Trevor Dailey's Weblog

A big issue I have with the federal Liberals and the Conservatives in Canada is both parties talk about liberty, but, in my opinion, neither side knows what liberty is. 

Here is how the former Prime Minister Of Canada, Stephen Harper, described liberty in a 2009 speech:

Freedom must be tempered by faith…

Faith…teaches us…that how much freedom is exercised matters as much as freedom itself…

Freedom must be used well…

To conservatives, it cannot be just about freedom. It must be about policies that help ensure freedom will lead to good choices…

Stephen Harper
Conservative
Prime Minister Of Canada
2003 - 2015

This is not liberty. Freedom tempered by a religious belief system is not freedom. Faith is a:

strong belief in God or in the doctrines of a religion, based on spiritual apprehension rather than proof.

Oxford dictionary.

Being told one may have freedom only if it agrees with a certain faith is not liberty. The ability to freely choose to speak, think, act, and owe no account of one's words, thoughts, or acts to any one except to one's own conscience is liberty. 

Here is what the Prime Minister Of Canada, Justin Trudeau, said about liberty in a 2015 speech:

First, I want to argue that Canadian Liberty is all about inclusion.

Second, I’ll make the case that Canadian Liberty has got one of the world’s most vexatious problems right: the interplay between individual freedom and collective identity. 

So first, in Canada, when we are at our best, liberty means inclusion.

But for me, Canadian Liberty is not about the freedom of powerful people to exercise that freedom according to the dictates of their conscience. It is about Canadians’ rights not to have their freedom unduly restricted, especially by the state.

Inclusive Freedom. Expansive Freedom. That is the Canadian idea of Liberty. The idea that the liberty of all is enhanced when new freedoms are granted to individuals. Liberty is not majority rule. 

Justin Trudeau
Liberal
Prime Minister Of Canada
2015 - 

Inclusion is not liberty. Collectivism is not liberty. The individual does not have more liberty when belonging to a group than when standing alone. A group of ten people does not have 10 times more liberty than the one person not part of the group. More individual rights does not mean more liberty. More liberty means more individual rights.  

Here is what the former Prime Minister Of Canada, Wilfred Laurier, said about liberty in his speeches:

I am a friend to liberty, but with me liberty does not mean license. A free people is not one without laws or checks; a free people is one among whom all the attributes, all the rights of the members of the State are clearly defined and determined and among whom there is no encroachment of one power upon another. That is the true liberty.

We have no absolute rights amongst us. The rights of each man, in our state of society, ends precisely at the point where they encroach upon the rights of others.

It will be argued, perhaps, that the reasons which I advance are pure legal subtleties. Name them as you please, technical expressions, legal subtleties, it matters little; for my part, I say that these technical reasons, these legal subtleties, are the guarantees of British liberty. Thanks to these technical expressions, these legal subtleties, no person on British soil can be arbitrarily deprived of what belongs to him. There was a time when the procedure was much simpler than it is to-day, when the will alone of one man was sufficient to deprive another of his liberty, his property, his honour and all that makes life dear. But since the days of the Great Charter, never has it been possible on British soil to rob a man of his liberty, his property or his honour except under the safeguard of what has been termed in this debate technical expressions and legal subtleties….

There are only two ways of governing men by despotism or coercion, if you choose to call it by that name, or by freedom.

Sir Wilfred Laurier
Liberal
Prime Minister Of Canada
1896 - 1911

This is liberty. One's liberty only ends when one violates the rights of life, liberty, or property of another person. The government guarantees these individual rights, and the government is to protect those individual rights. That is how I see it.

© Trevor Dailey 

On Friday, I received a letter from 'Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General Sheriff's Office - Jury Administration'. When I was 20 years old, I had to serve as a member of a jury for an attempted murder trial. Being young at the time, it is something I look back on with some embarrassment; however, I was very interested in the Court system. Perhaps if I were ambitious enough, smart enough, it could have been a turning point in my life, and today I could be a lawyer.

After receiving my summons for jury duty in 1992, I was required to attend a courthouse at a certain date and time.

Based on the responses you provided on your Juror Questionnaire, you have received a Summons to attend for jury duty. As a Canadian citizen, it is your civic duty to attend at the court location noted on your Summons at the specified date and time. The location of the courthouse at which you are required to attend is indicated in the shaded box of the Summons.

