Latest / Kvetch & Release / AM800 Roundtable with Jen Strong & Joe Bachetti - May 3 2024

Transcript

AM800 Roundtable with Jen Strong & Joe Bachetti - May 3 2024 · Kvetch & Release

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Hey everyone, Good morning. John Lecky here on AM eight hundred CKLW,
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filling in for Dan McDonald. It is nine oh seven and it's raining outside.
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That sucks. Not happy about it, but hey, I'm indoors.
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I'm in a studio. We don't have windows, so I can just push
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that out of my head. And when I have to read the weathers,
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I just you know, ignore them. It's fine, So try to stay
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dry today. Tomorrow it'll be nicer. It is our Friday roundtable and I
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am so glad to kick things off with Jen Strong from Tailgate takeout food blogger.
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How you doing, good? Morning, good, How are you doing
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really well? Thank you for joining us and Joe but Chatty Deputy mayor to
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come see how you doing. John, Thank you Giovanni this morning. Okay,
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we can absolutely go with that, Giovanni. Let's dive right in off
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the top with our AM eight hundred CKLW news poll question. Do you agree
0:55
with a new poll that suggests the majority of Canadians feel their right to freedom
0:59
of speech is in danger. More than half of Canadians say freedom of speech
1:02
is under threat, according to this new poll. This survey found fifty seven
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percent of respondents say it's under threat. Of those, thirty four percent said
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it was somewhat threatened, twenty three percent say they considered the threat a serious
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one, and some thirty six percent said that their free speech rights were not
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in danger. Seven percent said we don't know. But seventy five percent of
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respondents say they do feel comfortable expressing their views, but only seventy one percent
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feel comfortable when it comes to controversial subjects like abortion, gun control, and
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immigration. So the question that we're going to start things off with jen to
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you, do you feel like freedom of speech freedom of expression is in danger
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in Canada. No, I don't. And I thought about this question this
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morning, and I thought, like, people want you to think that.
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I think people want to sow the seeds of division a lot. It's a
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weird time to be alive where And I understand what they're saying. They don't
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feel comfortable talking about controversial subjects, and it's it's not necessarily you don't know
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where someone's at in their life. Sometimes I feel like I don't want to
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touch on a certain subject with someone because you're not sure how they feel about
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it, and you don't want to upset them I'm not scared of it.
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You're just trying to be mindful of of their feelings. But to say that,
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you know, my rights are in danger, No, I mean I
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think a lot of people, you know, we see a lot of that
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in the States, that they talk about that and the you know, I
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don't want to say the T word, but you know, has really kind
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of has pushed that narrative, and I just don't think that's true. And
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there's a difference between you know, being able to have that freedom of speech
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and being a jerk. You know. It's it's a balance of just because
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you can say something, should you say something? And I think people you
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know, you get keyboard warriors and people that just you know, aren't scared
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to say something on the internet, And yeah, it's I don't think it's
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it's a concern. I think some it's a you know, kind of divided
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between am I going to offend some on one and you're just trying to be
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a decent human And I don't think anything's actually in danger. Yeah, you
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know, I got to agree with you. I look at our country and
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where we live, and I don't see any threat when it comes to freedom
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of expression, free speech. I mean, we had the Ambassador Bridge blockade,
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We've had convoys, now, we've have encampments. I mean, the
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protest movement in Canada is alive and it's healthy, and it's allowed to flourish
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in ways that I think a lot of people at times are often going like,
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how is this going on for as long as it is? Right now,
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people are taking over roads, they're blockading the borders, they're taking over
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campuses. But it's that balancing act, right of how long can things go
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on until it does have to stop just for the function of society. But
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that's not blocking freedom of expression, Joe. I mean, it's not like
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Tacompsy has passed a speech ordinance where you're not allowed to criticize elected officials if
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you're walking down Old Tacumpsey Road. Yeah. But the News Post states otherwise,
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seventy five percent say that they feel their freedom of speech is in danger.
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So it's the perception that it is in danger. And I agree with
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you and I don't feel that it is. But just go back in terms
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of what we've experienced through COVID, with all those restrictions and regulations, there's
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a lot of reasons that during COVID, we had these government restrictions and all
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those regulations, social media censorship, you know, the cultural shifts, all
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those things play a role in people's minds that there's overreaching and censorship in our
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freedom of speech. So they start believing that even though, like you said,
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you know, as an elected official, that's part of my job.
