New Hampshire Day 2 p.m. – Hanging with Vermin

(Andrew C. Bome reports on Saturday evening activities in New Hampshire.)

Saturday night was debate night for the Republicans.  The debate was hosted by ABC and was being held at St Anselm’s College.  Not being big ticket Republican donors, we couldn’t get inside to see the main event.  Instead we headed over to the barricaded area where the demonstrators got to hang out; this was the free speech zone.
 
The free speech zone in 2008 was the highlight of the trip.  We got to hang out with some Fred Thompson supporters and had a good time listening to them froth.  This time, it was a little more subdued.
 
There were interesting things happening to be sure.  First, the main demonstration was the demonstrators demanding a $15.00 per hour minimum wage.   There were trade union types (UAW and SEIU were the two most visible ones) and lots of young protesters singing and chanting.  We also saw a few other protesters.  There was one guy who was waving a sign saying “no to Royalty”; that is a political manifesto that I can stand behind.  His rant was about the Clinton’s and the Bushes being serious candidates for president; he thinks it is all a little too dynastic.   
 

Andrew with Vermin Supreme

I also achieved my goal of having a selfie taken with a candidate; I did it, but the candidate was Vermin Supreme.  While he sounds like the worst menu item at a taco bell, Vermin is a guy who always pays his $100.00 to get on the ballot in New Hampshire.  Like Clinton, he was on the ballot in 2008 and he is on the ballot in 2016; unlike Clinton, he was on the ballot here in 2012 as well, and God willing he will be on the ballot in 2020.  He is very visible because he wears a boot on his head; his platform includes free ponies for everyone.  When we left the free speech zone (along with others) he berated us and called us cowards; I am not sure how I feel about being called a chicken by a guy with a boot on his head.

The real Republicans that were in the free speech zone weren’t so captivating.  Proving the point that a candidates supporters are not necessarily like the candidate, the Chris Christie supporters were cowering in a corner of the zone.  The $15.00 per hour demonstrators seemed to frighten them.   Ted Cruz had a few supporters here; with one notable exception, he seemed to attract only ugly people.  Maybe extremism only attracts ugly people; that has been my experience with left wing extremism and this appears to hold for right wing extremism as well.

 
We spent most of the time talking to Kasich supporters.  Alan decided to ask about the proper pronunciation of his name; it turns out it is a hard “ch” not soft.  They were mostly nice people, but they looked like a crew of accountants trying to run a demonstration; it looked off, and was very low key.  They did have some naughty things to say of others.   They told us it wouldn’t be a good idea to talk to Trump supporters; they might charge.    They also made cracks aimed at the $15.00 an hour demonstrators like “they haven’t figured out the Soviet Union has fallen.”
 

Super PAC Sponsored Snacks

That may be the case, but those demonstrators should put the fear of God into conservative politicians.  $15.00 per hour is a fairly standard progressive policy prescription.  The supporters of this had the energy and had the people.   The Republicans had neither.  The Republican demonstrators were as lifeless as their campaign.  They may think they have the upper hand.  The future belongs to progressive politics.
 
After this, we decided to go to the Ben Carson debate watching party.  It was held at a restaurant called Verandah grill.  The food was good (chicken fingers and nachos) and was on the Ben Carson campaign; mmmmm Carson super PAC sponsored snacks.  

The people we talked to were very nice, but they mostly left us alone; except for the one guy who wanted us to volunteer for the Carson Campaign.  The best part of the debate was watching Chris Christie pound on Marco Rubio; I loved watching Rubio not have anything to say, repeat his talking points, and then get slammed by Christie.  Apparently I was not alone in enjoying this.  Rubio also has Dumbo ears; once you notice this, you can’t “unnoticed” it.  The scariest moment came during the discussion of North Korea launching a test ICBM; only Donald Trump had the right answer (get the Chinese to do something about them).  It is scary when Trump sounds saner than everyone else on a foreign policy issue. 
 
