I am not a fan of Uber. In fact, the more I come to understand the concept of what Uber is, the more I dislike Uber, but let me explain why.
I was at the corner of Bathurst and Sheppard not too long ago. I went there to meet a friend for a coffee. And as I pulled into the coffee shop, there was this tent set up with this little table. And the roof of the tent said Uber. The tent had some four or five young people, and there was this young woman, very bubbly. She was recruiting people for Uber.
But I sat there for a few minutes, and imagine this: they were offering you a job and free gas! So I thought to myself “wow, how does it get better than that? Here they are on street corners offering you a job! And free gas as well!”
Well, it then dawned on me that Uber is no more than an app based recruitment agency! That is really their function. That is at the core of who they are.
You know what the lifespan of an Uber? Three months. And the wage? $11.00 per hour (Source: http://citypaper.net/uberdriver/) . That’s not a job. As a worker, you are better off delivering pizzas or working at Wal-Mart. More job security and better pay.
You know who the real winner in all of this is? It’s not even the consumer. Uber only cares about the bottom line. Cases like a man who got charged over $1000 for a 40 minute ride are not the exception (Source: http://montreal.ctvnews.ca/uber-customers-taking-legal-action-for-expensive-new-year-s-eve-rides-1.2729078). The winner is Uber. It’s the recruitment agency. They want to monopolize the industry so that they can charge whatever they want. When they can they try to gauge employees and consumers. If the competition was gone, your Uber ride would go through the roof.
For the workers, the drivers, they already had a tough time. There’s shift drivers, there’s agents, there’s brokers, there’s license-plate owners and people who own cars, it was never a playing field. The drivers were overworked and not well paid in general. Uber is no better and no different than any temp agency, but they are not even at the bad boss level. A bad boss may want to fire you without reason. Uber claims they have no employees driving cars. That they are just an app. What drivers get from this deal is little money, no future, and a little free gas. They end up paying for the vehicle, the insurance and yes, they pay for the gas too.
The truth behind Line 9 in Downsview
Line 9 is part of the controversial Energy East Pipeline and runs from Sarnia to Montreal.
Entering Downsview from a point near Eglinton and Hwy 427, Line 9 runs north-east to north of Hwy 400 and Finch Ave. Then it runs east through metro.
Line 9 is a quarter inch thick steel pipe over 40 years old, originally built for natural gas. It carries a toxic carcinogenic, corrosive and explosive mix of crude oil, imported diluents and benzene. The newly revised "Line Rules and Regulations Tariff" passed and will also allow transportation of a substance known as "dilbit." Unprocessed, bitumen is a solid and cannot flow in pipelines, bitumen will be mixed with another fossil fuel product called "diluent" -which is imported into Canada. This mix is what makes dilbit and is toxic to the human central nervous system.
In 2015, while government representatives at the critical Paris Climate Conference were all declaring their support for ending fossil fuel usage to save our planet, Canada through Energy East's Line 9 began adding 32 million tons of CO2 per year to the atmosphere.
Enbridge cite studies tells us Line 9 is safe from corrosive elements. Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, found that between 2007 and 2010 pipelines carrying dilbit had a spill-rate three times higher than pipelines carrying conventional crude.
Oil sand products have a higher sulfur and a higher acidic content than conventional crude oil and those properties could explain its increased corrosive nature. According to CTV's W5, there have been at least 35 spills associated with the pipeline. Some of these haven’t even been reported to the communities they affect and parts of Line 9 have been exempted from the hydrostatic testing required in other sections.
What would a spill near Lake Ontario mean for the water supply of millions of people? What are the risks for York University students and Downsview residents living right on top of the pipe?
"Social licence is more important than ever. Government may be able to issue permits. But only communities can grant permission,” said Justin Trudeau on pipelines and energy projects. That's strange…I do not recall anyone asking us for pipeline permission.
As part of Toronto's 2014 submission to the National Energy Board, an excerpt from the Supreme Court of Canada stated that "municipalities are trustees of the environment", and that as the level of government "being closest to the people, should be empowered to exceed, not lower, the national norms". This was part of a precedent-setting 2001 decision in favour of municipalities’ taking control of their cities.
Torontonians are being forced to risk their safety in order to support out of province jobs in a fading planet killing fossil fuel era. As Stanford's professor Mark Z. Jacobson tells us: renewable energy can completely replace fossil fuels and their CO2. Only the politics of entrenched interests is in the way.Canada could commit to becoming a leader in clean energy and be a part of a Green Marshall Plan currently being advocated for the planet.