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I will take criticism and I will take feedback good or bad on my performance
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or what they perceive is happening at the town, you know, or or
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whatever decisions I make. So it's part of the you know, the society
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now and we have to embrace that. And I don't feel like I say
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that we have our freedom of speech being in dan just so you know,
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I look at it with with the COVID experience, people are just angry and
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this is the fallout where they're just going to pick and choose. For example,
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the social media censorship, is that really like if you study that issue,
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it's not really what we're talking about in terms of being in danger.
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So but it's people are quick to make that that that technology, Yeah,
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and you know social media, it's also those are you know, private businesses
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that aren't government run that have to follow you know, just the laws that
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we have in place and legislation, but people do seem to believe that because,
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you know, if you get kicked into Facebook jail, or you get
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kicked off or something, it's a it's limiting your expression. But you know,
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I think back to when I had a business downtown, a club.
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If I had someone who was in the club who was just you know,
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committing hate speech, standing on stage and yelling obscenities at people and violating our
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legislation, It's like, well, get out of here. I'm not going
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to allow you to stay. So I think there is a little bit of
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that balancing act that people need to keep in mind. Chet exactly. Yeah,
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I agree. And when when you make a comment, even on social
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media, on Facebook, if someone crosses the line and they start attacking you
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personally or they start attacking your family, I think that's where you've got to,
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you know, be able to put your foot down and either block them
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or say, look, I'm not tolerating that, so I'll stick to the
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issues. So that must be interesting for you, specifically as an elected official.
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Then, because I agree with you one hundred percent. I mean,
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your your social media page is your social media page. And you know,
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I don't think that politicians should just be able to go and you know,
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willy nilly block their constituents from being able to access, you know, public
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information, because if you're using it as a forum to communicate to the public,
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that's a serious limitation by blocking someone. But if someone is continually harassing
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you, degrading the experience for the other people who are reading on this forum,
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or just going out of their way to you know, again commit whether
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it be hate speech or whatever it is, that it must be a tough
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balancing act for you as an elected official trying to determine how do I police
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my wall? Yeah, for sure. And in terms of my case,
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I have a personal page where you have your friends and then you have the
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intellected officials of page deputy mayor page, and that's more open and again the
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criticism I take. But when it crosses that line, like you say,
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whether it be hate speech or personal attacks, you know, there's different ways
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I approach it. I would call them up, you know, clarify and
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sometimes if it's very you know, defamatory, those will be deleted. And
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I have no problem saying that you can have a right to say your opinion.
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But you cross that line, then you know what, you've lost that
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privilege. There's no different than anything else. Well, it's you know,
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there's freedom of expression, and then it's not freedom from repercussions. And one
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thing that I was always taught by when I was younger was you know,
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you can have your free speech and it extends as far as it can go
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straight until you know, my fist comes at you, because if you cross
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the line, someone might decide you've said something that I'm offended by. I
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don't want to hear that. So I mean, I think that goes to
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what you were saying, Jen, like, don't be a jerk. Yeah,
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there are consequences to your actions. You can say whatever you want,
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but there's like Joe saying, there's a difference between having a difference of opinion
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and voicing your concerns and personally attacking you know, a person, a gender,
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you know, a cultural background, Like there's there's limitations to what you
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should say just as a decent human being, you know. And yeah,
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Facebook is a private company in script, like they are private companies. If
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they deem something not worthy of being on your wall, then that's their choice,
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right, go make your own social media. Kay, exactly, We're
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gonna take a quick break right now from the roundtable. When we get back
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on the other side, though, we are going to drive straight downtown and
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discuss what hour downtown or you know, quite frankly, all Downtown's need to
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thrive, not only survive. It is nine p fifteen. John Lidkey here
8:46
on AM eight hundred KLW. We're back right after this. Oh jam eight,
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folks, We're back. John Lydkey here on AM eight hundred CKLW.
