Going Coastal » Phillip Blancher

Plenty of blame to go around in Caterpillar closure – OurHometown.ca

Phillip Blancher — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 23:32:00 +0000

Originally published on OurHometown.ca

The announcement by Caterpillar of the closure of their Electro-Motive locomotive plant in London, Ontario last week was a punch in the gut. Not only for the 450 workers who went from lock-out to clean their lockers out, but for the community, the province and the country [...]

My neverending saga with Telus Mobility

Phillip Blancher — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 23:27:52 +0000

I have been a client of Telus Mobility since March of 2007. Since that time I have gone through three phones. First an HTC Starcom 6700 Phone running Windows Mobile, then an Original Motorola Moto Q and finally, my Blackberry Curve 8530. Each time when I’ve had issues with the phone, I have had to [...]

Ontario deficit to wipe out… in 2022

Phillip Blancher — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 17:05:36 +0000

According to the Conference Board of Canada, Ontario’s deficit will finally be zeroed out in 2022, not 2018 as Finance Minister Dwight Duncan claims.

Perhaps McGuinty and co can balance the budget with sales of this book, it should be a best seller:

Going Dark To Protest

Phillip Blancher — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 06:27:03 +0000

Wikipedia has gone dark for 24 hours to protest the PIPA-SOPA-PITA bills in the US Congress. Whatever will we do without Wikipedia? Crack a book open?

In support of this 24 hours blackout, websites from all over the US that don’t make much money are shutting down. Why? No commercial business would actually jeopardize their [...]

Keystone vs China vs Canada

Phillip Blancher — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 20:00:40 +0000

The Americans have put a hold on the KeystoneXL pipeline over environmental concerns which leaves companies in the Alberta Oil Sands with a choice as to where to sell their oil to.

One thing that Prime Minister Harper has indicated was to sell to China, which on the surface sounds like a good idea. The [...]

New Column – OurHometown.ca

Phillip Blancher — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 19:18:17 +0000

Published January 16, 2012 on OurHometown.ca

Much ado about Benson Centre financing

The Benson Centre is a first-class facility, there is no question of that. The hard work of the organizers to raise the over two-million dollar community contribution was outstanding. The residents who helped raise that money are to be [...]

Bob Rae, the great Liberal hope, for Conservatives

Phillip Blancher — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 05:39:06 +0000

If I were Stephen Harper, or a member of the Conservative Party, I would be salivating over the twin prospects that Bob Rae may become permanent leader of the Liberal Party and that non-members may be able to vote for a Liberal Leader. Bob Rae, the socialist who ran Ontario into the ground from 1990 [...]

Cars

Phillip Blancher — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 14:11:48 +0000

I remember, not all that long ago, when car shows were cool. Bob Segar signing ‘Like a Rock’ as the newest Chevy pickup smashed through a wall of rocks and massive fireworks explosions celebrating all that bravado that is the American Car Industry…

Now you go to the Detroit International Car Show and you get [...]

Common Sense

Phillip Blancher — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 06:43:05 +0000

“Common sense is not so common.” – Voltaire

I love common sense. Common sense is such a relative term. What makes sense to me likely is gibberish to someone else. But that doesn’t stop us from all saying what is common sense, from our perspective.

“Common sense is the most widely shared commodity in the [...]

When in Montréal…

Phillip Blancher — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 07:27:47 +0000

Drive like crazy: or in the case I had today, park like crazy. I was trying to leave my parking spot, a guy wanted it, but wouldn’t back up so I had room to get out first. Note to drivers, if you want a parking spot, let the person who’s leaving the spot, leave the [...]