You will be a member of a "jury panel". The "jury panel" is not a jury. Rather, it is a large group of people from whom one or more juries will be selected. You may or may not be selected from this jury panel to sit as a juror on a civil or criminal trial. As a member of the jury panel, you are only a potential juror.

If you are selected as a juror, then with the guidance of a judge, you will be responsible for determining questions of fact in a civil trial or one or more verdicts in a criminal trial.

Source: General Information about Jury Duty

I was chosen for a jury, and I took an oath. 

Tearing open the envelope, I removed a questionnaire to fill in. 

If you have received a Questionnaire About Qualifications for Jury Service, this is not a Summons for jury service. The questionnaire is to determine whether you qualify for jury service. Once you have completed and returned the questionnaire, if you are chosen for jury service you will be told the time and place to appear. Please read and follow the instruction sheet enclosed with your questionnaire when completing the questions.

When completing your questionnaire, please mark an “x” in the correct box and remember to sign and date the questionnaire when you have finished filling it out.

If you fail to return the questionnaire without reasonable excuse within five (5) days of receiving it, or knowingly give false information on the form, you are committing an offence. If convicted of this offence, you may be fined up to $5,000.00 or imprisoned up to six (6) months, or both.

Source: General Information about Jury Duty

From the enclosed letter: 

Your name was selected at random from a municipal enumeration list to be considered for inclusion in a Jury Roll, which is a list of potential jurors. The Roll lists the names of citizens resident in a jurisdiction who, if summoned, would be eligible during the ensuing year to serve as jurors. Juries play an important role in criminal and civil trials, as well as coroner's inquests. 

The questions were very simple and few. I sealed my completed questionnaire into the provided pre-addressed postage paid envelope, and deposited it in the mail. The 'Instructions For Completing The Questionnaire' I found most interesting. 

Here are a some of the offences one could be convicted of and still be eligible for jury duty:

Engaging in a prize fight

Being nude in a public place

Disturbing a religious worship

Being a vagrant

Being found in a gaming/betting house

Being found in a bawdy house

Transporting a person to a bawdy house

Trading in lumbering equipment without consent of owner

Pretending to practice witchcraft 

Obtaining transportation fraudulently

Making indecent or repeated telephone calls

Stopping a person or vehicle for the purpose of engaging in prostitution

Failing to keep watch while towing person on water skis/surfboard

Buying or receiving a lot, ticket, or other device in an unlawful lottery or game of chance. 

One can actually be convicted of such Criminal Code offences, and such Criminal Code Offences do actually exist. Some are confusing, so here are some of my explanations as attempted clarity:

Mixed Martial Arts, Boxing and Kickboxing are only legal in the province of Ontario when overseen by Ontario’s Athletics Commissioner. In Ontario, women are allowed like men are to go in public without clothing being worn from the waste up (topless) so I do not know what the definition of "nude" currently is. Gaming and betting is only legal in Ontario under the authority of the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation. A vagrant may be arrested for being such. Prostitution has always been legal in Canada, but almost everything related to it is illegal. The lumber industry in Ontario was once an industry that ranked near the top of the provincial economy in trade and in employment. The offence as regards pretending to practice witchcraft is one I have known of for a long time, and I will write a separate entry about that subject in the future. The making indecent or repeated telephone calls offence should have every telemarketer arrested if enforced, but we have the 'National Do Not Call List' it seems instead and that does not work either.

My name will remain on the jury list for one year. If I am selected at random from the list, I will receive a summons, and I will have to attend a courthouse as I did before to determine if I will once again serve on a jury. 

14/10/92
Jury Duty
5 day (s) at 0 kms per day @ $0.29 per km
Minimum milage in town $2.75
#8894
$13.75

I still have my receipt.

© Trevor Dailey

For the past few weeks, I have been listening to and reading opinions on voting in the Canadian Federal election. After hearing as many opinions as I can, I have come to the decision not to vote in this election. This will be the first time that I can recall not voting in a federal election.

One of the most common opinions I have heard about not voting is, if I don't vote I have no right to complain about the outcome. I have not been able to understand this opinion. How does casting a vote give me the right to express my opinions about the government? I thought I already had that right. What if I vote, but my chosen candidate does not win? Do I still have the right to express my opinion? After all, I 'lost' did I not?

