Enough embarrassment to go around

Kevin Krueger is an excellent MLA who has done a whole lot of good for this part of the world, but sometimes he should put a sock in it. Kevin, who has been invisible in his own riding for the past while, emerged yesterday with a letter to the editor blasting federal NDP candidate Michael Crawford over the so-called Logogate controversy.

Now, it happens that Crawford belongs to a party that doesn’t have a whole lot of relevance in the big Canadian picture of things. The cow would have to jump over the moon before the NDP came close to forming government. And, yes, Crawford has lost two federal elections and is heading for a third.

But, gee, give it a rest. The NDP are not some evil thing out to destroy the universe. It happens to be a party with questionable policies that haven’t gained a lot of traction in this country. To listen to Kevin, though, the NDP is an abomination, and Michael Crawford — well, to use Kevin”s words, is “a perennially failed candidate.”

Crawford should, says our MLA, be “ashamed” of himself for criticizing Conservative MP Cathy McLeod for having her picture taken with a fake cheque.

Now, it’s true the photo opportunity of which Krueger speaks wasn’t a big deal. The photo shows McLeod, Krueger, MLA Shirley Bond and other folks presenting the “novelty” cheque in Valemount. The names of Krueger, Bond and McLeod were all on it.

For MPs and MLAs to put their own names on these cheques is tacky, to say the least. Kevin is probably sensitive about this because of his own participation. And a legitimate question would be why, if McLeod “doesn’t do cheques” as she has proclaimed, she did this one. The fact that it was Bond, and not McLeod, who did up the cheque with McLeod’s name on it really isn’t here nor there. If you don’t do cheques, you don’t do them.

McLeod deserves some credit for taking some sort of stand on these things; it’s unfortunate more Tory MPs don’t do the same. However, consistency is a good thing. She was under no obligation to participate just because Bond pulled out the big fake cheque for pictures. It kind of dilutes your argument when you say you won’t do something but then just go with the flow.

Crawford, of course, engaged in his own hyperbole, blasting McLeod fpr “crass” partisan politics and demanding she apologize. Like that would happen.

Everybody deserves to be a little embarrassed over this, and Kevin added to his own with his strident reaction.

 

A vote for me is a vote for progress

If Barack Obama did it? Peter Milobar did it, so did Terry Lake. Stephen Harper is a master at it. If they can do it, can I?

Well, yes we can.

When he was running for president, Obama made major use of the Internet to support his candidacy and solicit support. Others have done likewise. Today, I do the same.

I am running for Local Columnist in the annual Kamloops Daily News Readers’ Choice election, and I ask for your support. I call it the Mel For Columnist campaign.

I have a three-point platform:

I will not write about my kids, well hardly ever.

I will not bore you, except when I have to try to explain the federal government’s formula for handing out stimulus infrastructure spending.

I will not bring up this subject again, until next year.

Voting is easy. Go online at http://www.kamloopsnews.ca and click on Readers Choice. Read the rules, including the one that says you can vote for me as many times as you like. Also important is that you must fill in 50 per cent of the categories to be eligible. Also important is that you only have until Thursday of this week.

Now, scroll down to category #41 Local Columnist. Enter my name. Now do at least half the others — it doesn’t matter much what you put in those ones, at least not to me.

Submit. That’s how easy it is. Alternatively, you can use the old paper ballot, such as the one published today on page B10. There are some neat prizes, too.

And I thank you kindly for your support.

Mel.

Can’t cyclists and motorists just all get along?

Kamloops Daily News, Saturday, Oct. 24, 2009

I love cyclists. Honest.

Some of my best friends are cyclists. I’ve never had the urge to run over any of them with my truck.

My wife Syd is a cyclist. I love her dearly, and I’ve never had the urge to run her over, either.

And I definitely do not now, nor have I ever, wished to run over Mr. Idiot.

This is why some of the reaction to my recent column about driving in Kamloops — including some blog comments and a couple of letters to the editor — has been instructive. One might think, if you didn’t know me, that I’m a highway terrorist, using my old pickup like an IED to strike fear into any cyclist I come across, to deprive their families of their breadwinners.

No. I didn’t just arrive from another planet. I understand and admire the fact cyclists are out there keeping fit and helping the environment. I view them with respect, and I treat them that way. Most cyclists understand common courtesy, have a general knowledge of the rules of the road, and harbour a healthy sense of self-preservation.