There is no amount of regulation, legislation or consultation that will 100% guarantee a pipeline disaster just won't happen.
Call your Mayor, your city council member and your MP. Stop Line 9!
Nutritional alternatives for low-income households
Low-income families in the Downsview community have been overwhelmed with the rising costs of fresh fruits and vegetables, and the prices are only expected to get increase.
According to the University of Guelph’s Food Institute, the average Canadian family spent an additional $325, per month, on food in 2015. The prices of food are expected to rise another four per cent, which means families will likely spend an extra $345 on their groceries in 2016.
Since the majority of fresh fruits and vegetables in Canada are imported, the prices are vulnerable to Canada’s devaluing dollar. But there is a solution for low-income households insists Dr. Carol Greenwood, Senior Scientist at Baycrest Health Sciences and Professor of Natural Sciences at the University of Toronto.“People need to feel more comfortable consuming frozen and canned fruits and vegetables because they are actually healthy. They may not have the same taste or texture, but we should move over to these alternatives in the midst of the rising food prices.”
Dr. Greenwood explains that fresh and frozen produce are very close in the amount of nutrients they contain as they both experience loss through processing. Our frozen fruits and vegetables are picked when they are peaked and optimal then frozen and processed right away. Our fresh fruits and vegetables are picked under ripe to be transported and distributed amongst Canadian grocery stores. Both methods experience a loss of nutrients.
When picking out canned food, Dr. Greenwood states, “Do not buy canned fruits with added sugar or canned vegetables with added salt. Make sure you read the labels and go for sugar and sodium free.”She also suggests that we “go back to our roots” when Canadians did not have as many food options in the winter months they consumed storage crops like cabbage, carrots, brussel sprouts and potatoes –which are all reasonably priced year-round.
“We [seniors] need to go back to our youth and use the recipes our moms used to feed us,” she said.Low-income earners, specifically seniors, should not skimp away from consuming all the necessary proteins and nutrients that they need to continue living a healthy life. Dr. Greenwood advocates moving away from expensive meats and poultries and instead getting protein from eggs, beans and lentils –all high-quality items that are inexpensive.“Since this year is the [United Nations] Year of the Pulses [a movement to consume legumes as a primary source of protein] we should really consider incorporating more beans and lentils in our meals instead of meat,” suggested Greenwood.
To keep a budget and still have nutritional meals, Dr. Greenwood emphasizes that families shop the sales, eat foods that are in season, eat locally grown food and reduce our food waste [Canadians throw out more than $1,000 worth of food that goes bad or stale, per year.]
Although the cost of food and living has risen substantially there are many budget-friendly alternatives, like frozen and canned foods, that will keep families and seniors healthy and thriving.
Big Telecoms raising your internet price
Your internet bill is going up soon -if your service is with Bell or Rogers. The two companies announced earlier this month that the price of their services are going up across the board. I got my letter just last week.As consumers, we do not have much of a choice as far as internet services are concerned. In Canada and particularly in Ontario, the variety of services are not great. Bell and Rogers own most of the network infrastructure. Almost all the other service providers “rent” their wires to provide the service into your home. They can offer some savings but depend on the big companies for servicing and repairs. The experience of calling Acanac or another one of the little internet providers with a technical service request when your internet is down is, as one could imagine, not always pleasant. You can almost imagine some Rogers’ tech guy dragging his feet in order to avoid having to fix the issue of the start-up competitors.Bell has now started a legal process to stop even this small measure of competition from happening. The CRTC, the government body that regulates the Big Telecoms, ruled earlier that Bell, Rogers and Telus have to provide their networks at wholesale prices to smaller companies. They are legally required to do so. Bell is arguing that this is causing them to stop investing in their network and that that in turn would lead to job losses.You have not heard much about this on the news yet and maybe you will, because this will hit all of us in the pocket books. But it is hard not to be cynical about the small amount of coverage on the news on this type of issue when Bell and Rogers in particular have so much influence over the media that is available to the public (Bell for example owns CP24, CTV, The Globe and Mail and others). It is even harder to believe that the Big Telecoms are arguing that the subpar network that they are making available to us in Toronto under near monopoly conditions needs to be protected from competition in order for us to see improvements.City Councillor Mike Layton is moving a motion at the City of Toronto to get the City to take the side of consumers on this. You can see his motion here:http://mikelayton.to/competitive-and-affordable-internet-prices-for-torontoThe City of Calgary already did so earlier last month. They had a 30 page report challenging Bell on the grounds that more competition is needed to improve the service.The Big Telecoms have not invested in the network in our area. Canada has a very unreliable system, by world standards, and high internet speed is not found in all neighbourhood, least of all Downsview. We need competition to keep the big companies honest.