Another common opinion I hear is voting for the lesser evil. What this means is choosing the candidate that represents the party one does not want to vote for, but the alternatives are thought to be worse choices. To this I say, voting for the lesser evil is still voting for evil. 

There is the opinion that one should vote because those who fought and died in past wars, World War One and World War Two, did so to protect our right to vote. Not voting is disrespecting the fallen. They did not fight for my right to vote, they fought against tyranny, they fought for individual rights. They fought for the things many people in this country have since voted away by electing socialist and statist governments. 

A fourth opinion I hear is the parties are different if one takes the time to look, and with, in my electoral district (riding), five candidates to choose from one should be able to come to a voting decision. The depends on what one values. I value capitalism and individual freedom. I want a government that stays completely out of the economy, acts only as a referee, and is not a player. I want a government that protects and defends individual rights and freedoms. Which party advocates that? Which party governs that way? None. In this election, like past elections, my choices are limited to candidates that do not advocate freedom, do not advocate capitalism, but they want to impose more government control and lessen freedom. All five of my choices are socialist and communist. The only difference is by how much.   

If voting is a right, then I should have the right to decline to vote. A right must have choice, or it is not a right. True democracy is a lot more than voting, and 'majority rule' is not democracy. It is said those who vote deserve the government they get. Be careful what you vote for, you might get it. 

© Trevor Dailey

Comicons and cosplay are somethings I know very little about. The sub-culture of comic books, games, and that genre is not anything I am really interested in. That being said, I am excited and pleased the Forest City Comicon is once again happening just days from now. I have asked myself why.

One answer immediately came to my mind: capitalism. Some individuals had an idea, and with mostly their own resources, they brought that idea to fruition. The event was an outstanding success, and others benefited from its success, from the vendors at the event to some merchants in the area of the event. Everyone involved won. 

It is not pure capitalism. The 2014 venue, Centennial Hall, and the 2015 venue, London Convention Centre, are City of London owned and receive tax money support. Because of strict city controls, it is impossible for private facilities of this type to be built. 

Unlike a socialist system, the government did not take money from people through taxation to directly fund the event. It was all seed money contributed by consenting individuals. The politicians at City Hall would never have thought of it, it would never have been part of the 'Master Plan', and it never would have happened. This is why capitalism is important. With capitalism, there is always more than just one plan. 

My second answer is: freedom. Both capitalism and freedom overlap, but if I look just at the cosplay aspect of it, there I see the freedom. There are some reasonable restrictions, but there is still freedom. The biggest one is freedom of expression. 

I am not aware of any costume or character that is not permitted. The costumes will range from sexy to scary. Heros and villains. Elaborate and simple type costumes. Hand made or store bought costumes. Individuals expressing themselves through dressing up in any costume desired. 

Forest City Comic 2015 will be the first event of its type I have ever attended. I will be an 'official'  photographer for the event.  It is a new world I do not know, I am a little nervous, but I am really looking forward to being apart of it. It is the capitalism and individual freedom that I love so much.  

© Trevor Dailey

This is a story that I find too familiar. A crime is committed, the victim seeks justice, and the police do nothing about it. The perpetrator laughs and laughs. My guess is either you have been in a similar situation, or you know someone who has because this problem seems to becoming more common. The lowlife who steals property gets away with the crime because the police do nothing about it. 

In this case, there was evidence the stolen property had been located, and yet the police did nothing. It looks to me like the police did not even want be bothered with doing any investigating either. 

On one hand, I understand the police are understaffed and overworked. I understand politicians make so many stupid laws that the police must enforce, laws that go beyond those regarding life and property, that there is no way the police can deal with every law breaker. On the other hand, the police need to do their job.     

This was a issue of property being stolen. A vehicle and a laptop computer. In this case, the value of the vehicle and the laptop may not have been high, but that is not the measure to be used. Of course, that is not how it works. The police just don't appear to be interested in catching the lowlifes who commit these types of crimes. The laughing is getting louder and louder. 

© Trevor Dailey

The Forest City Comicon 2015 is only a handful of days away. The first Forest City Comicon was in 2014, and it smashed anticipated attendance numbers with 2,300 being the biggest event of its kind in the area. That 2,300 attendance mark is a huge number around these parts, and it is set to get even higher this year. 

