It was quite a week in Toronto! Hosting the G20 Summit was exactly as advertised… a huge inconvenience to anyone who lives or works in the south end of the city. For most of the week leading up to the event, it was actually nice - quiet and easy to get around downtown with no traffic issues and easy parking. Not so much on the weekend.
I found it disturbing to watch TV and see “protesters” burning police cars and breaking shop windows in Toronto. We see it often enough in world news but never in our own backyard.
It is clearly the kind of thing we are not used to however, listening to talk radio this morning made it sound like half the city was destroyed – like it was some kind of violent war zone and that somehow the police did not do thier jobs. I know the media sensationalize everything but is it really necessary to create controversy where non exist? The truth is that despite the inconvenience, the conference went off safely, the delegates were protected (which was clearly the first priority) and the small amount of violence while unnecessary was relatively minor. In fact our friends in Montreal do more damage to their own city every time the Habs win a big hockey game.
Whether the summit should have been held in Toronto is a separate debate but I think the police did a good job keeping the order.
What I don’t understand is what the protesters hope to gain by breaking windows at a Starbucks. Reasonable people listen to rational arguments and protests. Rational people lose interest in protests that are violent or destructive.
In the end, the irony is that most of the reporting ends up being about the protest itself and not the actual reason for the protest.
In the end, it was a few strange days and now that its over, we return to normal. The Leafs did not make a deal on draft day, the Raptors are going to lose Bosh, the Jays continue to chase the Yankees and Red Sox and there is road construction everywhere. Summertime in Toronto!
Time to kick back and enjoy the Canada day weekend and the finish of the world cup.
Cheers and have a great day.
George
PS to my Dutch friends – go orange go!
Monday, June 28, 2010
Monday, June 21, 2010
Back on Monday
As you might have noticed, I have taken a bit of an unscheduled blog break. Sometimes things just get too busy… sometimes I just don’t feel like I have anything of value to say. On this day after Father’s Day, I should credit my father who taught me (among other things) that it is OK to say nothing. In fact, sometimes its preferable.
It so happens that there are so many things going on in the world that silence is bound to end.
The disaster in the Gulf of Mexico remains top of mind. Previous to the current chaos, one of the worst oil spills in history was the Exxon Valdez – a tanker that spilled 250,000 barrels of crude (10.8 million U.S. gallons) into Prince William Sound, Alaska in 1989. The effects of that disaster are still felt more then 20 years later. To put it in perspective, it is now estimated that the Deepwater Horizon collapse is spilling 60,000 U.S. gallons per day – meaning each 4 days is the equivalent of the Exxon Valdez. That’s 15 tanker loads and counting with the only apparent end in sight not coming until August… maybe! How sadly ironic it is that the rig causing all this collapsed on Earth Day (April 22).
I can’t imagine the impact of this on the eco system and the lives and livelihoods of the people who live around the Gulf of Mexico.
Obama blames BP – with cause - but where are all the regulators hiding? No company should have the ability to cause such disaster.
Changing gears, I had to smile last week when I received a petition to stop the HST. This proposal was originally tabled in the September 2009 Provincial budget and is set to launch on July 1st. Does anyone really think it can be stopped now?
I was reading the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants paper on the budget and Sales Tax Reform and find it hard to believe there is any benefit to businesses or taxpayers other then a single reporting system. I am afraid to find out but would be interested to know what % of our income actually goes to tax including all the hidden taxes, the sales taxes, income taxes.
The FIFA World Cup is in full swing and almost every car I pass has a flag flying from the window. In addition, many an afternoon is interrupted by loud horns honking in celebration of a country's victory. I am admittedly a marginal soccer fan and have had difficulty getting interested in the 2010 tournament. I'm not entirely sure but think that the horn (vuvuzela) buzzing in the stadium is not helping. In the past I have gotten really interested – perhaps I can turn down the sound, rededicate myself and that passion will return! However, maybe not - the NBA finals just wrapped up and despite the fact that the Lakers were playing the Celtics, every time I turned it on it just seemed boring.
Cheers and have a great day!
George
It so happens that there are so many things going on in the world that silence is bound to end.
The disaster in the Gulf of Mexico remains top of mind. Previous to the current chaos, one of the worst oil spills in history was the Exxon Valdez – a tanker that spilled 250,000 barrels of crude (10.8 million U.S. gallons) into Prince William Sound, Alaska in 1989. The effects of that disaster are still felt more then 20 years later. To put it in perspective, it is now estimated that the Deepwater Horizon collapse is spilling 60,000 U.S. gallons per day – meaning each 4 days is the equivalent of the Exxon Valdez. That’s 15 tanker loads and counting with the only apparent end in sight not coming until August… maybe! How sadly ironic it is that the rig causing all this collapsed on Earth Day (April 22).
