Author: Doug Rutherford

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More Correspondence

My last blog post was the letter I sent to Ryan Leef, our newly minted MP, regarding back to work legislation for Canada Post. He did respond rather quickly, as well he should as the main thrust of his campaign was that he would vote against party lines if asjked to do so by his constitutents. Here is the remainder of the conversation.

Thank you for your note Doug and Clara,

I am sure you can appreciate that I am receiving many emails from Yukon residents and businesses who support the back to work Legislation.   I have asked the Opposition (twice in the early hours this morning) to end the debate (which I think was essential, but is now just repetitive) and bring their proposed solutions to a Committee of the Whole.  They have refused to do so. 

I will continue to ask for this to move to a Committee of the Whole so I can hear the proposed solutions of the Opposition and see what would be in the best interests of all Yukoners, which now includes Postal Workers, residents, charities, and small business.

Thank you for taking the time to email me.  I am keeping record of all who contact me, and am reaching out to both sides of this issue. 

Kind Regards,

 Ryan.

Ryan Leef, MP
Yukon

 Our response to this was:

Ryan:

We seriously suspect, given the strong support Yukoners have shown for CUPW in the current lockout, that you have not received letters spefically stating “Break the union.” Rather, we assume, they reqested the resumption of mail services.

The fastest way to do so is to order Canada Post to end the lockout and allow good faith bargaing. This would allow a win-win situation without the jackboot tactics of enforcing back to work legislation.

Doug and Clara Rutherford

 I found his response to this, in spite of the fact that this would expedite what all seemed to wanting, very disappointing and simply a “party talking point” response.

Hi Doug,

Yes, some are just asking for an end…others, (including CUPW Members) are asking for the Legislation as they feel the Union has “mislead” and “bullied” them. Again, having to take all sides into account, I am continuing to reach out to both sides for balanced information so I can make an informed choice based on Yukoners wants, needs, and expectations. As the view is quite polarized, I want to move quickly but not in blind haste to ensure the choice and contributions I make best represent the Yukon. I appreciate your point about the support you see by Yukoners to CUPW.

Thanks again for forwarding your position.

Ryan. 

 Guiven the somewhat sheep-like response, particularly since there are a few problems with the legality of the points he brought forward, we decided to send another reminder.

Ryan:

We have issue with the terms “mislead” and “bullied” here, particularly if these reference the offer made to Canada Post and not relayed to the union membership. We see that those members of parliament making this point should learn a bit about labour law. Presenting an offer to the membership that has not been endorsed by the bargaining committee is termed bargaining in bad faith and is illegal under the Canadian Industrial Relations Board regulations.

 We suggest that you place yourself in the shoes of those who this legislation will affect, a vital step in the process of any legislation. We want to know if you, as a new member of parliament, are willing to accept 18% less salary than members who were sitting in the last election. And, are you intending to change your pension plan from a defined benefit to a defined contribution program? If you are not willing to accept these conditions you are legislating on others, we strongly suggest you allow the process of collective bargaining to resume.

 Douglas and Clara Rutherford

His response was, simply:

Thanks again Doug. Points taken. Might be moving into the Committee of the Whole now, so we’ll see what comes up.

Ryan.

In the end, he voted for the legislation. Needless to say, he has yet to public announce he is taking a pay cut and changing his pension plan. I would ask him to table the letters he received to get him to actually prove he received lots of requests to legislate the postal workers back to work, but I assumed he was lying with his campaign and don’t see much sense in rubbing his nose in it. Oh, well. I’m assuming that in four years time, we will probably have a new government and anything else would be a vast improvement…

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Open Letter to Ryan Leef, MP, Yukon

Ryan Leef, MP, Member for Yukon

Dear Ryan,

As a constituent, I wish to express my displeasure with the stand your party has taken in the introduction of Bill C-6, A Bill to Provide for the Resumption and Continuation of Postal Services. The bill is an uncalled for intervention in the time honoured and legal practice of collective bargaining.

Also, I find your party’s stance that the union is preventing the movement of mail offensive. Canada Post locked its employees out rather than deal with the inconvenience of rotating strikes and, as a Crown corporation, can be overruled by an order by Governor in Council. It would be easy for the lockout to be ordered ended and mail moving by Monday morning. Implying anything else is, quite frankly, dishonest.

You stated, during the election, that you would vote contrary to your party if asked to do so by your constituents. Consider this a request by two of your constituents to do exactly that, and vote against Bill C-6.

Douglas and Clara Rutherford

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Was it the good weather or the antibiotics?

I woke up this morning with about thirty seconds warning that Shawna was bringing Hanna and my Father’s Day present. I got a Toronto Maple Leafs condiment set. It is set in a stand with an umbrella and a salt, pepper, ketchup and mustard dispensers. This received in bed from a 14 month old, who immediately proceeded to open my present and play with the contents, is a fabulous way to start your morning.