We finished the night at the Kasich debate watching party.  It should have been called Kasich debate watching sausage fest; there were women there, but for every 1 woman, there appeared to be four of five men. 

At the Kasich Debate Watching Party

The men as well looked a little too earnest and a little too well groomed; they looked like they wanted to grow up and go into sales.

 

Tomorrow: Jeb, Marco & the Super Bowl.

 

New Hampshire Day 2, a.m. – Class is in Session

(Andrew C. Bome's second report from New Hampshire in advance of the Primary.)

The plan this morning was to do some domestic things and then head to a nearby Bernie Sanders event.  It turned out the Bernie Sanders event was not across the street, but was across the state.  It took us an hour to get there, but we made it in time.

The event was at the main campus of Franklin Pierce University; the speech was at the field house.  Being a Bernie Sanders event at a University, there were lots of younger folks in the crowd, complete with the more interesting clothing choices of youth (the less said about the hipster in  the trilby, the better).  A few things of note were the dude in with a toque that had a skunk pattern around the base: “skunks on a toque” sound like the name of an unsuccessful Ottawa punk band.  There were a few pro-pot folks wearing T-shirts saying “Keep calm and Bern one”; the logo showed Bernie smoking a joint.

Bernie Sanders at Franklin Pierce University

There also appeared to be a number of Franklin Pierce University journalism students interviewing folks.  None interviewed me; the egotistical lawyer in me was offended.  I did see one of these j-school students interviewing one of the professional journalists in the crowd.  I detect a future Washington Post columnist in the making.

When Sanders was introduced everyone (myself included )raised their phones to get a picture.  It was if we were in church and the priest said the thing that got us to raise our phones and praise someone. 

Bernie’s speech was OK, but I have heard better.  I really felt like I was an undergraduate listening to a lecture by a really cool professor.  It was well organized and thought out, but it was a lecture in any event.  Maybe that is why Bernie Sanders is polling so well amongst university students and grads; he reminds them of their favourite professor.

He started his speech with the line “Are you ready to make a political revolution” and the obligatory bad suit and hair joke; his sweater vest looked like it came from the Rick Santorum collection..  His speech was organized along three connected themes: a corrupt campaign finance system; a rigged economic system; and, a broken criminal justice system.    He would set out the problem and set out how the first problem would connect to the second problem and the third problem.  For example, a corrupt campaign finance system allowed banks to lobby hard to deregulate the financial system.  That led to a broken economic system with banks that were too big to fail and required trillions in bailouts.  While a kid caught with a joint got a criminal record, no wall street bankers have gotten arrested over their activities in 2008; his line was that the banks were too big to fail and bankers were too big to jail. 

This was all really cool, but he really did not have much to say on how to solve any of the problems that he set out.   At best he said that if people come together, there is nothing that they can’t accomplish; that is nice rhetoric, but it don’t fix anything.

It is not like he did not have any policy suggestions.  He did; but it was a fairly standard progressive wish list (single payer health care; $15.00 per hour minimum wage; paid family & medical leave; lower tuition and better student loan terms), but it was unconnected to anything.

At least his speech had a nice end; he said that they would make a political revolution.  Nice parallel to his first line.

                                          

New Hampshire Trip Day 1 – Foiling the Weather Gods

(Following is Andrew C. Bome's first report from the New Hampshire.)

My Friend Alan and I decided that we would be heading to New Hampshire this year to hang out at a variety of Primary related events.  We did this 8 years ago. We saw history being made and had a whole lot of fun.   We are hoping to do the same; if we are lucky we might meet some of the same “whacky” people that we met 8 years ago.

Our trip almost did not happen; we literally never got off of the ground.  The plan was to fly from Buffalo to Boston, rent a car in Boston and drive to Nashua, New Hampshire.  When we arrived at the airport, our flight had been cancelled due to weather in Boston.   We were in good company; Donald Trump had to cancel an event today due to weather in Boston. 