I can’t imagine the impact of this on the eco system and the lives and livelihoods of the people who live around the Gulf of Mexico.
Obama blames BP – with cause - but where are all the regulators hiding? No company should have the ability to cause such disaster.
Changing gears, I had to smile last week when I received a petition to stop the HST. This proposal was originally tabled in the September 2009 Provincial budget and is set to launch on July 1st. Does anyone really think it can be stopped now?
I was reading the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants paper on the budget and Sales Tax Reform and find it hard to believe there is any benefit to businesses or taxpayers other then a single reporting system. I am afraid to find out but would be interested to know what % of our income actually goes to tax including all the hidden taxes, the sales taxes, income taxes.
The FIFA World Cup is in full swing and almost every car I pass has a flag flying from the window. In addition, many an afternoon is interrupted by loud horns honking in celebration of a country's victory. I am admittedly a marginal soccer fan and have had difficulty getting interested in the 2010 tournament. I'm not entirely sure but think that the horn (vuvuzela) buzzing in the stadium is not helping. In the past I have gotten really interested – perhaps I can turn down the sound, rededicate myself and that passion will return! However, maybe not - the NBA finals just wrapped up and despite the fact that the Lakers were playing the Celtics, every time I turned it on it just seemed boring.
Cheers and have a great day!
George
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Brownfields
About 5 years ago, I became very interested in environmental issues particularly as they pertained to industry. I did a great deal of reading on the subject and as a company we embarked on a program of evaluation and change. In the end, I think we have done most everything possible to ensure that we are as environmentally responsible as possible. This has included a laundry list of significant changes including the soon to be installation of 4 windmills at our main plant – a process that has taken more then 2 years to source the right equipment and get necessary approvals. After a great many delays it should be completed in the next few weeks.
Funny thing is that I continue to read a great deal about environmental issues and the politics that surround them. One of my first personal conclusions related to “Offset Credits” which I view as simply paying a fine to allow your company to pollute. Our windmills are an attempt to make a difference directly.
Related, as I mentioned in my last post, I have recently become interested in a 75 acre parcel of land on the far west side of the Village of Port Credit where we live. The land is considered a “Brownfield site” – which, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency “means real property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant.” It does not include heavily polluted or severely contaminated with hazardous waste.
Its property that has been polluted enough that the potential environmental liability cost is higher then the potential value of the land!
According to the information I read, there are some 30,000 Brownfield sites in Canada and range from abandoned gas stations to dry-cleaning sites. The property I am referring to was a Texaco refinery until sometime in the mid 1980’s and has been vacant ever since. Presently, Imperial Oil owns the property and though it appears that there have been many meetings, discussions and documents written on the remediation of the land, nothing has been successful.
As a follow up to the BP oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, I read an interesting HBR article that clearly paints BP as villains in this tragedy.
Cheers and have a great day.
George
Funny thing is that I continue to read a great deal about environmental issues and the politics that surround them. One of my first personal conclusions related to “Offset Credits” which I view as simply paying a fine to allow your company to pollute. Our windmills are an attempt to make a difference directly.
Related, as I mentioned in my last post, I have recently become interested in a 75 acre parcel of land on the far west side of the Village of Port Credit where we live. The land is considered a “Brownfield site” – which, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency “means real property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant.” It does not include heavily polluted or severely contaminated with hazardous waste.
Its property that has been polluted enough that the potential environmental liability cost is higher then the potential value of the land!
According to the information I read, there are some 30,000 Brownfield sites in Canada and range from abandoned gas stations to dry-cleaning sites. The property I am referring to was a Texaco refinery until sometime in the mid 1980’s and has been vacant ever since. Presently, Imperial Oil owns the property and though it appears that there have been many meetings, discussions and documents written on the remediation of the land, nothing has been successful.
As a follow up to the BP oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, I read an interesting HBR article that clearly paints BP as villains in this tragedy.
Cheers and have a great day.
George
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Too Little Too Late
I apologize in advance but today I am on a bit of a rant. Like most people I know, for the past several weeks (43 days to be exact) I have watched the daily reports on the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster with horror and disbelief. What is astounding to me is that these drilling platforms are able to exist in such a fragile environment without some kind of failsafe mechanism. Some way to shut them off deeper in the well.
With so much focus over the past several years on environmental issues and ozone depletion and greenhouse gases how is it possible that something with this kind of potential for destruction is allowed? Even more, how is it possible that Obama is talking about ensuring laws are in place now to prevent such an issue in the future. I read on MSNBC a story that contained these two paragraphs –
Obama said the independent commission investigating the Gulf oil spill will thoroughly examine the disaster and its causes to ensure that the nation never faces such a catastrophe again.
