Man at the Crossroads – Again

'Controllers of the Universe'

The world around us doesn't happen by accident. Our corner of the ‘Universe’ has been ‘shaped’ for a very long time, by individuals (and groups) that are not entirely behind the scenes. Most of this happens in the public sphere; we just have to pay more attention.

We grumble and complain, and wish the world was different (or the way it once was); but this is entirely up to us. While those Controllers of the Universe — those who play the long game — ‘envision,’ and then construct our world, we are generally not paying attention. We're going to work, raking leaves, playing volleyball, watching Netflix. . . All laudable things, I'm sure, and certainly a lot more fun than attending Council meetings. So we continue to pay outrageous taxes — and will pay more — because we’d rather not pay attention.

It’s a choice we’re all free to make of course; an annual increase in taxes might be considered a fair price to pay for not disrupting our lives (for now at least). Our world is planned years in advance though, and if we want our communities in 2030 (for instance) to not be completely unrecognizable — a complete nightmare even — we need to be paying attention now.

‘Man at the Crossroads’ (‘Man - Controller of the Universe’ ) was a fresco by Mexican painter Diego Rivera. Originally slated to be installed in the lobby of the RCA Building at Rockefeller Center in New York City (great story). It always occurred to me though, whenever I’ve looked at this piece at the Bellas Artes in Mexico City, that the guy behind the controls here looks rather distressed. I wondered who paid his salary, and what the consequences might be should be mess up? He might have the levers in his hands, but he certainly doesn’t look ‘in control’ of anything: creativecommons.org

The long view of our planners could not be exemplified in any better way, I suggest, than in the construction of the massive bridge that has spanned Duffins Creek for at least two decades now, and that Taunton Road extension, ‘superhighway to nowhere,’ that was pretty much empty until the town of Seaton sprung up — mushroon like — overnight.

I've hiked the East Duffins Creek trail, over the years, more times than I can count (and made a suggestion based on this in my last post). I always wondered how strange this edifice was, as I walked beneath the giant sweep of this multi-million dollar, taxpayer financed, superhighway infrastructure (If anyone has the actual numbers on this, please feel free to share them here).

But returning to the here and now, with the United Nations Agenda 2030 now on the horizon. The next few years (taking us right there) are being plotted as I write this; to be set out in a de facto ‘framework agreement’ (strategic plan — official plan) that will allow for anything that must be done, to be done . . . to get us to the point those real ‘Controllers of the Universe’ have planned for us.

We can go on and on about this (and we should) for now though, let me return to the first of this month, and the Planning and Economic Committee meeting at Durham Region where a few of us stood up to question the current trajectory, and offer an alternative path.

I'll include more details later, but there were six deputations that day by 5 people (none of which were ‘heard’ according to the minutes). Terry Rekar (Action 4 Canada), James Bountrogiannis (who presented on two subjects), Patricia Conlin (PPC), Jeanette Miller and myself.

I invite you to watch of course, at: pub-durhamregion.escribemeetings.com

38.16 mins “Six delegations today. . . we don't applaud or jeer anyone speaking. . . be respectful of them making their comments. . .” 38.40 mins Terry 44.00 mins James 54.54 mins Patricia 1.00.40 mins David 1.06.32 Jeanette

There is important information in all of the presentations you will see here, and so I hope you’ll take a few minutes to watch. I’ll share my own presentation below, along with some of the numbers I quoted, and charts from Statistics Canada (at the bottom of this page). Following the meeting, I handed a copy of the Horizon's Canada document (that I've mentioned a number of times now) to Vice-Chair, David Pickles, the Councillor from Pickering who chaired this meeting. He told me the document would be shared, but follow-up is required of course; each Councillor and Mayor in this region (and every Region) should be made aware of this material. With such dire predictions for the near future from this federal government think-tank, Municipalities everywhere must be taking these potential risks into account.

As the Regional government plans a ‘bold’ expansion of business-as-usual based on its own rosy numbers, the provincial government too is attempting to push accelerated growth. The federal government is worse than useless (although, with the Speaker of the House freezing all legislation currently, at least it can't do any more damage that it already has at least — for the moment). Meanwhile, federal government ‘advisors’ are suggesting the end of the world (as we know it) just around the corner, in their 2024 (aforementioned) ‘Disruptions on the Horizon’ policy document.

In this ‘New Fiscal Age’ (that I've mentioned many times before) you must realize it doesn't matter if government policy is ill-conceived or contradictory. It doesn’t matter if their schemes are completely hair-brained. They will be taxing you all the same, and borrowing more heavily on your backs. Those public-private partnerships will carry on extracting whatever wealth the community has built over the years. Needless to say, Councillors and staff receive their pay irrespective of performance, and then collect their OMERS pensions (here in Ontario). I'm not sure what real thought there is for the world they're creating (for their children and grandchildren too); maybe they all have homes in Costa Rica and plan to exit asap — Perhaps they have all read ‘Disruptions on the Horizon’ ?