8:58
Yesterday we had a great conversation with Tom Lush, your owner of Fog Lounge
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and Meteor, about the state of downtown, and it's been getting a lot
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of buzz. I've seen that it's been shared around a lot because Tom didn't
9:09
really hold back, and he discussed what he sees downtown as a bar operator,
9:13
business owner who's usually in the core from two am to four thirty am,
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which is a very different experience. The conversation that we want to have
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right now is about the state of down towns. We don't have to make
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this solely about our downtown here in Windsor. Giovanni, I wouldn't want to
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leave you on the outskirts. They're trying to comment about our situation specifically,
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But what do downtowns need to thrive not only survive? Joe, I will
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bring you in first on this one. You know, that's one that if
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you see best practices of towns or cities that have revitalized their downtown is take
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a look at how they did it across the border. You see Detroit on
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how they revitalize their downtown. Being across border here with Windsor, there's a
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lot of synergies that happen, and I believe the city Windsor, with their
10:03
elected officials, they're trying to, you know, capitalize on those opportunities that
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these events that are occurring in the US in Detroit could have positive impacts in
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the downtown here. So that that's a good start, But it goes back
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to feeling safe in the downtowns. I know in the town of tacom See,
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we had a lot of pop up communication with our residents regarding our main
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street. We wanted a main street that kind of looked like along the Wine
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Dot corridor. Were killed there in that here, try to you know,
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do something in that regard and so doing a cip with main Street and involving
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the business community is the way we took that approach, and there's a cost
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to it. So there's a twelve to fifty million dollar cost, and we're
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looking at doing that in phases. And so when people hear that you're going
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to attract retail, you're going to attract businesses coming in. And so we
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got you know, the Oven, three sixty pizza, the Bourbon Whineology.
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So one by one all these business owners say, hey, they all know
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a friend who owns a business, come on down. But again, it
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also takes the property owners, the people who have property that may have a
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vacant home there that that needs to sell and they're just holding on to it.
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So it takes time to get that you know, the way you want
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it. But you know, at the end of the day, it's getting
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all generations, all the ages to come to that want to come don downtown,
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and you have to provide programs, services, events and make them feel
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safe and you'll see you'll see the crowds and revitalize. There's no one silver
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bullet and it's not like the Ronco machines where you can just set it and
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forget it and then like you get a really nice roast at the end of
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a couple hours later. You have to, as you said, you know,
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look at the best practices and then really determine what do we want this
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to look like. We comment jan a lot about our downtown here windsor As.
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It's sort of like a theme park. We've got we've got the water
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park, we've got the casino, and then we've got the riverfront and then
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it's just sort of like, you know, that's There's there's other stuff sort
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of around there too, but those are the big ones that you want to
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go check out. What do you think our downtown needs to thrive? Well,
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I know, obviously definitely that mix of private and public support. And
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I mean, if we could find our own Dan Gilbert, that would be
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it would be amazing. And I know we always look to Detroit, but
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I think we also need to look to, you know, some of the
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other places in our city that have have you know, turned around the neighborhood
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or really built a community around. Always looked to Ford City just you know,
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it took Grand Cantina was one of the first businesses to move in there,
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and you know what built up around them was just incredible. And now
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that's continuing on with new restaurants, new businesses popping up, and it's really
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exciting to see. I think there are pieces in place downtown. I did
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hear your conversation with with Tom yesterday, and I was really great. I
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was love getting Tom's take on things. But he really hit the nail on
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the head about that that critical element. And it was great to have the
13:03
NFL draft activities and brought a lot of people. But then what do they
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do after? So I think building that up and then everything else falls into
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place, it kind of needs, you know, a few people, like
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Joe was saying, you know, tell your friends someone moved down there.
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Then someone else moves down there, and just get that moving. I know
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we've got the university and the college down there, you know, in the
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last ten years or so, and you know that's helping you. I've heard
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talk of like building up a tech hub and really making that like the center
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for that. And we've got businesses down there already that fall into that category.
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So just kind of working with the pieces that we have and just fostering
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that and hoping we get it right this time. There's so many different moving
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parts with it all but it is really that critical mass. I mean,
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if people are living in the core, that's going to necessitate another coffee shop.
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It's going to necessitate another restaurant, maybe a little bookstore or a bakery
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or something. But if there aren't that critical mass downtown, there isn't a
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reason to necessarily, you know, go and invest in that area. The
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reason why people I think flocked to Ford City one, the history there is
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great. You had some really good bones in those buildings and there were some
14:05
great community leaders over there. I think back to Rany Diestelman before he passed
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away, really helping to improve some of those buildings to get them turn key
14:13
ready for people. But the rents were also cheaper, yes, and absent
14:16
cheap rents in the downtown core, which as we were talking about Tom about
14:20
yesterday, they're going up and we've seen this already. We've seen closures.