The president said that if laws are insufficient, they'll be changed. He said that if government oversight wasn't tough enough, that will change too. And Obama said if laws were broken, those who were responsible will be prosecuted.
President Obama is clearly not to blame for the oil spill but to me, sometimes it’s simply not good enough to ensure that accidents like this don’t happen again – they should never happen in the first place!
That it happened at all is troubling enough…that it is still going on without any resolution in sight is a disgrace. The devastation to the environment and the lives of people is unfathomable and I suspect will be felt for generations to come.
Not to draw any parallels but, on a somewhat related subject, this past Saturday I was walking along the lake close to my home. About a kilometer west of our house is a parcel of vacant land that is likely about 75 acres. It is prime lakefront property a few blocks west of the town of Port Credit. I knew that this was land that housed large oil storage tanks - long since out of use and I wondered when it would be released for development. After some web research time, it appears that the property is still owned by an oil company but the cost to clean it up for development is more then the value of the land… and so it sits. A few years ago the city of Mississauga negotiated a deal that allowed them to lease a strip of the land along the lake on the south side of the property in order to continue the Waterfront Trail. The vacant land (now seen from all sides) looks like a greenbelt with a fence around it and despite the fact that it is causing no environmental danger, I find it unbelievable that a company can pollute a piece of property and just leave it because the cost of restitution it is too high. All this oil business has motivated me to find out more.
George
With so much focus over the past several years on environmental issues and ozone depletion and greenhouse gases how is it possible that something with this kind of potential for destruction is allowed? Even more, how is it possible that Obama is talking about ensuring laws are in place now to prevent such an issue in the future. I read on MSNBC a story that contained these two paragraphs –
Obama said the independent commission investigating the Gulf oil spill will thoroughly examine the disaster and its causes to ensure that the nation never faces such a catastrophe again.
The president said that if laws are insufficient, they'll be changed. He said that if government oversight wasn't tough enough, that will change too. And Obama said if laws were broken, those who were responsible will be prosecuted.
President Obama is clearly not to blame for the oil spill but to me, sometimes it’s simply not good enough to ensure that accidents like this don’t happen again – they should never happen in the first place!
That it happened at all is troubling enough…that it is still going on without any resolution in sight is a disgrace. The devastation to the environment and the lives of people is unfathomable and I suspect will be felt for generations to come.
Not to draw any parallels but, on a somewhat related subject, this past Saturday I was walking along the lake close to my home. About a kilometer west of our house is a parcel of vacant land that is likely about 75 acres. It is prime lakefront property a few blocks west of the town of Port Credit. I knew that this was land that housed large oil storage tanks - long since out of use and I wondered when it would be released for development. After some web research time, it appears that the property is still owned by an oil company but the cost to clean it up for development is more then the value of the land… and so it sits. A few years ago the city of Mississauga negotiated a deal that allowed them to lease a strip of the land along the lake on the south side of the property in order to continue the Waterfront Trail. The vacant land (now seen from all sides) looks like a greenbelt with a fence around it and despite the fact that it is causing no environmental danger, I find it unbelievable that a company can pollute a piece of property and just leave it because the cost of restitution it is too high. All this oil business has motivated me to find out more.
George
Friday, May 28, 2010
Friday Bytes
A few weeks ago, I decided that it might be a good idea to get up early to watch the sunrise occasionally. Despite best intentions, I have yet to haul myself out of bed to actually do that but I am determined -maybe next week.
Sorry for the additional London picture. There were so many landmarks and iconic images to see, I could not resist showing one more – this one of the Tower Bridge. I understand that this bridge is often mistaken for the London Bridge. In fact London Bridge is not terribly interesting to look at.
While I was away Jessica Watson completed her historic sail. If you have been following this blog you will know that I have been fascinated by this journey. I am not sure specifically why but suppose it is a combination of the adventure, the solitude, and the freedom. On May 15th Jessica became the youngest person to sail solo, non stop and unassisted around the world. This is a link to a http://tinyurl.com/2exrsyx, sailing into Sydney harbour. Now I have to find something else of interest to follow. There is an American teen (Abby Sunderland) attempting to sail around the world but, since I just finished the one, this does not seem as interesting.
Today looks like another glorious day in Toronto and the weekend forecast is great. We have had a tremendous end to May and overall a great spring – lets hope this is a prelude to a great summer.
Technology fans are all abuzz today as the iPad goes on sale in Canada. As much as people have anticipated this latest gadget, I still don’t understand waiting in line for hours to get one. I think you will be able to pick one up in a couple of weeks without all the fuss. As an interesting side bar, I heard a news report yesterday that Apple Corp. is now worth more then Microsoft.
