Going Coastal

Canada’s Defense Strategy failures, who is to blame?

Phillip Blancher — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 22:07:33 +0000

I am not a fanboy for our current Conservative government by any means, but by no means should the failures in defense procurement be pinned solely on this government. The Conservatives did get it right with their contract procedure for acquiring new vessels for the Royal Canadian Navy, it was independent, devoid of politics, and [...]

Has bilingualism gone too far? – OurHometown.ca

Phillip Blancher — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 22:07:37 +0000

Originally published on OurHometown.ca

Has bilingualism gone too far in Canada? I believe that it has. Just as many other past inequalities have been over-corrected, the Trudeau-idea of bilingualism has gone from a good idea to blatant discrimination. The comments by Dr. Dany Tombler made last week about bilingual hiring practices at the [...]

My neverending saga with Telus Mobility, Part Deux

Phillip Blancher — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 22:33:29 +0000

Two days later, and I am no longer a Blackberry user. After dealing with Telus Mobility Support agents, and an agent via their Twitter feed, I am through. I have downgraded my service to my wife’s old LG Flip Phone and ditched the malfunctioning Blackberry.

I was not budging on the $150 fee to renew [...]

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 [...]