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8 • WATERLOO CHRONICLE • THURSDAY, MAY 25, 2017 WATERLOO CHRONICLE 630 Riverbend Drive, Unit 104 Kitchener, Ontario N2K 3S2 519-579-7166 Fax: 519-579-2029 www.waterloochronicle.ca Donna LUELO PUBLISHER EDITORIAL Bob VRBANAC EDITOR ext. 2305 editorial@waterloochronicle.ca bvrbanac@waterloochronicle.ca Adam JACKSON REPORTER ext. 2308 Twitter: @KWAdamJ ajackson@waterloochronicle.ca Samantha BEATTIE REPORTER ext. 2229 Twitter: @Samantha_KB sambeattie@waterloochronicle.ca ADVERTISING 519-579-7166 Ted ANDERSON, 579-7166 REGIONAL AD MANAGER tanderson@waterloochronicle.ca SALES LEAD Michelle STEVENS, ext. 2232 mstevens@waterloochronicle.ca SALES REPRESENTATIVE Cassandra DELLOW, ext. 2306 cdellow@waterloochronicle.ca SALES REPRESENTATIVE Aaron MURRAY, ext. 2304 amurray@waterloochronicle.ca CLASSIFIED 1-800-263-6480 CIRCULATION 519-894-3000 Canadian Publications Mail Sales Publication Agreement Number 40050478 International Standard Serial Number ASSN 0832-3410 Audited Circulation: 31,292 The Waterloo Chronicle is published each Thursday by Metroland Media Group Ltd. ONTARIO PRESS COUNCIL The Waterloo Chronicle is a member of The Ontario Press Council, which considers complaints against mem- ber newspapers. Any complaint about news, opinions advertising or conduct should first be taken to the newspaper. Unresolved complaints can be brought to: Ontario Press Council, 2 Carlton Street, Suite 1706, Toronto, ON., M5B 1J3. COPYRIGHT The contents of this newspaper are protected by copyright and may be used only for personal non-com- mercial purposes. All other rights are reserved and commercial use is pro- hibited. To make any use of this mate- rial you must first obtain the permis- sion of the owner of the copyright. For further information contact Bob Vrbanac, Managing Editor, Waterloo Chronicle, 630 Riverbend Drive, Suite 104, Kitchener, Ontario N2J 3H8. LETTERS POLICY Letters to the editor must contain the writer's full name, address and tele- phone number. Addresses and tele- phone numbers are used only for veri- fication purposes. Names will not be withheld. We reserve the right to edit, condense or reject any contribution for brevity or legal purposes. Letters may be submitted by email to editorial@water- loochronicle.ca. Suburban Newspapers of America VIEWPOINT WATERLOO CHRONICLE CHRONICLE EDITORIAL As I near the magical four-score mark in years on this planet, I continue to be amazed by what is going on in the wonderful world of weather. Here we are nearing the end of the magical month of May and I'm at least 20 rounds behind what I would normal- ly have already logged in the Waterloo Region by this time of the year. True I'm not as hardy as I was in years past but I still schedule at least five or six rounds a week, now mostly nine-hole outings, to keep my head in the game I have cher- ished since I was 11. But 2017 has been absolutely unpredictable. Despite the fact that we had a really mild win- ter, a staggering and drenching amount of rain this spring has been the worst my fading mem- ory can recall in decades. And if the rain wasn't bad enough, we've had so much wind I thought I was playing in Texas (noted for it's windy con- ditions) or Chicago (known as the Windy City). In a game two weeks back, I managed three holes at my fave Waterloo Golf Academy track. It only lasted three holes because my hat blew o� � ve times and my ball blew o� my extra large tee four times. And why? Cause the wind was blowing at 70 km/h. That was a couple of days after the temp soared into the high 20s and it was my � rst game in short sleeves. It took some time but I � nal- ly figured out what this is all about. Somehow it's connected to that comb-over, billionaire, bu� oon who is currently presi- dent of that wonderful country south of our border, the USA. Just an added tidbit -- USA also stands for U Still Away on the golf course greens. The wind might be con- nected to the constant hot air that spews from Trump's pie- hole and the cold and wet might somehow be connected the steady outpouring of bull feces that also is churned from the blowhard's mouth. In an earlier column about Trump, I predicted he would be shot, impeached or start a war. Let me add this -- the novelty of being POTUS will wear off once he's boosted the bank accounts -- mostly o� shore -- of as many billionaire and millionaire cro- nies as he can. Trump recently claimed he's been treated worse in his first 100 days in offi ce than any other president in history. Why is he surprised by that? Duh! He's the worst president in my memory in the history of the U.S. I can understand the con- cerns of people who voted for Trump because, not unlike Can- ada, they've had more than their share of self-serving political hacks who only care about their own well-being, including their rich taxpayer funded pensions and other perks.' But they must now realize this has been a major mistake. Only time will tell. Trump e� ect on global warming Advocates for local democracy have � nally had their day as the provincial government has moved to strip the anachronism of the Ontario Municipal Board of its powers. This quasi-judicial body long reigned oblivious to local planning and community concerns, and seemingly favoured developers when it came to local development issues. Th e fi nal nail in the coffi n might have come when it went against provincial planning policy, as we saw locally, and seemed to be trying to rewrite provincial legislation on the greenbelt and places to grow. It seemed to lose its focus of being an appeals body that was supposed to protect from unwarranted local planning deci- sions and instead turned into a body that issued them. When citizens tried to mount a case they were swamped by monied and vested interests that seemed to want to keep its Byzantine practices in place. People couldn't aff ord to mount any kind of defence or appeal because they often went against proponents with deeper pockets who could a� ord the legal and expert opinions to sway things their way. This wasn't democracy in action, it was the antithesis of people who had serious concerns about what was happening in their communities and showed up at city halls only to have this unaccountable government body ignore their concerns. Even worse, as we were seeing more often, it was causing OMB chill where councillors deferred taking principled stands on issues that affected local residents and neighbourhoods because they felt the decision would be overturned. It would also come at some cost to local taxpayers. We've all seen bad planning and development and won- dered how it happened. Most of it was blamed on the OMB -- not anymore. Now it's up to local councils to deliver on their mandate to represent their constituents. Good riddance, OMB BILL "SKIP" JOHNS THE 19TH HOLE