Andrew arrives in New Hampshire

The Airline had rescheduled to Saturday evening at 7:30, or we could reroute our trip to New York and fly from there to Boston; we would have arrived in Nashua past midnight.  Neither were good options.   Alan and I are intrepid dudes so we decided to turn our adventure into a road trip.  We drove seven hours from Buffalo through New York, Vermont and New Hampshire and arrived at our hotel in Nashua at around 9:00.  It was a lovely drive; or it would have been during daylight hours in the summer.

Our only real casualty was a planned Hillary Clinton rally at 7:00 p.m.  We aren’t that worried; we are both pretty sure she will have a few more events before Tuesday.

Tomorrow’s first event is a Bernie Sanders rally in Nashua; doors open at 9:00 a.m. and the rally starts at 11:00.  We should have fun: Sanders supporters are young, enthusiastic and committed.  That makes for some fun conversations.  We had booked ourselves for a 10:30 Chris Christie event; sadly he gets thrown under the bus.  We are also planning to spend time in the “free speech zone” at St. Anselm’s college during the republican debate.  That should be fun and where we get to meet some folks with some “different” ideas.

The high point of the trip will be the super bowl viewing party.  It is with Marco Rubio; looking forward to my Super PAC Nachos. 

I have a few goals for this trip.  First, I want to be able to get at least one selfie with a Candidate; even Jim Gilmore is good enough.  Second I want to steal a few lawn signs.  My home office has framed Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton lawn signs from 2008.  I want to replace them with Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders lawn signs from 2016.  Third, swag: buttons, hats, shirts, leaflets.  I want it all. If I can do all of this, meet some interesting people and not get arrested, I will have a successful holiday.

Reporting from New Hampshire

Readers will know we are all about local politics here at When the Mayor Smiles.

We also subscribe to that old adage that all politics are local politics.

It follows, then, that we ought to offer comment on the big political events going on down south of the border and specifically the upcoming New Hampshire Primary.

Sadly, our knowledge of this form of local politics ranks only slightly ahead of Sarah Palin’s grasp of Russian geography.

Not to worry. We’ve got it covered.

Andrew C. Bome

Hamilton lawyer, Andrew C. Bome, leaves this Friday for New Hampshire and has committed to send back his observations on this unique and perplexing exercise in democracy.

Bome returns to the Granite State where his observations were documented and well received in 2008 for Hamilton’s Raise the Hammer.  https://www.raisethehammer.org/authors/91/andrew_c_bome

Remember the Rupert Hotel Fire

(This blog piece has been slightly revised from the original which appeared at www.hamiltonjustice.ca on the anniversary of the Rupert Hotel Fire.)

The 26th anniversary of the Rupert Hotel fire that killed one woman and nine men in Toronto just passed (December 23rd.)

The Rupert was located at 182 Parliament Street close to Queen Street East. Once an upscale hotel, the Rupert, while licensed, was overcrowded and badly maintained. (A story by Chris Bateman from Spacing Toronto provides the gruesome details http://spacing.ca/toronto/2014/12/24/25-years-horror-rupert-hotel-fire/)

A plaque erected at the site notes that the fire "sparked action by municipal and provincial governments and community organizations to improve conditions in rooming houses."

It did, for a time. In the years following the tragedy, about 500 units of Toronto housing were created or upgraded to meet or exceed the already existing standards. Not long after the plaque was installed, though, the funding that supported the upgrades and advocacy ended.

Photo from Toronto Star Archives

What has happened since then?

Not enough.

The City of Toronto has been struggling for many, many years to put in place one comprehensive by-law and set of regulations to cover all rooming houses.  To say they are bogged down would be an understatement.

You’ll remember that Toronto amalgamated in 1998.  Yet, the zoning by-laws with respect to rooming houses have yet to be harmonized.
Each of the former Toronto municipalities has different things to say on rooming houses.  Toronto and Etobicoke (in some areas) allow them but they must be licensed.  They’re OK in the old Borough of York in some areas too.  But in North York, East York and Scarborough rooming houses are not permitted.  That means that those that exist in these areas are illegal and unregulated.