Cheers and enjoy a great weekend.
George
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
London Calling
Over the past few years my travel habits have changed greatly. I still pack too much and still enjoy many of the same types of sites and activities as always but when away, I have become more disconnected. It was not too long ago that I went everywhere (including vacation) with my blackberry and before that my cell phone. I was afraid to be out of contact for any amount of time and where technology has allowed me to be more in touch, it has added the burden of always being connected. I’m not sure if it’s just me getting more relaxed with age or if the culture has changed but it seems that clients and colleagues are more understanding when I am away and completely unavailable.
As mobile technology continues to mature, maybe our expectations of people’s availability are maturing as well.
Last week I was away in London and Birmingham to visit the IPEX graphic trade show and had the opportunity to spend some great time in London enjoying the city. It has always been on the top of my list of places I would like to visit and it did not disappoint. I found it to be a city of opposites – the blend of buildings hundreds of years old with the latest glass towers, the fact that everyone working in an office wears a suit and tie but it is also a very casual city. I love that it seemed so proper but at the same time so much fun and I love that every second corner has a pub that is packed at the end of the workday with regulars having a pint and conversation. That London is so pedestrian makes it work…like Manhattan, it seems to be a city of neighborhoods and I love that!
As for IPEX – it was a great show. Without doubt, the largest tradeshow I have attended and I found it to be quite overwhelming – too much information to absorb and totally exhausting. In the end however, a very worthwhile trip – it is interesting see what’s going on in our industry in different parts of the world and to talk to and learn from others experiences. For me, I find it inspires creative thought and motivates at the same time. Overall a very positive experience.
Cheers and have a great day.
George
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Travels
As an addendum to my last post about mornings, yesterday I left for work without my blackberry. I didn’t realize until I got to the office and immediately concluded that it would not be a big deal. As a matter of fact, I felt kind of calm…a calm that lasted about 20 minutes and then panic set in! I realized I could not survive the day without it so I was forced to drive home to pick it up – I didn’t even last an hour. How tied to this Blackberry am I?
Last night I decided that it might be a fun change to get up a bit earlier and watch the sun rise. I checked the weather network and found that sunrise was at 5:56am. I was awake at 5, looked out the window at the rain and howling wind and went back to bed…so much for changing mornings. Maybe I’ll focus on something else.
A few days ago, I was speaking with Janine – a business colleague and friend who travels extensively. I don’t see Janine often but when I do our conversation always tends towards who’s been where, who’s going where and “goal” destinations. We are clearly not in the same league though as Janine has been on 5 trips in the first 4 months of 2010 – halfway to her goal of 10 vacations for the year. To share and document the adventures she has created a blog called The Tipsy Gypsy (now added to my favorites). Reading it for the first time I loved the intro titled “My project for 2010…” where she speaks about people resolving to lose things from their lives while her goal is to add. It’s fun and worth a read.
On personal travel notes, we are off to London at the end of this week to do a bit of touring and attend IPEX – one of the largest graphic trade shows in the world. Having never been to London I have my requisite list of things not to be missed. Of course there are the normal tourist traps but I am most looking forward to simply walking around, soaking up the history and what I am expecting to describe as the “style” of it all. That and of course, finding a pub to watch some footy on Sunday with the locals. Dirty Dick’s has been recommended – I will dress in neutral colours and hope for the best!
Cheers and have a great day,
George
Last night I decided that it might be a fun change to get up a bit earlier and watch the sun rise. I checked the weather network and found that sunrise was at 5:56am. I was awake at 5, looked out the window at the rain and howling wind and went back to bed…so much for changing mornings. Maybe I’ll focus on something else.
A few days ago, I was speaking with Janine – a business colleague and friend who travels extensively. I don’t see Janine often but when I do our conversation always tends towards who’s been where, who’s going where and “goal” destinations. We are clearly not in the same league though as Janine has been on 5 trips in the first 4 months of 2010 – halfway to her goal of 10 vacations for the year. To share and document the adventures she has created a blog called The Tipsy Gypsy (now added to my favorites). Reading it for the first time I loved the intro titled “My project for 2010…” where she speaks about people resolving to lose things from their lives while her goal is to add. It’s fun and worth a read.
On personal travel notes, we are off to London at the end of this week to do a bit of touring and attend IPEX – one of the largest graphic trade shows in the world. Having never been to London I have my requisite list of things not to be missed. Of course there are the normal tourist traps but I am most looking forward to simply walking around, soaking up the history and what I am expecting to describe as the “style” of it all. That and of course, finding a pub to watch some footy on Sunday with the locals. Dirty Dick’s has been recommended – I will dress in neutral colours and hope for the best!
Cheers and have a great day,
George
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