Smugness personified

Mark Carney thought he was so brilliant, sneaking Canada into the EU by crawling under its hood and snapping a couple of wires.  But it backfired and he has been rebuffed by ruffled feathers around the European table.

So pleased with each other, but which one is the Cheshire Cat?

There was an excellent letter in 'The Globe and Mail' today, which succinctly encapsulates the messy hornet's nest in which we would be unceremoniously chewed up and spat out.  However, I predict Carney will still keep pushing to somehow horn us in.   

This is an excellent analysis of what we hope Canada will avoid.

Carney has maneuvered us as close as he can into the failing EU.  For the moment, we have been rejected, but you can bet he will keep hustling, shoving and squeezing his way in.  His only objective, as far as I can see, is to get himself elected president of the EU when he tires of the boring and tedious task of governing the annoying, lowly serfs of Canada.

For him, it would be business as usual.  Afterall, he ignores Parliament completely, which is exactly what membership does to the countries trapped in it.  It ignores the will of the people, making countries bow to the whims of European states with wildly conflicting objectives.  But, as I said, Carney is doing that anyway.

I pray people will wake up to this destructive egomaniac, but it may already be too late.

 

Tony Perry

When I walked into the kitchen, carrying a few plates after dinner, there she was guzzling a bottle of wine -- not bothering with a glass.

I am talking about Maria Perry, Matthew's grandmother and mother of Tony Perry, his uncle.  I had met Tony when my best friend, Suzanne Langford, married John Perry, Matthew's father, and I was Maid of Honour.  

Suzanne had met John when she moved to New York to model for the Eileen Ford Agency.  They married back in Ottawa and then returned to New York, where Matthew was born.  I was the first person she called from the hospital; I still remember our excited conversation!

Tony and I hit it off when we met at the wedding and became a couple, but not before I had come back from my long-planned trip to Europe with my cousin.

Tony on the right, Matthew on the left beside his father, John and Mr. Perry, centre. 

Tony hailed from Williamstown, Mass., where the wine guzzling took place the Christmas I had returned, but at that time he was living in New York City and was a member of expanded group, The Serendipity Singers, based there.  During that visit, Mr. Perry took us to his club, where we met his mistress and had lunch.  All very civilized, apparently.

While I was swanning around Europe, Tony wrote me dozens of letters, c/o the Canadian Embassy wherever we were.  When I returned, I hopped on a plane to New York, where Tony and I had a ball.

For some reason, I remember his address:  45 West Tenth Street.  He knew so many entertainers.  One night, he took me to a club where Neil Diamond was headlining.  Naturally, Neil joined us after each set.  Neil was a real charmer.  Tony was determined to marry me, even going so far as buying me a ring, below, but we drifted when I moved to Toronto and started climbing the career ladder in journalism.

Can you imagine a more impractical ring?  (I still have it, but never wear it.)

Nevertheless, he was persistent, I'll give him that.  I had mailed back the ring, but one night he knocked on my door in Toronto, where the group was playing, and handed it back.  That was a surprise, to say the least, but I realized I no longer cared for him, even though he was still very keen on getting me back.  

Out of curiosity, I googled him and found a video of Tony and John being interviewed on 'Ojai Valley News' on YouTube.  Man, Tony looked awful!  He apparently died in 2015 at age 78 in Ojai, California.  Tried to find a wife, or widow, but couldn't.  Did he ever marry after I turned him down?  I am sure he must have.

Tony, on the left, with John Perry, Matthew's father.

So, that's a little trip down memory lane.  Man, I am getting very lost in the memory weeds these days!

    

A little solo lunch

I was getting a little sick of being Florence Nightingale and Julia Child to my bedridden hubby, so I got dressed up, put on the warpaint and headed to The Palliser Hotel in Calgary -- the only nice hotel in the entire region.

While there, I indulged.  It was an Absolute martini, oysters, a glass of house white and a divine hazelnut dessert.  I also did a little people watching and caught a couple of women with hideous hair.  

Here are a few souvenir shots:

If you're going to dye your hair, deal with the roots, please!

This hairdo went out with the sixties.

PEI oysters.  Delicious!

Health dessert -- hazelnut cake and ice cream.

The lovely Fairmont Palliser!

An analysis by an Ottawa city inside employee

Following is an analysis by a close friend at Ottawa City Hall.  Seems reasonable to me:

"Mark Sutcliffe took over the transit system mess left by Jim Watson. I will say, while Watson was a bit of a dictator, apparently Mark at least tries to work with Council as a whole. 