14:24
He hinted that there will be more closures or movings coming in the future out
14:28
of the core. This is where Joe, you know, the incentives,
14:33
those cips. If a business owner doesn't see the business case to do it,
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they're not going to do it, and we end up with an area
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that can sit empty for ten twenty thirty years and it's tough. And that's
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where minnesipalis have that opportunity to provide that incentive and hopefully that encouraged those the
14:50
landlords to create something or use that to sell their building to and make it
14:56
saleable to someone who really wants to do something like that. So those have
15:00
been successful for for our community. I know even in the other county municipalities
15:05
that offering, whether it be you know, main street or industrial incentives,
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it does have that extra positive impact on making people make that informed decision to
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open up a business or we can all keep going, Dan Gilbert, spend
15:20
more money in our core. Please, well, welcome you. You can
15:24
be King of windsor we'll give you a crown. It's nine twenty eight.
15:28
I hope he was listening. It's nine twenty eight. We're going to take
15:31
a quick break right now. We got the nine thirty information update with Paul
15:33
McDonald coming up next. Don't go anywhere, folks. John Lydkey here on
15:35
AM eight hundred. Hey, folks, we're back. John Lydkey here on
15:39
AM eight hundred. CKLW. We got a contest for you. Time for
15:43
you to text million and your name to ten eight hundred for your chance to
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win one hundred dollars in Lotto Max tickets, which includes four Lotto Max Quick
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Pick plays, five Encore for four upcoming draws. All you gotta do is
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text million and your name to ten eight hundred. Now we're going to dive
16:03
back into our Friday roundtable, joined by Jenstrong Tailgate Takeout and Joe Bacchetti,
16:08
Deputy Mayor of Tacomsie. This is a story that caught my eye and I
16:12
knew that we were going to have to be discussing this. The opp has
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come out with a statement and they say mandatory alcohol testing will now come up
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with every traffic stop on the QW Highway four h three, Highway four oh
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one and other GTA highways. This is under Canada's mandatory alcohol screening law,
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drivers must immediately comply with a police officer's demand for a breath sample, even
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in the absence of any suspicion that they have consumed any alcohol. Drivers who
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don't comply with this breath demand could be charged with failure or refusal to comply
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under the Criminal Code. According to the OPP reason being is that three hundred
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and eighty five people have died and impaired driving related collisions on opp patrolled roads
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between twenty eighteen and the end of twenty twenty three, and last year saw
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a thirty one percent increase in collisions connected to impaired driving numbers compared to the
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previous five years. So, Deputy Mayor, I'll bring you on first about
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this one. Do you think that this is an appropriate measure? Do you
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think it's an overreach? I mean, the hair on my arm sort of
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goes up when I hear that everyone is going to have to do this,
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But I do recognize that this has already been the law and we aren't allowed
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to drive drunk on our roads. So I suppose you know, it goes
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to that question, if you're not doing anything wrong, what do you have
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to hide? But that's always a slippery slope kind of argument as well.
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What are your takes on this? Well, I think you know, I
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have a highly respect for the opp They obviously police are town of Tacomsi and
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actually five other municipalities in the county, and so being also as a past
17:53
member of the Police Service Board. A lot of this is driven by data,
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and so the data that you just indicate. It now indicates that there's
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a rise in accidents in drunk driving, especially in those corridors. And so
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the opp for them to make this decision to go ahead and try to enforce
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and and make it mandatory, there's a reason for that. And and so
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as a driver, you know, I accept that that's those are the rules,
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and if I get pulled over, I will come to expect that.
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And again, at the end of the day, their their job is to
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serve and protect, and so they're protecting the safety of all residents and drivers
18:30
that are on the roads. And so for them to do this, there's
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got to be a rationale and a reason for it. And I totally support
18:37
that and and and and welcome that initiative. And I'm sure like any other
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initiative, they'll look at, you know, in terms of the effects of
18:45
that and whether it be a pilot or not, They're going to look at
18:48
the numbers and the data that indicate if there was any breathalyzers that warranted,
18:55
you know, taking the driver off the road and again saving lives at the
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end of the day, Well, I think this one really demonstrates that driving
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jen isn't a right that we have. It's a privilege that's afforded to us.