Most of you here know The Great Taking, by David Webb; if we’re not careful, this will be another kind of Great Taking. The age of ‘monetarism’ is behind us now and the ‘New Fiscal Age’ has arrived. I will explain this in greater depth in a future piece, basically though, governments are being forced to accelerate their ‘taxing and spending’ (fiscal policy) to keep economies going. I talked about fiscal and monetary policy in my last piece (with respect to federal politicians) but the principle is essentially the same at all levels, those governments that are not ‘monetarily sovereign’ especially (that can’t print their own money that is). They will continue to ‘tax’ unsuspecting constituents, and ‘spend’ under the auspices stimulating the economy (and building for the future), while the ‘corporate stakeholders’ continue to profit.

It doesn't matter if we don't need or want much of the infrastructure they plan to build; it doesn't matter if DEI, ESG, SDG destroys businesses; it doesn't matter if the Net Zero carbon narrative is complete nonsense too. The ‘partners’ of the Controllers of our little Universe will continue to prosper by extracting the wealth we have worked hard to accumulate. Our communities will suffer; become unrecognizable and unliveable (as we're already seeing elsewhere in the world). Our current elected ‘representatives’ could well be presiding over the destruction of the places we call home, and this is not hyperbole. The following, I skipped over in my presentation, as time was running out:

‘Regardless of whether or not the promised jobs materialize — and accelerated ‘settlement’ doesn't turn Durham into a version of Keir Starmer's nightmarish ‘modern’ England — taxpayers are on the hook.’

I’ve mentioned the following before (to my regular mailing list at least), since I attended a random meeting at the Region on June 13th last year. Pickering Mayor, Kevin Ashe, introduces Nancy Taylor (20:30 mins in). The following is a partial transcript (key points highlighted):

“[T]he Region will be engaging in a more significant amount of borrowing on our behalf and on behalf of the local Municipalities in the coming years, and that means we need to restructure how we borrow. . . we need to move to what's called bullet debentures and sinking funds. . . So this debenture committee is set up to help us essentially advance and modernize how we're dealing with our debt issuance. . .”

Let’s hope those speedy ‘bullet debentures and ‘sinking funds’ don’t sink us. The main take away here, of course is the ‘significant amount of borrowing’ the Region plans to do in the coming years, not ‘on behalf of the Muncipalities,’ but on behalf of us (as in the end, all of us will be responsible for servicing that debt and paying it off). Yet nine out of ten taxpayers remain oblivious to what’s going on. There was no one else in the audience the day I attended that meeting. Ordinarily I wouldn't care (or more to the point, if I could opt out I wouldn't care), but the inattentiveness and inaction of the vast majority means we could all go down with this boat together.

And on a similar note, Saturday, Oct 19^th The Durham Region Climate Roundtable took place (at the Region) and four of the five were in attendance (I had signed up but didn't get back in time from a Bluemountain get away that I'd forgotten was booked) The same people who spoke in Council on Oct 1st, sacrificed another day to speak on behalf of the taxpayers of the Region. I mentioned this to underscore how important it is that more of us get involved (in all Regions). We few can't all be there, all of the time. We too want time to enjoy our lives (especially on beautiful fall days like this past Saturday) and many hands make light work — as a Durham Region farmer might say. More importantly, the more of us attend events like this, the more likely it is that we’ll have an impact.

The Climate Roundtable is a whole other story, and I will return to this (and other related subjects) soon. For now though, let me share a transcript of my comments in Council on Oct 1st. I encourage you to watch the others of course, all of whom made compelling arguments (and also provided more ‘actionable’ points for those at the Region to consider). Not that they will, unless more of us show up!

I mentioned when I asked to speak here today that I wanted to look at the numbers presented on the 'Envision Durham' page.Those who have visited the page will notice that the video there is looking at a horizon of 2041, while the text above it says 2051. The video talks about 1.2 million residents and 430,000jobs - while the text suggests a population of 1.3 million (residents).

Putting aside the 10 year and 100,000 residents difference, I also want to look at these population and job predictions. Referring to the 2019 'Durham Region Business-count Highlights' pdf. I have those numbers here: Job growth (from 2015 to 2019) is shown to increase an average of 5786 jobs per year. While the projected numbers show an increase from 206,494 (in 2019) to the same 430,000 jobs (in 2051). This represents an increase in the ratio of jobs per capita of 16.57% - which seems optimistic.