Others, though, should find some other form of exercise, something where they don’t come in contact with other human beings.

This will be a shock to a few of those who’ve let me know what they think of me. But, is it just possible that sometimes a cyclist is at fault?

I’m still doing some research based on one letter to the editor that suggested I need a lesson in the Motor Vehicles Act. From what that person indicated, I’m pretty sure there’s a section in there that says something like this:

“a) the operator of a bicycle may, at his or her convenience or whim, ride in the wrong lane, and all oncoming motor vehicle traffic shall drive off the road if necessary to avoid collision.

“b) should an accident occur, all fault will belong to the driver of said motor vehicle.”

Don’t get me wrong; I can understand the concerns of the cyclists. According to Freakonomics, a study in Toronto showed that out of 2,752 crashes between cars and bikes, 90 per cent were caused by motorists doing dumb stuff like running stop signs, turning into the cyclist’s path, or opening a car door.

On the other hand, the 10 per cent caused by cyclists likely had to do with them not paying attention, assuming a right of entitlement to the roadway, or simply ignoring the rules of the road.

This at least partially explains the pandemic road rage that exists between cyclists and motorists. A good place to start in trying to do something about it would be for everyone to acknowledge there are stupid people who do stupid things on the roads, no matter what their mode of transportation (and this includes pedestrians, by the way).

Clearly, something has to be done about this war. I did a little Googling, and came across some of the things cyclists and motorists do to each other. I’ll list five apiece, to keep it even Steven.

What cyclists do to bug motorists:

1. “Cycling in the middle of the road so they can’t get past us.

2. “Leaning on their car while they are waiting at a traffic light.

3. “Cycling two (or three, or four) abreast.

4. “Skipping a red light — while the poor motorist is sitting there waiting for the light, just bomb straight by him.

5. “Cycling slowly when there is no room for them to overtake you. They must love it.”

 

And motorists:

 

1. “The Rude Right — Turning right at an intersection in front of a cyclist traveling the same direction.

2. “The Close Shave — Cutting dangerously close to a cyclist. Some cars deliberately try to intimidate cyclists with the ‘close shave.’

3. “The Loony Left — Turning left at an intersection in front of a cyclist traveling the opposite direction.

4. “The Bike Blockade — Parking in the bike lane.

5. “The Hail Mary — Attempting to pass a cyclist when the visibility of the road ahead is poor.”

 

We’re all guilty of carelessness once in awhile, but let’s not be guilty of purposeful and dangerous acts of hostility.

Just as I ask not to be judged by the stupidity of other drivers, I don’t judge all cyclists by the actions of one so-and-so. In the spirit of reciprocity, I’m willing to give Mr. Idiot the benefit of the doubt — I would like to believe he was just stressed because his Spandex was giving him a wedgy.

Maybe, on another day, he would have acted un-idiot like. So, I will do my best to stop calling him names in my sleep.

I hereby change his name to Mr. Having A Bad Day. Peace out.

mrothenburger@kamloopsnews.ca

http://www.armchairmayor.wordpress.com

Once again, no Kevin Krueger

I don’t get around much anymore, so this morning’s official opening of the Kamloops Airport terminal renos was the first time I’d been out there in quite awhile. Very nicely done, I must say. Finally, the building gets not only much-needed space but some attractive decor.

The project was a long time coming — it was noted at the ceremony that it spanned three mayors, a couple of MLAs and at least two MPs.

Earlier this week I mentioned that Kevin Krueger was not at last Saturday’s Business Excellence Awards. Neither was he at the Keystone Awards, and he’s been a no-show for quite a few other things. But, I said, surely he would be there for the airport do.

But, no Kevin. He was busy in Vancouver with another big announcement down there. Well and good, but I don’t recall another cabinet minister who has been so invisible in his own riding. And it’s not as though Kevin is new to cabinet — in his previous posts he still found time to make it back to town once in awhile.

Lunch with the new mayor of Changping

Enjoyed a very pleasant luncheon Tuesday with the Changping delegation in town for the day. Though I hadn’t met most of the delegation previously it was, in a sense, a chance to renew acquaintances with our “friendly city.” As you may know, Changping is a district of Beijing, and we signed an agreement with them in 2005 to foster business relationships.