19:06
So we have to, you know, follow all the different regulations and
19:08
legislation that's with it. We have to be licensed, we have to get
19:11
insurance, and in this case, this is just another thing that people are
19:15
going to have to deal with. And I remember when cannabis was legalized,
19:18
there were conversations around this exact same issue. Everyone's going to have to have
19:21
a breathalyzer because we're all going to be high smoking the bliffs in our cars.
19:25
What do you think, Jen, Well, I gotta say there's a
19:26
big difference between being high and being drunk. I just anyway, you took
19:33
the words out of my mouth like it's it's a privilege and you have to
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follow the rules. Initially, same thing I felt like when I heard that,
19:41
I'm going that doesn't feel right. Why should I, you know,
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be subject to a breathalyzer. I'm not doing anything wrong. But then I
19:48
think about I left a concert last week, and I always like to squeeze
19:52
out a little bit early because you see the people drinking and you wonder how
19:56
are they getting home? And so I always have this in the back of
20:00
my head. I'm very much. Such a mom. I'm like, oh,
20:03
better better beat them, you know before these people end up on the
20:07
roads, And I think, why do I have to worry about this?
20:10
They should be following the law. So again, as Joe said, you
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know it's driven by data, and they're going to show that this is saving
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lives, then okay, this is just something else that we're gonna have to
20:21
do to keep our road safe. And that's what it really comes down to,
20:23
right, I mean, keeping the road safe. I really don't think
20:26
that this guy, that this police organization, the OPP is like out of
20:30
their going out of their way to try and limit the rights that we have.
20:33
I think back to COVID when Premiere Ford gave them full power to arrest.
20:40
Remember he declared martial law pretty well, and the OPP were allowed to
20:44
stop anyone anywhere for anything and arrest you and bring you home, put you
20:48
in jail. And I remember the Police Chiefs Association was like, Nope,
20:52
we're good, we don't want those powers. I've never once seen a police
20:56
organization not want to take on extra powers that are provide them. So I
21:00
don't think that there's anything nefarious in this, But I mean, you know,
21:03
you look to your community, Joe, and I wonder what the reality
21:06
is like on the ground when it comes to impaired driving. And I recognize,
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you know, you don't have statistics that are available with us, but
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just anecdotally, what's it like in Tacomsie. Well, I know in the
21:17
past we had the town to come see, we would do the corn Festival
21:22
and that weekend there there would be ride programs set up in the in the
21:25
municipality and so everybody knows Friday Saturday night there was a you know, an
21:30
enforcement in that regard, whether it be at certain intersections leaving exiting because there
21:37
was a beer tent at the festival and people drinking so as as opp and
21:41
whether it be in Comsi or other places if there's a big event that's serving
21:47
alcohol, like like Jen mentioned a concert happening. I know there's a lot
21:52
of festivals starting up in the next month or so, there's going to be
21:56
that kind of vigilance and enforcement and that's done RITE programs and rightfully so again
22:02
it's to protect lives and keep everyone safe. You know, we talked about
22:06
events and how people get home, and I remember going to the shores of
22:10
Eerie Wine festival and obviously tragic, tragic accident that resulted from that, which
22:17
eventually led to it being shut down and multiple lawsuits. But that was the
22:21
one that always stood out to me because you had, like, and I
22:25
don't mean to be derogatory at all, but you had some very small women
22:29
drinking multiple bottles of wine over the course of an evening, as well as
22:32
men drinking a lot of wine, and everyone just had those rosy cheeks.
22:36
And I remember seeing people falling into the It was just about they fell into
22:41
the water, they fell into the river. It was yeah. And then
22:45
those you know, people got into the car, and I remember it took
22:48
a while for them to set up the checkpoints immediately outside of the festival.
22:53
It our roads need to be safe. People need to know that not only
22:57
can they get home safe because they're driving safely and they're not intoxic, but
23:02
they need to be protected from other people too. It's a real tough situation.
23:04
Jen, Do you have any last thoughts on this one. I just
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it's something you know, you think again, going back to being a mom,
23:10
It's like, it's not you I'm worried about, it's the other people.
23:12
Yeah, And that's That's what it comes down to. And you know,
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I would hope that people, you know, there's that level of personal
23:18
responsibility, but unfortunately there's not. So you know, we have to enforce
23:22
these things. What about the other part of the technology. You know,
23:26
we we have all these new ev cars and and gadgets, you know,
23:32
implement a breathalyzer where you have to blow into some device yea, if not,
23:37
your car doesn't start. And so again that would help the opp with
23:40
their mandatory, you know, when they do a stop to do a breathalyzer.