1 minute

If we look at population, on the other hand, the growth is projected over the next 25 years (forget 2041 for now) at 24,021 people per year... again, from the 'Durham Region Business-count Highlights' pdf ... the population here increased at a rate of 6541 persons per year over 5 years (from 2015 to 2019) (or 8176 if divided by 4 years). So we now have a proposed 3 or 4 FOLD increase in the speed at which the population is projected to grow - which roughly doubles the population by 2051. There are a few problems here (which speaks to the first 4 questions in the 2019 public survey):

How to - Manage how and where growth should occur in the Region

How to - Increase job opportunities

How to - Promote a balance of jobs and population

How to - Diversify the Region's employment base

2 minutes

The main problem, of course, is that such a large growth in the population will totally upset the fabric of our communities. During the recent Durham by-election our team canvassed all of North Oshawa which (unlike Clarington and Bowmanville) is predominantly new immigrants; and overwhelming, the feeling (there too) was that we need to slow down the influx of new residents - the provision of jobs cannot keep up.

The projected numbers are hugely optimistic, if not reckless, considering the information in the federal government's 2024 document 'Disruptions on the Horizon.' I get a very real sense (from this document) that neither the federal government not the provincial government knows what they're doing

(excerpt) None of the Councillors from Uxbridge were in attendance, so I skipped an Uxbridge specific point here to save some time.

3 minutes

The language of this agenda is the same language we see in United Nations (UN) and World Economic Forum (WEF) documents and declarations – diversity, inclusion, equality, sustainable, resilient, etc., and yet the WEF in it's 'The Fourth Industrial Revolution' book predicts massive job dislocation in the near future due to AI and Robotics.

So can the people you plan to bring in expect to find meaningful work here? And how, given all the other 'disruptions' outlined in this recent 'Horizons' document, can the Region be so sure that this level of population growth can be sustained in a way that won't totally erase the culture of those original Durham communities; Whitby, Ajax, Pickering, Uxbridge, etc?

My ancestors, incidentally, are still listed in the wedding registry at St. Mary's church in the original Town of Whitby (North Yorkshire). My Great, Great (...Great) Grandfather was the Harbour Master there around the time that a young James Cook plied the English coast as an apprentice in the Merchant Navy (in the 1730s and 40s).

4minutes

Current Strategic Plans (Uxbridge at least) emphasize the importance of preserving our heritage, and we hope the upcoming strategic plans emphasize the same. The history of Durham Region is enshrined in the names of the towns in which we live, and it is incumbent on everyone here to ensure the traditions that have made this Region what it is can continue.

The so-called 'New Fiscal Age' describes a society of Globalist design in which the accumulated wealth of the existing population is 'harvested' (by various 'public-private partnerships') to pay for the infrastructure of a fanciful and unsustainable future. Regardless of whether or not the promised jobs materialize taxpayers are on the hook.

(Omitted section) 'And accelerated 'settlement' doesn't turn Durham into a version of Keir ‘Stasi's’ nightmarish 'modern' England.

So we call on you now to step away from the globalist Agenda being forced on us, and to adopt an appropriately Regional economic plan with a focus on local environmental stewardship. And I must ask you here: what did you know of the federal government's 'Disruptions on the Horizon' documents before to day?

5 minutes

Below (top left) is a chart sent to me recently by a friend in Europe. You can check the numbers yourself. I went to find my own statistics on line (from official sources of course) and modified the chart (bottom right) to again, put things in perspective.

The CBC also gets its numbers from Statistics Canada: ‘Canada's population grew by record 1 million in 2022, spurred by international migration.’

Who want this? No one who understands the impact of this kind of immigration (you can see why people often use the term ‘invasion’ now). The new immigrants of North Oshawa (as I mentioned to the Council), who see the stress on local services directly, certainly want to slow down the influx. Almost everyone you speak to on this subject feels the same, for various reasons. Everyone, it seems, but those who are constantly focused on the crafting of Strategic Plans (which then become Official Plans): the developers.

I took the time to go through submissions on the Environmental Registry of Ontario

‘All submissions the Ministry received were reviewed and considered prior to a decision being made.’ and I was surprised to see the comments were not comments from residents, but overwhelmingly applications from those who stand to profit directly from an unprecedented influx of new ‘settlers.’

The first comment almost seems designed to give the impression this is a survey of residents (you tell me), but then you can see (if you want to take the time to go through this yourself), virtually all of the submissions below are labelled as ‘individual.’ In fact, they are developers; so I took the liberty here of re-labelled these appropriately. Please feel free to scroll down (and check). One apparent voice I found: The Citizen Group - Stop Sprawl Durham - ‘whitebelt is not a blank slate awaiting rooftops & pavement.’ If you check, seems to be advocating for Net Zero and the 15 minute Cities concept. I look forward to digging into this further.