I was there on behalf of the chamber of commerce this time, but the new Changping mayor, Guan Chenghua, was well aware of the history of the agreement between Kamloops and Changping. During lunch I had an opportunity to talk with him at some length, and he’s an articulate, intelligent, charming man.

Though progress in developing business opportunities via the city-to-city agreement has slowed in the past couple of years, there’s a determination to get things moving toward facilitating connections between Kamloops and Changping business people.

There’s a small cultural component to the relationship, but primarily it’s about business, and there are plenty of opportunities in that respect. For example, while Kamloops has a very respectable high-tech sector, Changping is light years ahead of us, with an amazing science park, incubator programs and much else. We can learn much from them.

I gained the impression that Mayor Guan wants to diversify the Changping economy, including manufacturing, and that’s one of our real strengths. (We have some 120 local fabricating and manufacturing companies.)

Guan has only headed the Changping government for three years, and a meeting with our own new mayor Peter Milobar was worthwhile. In the long term, of course, we have to move away from delegations to direct business-to-business relationships.

Kudos, by the way, to Anita Grover of Venture Kamloops, who did most of the work on arrangements for the visit.

Once again Kevin Krueger AWOL

The 24th annual Business Excellence Awards went off without a hitch at the TRU Grand Hall on Saturday night and it’s safe to say a good time was had by all. More than 300 people enjoyed a great dinner, the self-effacing emcee style of Leo Bagio, and the parade to the stage for the trophies.

Some of the key awards: Business of the Year to Absorbent Products (Peter Aylen), Business Person of the Year to Doug Wittal, and the President’s Award to Brant Hasanen.

In past year’s, this event has required considerable stamina to make it through. But the chamber of commerce has been working on this the past couple of years, and Saturday night it was wrapped up at 9:30. That’s an hour and a half less than some other years.

All in all, very well done. Interesting to note, though, that once again MLA Kevin Krueger was AWOL. Kevin has been invisible at a number of major public events since last spring’s provincial election, letting Terry Lake fill in for him. As I noted in an earlier post, this may be by design in order to let newcomer Lake get some attention.

I will be shocked, though, if Kevin isn’t in attendance at this Friday’s official opening of the new airport digs.

A lot of hot air about railway ties

Armchair Mayor column, Kamloops Daily News, Saturday, Oct. 17, 2009

Just supposing we had too many old railway ties. Too much garbage. Too much waste from slaughterhouses.

And then, somebody came along and said, “I have a technology that can get rid of all that stuff. It’s called gasification.”

“But,” you say, “what about all those dioxins, and fine particles and all those other things with the scary-sounding names?”

“Well, consider this,” the guy says. “The New Year fireworks display in London, England, produces more dioxins than all the incinerators and waste-to-energy plants produce in one year.”

“Really?” you say. “So that must be one heckuva fireworks.”

“Sure, but did you also know that cooking food on a barbeque for two hours results in a higher dioxin exposure than being near an incinerator for several years?”

“I definitely did not know that,” you say. “What else?”

“One hour of emissions from a gasifier stack is equivalent to the emissions of 20 vehicles travelling two miles at a steady speed. Cooking on a gas stove or frying food such as bacon results in higher exposure than does a gasifier performing badly.”

“What a crock!” you might say.

But what if I told you all the stuff I’ve just quoted from an imaginary gasifier proponent actually are paraphrased from a presentation to Metro Vancouver by Prof. Jim Bridges, the eminent expert on toxicology and environmental health, whom I also quoted in this space a couple of weeks ago.

Bridges is not a cheerleader for waste incinerators, but he does have some pretty interesting things to say. How much of it applies to the Aboriginal Cogeneration plans for a gasification plant to get rid of old railway ties I don’t know, because I’m not qualified to say.

I doubt there are many true experts hereabouts, actually. And yet, everybody talks like one. Why look at practical solutions to our growing waste problem when we can promote well-intentioned but somewhat romantic notions of total recycling?

Naturally, we need to challenge the claims on both sides of the issue so if you’re skeptical of the fireworks or barbeque statements, question them.

Bridges, it turns out, testified a dozen years ago that there wasn’t enough evidence from animal tests to link smoking to lung cancer. That revelation isn’t likely to bolster his credibility, but he now says scientists have a better understanding of the link in humans. That’s not to say Bridges is any less credible than incineration opponent Paul Connett, who has crusaded against fluoride.

