Nothing Worth 500 Words

This week I've been tossing around ideas for a post without being satisfied that any of them were really worth expending five hundred words on.

The Ontario budget? Nothing much new there that hadn't already been leaked or hinted at ahead of time. The cut to transit funding for Toronto is something Torontonians are going to have to finally stand up and fight back over. Maybe it's time they stopped expecting someone else (the feds, the province) to solve their problems and just put tolls on the DVP and Gardiner to pay for the TTC and roads. Public sector wage freezes and cuts to welfare are something we saw with Mike Harris. At least McGuinty pretends to be doing it reluctantly, unlike Harris (and Hudak) who acted with gleeful meanness; but scapegoating the poor and public sector workers is what all governments do these days on behalf of "hard working, tax-paying families", so not even the NDP really objected.

And Mike was back in the news this week. Seems they're thinking of naming a new library at Nipissing University for the guy who gutted education in Ontario and slashed library budgets. Better we should officially rename the 407 the "Harris Highway", as it's already informally known.

Ann Coulter? She came to Canada and was widely quoted as saying that all terrorists are Muslim. I wondered what her reaction would be to the midwestern American Christian militia accused of plotting to kill police officers. I went to her website, www.anncoulter.com, wanting to send an email to ask. Unfortunately, there's no way to do that. Seems Ann's all about free speech -- for Ann. For you and me, not so much.

Speaking of right-wing, media-spawned buffoons, I see Don Cherry is the subject of a made-for- TV movie biography.

Which reminds me, the U.S. promoter of something called "Ultimate Fighting Championship" wants to bring his act to Toronto. If people will pay to watch the Leafs, no doubt they'll pay to watch this. I say let 'em.

Oh, and it seems most people ignored Earth Hour this year. According to the Star, Toronto Hydro reported only a 10% drop in electricity usage, while across Ontario, use was down 560 megawatts. Since normal usage on a Saturday evening in March is about 15,000 megawatts, that represents about a 3-4% reduction, or about one or two light bulbs per household. And though I support Earth Hour and the motives behind it, I have to wonder if it sends the right message. Should we really be saying to people, to effectively deal with climate change, you have to turn off the lights and sit in the dark? Maybe it's time for a different approach. Small acts of individual self-denial have a lot of appeal to the highly-committed, but smart technology, conservation, and, yes, higher pricing will be necessary to make a real impact on climate change.

So that's it, a pretty ordinary week. Makes a guy wish Harper would prorogue Parliament or a cabinet minister throw another tequila tantrum. Come on guys, I'm counting on you.