One important thing about the 2014 Forest City Comicon is it was an idea that the City Of London had nothing to do with. It was completely something that was conceived and put into action by a group of individuals without any tax money involved. They took all the risk, and they rightly are entitled to all the reward because the 2014 Forest City Comic Con was a success. Not a single politician was involved. 

On the list of partners for the 2015 Forest City Comicon, almost all the partners are private businesses. Only two are charities, and apparently only one of those takes tax money. Downtown London, a tentacle of the larger fourth level of government that is a BIA (Business Improvement Area), has its name on the list. I don't know exactly why, but I will be very disappointed if it is because Forest City Comicon is accepting tax money. My hope is it is only because Downtown London wants to put their sticker on something that is a success so they can try to get some undeserved credit. 

One only has to look at the results left by the City Of London's "ecomonic prosperity" or "economic development" tentacles that crawl throughout the city to see they do nothing of the sort. Remember the big figure skating event that came to London with all the tax money a couple of years ago? 

2013 World Figure Skating Championships

London will be centre-stage in March 2013 with the hosting of this high profile event which will be seen by more than 400 million people in 43 countries around the world. The John Labatt Centre will be the venue

2013

Tourism London

Actions

Numerous, involving a number of City Departments, the Provincial and Federal Governments, Skate Canada and the International Skating Union.

Outcomes and measures

Event organizers, participants and visitors enjoy a truly memorable event and a value-added and rewarding experience in London that is reflected in increased spending in London businesses. In this regard, the 2013 Economic Impact Report of Tourism Spending in London will be used to measure the economic success of the event in London.

Source: 2012-2016 Business Plan Summary

Some may point out to me that millions of dollars of tax money was spent on the the 2013 World Figure Skating Championships, but millions were also made in revenue. This is true. The difference between the 2013 World Figure Skating Championships and the 2014 Forest City Comicon is the Forest City Comicon used ZERO tax money! Taking money out of the ecomomy through taxes, and then putting some of that money back into the ecomomy, does not do the ecomomy any good! 

Everyone who benefited from the success of the 2014 Forest City Comicon were not forced to pay for it. For the 2013 World Figure Skating Championships everyone had to pay for it with tax money (Federal, Provincial, Municipal) if they were going to benefit from it or not. Most tax payers did not benefit from the event.

Local businesses near the 2014 Forest City Comicon, like restaurants, did not pay a nickel for the 2014 event, but they still made money from the event. However, the restaurants far from the 2014 Forest City Comicon event did not make any money from the event, and they did not lose any money on the event. 

I think London needs more Forest City Capitalism Comicon instead of World Figure Skating Socialist Championships.

© Trevor Dailey 

As many already know, Canada Post is ending house delivery of mail. Canada Post will be replacing house delivery with community mail boxes. These community mail boxes are nothing new, but now they are being forced on almost everyone. 

There are many arguments for and against ending Canada Post's house delivery, but I think they miss the real point. Canada Post has decided that people are now going to have to walk to the community mail box to collect their mail, and so people must go to the community mail box to collect their mail. If Canada Post wants people to go to the moon to collect their mail, then people will have to go to the moon to collect their mail. The problem is their is no competition in letter mail delivery. Canada Post, by federal law, is the only agency permitted to delivery letter mail. 

14. (1) Subject to section 15, the Corporation [Canada Post] has the sole and exclusive privilege of collecting, transmitting and delivering letters to the addressee thereof within Canada.

Source: Canada Post Corporation Act

Some will argue to get all one's letter mail online. I would counter one should decide to do that, not be forced to do that. I tried online bills, and I didn't like it. I had all kinds of difficulty viewing bills online, remembering passwords and user names, and even forgetting to check for bills. I prefer the old fashioned bill in the mail box. Everyone should have a choice.  

Each time I check my old fashioned mail box in my apartment building, I see letter mail left out in the open. The reason is letter mail gets delivered mistakenly to the wrong mail box, or the addressee has moved. People don't know what to do with this mail, so they leave it out. I guess think the mail carrier will take it. This never happens. 

I once found a letter regarding my driver licence renewal left out in the open. I just happened to see it. That was personal information anyone could have obtained. Like my apartment building mail, letter mail at the community mail box will be mistakenly put in the wrong addressee mail box, or the addressee has moved. I will bet some people will leave this mail on top of the community mailbox for anyone to find. 