I noticed that I’m feeling better today. After Shawna and Hanna left, after playing and two kisses for Poppie, I had a bit of lunch and sat around for a bit. Then, I watered the lawn and flowers, filled the feeder and did a few little lawn things. By that point, it was about 20° and sunny. I decided that I actually was in good enough shape for my first, unescorted road trip. This actually entailed going in to work to discuss my upcoming surgery woes, but it was a road trip, nonetheless.

I also got to see a few people, troubleshooted someone’s server issues and, generally, gabbed a bit. It was the first time in two weeks I’d driven by myself after the knee work, but yesterday was the first time I’d driven at all since then. I suddenly feel considerably better. Why? I’m not sure what the source is, but really don’t care either way…

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It never rains, but it pours… or, you have a tornado.

If I remember correctly, the tagline for Jaws II was, “Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water…”

It seems that we have solved why I have been miserable all winter. I was not feeling very well late Friday night and all day Saturday, coming down with what I thought was a bladder infection, so I decided Saturday night that I was going to pop in to emergency Sunday and get some antibiotics for it. As I mentioned, I’ve had an ongoing colon infection all year too.

After discussing my symptoms, a urine test (damn, I hate the multiple choice questions) and blood work, the on call doctor handed me off to the on call surgeon who put two and two together and wrapped everything up into a nice little package. I’m supposed to go to a specialist in July to see if the current idea of what my colon issue was and she not only confirmed that was probably the case but also that the bladder problem was the same issue. Apparently, I have a fistula, a connection between the bladder and colon and not a good thing to have, by the way. Actually, I don’t think there really is a good colon problem to have.

I’m sure things could be worse. I’ll probably look far more cheery when it’s finally fixed and won’t have to answer people about why I look so different by saying, “Must be the new sweater” or “new glasses.” Remember to point your finger upwards when you use the last one…

Now bluntly, I’m actually happy that it’s finally figured out. One small part of my brain constantly reminded me that the last really healthy day I had, there was a cigarette in my hand and fixing the problem was probably very easy. I try not to listen to that part of my brain. 

The diagnosis, however, it means that I require surgery very, very shortly and I vaguely remember doing that two weeks ago. In short, this coming week, when I have a bit more mobility with my knee after the stitches come out tomorrow, will may well be my summer. It means that all the course prep work that I was looking forward to doing in August will probably be done the day before my courses start for all I know, although I have no real inkling if I will be back to work when that happens. I have to call the chair tomorrow and start looking at changing when my courses start and the length of time they run.

Daryl Stenson called me last week and asked if I want to go fishing on Saturday. I said that, in all probability, I’d like to go. The answer has now changed to “HELL, YAH!” It will probably be the only time I go this summer so I’m looking forward to it…

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Now, Time to Talk to Another Branch of Government

Our next step is to deal with the problems associated with having a hazardous waste storage site across the street. Namely, what is my property worth?

I can heartily assure you that no one is going to buy a house on a street with a hazardous waste site on it. That, in consideration with the fact that my property taxes are based on my assessment, we’ve approached the territorial government, who also are the ones responsible for the assessments the property taxes are calculated from, to have our properties reassessed based on the new information available. The deadline for reassessments requests has passed but we think that this is an extenuating circumstance and have asked the department and the minister for an exemption and reassessment anyway. Given that the payment deadline is coming up, I’m probably going to Council Monday evening to ask for an extension on payment to dealt with the administrative issues that may be involved.

Onward into the breach. Again…

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“We Don’t Know How to Remove a Hazardous Waste Permit…”

I asked for a progress report on what was happening with the Special Waste Permit issued to the house across the street. I was expecting that, given that the city has also been pushing to have the permit revoked, we would have heard that the permit had been dealt with appropriately. After all, how long should you expect it to take when the department finds out that it issued a permit for a hazardous waste storage facility on  residential street. After all, the Envirnment Department staff are the ones to issue the permit. This was issued to a company that was salvaging, on contract from the Territorial Government, wastes from 7 community landfills in the territory.

I was incredibly suprised to receive the somewhat weak response that I got. The action taken to date is to ask the guy to store his wastes somewhere else voluntarily! This, by the way, is from the guy who can’t register his vehicles in the territory to meet a court order so is trying to register them in BC.

My particularly favourite response is from the Manager of standards and approvals who stated,

“As I mentioned last week we are looking at what options are legally available to us to amend the special waste permit to specify a different storage location, beginning with a request for a voluntary amendment. Rescinding a permit is not something that is done everyday so we need to be sure we have the necessary authority and evidence before attempting to do so. “

 Equally cheering were the words of the Director of Environmental Protection,

“Unfortunately we are constrained by legislative procedures as outlined in the Solid Waste Regulations on how and when a permit can be cancelled.  Our first and preferred course of action is that the Permittee will voluntarily relocate his operations which we are pursuing.”

So, in other words, while the Department managed to issue a permit that allows a Special (read Hazardous) Waste Storage Facility in the muiddle of a residential neighbourhood, they don’t seem to have the faintest idea on how to remedy their mistake.