A consultation process took place in Toronto this year.  A report will be coming back to Council.  The report will, among other things, look at “opportunities to improve conditions in rooming houses:” History suggests that Council will have a tough time making decisions.

What about other initiatives?  Toronto’s poverty reductions strategy, for example, makes mention of rooming houses. It recommends that the city “continue efforts to consult and develop an effective policy framework and enforcement strategy with respect to rooming house.”  That action word “continue” does not offer encouragement that something concrete will be achieved in the near future.
Conditions remain unsafe.  Recently, a Toronto landlord was convicted of multiple fire code violations in the death of a woman in a rooming house fire from 2013.  A fire in an unlicensed house in the Spadina/Dundas area killed two and injured many others in March 2014.  Other Canadian cities face similar problems.

Health Issues

Safety is a certainly huge concern but there are long term health issues for those who live in rooming houses and other vulnerable housing situations as well.  Two years a study called Housing Vulnerability and Health: Canada’s Hidden Emergency was published. The study looked at the deaths of 15,000 people living in such housing.  The authors found that the average life span of these 15,000 people was “7-10 years shorter than the life span of the general Canadian population.” Women had about the same chance of living to the age of 75 as an average women in Guatemala, a country where many lack access to basic health care.

Action is needed. Municipalities don’t have the resources or the resolve to get results.  Senior levels of government must step to the plate.

Resources:

http://www.stmichaelshospital.com/crich/wp-content/uploads/housing-vulnerability-and-health.pdf
http://www.wellesleyinstitute.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Suburban-Rooming-Houses-FINAL-Sept-24.pdf

Hamilton Community Legal Clinic Blog Pieces: 

http://www.hamiltonjustice.ca/blog/?post=Remembering+the+Rupert+Hotel+Fire+&id=248
http://www.hamiltonjustice.ca/blog/?post=New+Insights+on+Rooming+Houses&id=282

What to do about Predatory Lending?

(Payday loans are the Lay’s Potato chips of finance.  You can’t have just one and they are terrible for you… John Oliver https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDylgzybWAw)


I was asked on Thursday how I felt about the Ontario’s new legislation that deals with alternative financial services.

My answer was that I'm quite disappointed.

It is hard to believe it has taken 2 years of consultation and this is all we get.

Consumer advocate Mel Fruitman put it better.

“I hate it when government does that. It says 'we're going to do something but it's going to be a year before we do something and we can't tell you anything until we do it,'" he told the CBC. http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/ontario-subprime-lenders-1.3359460

I was involved in some consultation by the Ministry of Government and Consumer Services this past July.  This was part of lengthy process that included a 2014 “panel of volunteers with expertise in matters related to payday lending.”  That panel had concluded, not surprisingly since there were lenders involved, that everything was pretty much OK.  Some tightening of regulations and a little more education for consumers was all that was needed.

To the government’s credit, they realized more had to be done.  It seemed to me that the staff leading that 2015 consultation that I had attended knew how badly people were being exploited by the payday loan predators and other private sector operations that “help” people with money problems.  I believed that they were going to do something significant about it given the political realities that they had to work with.

What happened, then?  

To be fair, there are good things in Bill 156 – An Act to amend various Acts with respect to financial services.

ACORN Canada has done a lot of advocacy in this area.  Their spokesperson, Donna Borden, had this to say:

“This announcement is a great first step.  There are still countless ways the banking system could be made fair for low-to-middle income Canadians.” 

I read the Bill yesterday.  Bill 156 amends various other pieces of legislation. Specifically:

The Collection and Debt Settlement Services Act
The Courts of justice Act
Budget Measures Act 2009
The Consumer Protection Act
and more, I think.

So, to do a thorough analysis of it one would have to look at all those acts and see how each amendment changed it.  That is a lot of work. I’ll reference Mel Fruitman again:  

“It is very difficult to comment on an announcement about an announcement about an announcement." 

Indeed.

