Much Needed Rain

With the D word, as in drought being kicked around, and the C word, as in crisis, we finally are getting some badly needed rain today.
Started with a early morning thunder shower and now has pretty much settled into an all day rate for which we are thankful for.
Areas around Rosetown, North Battleford and Swift Current have been especially dry and word was that they needed rain in the next eight to ten days to avoid a serious drought.
Meantime the pond continues to flourish and grow leaving the 20 something fish in the pond with lots of shade cover and lots of plants to munch on.

Groundhogs

The city of Ottawa is filled with many beautiful parks. Lots of ground squirrels, black ones and groundhogs. The ground hogs were especially fascinated by people and it didn't take long to coax one chubby little guy to come out of his hole

Penquins Arise, Come Forth

Did you happen to catch it? During all the celebrations of the Pittsburgh Penquins championship win and the presentation of the Stanley Cup NHL President Gary Bettman just had to slip it in there.
With his usual smug smirk and heres "up your north end Canada" attitude, Bettman pointed out that the Pittsburgh Penquins were once on the verge of bankruptcy and ready to fold or move until Mario Lemieux and his group saved the day.
And as Bettman pointed out, the Penquins and the city of Pittsburgh were now hoisting the Stanley Cup.
An obvious inference to you know who, who owns part of the Phoenix Coyotes and is expected to save the Coyotes from their desert wanderings.
Only problem Gary, there are a couple of differences. Pittsburgh is a hockey market.
Most of the folks in Phoenix don't know the difference between a hockey puck and a snow shovel. The Penquins also have had some great players who marketed the game well on the ice and not in a boardroom. Remember Jaromir Jagr and Mario Lemieux.
As great as he is, or was, its hard to get excited watching Wayne Gretzky stand behind the bench.
As well the Penquins benefited from the success of the Philadelphia Flyers and the cross state rivalry that was created. The fact that the Flyers could win a couple of Cups and bring them to Philadephia also created a want and a desire to do it in
Pittsburgh.
Bettman is hell bent on leaving the Coyotes in Phoenix. So be it. Moses wandered around the desert for forty years so leave the Coyotes there, in the desert, for another 40 years or so. Let the NHL pay their bills.
Speaking of deserts. Whats its been. 42 years since the Maple Leafs brought a Stanley Cup to Toronto. Take heart Leaf fans. Moses didn't get it done overnight either.

Diego meets FatCat

Took in the Warman rodeo and parade today and pulled a float in the parade for the Affinity Credit Union. My loyal friend, Diego, came along and met FatCat, the Credit Union mascot. Awesome day today. Sunny, hot, blue sky. Could this really be summer?

A Good Fit

While I was in Ottawa, Jennifer and I took a tour of the Supreme Court of Canada. One of her friends in her law school at the University of Ottawa conducted the tour for us and kind of took us behind the scenes right into the heart of where some
very important decisions have been made and will continue to be made.
It was very interesting.
All Jennifer needs now is the long black robe but you never know that may yet come someday.

Pampered Pooches

I have been told from time to time, and sometimes more than once, that my little dog Diego may be a bit spoiled. But on a recent trip to Ottawa and Montreal, I found that he is not the only one.

In Ottawa, a young couple were pushing along a baby stroller. No baby in it, but rather a little dog who seemed quite happy to be there.


In Montreal, Chanel, thats her name, rides along in the basket of a mobility vehicle, complete with a little umbrella to protect her from the sun.

You Really Want To Be A Politician?