I’ll leave off here and, as always, thank you for your continuing interest and support.

David

https://ero.ontario.ca/notice/019-7195/comments

1 I am for building, but Only… individual (Perhaps)

2 The effect of the Settlement… developer TPP The Planning Parntership - Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing

Environmental Registry of Ontario

3 We are the planning… developer Tribute Communities and Halminen Homes

4 We are the planning… developer Stonelake Limited Partnership

5 Weston Consulting is the… developer Weston Consulting is the…

6 Submission on the Region of… developer MHBC - PLanning, Urban Design and Landscape Architecure

7 Weston Consulting is the… developer Weston Consulting - authorized Planning Consultant for 2832005 ONTARIO INC.,

8 The site at 1, 3, 5 & 7… developer Aird and Berlis submission - Zelinka Priamo Planning Opinion

9 The site at 1, 3, 5 & 7… developer Zelinka Priamo Planning Opinion

10 MacNaughton Hermsen Britton… deleloper consultant TransCanada PipeLines Limited (TCPL).

11 MacNaughton Hermsen Britton… developer retained by ClubLink Corporation ULC

12 Please see the attached… developer The Biglieri Group Ltd. (“TBG”) - planning consultant for 21443345 Ontario Inc.

13 See attached letter,… developer Request for Employment Area Conversion - RioCan Lands

14 We have researched and … Durham Region District 28 of RTOERO (Retired Teachers/Educators of Ontario) Wannop Lands

15 We are writing to you… developer Paul Brown & Associates Inc. Municipal Consultants and Advisors

16 Weston Consulting is the… developer Three properties, Clarington

17 On behalf of our client,… developer Setcon Investments Inc

18 See comments letter attached… developer The Biglieri Group Ltd. (“TBG”) 14 estates

19 See comments letter attached… developer The Biglieri Group Ltd. (“TBG”) 14

20 See comment letter attached… developer The Biglieri Group Ltd. (“TBG”)

21 The Biglieri Group Ltd. (… developer (“TBG”)

22 See comment letter attached… developer (“TBG”)

23 See comments letter attached… developer (“TBG”)

24 We have concerns regarding… business Cosmopolitan Associates Inc. represents Arbor Memorial on land use planning

25 Dear Mr. Doersam, Re:… developer Evans Planning - Municipal Services Office - Central Ontario

26 Please find attached letter… developer TH (Brooklin) Developments Inc

27 Weston Consulting is the… developer authorized Planning Consultant for the registered owner

28 We object to the proposal… MPP Honourable Stephen Clark, MPP Re: proposed new urban boundary

29 Malone Given Parsons Ltd. is… developer Consultant for Brooklin Development General Partner Ltd.

30 Kaitlin Corporation (c/o… Citizen Group - Stop Sprawl Durham -'whitebelt is not a blank slate awaiting rooftops & pavement'

31 On behalf of the owner of… developer Biglieri Group

32 August 19, 2023 Hon. Steve… MPP Draft Growth Allocations and Settlement Area Boundary Expansions

33 Note: the comment below is… video recording of a voting session at the Durham Regional council on May 17, 2023, which relates directly to the contents of the comment: See video

34 We are the owners of the… Registered company - submit the proposal to change the official plan

35 We are the owners of the… Registered company - submit the proposal to change the official plan

36 August 16, 2023 Hon. Steve… MPP - continued

37 August 18, 2023 Hon. Steve… MPP - continued

38 (PDF Submission also… developer On behalf Ridge Group Inc.,

39 The attached correspondence… developer Weston Consulting - Rundle Road Land Corp.

40 Beaverton - Durham Region OP… developer Weston Consulting - Long term care facility, senior appartments, etc

41 We are writing to request… developer Malone Given Parsons Ltd. Planning consultant for the Brooklin North Landowners group

42 To whom it may concern, See… developer Glen Schnarr & Associates Inc. Consultants representing Cherrywood Lands Management Inc.

43 Please see attached… developer 1725596 Ontario Limited 'housing component'

44 Please see attached… developer 1725596 Ontario Limited 'greenbelt. Orono Settlement Area'

45 Please see attached… developer 1725596 Ontario Limited - continued

46 Please see attached… developer 1725596 Ontario Limited - continued

47 Please see attached… developer 1664220 Ontario Limited and D.G. Kemp Orchards

48 Please see attached… developer 1725596 Ontario Limited - continued

49 Hello, as the owners of 470… developer 'submitting... in efforts to develop the site with no restrictions or setbacks' . . .