Bob Delaney Thoughts

The late Emil Kolb was an honest and plain-spoken man who offered much valuable advice to me as a new Member of Provincial Parliament in my first term (2003-2007). He served a growing Region of Peel with integrity and professionalism. All who knew and worked with Emil Kolb were enriched by the experience.

With the conclusion of the MLB wild card series and the divisional series, Toronto Blue Jays fans are howling in frustration, demanding that somebody – anybody – be fired for the 2023 playoff disappointment. Jays fans now find themselves with plenty of unhappy company. The other wild card losers fared no better than the 89-win Blue Jays, all losing in two straight: 92-win Milwaukee Brewers; 84-win Florida Marlins; and 99-win Tampa Bay Rays. In the divisional series, the 100-win Los Angeles Dodgers and 101-win Baltimore Orioles went down in three straight games: zero post-season wins. The 87-win Minnesota Twins and 104-win Atlanta Braves each managed just one win in their divisional series defeat. Also add in the disappointed fans of the ‘built for the playoffs’ 82-win San Diego Padres and 88-win Seattle Mariners: both failed to qualify for the post-season.
In the case of each such underachieving team, if somebody’s got to go, and some likely will, the team doing the shakeup will likely be hiring from the ranks of the castoffs from these nine other disappointing teams. As Blue Jays fans, let’s take some more time to reflect. The team should not find its path forward by replacing perceived management and coaching zeros with different teams’ zeros.

Here is one way to put some scale on the life of former Mississauga Mayor Hazel McCallion. Hazel's life completely spanned the second Elizabethan era from before the birth of the late Queen Elizabeth II, through her life, marriage, and the longest reign of any British monarch to past Elizabeth's death in September of 2022.
In Mississauga, the ground-breaking and/or ribbon-cutting of few buildings or infrastructure projects of any consequence, government or private sector were not attended by Hazel McCallion. And many projects, including the Credit Valley Hospital, were conceived in large part by Hazel McCallion.
When I sought to keep the former Russell Langmaid primary school building in Streetsville from being sold to developers after it became a 'surplus school' in 2010, it was Hazel who worked with me to transfer the property from the Peel District School Board to Mississauga for its current purpose as the Cadet centre in Streetsville.
While I and the then-Councillor for Ward 9 worked to get a new GO Train station built at Lisgar, we needed Hazel's help to resolve an issue with the then-owner of the property who wanted too high a price for the land. Hazel, as she told me later, phoned the owner and said he could either take GO Transit's generous and above-market offer for the land, or the City would zone it as a drainage pond for the next 40 years. The property owner sold, and the new Lisgar GO station project came in ahead of schedule and under budget.
Hazel attended a few of my community skating events for Mississauga-Streetsville residents when I held them at Meadowvale Four-Rinks. Far from just showing up for a few minutes, Hazel laced on her skates and came out to chat with me and residents on the ice, and usually stayed - and skated - for about an hour.
And rain or shine, Hazel led the Streetsville Bread and Honey and Santa Claus parades each and every year.
Whatever Hazel's faults, and she had them, Hazel was the 'real deal' as our Mayor. There will never be another Hazel, though Hazel certainly made many people, including me, believe that we too could step up and make the City of Mississauga just a bit better by dedicating our time and our energies to our fellow residents through public service.

Warm wishes for a Happy New Year of the Rabbit to all our many friends, neighbours and colleagues from Hong Kong, mainland China and Taiwan. Andrea and I cherish the piece of our souls that became forever Chinese as we built our friendships among the community in the GTA, and were embraced by it. May the New Year bring prosperity, good fortune, health and fulfillment to one and all.