23:42
But put that right in the vehicle. You know, starting in a
23:45
certain age in terms of what where the cars, you know, twenty whatever
23:52
it is, twenty twenty six, every new vehicle will have to have a
23:56
some kind of check where you can't I won't start. I saw a patent
24:00
that was recently filed for a steering wheel that was able to absorb the sweat
24:04
that comes out of your palms, that was able to detect and they had
24:07
cameras that were able to detect your eyeballs and whether or not you're looking the
24:11
way that you should be as a sober person compared to if you're drunk.
24:15
And sometimes you know, cross eyed, as I've seen many a friend before
24:19
fall into that position. I think he'd need a lot of buy in from
24:23
the community to get to that point. But again, it goes to this
24:26
point that driving is a privilege. We don't have a right to be operating
24:30
a vehicle on the roads. We have a right to use the roads,
24:33
but we don't have a right to get behind to a vehicle and you know,
24:37
throw back a six pack and drive one ten down the Ucer Expressway because
24:41
I got to get to my friend's place exactly. We're gonna take a quick
24:44
break right now. We'll keep this round table going. On the other side,
24:48
we're gonna keep talking about driving, and we're gonna go to after and
24:52
before school pick up and drop off. I saw some madness yesterday was delayed
25:00
for about forty five seconds. It wasn't the biggest of deals, but it
25:03
was still madness. We'll talk about why I don't go anywhere. John Lydkey
25:06
here on AM eight hundred. Hey, everyone with fact. John Lydskey here
25:08
on AM eight hundred CKLW. It is the Friday round Table. Jen Strong
25:15
joins me right now as well as Deputy Marit to come see Joe Bacchetti.
25:18
I was driving yesterday and I'll tell you. I'll tell you where it was
25:22
there. There's no need for anonymity here. I was on the street behind
25:26
Victoria Public School. I think that's a Polisher. Yeah, it's Polisher,
25:30
and it's a two way street. So picture this. On the right hand
25:33
side is a parking lane and it is filled with cars that are parked.
25:37
In the middle lane are people that are going northbound, which is the way
25:41
that I was going. And then in the left hand lane that's the southbound
25:45
lane for people to come opposing you. Three lanes all filled with cars,
25:51
all going the exact same way. What made it incredibly complicated was I was
25:56
in the middle lane. The cars that were in the left lane were pretty
25:57
well parked, and I got through past the parked cars, there was a
26:02
full line of probably fifteen cars trying to get southbound, not able to because
26:07
there was no area for them to drive. This took up like forty five
26:10
seconds to a minute. It didn't really cause too much consternation for me,
26:14
but God, if I was dropping off a kid every single day, this
26:17
would probably be the only thing on my mind. Jen, you had said
26:22
that you're all fired up about this and you want to dive in right off
26:26
the bat. So let's hear what you got. Let me tell you the
26:27
rage that I feel at pick up and drop off time. So my son
26:33
is a little bit older now, so thankfully he's able to walk by himself.
26:38
But I used to go pick him up at school and I would get
26:41
there early. In park they have a big enough parking lot and you would
26:45
park there and about five minutes before the bell, cars would come from every
26:49
which way. They would be parking in the middle of the road, similar
26:52
to what you said, both sides going the same way. Then you've got
26:56
school buses trying to get by. You've got people parking in front of cars
27:00
in the parking lot and blocking a car. So even if I picked up
27:06
my son, great, I go to leave, I can't because there's cars
27:08
parked in front of me and I can't move. Just absolutely maddening, and
27:14
people also not paying attention. Kids are running out, you know, and
27:17
you have parents on their phones, which is upsetting for many reasons. It
27:21
was just madness. And so I had called the school and I said,
27:23
look like I think maybe have some staff out here, you know, at
27:27
the end of the day, it's just really hard. I'm worried about someone
27:30
getting hurt and you know, not being able to get out. And the
27:36
response was, maybe you should park a little further away. You were doing
27:41
everything right. I was like, but I'm following the rules, and so
27:45
I have to make these concessions for people who think that the rules don't apply
27:48
to them. That doesn't add up to me. So it's super frustrating,
27:55
and I think people, you know it is that like the rules don't apply
27:57
to me, or oh, I'll just be two seconds, but like you
28:00
get ten twenty people doing that, and then you end up with this congestion
28:04
every day, and you know, it's a lot of We talked about this
28:10
earlier, Joe and I were, you know, some of the older schools.
