Oct 7 - Curious Hockey Circumstances

 

We are all on Hockey Canada and its scandal.  The Prime Minister and the Minister of Sport, the news media, especially the Globe and Mail, the sponsors, the provincial hockey associations and the public. We want something to happen with the executives who created funds to "handle" sexual assault cases to they didn't become public.  The headline today with CBC?  Is the game over for the Hockey Canada brand? Another headline today has an expert baffled by Hockey Canada response to scandals - "Never seen anything like this" in governance.  He's particularly worried about the board. How is it so many people are calling for action and no responsible action is taking place?  This has been ongoing  since the spring.  It points to how corporate organizations have a lot power and can do what they want.    Makes me worry about capitalism as a system.  What leverage does the PM have?  The PM has a $14 million investment over the last 2 years.  That's 6% of the organization's funding .  The PM froze the funding in June.  Not much impact, given an asset worth reported to be in excess of $153 million.   The major revenue streams then would be  sponsors and player fees.  The sponsors who have pulled out - like Esso, Time Hortons, Scotiabank, Canadian Tire are in the top tiers. One article says that "Hockey Canada has several tiers of sponsors, including four premier partners – Esso, Nike, Tim Hortons and Telus – who pay as much as $2 million per year for the association, a source said."  That's good funding, but the real source has to be player fees. Player fees are  just under $50 a year.  They are collected by the provincial organizations and transferred to Hockey Canada.  How many players are there?  There are 630,000 registered players under the age of 18 in Canada.  Who collects the fees?  The provincial organizations. Some of the provincial hockey organizations have started to pull out and others have been sly - withholding the insurance amount only.    What will and can parents do?  There is a Parents Canada organization and canadianhockeymoms.ca  but there appears to be nothing/no one with power.  On the canadianhockeymoms website there is nothing there to see on the scandal - it is about getting your kids into hockey - fundraising and recipes.  That looks like quite a gap to me.   So we will be following the money trail.  Will Hockey Canada melt like the wicked witch of the west?   Today we have the Jordan trail leading to the valley where Jordan Pond and Jordan Harbour are.  Only once have I seen this since moving here - skaters playing hockey i Jordan Harour. No fees involved there.

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Countdown Starts Again

Christmas Day The Day After.  Now we start another countdown and this one is more like a countdown rather than a countup. As an aside, the Christmas Day clock is now at 364 and ticking away.  So if you loaded it on your smart phone, it can keep you company for another year. We know that today's the day to get our gifts (boxes) from the 'boss".  Too bad the tradition didn't carry through to modern day and there would be a bonus from our corporate employers. Perhaps South Africa understood that this tradition was better left behind.  It renamed Boxing Day to Day of Goodwill in 1994. Other countries call this Second Christmas Day: In some European countries, most notably Germany, Poland, Belgium, the Netherlands and those in Scandinavia, 26 December is celebrated as the Second Christmas Day. What should we do on the Second Christmas Day? "Many people spend the second day of Christmas in much the same way as Christmas Day."  So we'd be having a second or third turkey dinner today. Here are two views of Jordan Harbour from last year.

Niagara Water is Green

Marilyn's Photo of the Day  Niagara's Winter Scenes

What the Lake Views are Like There's nothing like winter water and particularly Niagara water, full of those minerals so that it is very green.  Port Dalhousie recognized this and painted the walk way bridge a matching green.  This is the scene of our first picture.  From inside Pier 61, our favourite restaurant in Port Dalhousie that sits on the bank of the old Welland Canal entrance (I think). The water is Twelve Mile Creek flowing into the Lake. The second picture shows the bridge that crosses over the small, almost frozen falls.  This is the one road into Port Dalhousie, and there's one road out. Perhaps that is what makes it such a quaint little seaside town still.  We were lucky yesterday as there was a pair of swans that came through for a while.   Our third picture shows at all the people fishing on the other side of the water. We haven't seen this many people since before Christmas.  I wondered if there was a fishing contest or festival. Our final picture today is what I think of as the backside of Jordan Harbour Bridge. The frontside view is from the QEW.  It is such a scenic view with the massive Jordan Valley in the foreground. I haven't been able to get to the eastern side to take photos.  Houses line both sides and the roads in are private - all the way from the main north/south road.  I did find this empty lot with a for sale sign.  What a view this monster house will have as it joins its fellows on the east bank of the Jordan Valley.