As to the ACC proposal, I wrote down a few questions and sent them off to the company, based on concerns some people have raised, and got back the following answers from vice president Mike Agostinelli:

1. Opponents do not believe there will be no air emissions. Can you address this?

“There will be no air emissions from the gasifier. The syngas produced by the gasifier is cleaned and used in two internal combustion engines. Each of the two engines will have their exhaust discharged through a 12 m high stack (28 cm diameter). Occasionally, cleaned syngas is routed to an enclosed burner (start-up, shut down phase). Emissions of criteria air contaminants were given in the technical report at the time of application, in grams per second. Assuming the enclosed burner runs five per cent of the time, the annual emissions, in tonnes per year are:  sulphur dioxide = 0.4; carbon monoxide = 8.6; oxides of nitrogen = 14.4; volatile organic carbon = 1.6; respirable particulate matter = 0.2.  

“Perhaps the reason why the opponents don’t believe the numbers is because they are so small and the project itself is truly a small power project.”

2. How much liquid and solid waste will be produced, and what will it contain?

“The water discharged from each system (1,700 tons/year per unit) will meet the City of Kamloops sewer-use bylaw. Approximately 600 tons/year of potash (solids discharge per unit) will likely be sold. ACC has a contingency plan that will include sending the potash to a licensed landfill, if a customer is not found. ACC’s goal is to reuse as much of (the) rail ties as possible either as a fuel for our engine or as a environmentally safe bi-product.”

3. They are concerned about possibility of fire in stockpiled ties. What safety measures will you take to avoid this?

“The ACC site does not typically store ties; we stage our tie processing so that as ties are received, they are inspected, any steel is removed from the ties, then the ties are chipped (through a chipper with dust suppression) and directly loaded into a truck. No chipped ties are stored at the site. The ACC site is equipped with a fire protection and suppression system. The Kamloops fire department has visited our site and has not reported any violations.”

I’m sure there are many other questions but it just seems to me we should seek answers rather than jumping to the conclusion something won’t work.

Let’s set aside dreams of the ideal wasteless society, and think practical. If there’s a better way of doing things than what we’re doing with our waste right now, I’m of a mind we should at least consider it and analyse it.

If someone out there can challenge Prof. Bridges and engineer Agostinelli with something other than a lot of stuff about the collapse of democracy and the demise of civilization, please do. But, at least, let’s think about it.

Why I feel lousy today

People have been asking me all day how the Thanksgiving weekend went. That’s what people do when they talk after a long weekend.

I say, “We had a very nice Thanksgiving dinner.” In truth, I feel lousy.

Last night, after I fed our two old horses, I turned to call Cheyenne, our 14-year-old Golden Retriever, as I always do when it’s time to go back inside. There was no answer, because Cheyenne died at 12:46 p.m. yesterday. Out of habit, I had expected her to come bounding to me.

A lot has been written about the relationship between people and dogs, about how those of different species can forge such close bonds with one another. It’s also often said that our pets are like a part of our families. In fact, they are a part of our families, and when we lose them it leaves a tremendous hole in our lives.

We’re left only with pictures and pleasant memories. I remember many things about Cheyenne — a close encounter with a bear; walks on the beach; the time she tried to play with two coyotes that had very different intentions; birthday parties for her and her siblings; lazy summer afternoons at the farm just enjoying each others’ company.

Most of all, though, I remember her sweet nature, her eagerness, her readiness to forgive, her intelligence, her patience, and her willingness to fall in with whatever the rest of us were doing. “What’s up? I’m in!” she always seemed to say with her big doggy smile.

I also remember her amazing courage and wonderful resilience in the face of the illness that eventually would claim her. We’re thankful for one last wonderful summer with her, and for her last day, which she enjoyed being as happy and loving as ever.

We’ll miss her dearly.

Leaning on the horn in the Idiot-Driver Capital

Armchair Mayor column, Saturday, Oct. 10, 2009

Some days I wonder if I will survive long enough to enjoy my pension.

Thursday morning, this week, Seymour Street:

On my way to work in the outside lane. Suddenly, a City transit bus pulls out directly in front of me. As I veer left I hit the horn. What does he do? He blares his horn back at me. I give him one back.

COMMENT: Bus driver, I know you think you own the streets and that defensive, courteous driving is for other people, but here’s a news flash. The horn is for warning people about danger, not for taking out your annoyance at other drivers. My first beep was to warn you that you were about to plow into me. The second one was to tell you what I think of you and your rudeness.

