford when he took over the premier’s office five years ago was that an unqualified friend takeover as commissioner of the provincial police.

And, judging by his provincial cabinet, loyalty beats competency, any day. It is like having a private schooled education minister. We wouldn’t want him to understand the system, would we?

To be fair, the mailman just dropped a pamphlet from my member of parliament through the mail slot. It showed his constituents how fat he is getting living the high life in Ottawa. Of course, the member of parliament for Barrie—Springwater—Oro-Medonte would be a conservative. I have no idea how smart he is but this pamphlet reads like a kindergarten piece. He wants his constituents to answer three simple questions that would identify them as conservative or other.

What else would you be if you voted ‘yes’ to supporting conservatives in a plan to vote against all new tax increases. And then there is being concerned about the rising cost of living under the liberals. Sure, blame Canada’s liberals for the world-wide inflation. There is one open question and I hope his conservative constituents tell him to join a gym and take off some of the excess weight. That is also a good thought for Doug Ford.

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Copyright 2023 © Peter Lowry

Complaints, comments, criticisms and compliments can be sent to:

[email protected]

Journeying With Journalists.

by Peter Lowry

It is very rare that I read other blogs. That is not being snooty, it is practical. I would just want to correct some of the writers and commiserate with a few others. I find getting a blog done every day is a challenge. Despite a career in public relations, I never considered myself a journalist. I designed and wrote many tabloids, newsletters, pamphlets, scripts and mailing pieces as well as news releases and never thought of myself as a writer. Every page I write is another part of me. When I reread what I have written, I always feel I could have said it better.

And in my lifetime, I have made the journey with many reporters, editors, publishers, and fellow public relations people—all, I am sure, were doing a superior job to me. I think I suffered the ultimate insult one day when a carefully crafted and lengthy news release I had sent out for a client was run in a prime location by a newspaper—with the client’s name carefully removed.

I came into writing with small steps. I was selling food for a major food company and living in what was then the Town of Leaside with my wife when I was asked to join the town safety council. There I was asked to try my hand at writing the safety news for the Leaside Advertiser weekly newspaper. That got me noticed and soon I was involved in town politics and helping a friend get elected to town council.

You might find it incredulous that I was soon working for the Globe and Mail. It would be if I forgot to say that I worked in the advertising department selling advertising in the Report on Business. Even there, I was soon dragged into other areas such as the publisher’s office to strategize the related advertising potential of upcoming special reports. We had some labour strife after I had been there a while and I ended up running the ad alley in an other-wise automated composing room. That was an experience worthy of a book but there was little writing involved.

My first major newspaper writing was for John Basset’s Toronto Telegram. It was just freelance stuff and I got out just before Basset sold off the paper to concentrate on his TV station. I put that writing down to hard lessons learned. There is more to this subject but I will save it for another time.

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Copyright 2023 © Peter Lowry

Complaints, comments, criticisms and compliments can be sent to:

[email protected]