Provincial governments have largely remained on the sidelines or brought in regulations that were as weak as the ninth batter in a National League lineup. Some municipal governments have stepped up. But it appears that no new powers will be given to municipalities to deal with the problem as Howard Elliott noted in the Hamilton Spectator. http://www.thespec.com/opinion-story/6168980-the-spectator-s-view-payday-loan-changes-don-t-go-far-enough/

This “industry” hurts communities. Peter Kucherepa, an Ottawa lawyer, has researched the payday loans and argues that  enabling cash transactions (the mainstay of how this industry functions) can contribute to the proliferation of the drug industry and other criminal activity in neighbourhoods.

There are health issue too. Kucherepa cites research from St. Michael’s Hospital in 2014. That study “clearly shows that the proliferation of cash based money lenders lowers community life expectancy and increases pre-mature deaths.” 

You can read Kucherepa’s paper at https://www.dropbox.com/s/y5tq9frrd18g6at/Pay%20day%20Loan%20Paper%20V7(CONSULTATION)%20(4).pdf?dl=0

Kucherepa also compares interest rates for the two week loans that are legally permitted in each province. For example, if you borrow $300 in Nova Scotia, the payday loan company could legally recover $2,106 from you.  In Quebec that $300 loan could result in a maximum repayment of $405.

If provinces won’t act and municipalities can’t,  perhaps the solution lies with making a change to the Criminal Code of Canada.  About ten years ago an exemption from criminal prosecution was made for Payday Loans so that they could exceed a 60% interest per annum. (Criminal code of Canada 347.1)

Recent example of advertising  used by the "Industry"

That should change. 

My Oxford English Dictionary  says “a crime is something disgraceful or very unfair.”

That ought to make these lending practices criminal.

Thoughts on the South Coast Shuttle

(Following is a sequence of numbered tweets that was posted on twitter.  I've posted it here as the twitter feed may not have worked for everyone/anyone.) 

1. Some thoughts on the South Coast Shuttle.  The shuttle operated this summer in #NorfolkCounty.  Follow our numbered tweets


2. Operating on Erie’s north shore @10woodbb was involved in a small way as a sponsor. $250 got R name on some ads & 10 free tickets
 
3. The Shuttle was actually 2 buses running weekends and holiday Mondays on a longish 55 kilometre route- Port Dover to Long Point

4. The idea was to provide a safe and reliable transportation option to destinations and amenities from Port Dover to Long Point…

Normandale Inn

5. …with stops at many locations along the way: as well as 2 promote many tourism options 4 visitors & residents of Norfolk County


6.  Sorry for that bureaucratise.  It is in the staff report.  You can look it up at www.norfolkcounty.ca/ on the agenda page-Nov. 17


7. Let’s put it another way. The Shuttle was an option to the car. People could go 2 bars &; restaurants, have a drink or 2 &  not worry…


8.  ...about how to get home.  Good idea, eh?


9.  Also you could take your bike on the bus, go for a ride then take the bus home. We enjoyed the Lynn Valley Trail that way.

Lynn Valley Trail

10. OK.  You want to know, did it work?   And what did it cost hard working, abused and under loved taxpayers of #NorfolkCounty 


11. First, did it work?

12. 20 riders per day. Ridership varied dramatically but it was better than the regular Ride Norfolk ridership


13. 1/2 of the riders were from away.  1/2 were from Norfolk. Riders said drivers Bob and Linda were ‘prompt and obliging”


14. Businesses were happy: E.g. Great promotion. More customers. Locals checked out their county.  Believe it will only get better


15.  Now, what did it cost?  Nothing to local taxpayer.  Sponsors, grants, fares and Gas Tax footed the bill.

Burning Kiln Winery

16. For next year we like the idea of scheduled wait times at certain stops so riders can look around.


17. Shorter loops may be an idea to look at too.


18. Thanks to staff @NorfolkCounty particularly Brad Smith for a job well done.



Here is a video on the South Coast Shuttle. https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=n2RKoTrGTMY