Cutting the cord on expensive cable
If you hate your cable and internet bill, keep reading this article.Cable and Internet can set you back $100 to $200 every month. Luckily you have some alternatives, particularly for cable. The problem of course is that there are only two major providers. All the smaller cable and internet providers use Rogers and Bell infrastructure so that there is not a lot of competition. It really comes down to a having two private companies with a shared protected monopoly. This explains the lack of service when you call them for anything. It also explains the movement of people that call themselves “cordcutters”.“Cordcutters” are people that got tired of the high fees and poor customer service and looked for ways around streaming content.There are options out there. For starters, pick-and-pay cable is finally coming to Canada. The Federal agency that oversees the cable industry gave all cable companies until March of 2016 to provide a new service. Starting in two months all cable companies will have to provide the following new items:• “basic” bundles for $25• all channels not included in the basic package are to be offered in small packages or individuallyYou want the sports channels, but not the other 200 odd channels that come with it? You will have more options now with traditional cable companies. However, this is not the solution for everyone. For many, maybe cable TV does not offer all you need so many people have now switched to internet media streamers.You can get a lot of content directly to your TV through a media streamer connected to the internet. Through the box you can search for content, order a TV series, download movies, etc. There are dozens of models, but they come in two basic forms: paid boxes and free boxes.The most popular paid boxes are Roku, Amazon Fire TV and Apple TV. While they provide access to some free programming, they largely depend on consumers ordering content services like Netflix, Amazon, Cineplex, NHL Gamecentre Live, VUDU, etc. Apple TV on the other hand has limited options to free content. The boxes range from about $100.00 and ordering the services you want as opposed to a package with 300 channels you don't watch can save you some money.The free programming based boxes also offer access to some of the same paid content, but they also offer alternatives to watch some of the same shows and live events without having to fork over the money. Some of the most common alternative media streamers are Xbox, PS4, Android TV and Chromecast. These range widely in price. They can go from $50 to $500. Depending on what you need and your budget, you may not need to pay for any services after you buy the hardware but you need a good internet connection.The last method may be the easiest and most economical to set up. It provides you with up to two dozen high definition channel, requires only a one time purchase and installation and requires no monthly payments of any kind, internet or cable. Your trusted old antenna is not your grandparent's antenna any more. By law, all major TV broadcasters now have to provide HD TV over the airwaves. In Downsview a good antenna can get you up to 26 channels from Canada and the US.Have you cut the cord yet?For more information and resources you can go here:http://cordbreaker.cahttp://www.canadiancordcutting.com/
Just how safe are we in our homes?
After listening to a client's experience involving hercondominium management and home monitoring system company, I became acutely aware of a false sense of security that we may develop by simply paying to have our homes and personal belongings protected. For those living in condominiums, it is an accepted and necessary practice for condominium management to hire independent contractors that do on-site repairs and maintenance. It is also expected that, prior to hiring contractors, the management will perform the necessary due diligence required to hire reputable companies as well as advise unit owners of any entry to their home for maintenance/repair purposes. A contractor was hired, by my client's condominium, to complete work in her unit. The contractor gained entry to her unit through her balcony doors while she was out for the afternoon. This method of accessset off her motion sensor triggering an alarm at her monitoring company. As the contractor did not know her code to deactivate the alarm, the monitoring company called the home in an attempt to reach my client. They also called several other names on her contact list but were unable to reach anyone. It was a full 26 minutes from the time the contractor set off the motion sensor until the condominium security guard arrived at my client's home. An exterior patrol was performed and the premises was found secure and intact. As my client's front door was found undisturbed, the monitoring company declared the incident a false alarm. Some wise words were offered from Police Constable Tawton, Duty Operations of the Toronto Police Force, "Realistically, all access points should be checked and ensure they haven't been breached". There are at least two lessons to be learned from this incident.1.Choose your security company wisely by thoroughly researching and asking questions.• Ask about response times to alarm detection and what specific services are offered by the company; i.e.who is called to respond to alarms?• Asks friends for recommendations;• Compare coverage being offered;• Ask about warranties that come with the package;• Question prospective monitoring companies on how they determine if there is in fact a false alarm.Note: The Toronto Police Service Alarm Response Policy outlines general rules for the public on thistopic and describes the circumstances in which the Police will respond to a request from a registered central monitoring system. The Police Department has established a cost recovery program which allows the implementation of a charge of $130.00 for any call responded that has been determined to be a false alarm.Editor: Joy Lewis