Evening, on my way home, tooling along Westsyde Road:

I see a group of cyclists coming towards me. Their southbound lane has been ground up for repaving and they’re using the northbound lane because it’s still paved.

As oncoming traffic approaches, they swerve onto the gravel until it passes by, then dodge back into the wrong lane. All except for one cyclist with a death wish.

This one keeps coming at me, refusing to move into his own traffic lane. I give him a warning honk. He doesn’t budge. I hug the shoulder, and he misses me by an inch. In my rearview mirror, I see that he is giving me the finger.

COMMENT: Westsyde Road is very popular with cyclists, especially the racing clubs, but it is designed for motorized vehicles only. Now that reconstruction is almost finished, the cyclists are back in force. The City chose not to include a bike lane in the reconstruction (too expensive, I’m told), and some day a cyclist will be killed on that road. I only hope it won’t be me who does it. I drive a full-size pickup truck. I would barely feel the bump if that dumb so-and-so had hit me square on. Cyclists, you ride it at your peril, and the stupidest thing you can do is challenge drivers to get out of your way. To that rider, you know who you are. What you don’t know is that I also know who you are (I have my sources). Your middle name is Mr. Idiot. I’m told it’s no surprise you would do such a stupid thing.

Tuesday morning, Fortune Drive:

I see a young fellow in a canary yellow pickup come up behind me. He swerves into the righthand lane, momentarily tailgates a vehicle there, then swerves in front of me. As we approach the Tranquille Road overpass, he swings back to the righthand lane in front of another car just in time to avoid ramming the abutment. He guns it across the bridge, changing lanes another two or three times. When we arrive at the traffic light at Seymour and First, I am right behind him.

COMMENT: Without changing my speed, and without dodging in and out of traffic, I got downtown as fast as you did, you young ignoramus with the hot truck. You, who cut off several drivers in your haste and came close to clipping a bumper at least a couple of times. When you did get to Seymour Street, you got stuck in traffic and had to crawl through downtown along with everybody else, so what did it get you? Nothing, zippo, nadda, zilch.

Not long ago, on Columbia Street:

Waiting for the light to turn at Summit Drive. It changes to green and I pull into the intersection. In my peripheral vision I see a car hurtling towards me on a collision course. I slam on the brakes and hit the horn. At the last possible second, the driver veers to the left and makes it past me, narrowly missing another car as she does so, then continues through the red light and tears off down Summit.

COMMENT: You stupid, stupid, person. It’s entirely possible, just because you thought you could run that red light and save about two seconds, that you would have killed me. I am so sick of red-light runners. Next day, I assigned a reporter to go around to some local intersections and watch what happens. He reported in a front-page story that many people run red lights, yet authorities still don’t seem to think it’s a serious problem. If you had killed me that day, I hope my epitaph would have been, “Killed by the stupidest person on Earth.”

I am not an infallible driver. I make mistakes, but I don’t intentionally put others at risk. I’m definitely not invincible, either. I worry that, some day, here in the Idiot-Driver Capital of Canada, my luck will run out.

I don’t know why Kamloops has become this way. It is a beautiful city, a wonderful place to live. It is a community minded city, and it’s safe in so many ways. Why, when people get into a vehicle, or on a bicycle for that matter, do they suddenly lose their brains?

Safe driving, and keep your hand near the horn.

You really can’t fight City, er Regional, Hall

Some observations from a Wednesday evening at the Whispering Pines community hall:

This meeting wasn’t about garbage-collection options for Black Pines. It was about choosing between two evils.

When TNRD area director John Sternig told me before the meeting started that there would be an “other” category of options, I must have misheard him.

When the TNRD calls a public information meeting, starting it at 6 p.m. is guaranteed to keep a lot of people away who can’t make it home from town on time.

But then, that’s something the officials found out, since they arrived late and didn’t get the meeting started until 6:20 p.m.

Sternig doesn’t chair a bad meeting, but it would be better if he would stand up and keep track of who wishes to speak.

Sukh Gill, the RD finance director, should remember he is a member of staff, not an elected board director, and not the meeting chair either.

Don May, the RD’s enviro guy, is capable of being the coolest guy in a room, handling a barrage of questions and remarks politely at all times.

A meeting about garbage is a great place to catch up with neighbours on what’s going on in the neighbourhood.

You really can’t fight City Hall.