There is no end to the taxes we pay.

My late father would always tell me: Never pay a penny more or a penny less in tax than you have to. In today’s world it’s easier said than done when it comes to Ontario’s Drive Clean scheme. After doing research on this Drive Clean program, it does nothing but deposit taxpayers dollars into Ontario revenue stream. A 2012 auditor general's report stated on-road vehicle emissions have declined so much from 1998-2010 that they are no longer among the contributors to smog in Ontario. It should be noted 90 per cent of Ontario's air pollution comes from Ohio. 

Please tell Environment Minister Jim Bradley the smog in London is not coming from a tailpipe in Ontario, it’s a place called the Ohio River Valley.

Monday morning on my program, I did a story about Hockey Canada’s vote to eliminate body checking for pee wee level players. This announcement comes after a longstanding debate about kids suffering high rates of hockey-related concussions and fractures. What is interesting is only Saskatchewan voted against banning body checking. Some reports say next year Hockey Canada should not only look at the pee wee level players between 11 and 12 years but should be increased to the age of 16. The reaction I got from this story throughout the day was that many felt the whole idea was ridiculous. Many felt you're always going to get injuries, but you get injuries in any sport doing anything. High school football was one example given...

The president of the Windsor Minor Hockey says : "It's about teaching our kids to take a hit and that’s a part of hockey."

I'm interested ...

Most of my listening audience knows that I’m just back after being away for the last month. I understand now there were lots of rumours about why that was, so here’s the real story. An undiagnosed case of high blood pressure, on top of weeks of a respiratory viral infection, caused a host of medical issues, including a sudden change in my eyesight. It’s taken some weeks but I’m still on the mend and finally felt well enough to return to work.

The experience reminded me of how important health is, and how difficult life can be when you don’t have good health. I also learned how blessed we are to have access to the medical professionals we have in our city. We should never, ever take those services for granted. I’m grateful to all of the medical specialists I’ve seen so much of lately, and how hard they worked ...

This past week...was seven days that set the benchmark. It seems weeks ago, John Winston was being questioned by city council who were worried about spending money on a major event like the World Figure Skating Championship at Budweiser Gardens. Some council members thought it was sending the wrong message at a time of high unemployment and budget cutbacks. Many Londoners and including myself now feel it was the best message: "that the City of London is open for business to the world."

The World Figure Skating Championships are one of winters most prestigious global sporting events. This past week there were competitors from 41 countries on six continents. Millions of people viewed the World Figure Skating Championships worldwide. It should be noted London is the smallest city to host the event in recent years. Last year’s event was held in Nice France ( population 1 million) the year before Moscow (population 11.5 million) ...

No matter what you have read, seen or heard in the media, Mayor Rob Ford is still Mr. Popularity. In spite of missteps and legal woes, Mayor Rob Ford just keeping rising in the polls based on a new poll from Forum Research.

If an election were held today, let’s say Rob Ford vs. George Smitherman, it would be 45 per cent FORD and 40 per cent Smitherman. Forum Research says his approval rate is up 3 per cent from 45% to 48%. For Toronto's best mayor among the last eight, Rob Ford came out on top.

They like him. They really like him! Don’t count Joe out yet!