The end of house mail delivery by Canada Post is not about convenience, getting more exercise, being more social with your neighbours, or any other such nonsense. It is about not having an alternative. It is about the Canada Post monopoly that leaves one with no other choice but to go to the community mail box to collect one's mail instead of being able to choose house delivery from another company.  

© Trevor Dailey

The parking arrangement I have with my landlord for the apartment building I live in is like this: I make a monthly payment to my landlord for the use of a parking space on my landlord's property. My landlord gives me a monthly parking pass to display on the dashboard of my vehicle. This is a similar agreement many tenants have with their landlords. However, my situation might be a little different in a couple of ways.

My parking was paid for on the first day of the month, that was Thursday, when it was due. As usual, I had to wait for a period of days before my landlord put my parking pass into my mailbox so I could then place my parking pass on the dashboard of my vehicle. On Monday, I forgot to check my mailbox. On Tuesday, my landlord put two slips of paper under my windshield wiper.

Before I read what was on the two pieces of paper under my wiper, I knew what it is. My parking pass was not valid. My new parking pass was in my mailbox, not on my vehicle's dashboard. I replaced the old parking pass with the valid one, and I read the following on the two pieces of paper left on my vehicle:

IMPORTANT NOTICE

Please display your parking pass. Parking passes are to be displayed at all times. Next time a pass is not displayed you are subject to receiving a ticket.

Nothing gets my attention from reading this notice because I am fully aware my landlord does not have the authority to issue tickets. The second piece of paper is different.

WARNING

This vehicle is parked illegally on private property.

[Big "No Parking" symbol]

In future, tickets will be issued in accordance with Section 100 of the Municipal Act and the City of London Traffic and Parking by-law.

This has my attention. That isn't a good thing sometimes because I have a lawyer's mind, and, being unemployed, I have far too much idle time on my hands.

Section 100 is one of those sections in the Municipal Act that, in my opinion, gives municipalities way too much power, but that is another story. 

100. Without limiting sections 9, 10 and 11, a local municipality may, in respect of land not owned or occupied by the municipality that is used as a parking lot, regulate or prohibit the parking or leaving of motor vehicles on that land without the consent of the owner of the land or regulate or prohibit traffic on that land if a sign is erected at each entrance to the land clearly indicating the regulation or prohibition.  2006, c. 32, Sched. A, s. 41.

That last part about the signs applies to my landlord who has these signs posted.

AUTHORIZED PARKING ONLY

[PROPERTY OWNER] PARKING PASS ONLY

Unauthorized vehicles may be ticketed towed at owner's expense. 

City of London Traffic and Parking By-law

Since I do not want a parking ticket, I would just fight it anyway, I contacted the City of London Parking Enforcement via email.  I explained my concern that I could get a ticket before my landlord gives me my parking pass, and I sent scans of the notice and warning. The person at the parking enforcement office was very helpful, and contacted my landlord:

It seems it was a miscommunication with management. I talked to [my landlord] and they [sic] told me you wouldn't have received an actual ticket. 

This was not exactly the conclusion I had wanted, but it is good enough. If one is going to threaten me with Section 100 of the Municipal Act and the City of London Traffic and Parking By-law one had better be ready to back up that threat because I do challenge anything I think is not just; and I have way too much free time. 

© Trevor Dailey 

The City of London, Ontario, has a "business plan". This so-called "business plan" is placed under the "City of London Strategic Plan". Like most of the "plans" that are created at London City Hall this "business plan" and this "strategic plan" are not what they appear to be. Let us look at the "business plan" and its five "business" objectives:

A strong economy
A vibrant and diverse community
A green and growing city
A sustainable infrastructure
A caring community

A real business plan is something the City of London clearly does not have. A strong economy is needed. This is created by capitalism. Some of the fundamental ideas that make up a capitalist system include: private property, profit motive, competition, freedom of contract, and free enterprise. Some of these fundamental ideas are protected by government in a capitalistic system, not restricted or denied by government. The capitalistic system is the freedom to produce, the freedom to buy and sell, the freedom to save and invest, and the freedom to succeed or to fail. This applies to individuals and corporations. 

The "business plan" the City of London should have should be hundreds of plans created by many individuals, all free to pursue their own goals under a capitalistic system. It should not be the single statist, socialist, communist, fascist, altruistic  plan the City of London currently has that restricts economic freedom, and continues to lead the city into economic ruin.  

© Trevor Dailey