Today I am in Ottawa and thought it might be interesting to take in Question Period on Parliament Hill. So I called my MP, Maurice Vellacott at his Ottawa office, and he graciously provided me with a pass to sit in the gallery and take in Question Period.
Was interesting arriving on Parliament Hill. Lots going on. Outside the door on one side was a group opposed to abortion trying to garner support for their cause. Directly across from them were the Tamil demonstrators, lots of them, trying to draw attention to their plight. In the middle of it all a group of wide eyed school children taking it all in.
Time to go inside and after being led through some elegant hallways and a thorough security check it was into the gallery.
Inside one of the security guards told me I had picked a good day to attend question period. When I asked why he smiled and said "The Liberals are really going to go after her today". "Her" turned out to be Natural Resources Minister Lisa Raitt who is under heat for leaving supposedly confidential "top secret" documents in the CTV offices.
Well go after her they did. Question after question, many times the same questions rephrased in different ways and each time answered by the under seize Natural Resources Minister. Amid calls of "move on", its over and time to move on, the Liberals continued their attack on Raitt.
Why did she allow a young 26 year old assistant to take the heat and be forced to resign instead of doing the right thing and resigning herself? Comparisons to Maxine Bernier who left confidential documents at his girl friends and was forced to resign.
Why the difference, the Liberals demanded to know and on and on it went.
I was left with two impressions. 1) These guys need more to do. There must be more urgent items that both the government and the opposition could be working on. How about the economy, the deficit, more companies needing financial assistance
including the CBC and 2) why would anyone want to be a politician? Why would anyone want to open themselves to that kind of attack ? Think about it. You make a mistake on your job. Likely your boss would call you in. Maybe you would be terminated, maybe you wouldn't be.
But how about making a mistake and having fifty or sixty people sitting around demanding that you resign, television cameras shoved in your face and numerous questions for days on end.
My impression was that Lisa Raitt handled herself extremely well. She stayed cool despite the heat and answered the questions with little help from anyone including the Prime Minister. Her only mistake, accepting or demanding (whatever the case) the resignation of her assistant Jasmine MacDonnell. Not unlike the Lingenfelter case in Saskatchewan where an overzealous campaign worker took the fall, Minister Raitt just tossed Jasmine MacDonnell under the bus. That seems to be the political way. So why would anyone want to be a politician or an assistant ?

You got to k___ a little ass

Two more National Hockey League executives have climbed on Gary Bettman's "you got to follow the rules" bandwagon in regards to Jim Balsillie's bid to buy the Phoenix Coyotes and move them to Hamilton.
John Davidson, President of the St.Louis Blues, says you have to have structure and Jim Balsillie has to follow the rules.
His comments were repeated (just pull my string) by Ottawa Senators General Manager Brian Murray who says there is a procedure here and Balsillie has to follow the procedure. Sounds like the old boys network just had a meeting doesn't it.
Well free of charge and with no requests to be added to Balsillie's payroll (now thats the Wright deal isn't it?) I have some suggestions for Jim if he really wants to land an NHL franchise, Hamilton or anywhere.
First you have to steal and modify a song made popular by Little Texas. Remember the song, You Got to Kick A Little Ass.
Well in this case Mr. Balsillie, you are going to have to change kick for kiss. You got to Kiss a little ass.
Start with NHL President Gary Bettman. You are going to have to pucker up Jim. Then you have to move over to Bill Daly.
Remember he's the NHL executive with the comment "We don't start fights, we end them" when discussing the Phoenix move.
Then while you're down there you might as well give Colin Campbell a smooch too. You know it can't hurt, he's got a thankless job. It might go a long way.
Don't get up yet Jim. There is more. Don't forget Thomas Golisano. He's the owner of the Buffalo Sabres, a team really threatened by a franchise in Hamilton.
But you're not done yet Jim. And here's the big one. The entire board of directors of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, but maybe we can just get Brian Burke to fill in.
This is important Jim. The biggest obstacle to your franchise in Hamilton is not about you're not following the rules, its not even about the Buffalo Sabres. Its the Toronto Maple Leafs Jim. What if you're new team is better than the Leafs? I mean how hard can that be? How would the center of the universe handle it if this new team made the playoffs or even worse, won
the Stanley Cup? Remember 1967. Most Leaf fans don't either it was so long ago but that is the last time Toronto Maple Leafs won anything.
And Jim, I even have a name for your new team. How about the Hamilton Humiliators because that would best describe what Leaf fans will be feeling when shortly Hamilton hosts a Stanley Cup parade. Toronto hasn't seen one of those in 40 years.
So there you go Jim. Make some modifications to Little Texas. Remember its "You Got to KISS A Little Ass"
And about that spot on your payroll. I was just kidding. You can call me anytime.