Needless to say, our patience is drawing thin and I think that the story should be told to my former senior producer at CBC News sometime tomorrow afternoon…

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One Week After Surgery

One week down and all’s well. Things have good as expected and I am moving around with no difficulties, other than I don’t really go very fast. I take my cane when I’m going on huge adventures, namely involving stairs and uneven ground, but don’t use it much indoors. My wild painkillers are Tylenol and Ibuprofen, and I still have half of my T-3s left over for a worthy occasion. I have a colon infection that’s been bugging me since February and, quite frankly, it’s been far more of an issue than my surgery.

I have been on several great adventures. Today, I went to the hospital for bloodwork and then downtown and for groceries. I’ve been upstairs several times and have decided that sleeping in my far more comfortable bed is tonight’s plan. I did some puttering in the yard today as well.

I will admit that this one has taken a little longer to recover from and I suspect he did far more grinding than he did last time. There were more than a dozen bone spurs to get rid of and one particular place where there wasn’t enough room for one piece to get past the other when I bent my knee which has been fixed.  Full recovery should take about six months. It’s just a question of time and now, it’s time for a nap, I think…

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Don’t You Eat That Yellow…. Pollen

For those of you not familiar with the lodgepole pine tree, it is a beautiful tree. The name comes from its long, straight, thin trunks. Even in high winds, when you think they were so flimsy, they bend and flex and stand tall at the end of the storm. OK, I like pine trees. I also have quite a few in my yard and, given the wilderness surrounding the city, am completely enclosed in them.

But, most of us here have a complete week-long hatred of the pine tree. That’s because of their pollen, a fine, yellow dust that covers everything, inside and out. Those who are allergic to pollen find it even more hateful,  as they put out vast quantities of the dust and there is really no escaping it. I’ve had my computer out on the deck with me for 15 minutes and I will have to use compressed air to blow out the fans.

With my lack of mobility, I don’t have my usual method of dealing with this available… or at least until tomorrow. During the week pine trees pollenate, I usually have to hose off the decks and verandas, and everything on them, daily. The same holds true with the vehicles.

windshield pollen

 

Note how much is on the windshield of my truck. Then consider that it rained yesterday so much of it washed off. And, then you have to keep in mind the fact that there will be as much the next day, and the next day, and so on.

But, we must take the bad with the good. Pollen time is definitely the bad part, but when you think of the wildlife that lives in my pine trees, it’s not so bad. We have lots of birds, squirrels, boreal and great horned owls and, of course, Dean, the pine marten who does hang out in the back yard from time to time. It’s certainly a tradeoff I’m willing to make…

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Recovery is Boring

Fortunately, I don’t have a lot of hair to pull out. Recovering from knee surgery, or any type I guess, is almost as exciting as watching grass grow. In fact, that’s one of the few different activities available to me at the moment.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not complaining about substantive things. My complaint lies with the time-honoured intangible. I know there’s something I’d like to do other than hanging around the house. I’m not totally sure what it is, though.

I know that there are things I’m just not capable of doing right now. I know I should mow the lawn and I should clean out the camper. Ç’est la vie. None of these is going to happen for a bit. But, I have this stupid feeling that I should be doing something particular and can’t figure out what it is I’m supposed to be doing. It’s very frustrating. I realize that it’s probably a side effect of being laid up, but knowing this doesn’t seem to help.

I guess, in this case, there’s only one thing to do and that is quote the classics. And, there is an appropriate quote that seems to work here: “Oh, bother.”

Sums it up for me….

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Day 2 Post Surgery

I slept pretty well last night, short of the fact that I woke up every few hours and was a wee bit restless. I can only lay in one position for so long and there’s big production values involved in rolling over.

That being said, I have far more pain today than previously and have been a bit more attentive about my pain killers. Like the slogan goes, “Just Say Yes to Drugs.”

This is the magic day, where the 48 hours after surgery deadline kicks in. In about 1 1/2 hours, I can legally sign documents. And, since this is Day 2, I got to take the dressing off. It’s not horribly ugly, you will all be pleased to know. My knee is a bit swollen although I did have to change the dressing yesterday and it was much puffier. I see they don’t use the horrendous yellow-orange antiseptic anymore. My paint job was a purplish-pink and looked a lot like I was quite bruised until I got it washed off. There are the three tiny incisions and they aren’t leaking at all.

I still, however, have the surgeon’s initials Sharpied on my left kneecap. It’s how, along with asking me about six times on Tuesday, everyone is on the same page with which knee is supposed to be worked on. Note: we are to always refer to the left knee as being the “correct” one, not the “right” one.

But, I really am not moving along very quickly and it will be a few more days before I even think of going out anywhere. I’m still not up for the adventure of going outside too far or upstairs to the 2nd floor. Stairs are a wee bit daunting yet. However, if the weather clears a bit, I may go on the grand adventure of going out to the deck. It’s a tiny little step down from the veranda and more than easy to deal with… even when you trundle along as badly as I do. The fun part is that, apparently, I’m allowed to drive now. That is, if I decided to avoid my pain killers (may cause drowsiness. May?)

That being said, it’s nap time again. I’ve been awake for 4 hours and that’s my record for this week so far. I’m not interested in setting records yet either…