gdp's Comments

Kingstonist.com : #ygkChallenge: Turn the Heat Off

Sun, 16 Oct 2011 01:54:45 +0000

I'm in, too... but mostly because we've still got our windows open.

Kingstonist.com : Six Questions for Mary Rita Holland

Fri, 30 Sep 2011 19:24:39 +0000

Freezing fees for transit sounds great - how are you going to pay that? How long are they going to be frozen for? Are you going to freeze the wage increases for the unionized transit workers? How are you going to pay for those pay increases? The answer: higher taxes. So, yes, the users will pay the same, but the taxpayers will pay more. I'm all for making public transit work, but how about making the cost of transit fees worth the service that is provided? More routes, more frequent buses, etc, etc, etc would go a lot further to making transit work than freezing fees. I don't mind paying the price for something whose value is commensurate. Also, since I nitpicked the other candidates on style I've gotta say that it's either "member of provincial parliament" or "member of Provincial Parliament", if you cannot choose whether or not the Provincial Parliament is a proper noun I'm not sure whether you're up to the job.

Kingstonist.com : Six Questions for John Gerretsen

Thu, 29 Sep 2011 16:14:54 +0000

While I'm not a fan of Mr. Gerretsen's answer to question 4, it shows a great understanding of the education system, the local make-up of our school districts and issue at hand. And that, I think, is important for an elected representative.

Constituents can influence their member to vote in a way that is in keeping with the views of the constituency, but it shouldn't be up to the population to teach the member of the issues. Mr. Gerretsen shows that we need not teach him about the issues faced by this city and the province. He speaks clearly and effectively and knowledgeably about the issues and speaks not only as a top-down member of a party, but as a bottom-up member of the community.

This, I think, is an important trait for a representative for Kingston.

Although he did misuse the apostrophe a couple of times... which drives me crazy!

Kingstonist.com : Six Questions for Rodger James

Thu, 29 Sep 2011 16:00:03 +0000

Oh for sure I'm not saying that everything should have been about him... but you'll notice that I also clearly pointed out "not a single use"... i wasn't looking for him to have some sort of self-love session in his answers... but something that spoke to motivation for political aspirations or what *he* sees as Kingston's future in the province. So, no, I don't think that using the "I" at least one time would have been a negative.

Kingstonist.com : Six Questions for Rodger James

Wed, 28 Sep 2011 15:31:09 +0000

Not a single use of the word "I" in his entire response. Which I think is a shame. No "I believe", "I feel", "I want"... nothing personal or emotional. No hint of what moves him to political action, to standing for the community. No sign of personal motivation at all. We need a representative who thinks for himself and is willing to put Kingston first and talk about our needs - not the party's wishes. Unless, of course he, was using the royal "we"... in which case: yikes. And I'm pretty sure that the answer to question two got turned inside out. The Debt Retirement Charge got added in 2002... not the HST.

Kingstonist.com : Literary Kingston

Thu, 31 Mar 2011 23:22:00 +0000

I think this is being a little nit-picky. I'm not trying to rob Wolfe Island of part of its history but, I guess, I misinterpreted the masthead graphic of Kingstonist - which includes silhouettes of the wind turbines also located on Wolfe Island - as being inclusive of the area around Kingston as well as the city proper. He was born on Wolfe Island, yes, but it's not like he lived through to some ripe, old age there either. He left Wolfe Island when he was 13 and was educated abroad in the United Kingdom and France. He died in Surrey, in the UK having never returned to Wolfe Island after he left. Mr. Allen was Kingston-area-born more precisely, I suppose. I certainly thought him relevant to the topic of Literary Kingston - whether precisely Kingstonian or only so by approximation.

Kingstonist.com : Literary Kingston

Thu, 31 Mar 2011 23:03:15 +0000

I stand corrected on the eligibility for the Bronwen Wallace Memorial Award; I had added those two facts at the last minute and should have checked my facts more closely. I had recollected it being an award solely for young women authors for some reason. My bad.

