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November
23, 2003
DAY THREE OF THE WALK TO QUEEN'S PARK
A
second bus has been booked to take people to Queen’s
Park on Monday morning. The first one is already full. To
reserve a seat, please contact jmulkewich@sympatico.ca.
The buses will be leaving from the Centre Mall parking lot
(near the Burger King) at 9 am on Monday morning. A modified
Christmas Carol has been prepared for the cheque presentation
to Premier McGuinty (see below).
The
Hamilton Chamber of Commerce has called on its members to
send an email to Premier McGuinty to counter the message
of the walkers. The Chamber says that “we need to show
the Premier that support has not wavered” for the expressway.
In the meantime, valley supporters have ferretted out a
direct line to the Premier’s office where a live person
is taking messages for the Premier over the weekend. The
number is
416-325-7961. This replaces a phone number supplied earlier
which has gone “out of service”.
About
20 walkers arrived in Mississauga late Saturday afternoon.
They stayed overnight at Mississuaga Unitarian Church —
a slight (but pleasant) change in itinerary. When the walk
started Thursday there had been no arrangements made for
Mississauga but things have been falling into place thanks
to tireless efforts of many wonderful folks! The walkers
are in good spirits. Each day different people join the
walk, and they are glad of the new company. Today the walkers
are proceeding into Toronto for a 7:30 pm public meeting
at the Religious Society of Friends (Quaker) Meeting House
at 60 Lowther Street (at Bedford).
Friday’s
throne speech has added an extra spring to the walkers’
steps. The walkers are delivering a $120 million cheque
to the Premier, asking him to stop using this amount to
subsidize the expressway and instead reallocate it for more
useful things. The Premier should be receptive in light
of the deficit that led him to postpone most of his election
promises because of a lack of money. One postponed promise
is the transfer of some gas taxes to cities. Hamilton officials
reacted to this news with dismay. The City Treasurer said
that “All of us were counting on some kind of assistance
in 2003.”
This
should (but probably won’t) cause Mayor DiIanni and
other pro-expressway councillors to think again about how
they might make better use of the huge provincial subsidy
of the expressway. The provincial Liberals have already
stated that they are willing to re-allocate the $122 million
to other Hamilton expenses, if only the Council asks. It
should be obvious to Mayor DiIanni that McGuinty is not
likely to provide an additional big pot of money to bailout
Hamilton. No other municipality in Ontario is getting $122
million for a local road project.
McGuinty’s
throne speech had some other hopeful promises, including
reiteration of his commitment to establish a half-million-acre
greenbelt from Niagara Falls to the eastern end of the Oak
Ridges Moraine, and the creation of a commission to protect
it. If McGuinty is serious, he should be asking the Niagara
Escarpment Commission to do its job in protecting Red Hill
Valley and preventing the blasting of the biggest ever road
cut into the face of the escarpment.
The
throne speech also pledged to support public transit, reduce
gridlock, “improve the air we breathe” and to
introduce legislation to reform the Ontario Municipal Board
so that it “encourages sustainable growth instead of
sprawl”. These policies will put DiIanni and the majority
of Hamilton’s councillors further out of step with
the rest of the province.
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A
modified Christmas Carol has been prepared for the
cheque presentation to Premier McGuinty:
God
Rest You Premier Dalton M.
(sung
to
the tune of God Rest You Merry Gentlemen)
God
rest you Premier
Dalton M.
Keep
smiling all the day,
Good
fortune and good ti-i-dings
There’s
one less bill to pay,
And
you can strike right off your list
The
Red Hill Express Way!
O-oh
tidings of comfort and joy,
A
winning ploy,
O-oh
tidings of comfort and joy.
Niagara’s
scarp is precious as
The
oak ridges moraine,
And
blasting it to smithereens
Sure
goes against the grain,
So
you can easily get behind
A
route that’s much more sane!
O-oh
tidings of comfort and joy,
Green
and sane,
O-oh
tidings of comfort and joy.
The
common sense has come and gone
And
still there is no road,
The
banker Eves has had his day,
And
left a heavy load.
Decisions
are a snap for you
With
all those billions owed.
O-oh
tidings of comfort and joy,
Oh
billions owed,
O-oh
tidings of comfort and joy.
We’re
handing back the money, Dalt,
There
is no need to spend,
So
it is not, the Liberals’ fault
That
wildlife homes will end.
And
here’s a cheque for millions, our
En-vir-on-ment
to mend.
O-oh
tidings of comfort and joy,
A
winning ploy,
O-oh
tidings of comfort and joy!
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