"He made a lot of promises (150+) on the campaign trail. Reporters are saying for the most part, his promises are either met, or on track. The issues that I was concerned about included, for example, keeping kept taxes low at 2.5% for the first 2 years and a little higher at 3.75% in the second;

Sutcliffe stumping.

"On the other hand, while he brags about 1/4 billion in efficiencies, some were simply transferred to owners, like garbage collecting that shot up 10% with more restrictions on what can be put out for collection and now minimum charges for residents at dump sites. 

"He didn't cut recreation fees by 10%. He did add 42 paramedics and 100 police officers. 

"The LRT transit extensions are underway but with no Provincial funding commitment as promised, future work is at risk. There is still no confidence in the LRT system and roads are overwhelmed with the Queensway at a standstill during rush hour. 

"He kept his promise spending $100 million on roads and sidewalk repairs. He added 55 Km of cycling paths. 

"He promised 100,000 new homes. However, even with streamlining the approval process and removing the sales tax for first home buyers, he states that due to the current high cost of ownership, demand has weakened, thus fewer houses are currently being built. He promised and came through on a new landfill site and expanding the one near us.

"Given the record of the previous loser and the candidates Jeff Leiper (a community activist and ward Councillor) plus two unknowns, Neil Saranamuttoo and Alex Lawson, there was not much of a choice. So it's another 4 years to see what Sutcliffe can accomplish."

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So, Ottawans can judge my friend's analysis. As he says, we'll see.

Out of his own mouth

 Mark Carney continues to tell us who he really is, but no one seems to be listening.  Here are three excerpts from 'The National Post', describing his real agenda:

Carney is courting evil left, right and centre.

"New World Order", right there from his own mouth.

There are his words again.  Getting the picture?

When someone tells you who they are, believe them.

Unpublished letters...........

Here are a few letters which didn't see the light of day:

Letters to the Editor.

 Dear Editor (Globe and Mail):

There's another ubiquitous expression that grates: "Can I grab you guys anything else?"  This is the go-to question when one is asking for the bill in any restaurant.  

Call me old-fashioned, but asking in that way conjures up an unpleasant image of food being grabbed from a kitchen counter and thrown onto a random plate.

"May I get you anything else?" would be preferable.  Sadly, that form of polite speech has also fled.

Nancy Marley-Clarke

_________________
Dear Editor (Globe and Mail):

I remember when there was a federal department called, 'Employment and Immigration', which logically, sensibly and responsibly tied immigration to national and regional Canadian employment requirements. 

Created in 1977, it was abolished in 1996 and hived off into a number of separate and distinct ministries.

Perhaps immigration needs to again be returned to a wider lens to ensure coherence returns to the messy hodgepodge in which this file currently staggers and stumbles.

Nancy Marley-Clarke
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Dear Editor (Globe and Mail):

I'd say Canada has had very deep ties with Africa, if you measure such ties monetarily.  Canada has given -- and continues to give -- billions and billions to Africa over decades, so one wonders how much more this country can contribute, given our own dismal economic reality?

The tragedy appears to be that such billions do not seem to trickle down.  Perhaps African leaders could answer that question.

Nancy Marley-Clarke
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Dear Editor (Calgary Herald):

So, the jewels of Canada, its magnificent parks, are being sacrificed on the altar of international aid.  Canada has committed $26 billion and counting to Ukraine and $3.2 to Africa, to name just two of more than 130 recipients of Canada's largesse.
  
Closer to home, for a measly $80,000 out of a $12 million security contract, Canada's Commissionaires have lost a long-held security contract to a U.S. company. 

 
Now Parks Canada is being gutted and 3,000 staff will lose their jobs.  When are Canada's interests going to be supported?

Something seems terribly out-of-whack.

Nancy Marley-Clarke
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Trouble is, I have been published very recently, so they have to wait for another.  BTW, if any of you want a letter penned, over your own name, I would be only so delighted to help.  I know many people can't put thoughts succinctly on paper so they will be published.  That is a skill I do possess.

Simple agenda

Or, should be.  There will be another First Ministers' meeting shortly, focussing on Indigenous issues.  Naturally, AFN Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak gave the real agenda away when she issued the following statement:

The second paragraph highlights the real purpose of the gathering:  "The budget is the big test," said Nepinak.

Well, of course it is.  In fact, it's the only item she wants to talk about.  She claimed it was to chart a new course for her people, but the only course she will be charting is the one to the nearest bank.  

Let's face it, her headdress, finery and puffery aside, money is the only object on that file.