28:11
Obviously the infrastructure isn't there to be able to have like the kiss and
28:15
ride programs and things like that. But then you've got to have someone out
28:18
there directing traffic and saying, you know, you can't park here, because
28:22
it does someone's going to get hurt, and it's just not responsible. It's
28:26
not sustainable. I feel like George Costanza when they're waiting at the Chinese food
28:30
restaurant. We're living in a society. We're supposed to act in a civilized
28:34
way. Exactly. I didn't. I didn't realize a deputy mayor, that
28:40
you used to be a vice principal, So this has to be something that
28:44
you dealt with often. Yeah, correct, I returned as a principal a
28:47
few years ago. But they these issues happen at every school community, So
28:52
it's not you, and it's not going to be solved by one body.
28:56
And this is an effort and we need to do better. We need to
29:00
do better in terms of communicating, collaborating with all groups, whether it be
29:04
the school which their job is to educate. We need to work with the
29:07
municipalities to help with infrastructure because, like Jen said, the new builds have
29:12
the infrastructure there to help with kiss and ride, but the older schools don't
29:17
have that, and now you're limited to what you can and can't do,
29:19
and there's cost to that. And also we have to work with our local
29:23
police and in terms of enforcement if the need be there. So having those
29:29
three in play, one of the things that we need to think is out
29:33
of the box, is where what can we do to eliminate or diminish that
29:40
crowd coming in or those vehicles coming in. Schools are open fifteen minutes before
29:45
the bell time starts, so there's a fifteen minute time that parents can drop
29:51
off their children because that's when they're supervised by staff and staff it's not their
29:56
job to patrol outside the school boundaries, right, they have union. They're
30:00
not going to go out and patrol the street. So who's going to do
30:03
that part? And everyone raises their hand, well, that's not my job.
30:04
Well guess what, collectively we need to put our heads together and find
30:10
a solution to this that you know, it's not your job, but collectively
30:14
we need to do better. So should we look at the drop off times
30:18
being longer thirty minutes where parents now have thirty minutes so they're not all there
30:22
within fifteen minutes, So now having that thirty minute window would help with the
30:29
congestion. And then the school will say, well thirty minutes, who's going
30:32
to watch the kids? Now? Well, maybe we need to increase funding
30:36
at the school boards or ministry to hire more staff to supervise, whether there
30:41
be volunteers or not that are paid staff that will watch students that come to
30:48
school. Earlier, so that it's not fifty minutes, it's thirty minutes.
30:51
So these are things that I think we need to do better, and we
30:52
need to collaborative work with everyone to try to resolve. Now, a lot
30:56
of our schools were built at a time when automobile usage wasn't nearly as prevalent
31:02
or accessible as it is today, and it speaks to as well the fact
31:07
that we've seen school consolidations and closures bringing people further away than they traditionally would
31:12
have gone where they could have walked to school because they were within their own
31:15
neighborhood. I guess, Jen, that speaks to the need potentially for better
31:21
public infrastructure, like I don't know, I think maybe protected and dedicated bike
31:25
lanes so parents could feel comfortable having their kids ride a bike to school,
31:30
because I wouldn't feel comfortable myself walking through the area that I was at yesterday,
31:36
because like there were kids just walking out from between park cars on both
31:40
sides, parents, as you said, on their cell phones while driving not
31:44
really paying attention. I mean, it was utter madness. Yeah, And
31:47
my son's twelve and has the ability to were within biking distance of his school.
31:52
He doesn't feel comfortable. He barely feels comfortable crossing the street with you
31:56
know, with the situation after school. Before school is a little bit different,
32:01
but the after school rush seems to be a little bit crazier. But
32:05
yeah, having those dedicated bike lanes, having you know, a lot of
32:08
places still have crossing guards, which is helpful as well, but having those
32:13
things in place is a nice start. And I think it's kind of the
32:16
theme of everything we talked about today. There's a lot of like collaboration and
32:21
also personal responsibility. So people need to put themselves in other people's shoes and
32:24
go, Okay, if I was trying to get out of a parking lot,
32:28
would I want someone to park directly in front of me? Or you
32:30
know, I think you know, that's the dream. That's the way that
32:34
everyone kind of considered others. A funny story, I was walking downtown the
32:38
other day and came across an intersection that had a crossing guard and I went
32:43
to cross the street and the crossing yard walked out and stopped traffic. Oh.