Kingstonist.com : City Hall Clock to go Digital

Wed, 30 Mar 2011 23:37:39 +0000

This should absolutely not be done. An LED may be "electricly friendly" but that's not the only consideration for environmental friendliness. I am not a fan of light pollution, for one thing, as it has been shown to adversely effect health and it obscures the stars and negatively impacts astronomy. Also, unnecessarily replacing the four faces of the clock with something new in spite of the fact that the clock works just fine is not exactly in keeping with "reduce" (as the first of the 3 Rs). And, of course, it will look ghastly. The city would look very, very bad if it went forward with this and then attacked CN for not maintaining the original structure of the Outer Station.

Kingstonist.com : Weekly Poll: Alt Landmarks

Tue, 29 Mar 2011 02:51:50 +0000

The Martello Towers are worth considering for sure. As is City Hall and Confederation basins, which have previously been mentioned. Or even Collins Bay Penitentiary - which many people briefly assume to be a castle of some sort. There's also Bellevue House, the Olympic Harbour, the Pump and Steamhouse Museum, The Spirit of Sir John A, the Gaskon Lion or even the very new Wolfe Island Wind Farm. I think it's pretty obvious that *the* landmark in Kingston is City Hall, but what is second to City Hall is up for grabs.

Kingstonist.com : Weekly Poll: Alt Landmarks

Tue, 29 Mar 2011 02:45:25 +0000

There are plenty of horror stories that have taken place in amusement parks, for that matter. A landmark is a landmark for better or worse. A gallows could be a landmark, for instance.

Kingstonist.com : Graffiti vs Tagging: Is Either Acceptable?

Fri, 25 Mar 2011 17:45:35 +0000

Catching them is the hard part, though. I agree that when they are caught there needs to be stiff penalties and they need to be held to account, but catching them is very hard.

Kingstonist.com : Graffiti vs Tagging: Is Either Acceptable?

Wed, 23 Mar 2011 19:18:51 +0000

There's an unfortunate overlap in the area of graffiti artists and taggers. The vast majority of graffiti artists at some time or another tag. I know some graffiti artists and have made the case against tagging to them at almost every opportunity; with mixed results. I would like to think that a legal graffiti wall would be a solution to the tagging problem but I doubt it would be. Nonetheless I still believe the public spaces in which graffiti and other forms of urban art can be exhibited are essential. Street painting and chalk art being members of the same "urban art" family that could, in concert, serve to elevate graffiti from its deep connection to vandalism. Speedy removal of tags is an easy enough thing to achieve on private property but what of areas such as abandoned property or, as in my own neighbourhood, the boxes for power distribution and cable television? Can we expect Cogeco to come along and remove those tags daily? Or HydroOne? And who wants to pay for the rate increases that would accompany such diligence? The most likely source of a solution to tagging will come from within the graffiti and urban art community itself. It's anyone's guess when and if such a solution would happen. I do know that some graffiti artists do try to convince the taggers to stop although their effectiveness is probably about the same as my attempts have been: not very.

Kingstonist.com : Weekly Poll: Kingston and the Islands Election Predictions

Tue, 22 Mar 2011 03:10:37 +0000

Instant-runoff voting is more appropriate, I think, if we're going to change our method of electing officials. At least with the IRV system we can keep a 308 member legislature and still ensure that all representatives end up with 50%+1 support. My problem with proportional representation is that in many situations they use a "member/party list" which include people the voters never had a chance to pick from in order to bring the legislature up to proportionally representative numbers. My other beef with that system is that it would necessarily make the legislature larger and, thank you very much, Parliament costs us enough as it is. At least in Canada - and in theory - due to our left-right party divide the IRV system would eliminate the vote-splitting that happens on the left and would create a legislature that is more representative of the country with regard to our collective position on the political spectrum. As it is right wing candidates can win in ridings where the two left wing candidates split the vote. Furthermore, knowing that 190 out of the 308 members of parliament were elected with less-than-half support in their ridings in the 2008 general election does not breed confidence in our main legislative body. In fact 5 candidates were elected to parliament with less than 33.3% support (a third) and the lowest support for a winning candidate was 29.15% (a Bloquist).

