Ford Has to Stop Making it Easy
It is safe to say Toronto Mayor Rob Ford is under more pressure and is more vulnerable than he has been for the duration of his political career. Nominations for the 2014 municipal election open up in a few months and he would be wise to consider the implications that will have on him. The [...]
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Scandal Fatigue
Working in public relations and government relations requires a lot of reading, watching and listening to the news. Knowing what is being reported helps to shape the narratives we develop for our clients and the discussions we have on their behalf. I like being on top of the news and between ‘as it happens’ media [...]
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Reflections on Timothy Bosma
Since his disappearance earlier this month, virtually everyone in southern Ontario has come to know the name ‘Tim Bosma’. His name, face and images of the truck that brought the alleged suspects into his life have been plastered on TV screens, newspapers, websites, lamp posts and transit shelters. While his family and friends anxiously waited [...]
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Spring is Springing in Toronto
I am amazed we are already in to April! It’s nice that the days are beginning to get longer, the sun is glowing stronger and signs of life are coming back. This morning I woke up just before 6am and for the first time this year I heard the songbirds singing outside my window. It [...]
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My Thoughts On Kathleen Wynne Being Elected Leader of the Ontario Liberal Party
I wrote a blog entry for Huffington Post two days before the Ontario Liberal Party delegate election meetings titled ‘Kathleen Wynne for the Ontario Liberal Leadership Win?‘. I summarized the reasons I thought Kathleen Wynne was best positioned among the six remaining candidates to win the Liberal Leadership. This isn’t and wasn’t an endorsement, but merely [...]
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Merry Christmas!
Another year is coming to an end, and in between time with family and friends I find myself reflecting on the year that was. Although 2012 was a gloomy year with all the news of economic woe, personally it has been a very positive one. On the business front, I am happy with the challenges [...]
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John Laforet: Is 2013 Going To Be The Year of Three Premiers?
Dalton McGuinty has announced his intention to resign as Premier, once the Ontario Liberal Party chooses a successor for him, which is expected to happen at the end of January. Whomever wins McGuinty’s crown in 85 days, will be sworn in as Premier likely two or three weeks later. With support for the Ontario Liberals [...]
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John Laforet: A Grounding End To My Sailing Season
It hit me earlier this week that the fall is here, and winter is coming, and that means I need to begin making plans to put my sailboat away until next spring. The season has been short and full of challenges related to owning a forty-five year old boat, so accepting it’s over for the [...]
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From the Broadview Blog: Introducing Broadview Strategy Group’s ‘The Broadview Report’
I just finished writing a blog entry for the Broadview Strategy Group blog on a new initiative we’re undertaking to provide public opinion research each month on a wide range of topical issues of the day. The first ‘Broadview Report’ will address the public’s perception of private zoos and aquaria in Ontario, including the much [...]
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From The Broadview Blog: Turquoise #10 Envelopes Aren’t a Hot Item
I don’t have any burning topics I am waiting to write about today, so instead I thought I would post a link to a blog entry I wrote for Broadview Strategy Group earlier today on the trials and tribulations involved in seeking out a very specific colour of #10 business size envelopes. It may be [...]
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My Day in Montreal
I’m sitting in the airport in Montreal and thought I would share a bit about my day as we wait to board. The reason it took sixteen calls to get a hotel room in Montreal last night, became apparent today after perusing the local media. Montreal’s 32nd annual pride parade and NASCAR were both big [...]
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16th Time Was The Try For Finding a Hotel Room in Montreal Last Night
Has your significant other ever asked you if you could go somewhere for the weekend or even the day and you make the commitment to do it, before working out any of the details? That was me on Saturday afternoon, when I told my girlfriend we could take the train to Montreal that night, spend [...]
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Did You Know 95% of Blogs Are Abandoned?
This one was for nearly a year, until today! I started blogging on my personal website http://laforet.ca in June 2008, but for a variety of reasons stopped in September 2011, when my work began being published on considerably more visible sites including Huffington Post Canada. Blogging for me has never been about profit or self [...]
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Perth-Wellington Has a Message for John Wilkinson – Sayonara!
I’m writing this from the front seat of our vehicle as the ‘Winds of Change Tour’ barrels down the highway from Stratford, en route to Searchmont for tomorrow’s rally with folks in Algoma-Manitoulin. It has been an amazing two days in Perth-Wellington! Seeing so many supporters of the local Wind Concerns Ontario groups come out [...]
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Great Rally and March in Port Dover Today!
It was a blast to be back in Haldimand-Norfolk today as we held a BBQ, rally and march at Silver Lake with the help of the local Lions Club. Many thanks to the event organizers at Haldimand Wind Concerns, MPP Toby Barrett who came out, and the hundreds of people who joined us as well [...]
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“Wind Concerns Ontario’s Winds of Change Tour Launched in Owen Sound”
Wind Concerns Ontario has successfully launched the latest province-wide organizing effort of 2011, this time with a strong election focus. Over the next forty or so days, Wind Concerns Ontario members in sixty seven ridings will be mobilized to actively work to defeat Liberal incumbents, and candidates in their respective ridings. I look forward to [...]
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Video: John Laforet’s Address to the Empire Club of Canada – Wind Generated Controversy
What an amazing moment for Wind Concerns Ontario and me personally. It was an honour to stand behind the podium at the Empire Club of Canada and deliver an address to this influential body. To watch a video webcast of my address click here ‘Wind Generated Controversy: the financial, legal and political concequences of Ontario’s Green Energy Act’ [...]
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Thunder Bay Rally a Success!
As the Wind Concerns Ontario Truth about Turbines Tour kicked off in Thunder Bay last night, I began blogging at wcotour.ca It’s a site where myself and others will share their stories, photos, videos and audio from the province wide tour Wind Concerns Ontario is undertaking over the next six weeks. I encourage you to [...]