32:51
I was like, I'm thirty five, like thanks, but like I'm
32:53
good like, and he went, it's the job. I respect that I
32:59
respect it. We went through. We're at the end of the show here
33:01
this segment, but we love to do plugged in on the Roundtable to let
33:06
our guests shout something out they think needs some attention. Jen, let's start
33:09
off with you. Well, I'm going to shout out and you know,
33:12
I've been on with Dan talking about second annual charity cornhole tournament that I'm hosting
33:17
in partnership with Walkerville Brewery. It's May twenty fifth, from twelve to six,
33:22
and we will be having all the proceeds go to the CMAHA Windsor Essex.
33:28
Got lots of great food, We've got Grand Cantina serving some food.
33:30
We're going to have after party at the New Goat in Walkerville. So it's
33:35
going to be a really fun time. Fifty to fifty draw lots of lots
33:38
of cool prizes. So I'm really hoping to fill up the teams and have
33:43
another successful year. So I was talking with a couple of people a few
33:45
weeks ago about cornhole and just I was met with a blank face, like
33:51
what is that? So if there's anyone listening right now who goes what is
33:53
a cornhole competition? Do you want to explain briefly? So people have seen
33:59
them, you know a lot of the times like I've always played, you
34:00
know, kind of backyard barbecues, like a wooden board with the hole cut
34:04
out at the top and you throw and you space them apart and you throw
34:07
bean bags into them. And it's really growing. Actually, the gentleman Windsor
34:12
corn Holes running the tournament for me, they're petitioning for it to be an
34:15
Olympic sport. Oh so lots of leagues around Windsor, Essex County. Super
34:21
super fun and like I said, last year we had a great time and
34:24
had over fifty teams, so we're trying to beat that this year. And
34:28
I think as more people know what cornhole is, I think, you know,
34:31
it'll only grow popularity. Sounds like a lot of fun and last but
34:36
not least, Deputy Mayor of to come see Joe Bachetty, what do you
34:37
think needs to be shouted out, plugged in? Well, John, thank
34:43
you. As a spring season's unfolded here, I'm starting an initiative as a
34:47
Deputy mayor with walk in the Parks and so, you know, connecting with
34:52
the community face to face versus social media emails. I want to reach out
34:57
to a residence and offer them an opportun unity to meet with me on Monday
35:01
nights seven o'clock starting on Monday, May sixth, and we're going to start
35:07
at Lakewood Park where people can just come out there and talk about any issues
35:09
that they would like, whether it be traffic, congestion or you know,
35:14
main Street, the renovations, any issue that is on their mind. Having
35:20
that face to face. I miss that part of the job where you know,
35:23
you see a lot on social media where people just send messages, they
35:27
tag you and you try to respond. But I want to be able to
35:30
have that opportunity and give the residents that opportunity to to, you know,
35:34
just walk. And I'm going to start these five kilometer five k walks in
35:37
the parks and each month I'm going to change it up so that I reach
35:40
out to the community on a broad base and in terms of offering that dialogue
35:45
with them. So I'm looking forward to the conversations. Oh I like that
35:50
a lot. And you can't go blocking people when you're at a park like
35:52
our social media. So this is a great forum to It's a win win
35:58
and again it gives you that different person, right and it gives you that
36:00
opportunity to explain, you know, things that you might be able to do
36:05
over a computer or whatnot. So again, I hope the residents will come
36:10
out and again more information will come out. I'll be posting that later on
36:15
this evening. Well I like that so much. Thank you so much.
36:17
What a great Friday roundtable. Thank you Jenstrong from Tailgate Takeout and Deputy mayrit
36:23
to come see Joe but Chatti very much. Appreciate both of your time.
36:28
We're going to take a break right now. Ten o'clock news coming up next,
36:30
and then after that we're going to be talking about what's actually going on
36:32
at those Toronto anti Israel pro Palestine encampments. We've got a reporter and a
36:37
lawyer who's been spending time down there and covering it. And we'll be speaking
36:42
with Karma Sad after the news. So don't go anywhere, folks. John
36:45
Lydkey here on AM eight hundred