Kingstonist.com : Weekly Poll: Kingston and the Islands Election Predictions

Mon, 21 Mar 2011 18:03:40 +0000

The other question, of course, is rather than what party are you going to support what do you think the government will look like? Will it be a Conservative majority? Conservative minority? Coalition? Do you think that the Liberals or another of the opposition parties can pull out a miracle win in their own right?

Kingstonist.com : Friday Foto

Mon, 7 Mar 2011 08:59:57 +0000

There is no excuse for the police officers to be exempted from this law. There are hands free devices that will in no way infringe their ability to do their job - although don't they use those over-the-shoulder radio things to communicate? Or am I watching too much TV? Anyhow, the enforcement of these kinds of laws is important and should be taken very seriously. While they're at it they could spend a little time cracking down on the bicycle riders who ride on sidewalks and the people in Cataraqui Woods who park on them.

Kingstonist.com : Community Soapbox: Skate Park Closure

Wed, 6 Oct 2010 18:56:34 +0000

Mary-Lynn did an excellent job last night! She spoke wonderfully and made excellent points in favour of the skate park! All the young people who benefit from that park now and who will benefit from it in the future will have her to thank for the community that they can enjoy.

Kingstonist.com : Community Soapbox: Skate Park Closure

Wed, 6 Oct 2010 18:54:37 +0000

The other thing is that the primary complainant also is only worried about the teenagers. She doesn't want *all* the equipment to be removed - she has grandchildren who use the park and use the equipment intended for younger kids... she would like that to remain.

Kingstonist.com : Community Soapbox: Skate Park Closure

Tue, 5 Oct 2010 18:52:28 +0000

This decision is a real shame, especially when it sounds like - and this isn't news to me - that the number of complaints about the park are very, very few as a percentage of those who are neighbours and who use those who benefit from the park. It is a shame that the city staff and the local councillor won't stand behind the city's younger residents and work to solve the problem, but would rather just put the equipment in storage and leave these young people to do... what exactly? Go indoors and play video games? Wander the streets? These sorts of parks and other recreation areas that draw young people are what we need more and more of in the city. This is a terribly short-sighted decision and I hope that city sees the mistake it would be making by removing the skate park and eliminating this excellent facility.

Kingstonist.com : Weekly Poll: K-Rock Centre Woes

Tue, 21 Sep 2010 13:47:40 +0000

The ticket price keeps me away as much as anything else, but I think that we're still feeling the effects from people who have a sourness over the way that the LVEC was built. As I go around the city each day and listen to the residents talk about the issues that concern them a number of people talk about the shoe-horning of the building into the downtown, they discuss the apparent sneakiness of the deal and the way that the previous council dealt with it. More than a few have stated that they wouldn't attend an event just out of principle. That feeling will wane over time. That's why I think it's premature to look at folding the overruns into the budget for the long haul as has been suggested by commenters and candidates. The building is only two years old and is coming off a very bad pre-opening reputation. Whether right or wrong, whether they should "grow up" or not, people have the right to spend or not spend their money as they choose and to make that decision based on whatever criteria they choose. I truly believe that the anti-LVEC sentiment will change. I honestly believe that when Harvey Rosen's term as mayor ends that will signal a shift in opinion on the building - whether rightful or not. I think that it's possible that the build can work to break even if not become a revenue generator for the city. Perhaps I'm naive, but I'm taking people at their word and can't imagine that the public would lie to me while I'm standing at their front door. I think the LVEC still has a chance to succeed.

Kingstonist.com : Community Soapbox: Election Signs

Thu, 16 Sep 2010 19:31:35 +0000

It's easy to run in the city that you were born in. Gerretsen and Chalmers are both born and bred Kingstonians. Matheson's family, being members of the Diplomatic Corp, travelled all over the world. They are originally from north of Ottawa but when it came time to settle down, of all the places in Canada and the world that Rob had lived and visited he chose Kingston as his home. To mean that speaks volumes.