HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2017-05-25, Page 5THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MAY 25, 2017. PAGE 5.
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The reality is words do hurt people
From the number of people who have
damaged their careers in the last week or
so because of loose lips, maybe we need
Walt Disney to reissue the movie Bambi — you
know the one where Thumper the rabbit's
father advises him: "If you can't say something
nice, don't say nothin' at all!"
People have lost jobs or potential jobs lately
because of things they said or wrote. Not, of
course, Kevin Pillar, the Blue Jays star
outfielder who was caught shouting a
homophobic slur at an opposing pitcher in a
moment of frustration after striking out during
a game when Toronto was getting hammered.
He was suspended for two games but you don't
get fired when you have the singular talent of a
Major League star.
But others have paid a higher price, often
for facetious quips they made on social media,
which are the equivalent for ordinary people of
the open mike that catches an off -hand
comment of a politician.
Three political hopefuls in Nova Scotia's
upcoming provincial election have resigned or
been dropped by their parties (all three of the
Liberals, Progressive Conservatives and New
Democrats) after people sniffed out
inappropriate things they'd said online, often
years ago.
Political parties spend a lot of time
investigating the backgrounds of their
candidates trying to prevent providing
ammunition for their opponents. A candidate
who proves to be an embarrassment might not
only lose the local riding but can damage the
party's brand across an entire province or
country.
One party insider said that checking into a
candidate's background used to mean looking
at their bank records and things that they might
have written that were on the public record but
now it means patiently reading through reems
and reems of things they've posted on
Facebook, Twitter accounts and websites,
Roulston
From the
cluttered desk
trying not to nod off as you read stories about
their kids or cats while looking for the one
incendiary comment that might blow up. But
you must do it, he said, because you know your
opponents will or some casual reader may find
something and blow the whistle.
The reality is that things you might have
said in the past over coffee that would have
been forgotten, or at least undocumented, are
out there forever when you tweet something
you thought was funny, or you react in anger.
In Nova Scotia, the candidates often got in
trouble for things they'd written years ago.
One, a woman, made a joke about a date rape
drug. Another, in an ancient post had angrily
struck out at someone and made reference to
Down Syndrome. The third, an NDP candidate
no less, made comments he himself termed
"misogynistic".
Meanwhile the whole "cultural
appropriation" debate has cost editors of two
Canadian magazines their jobs.
Hal Niedzviecki, editor of Write, the
quarterly magazine put out by the Writers'
Union of Canada, set off the explosion in an
editorial for an issue focused on the work of
Indigenous authors. He said he did not believe
in cultural appropriation but thought "anyone,
anywhere, should be encouraged to imagine
other peoples, other cultures, other identities."
He really set off the land mine when he
suggested there might even be an
"appropriation" prize for "for best book by an
author who writes about people who aren't
even remotely like her or him."
The Writers' Union immediately
apologized for the pain and offence caused by
the editorial and Niedzviecki was fired. He
apologized but others came to his defence,
including Jonathan Kay, editor of The Walrus
magazine who used an online column on the
National Post website to defend what he felt
was a freedom of speech issue. When the
backlash hit, he quit.
The dominant story line right now, in a time
of reconciliation toward Indigenous people,
has become the hurt caused when their stories
are told by outsiders who don't understand
what it's like to be Indigenous. Here, as in the
case of Pillar and the things said by the
discarded political candidates, the emphasis is
on the hurt these careless comments cause.
Things have changed a lot that way over the
years. I was teased relentlessly, even by my
best friends, for most of my public school
years. When I'd come home in tears my mother
would repeat the old saying of the time: "Sticks
and stones will break my bones but names will
never hurt me". It didn't help. The words hurt.
My mother would then turn to her back-up
strategy which was to advise me not to let my
schoolmates see that what they were saying
hurt me. It was a good theory based in the
reality that the kids wouldn't change so I had
to. The problem was I couldn't appear
invulnerable.
These days we know words do hurt, with a
growing number of young people choosing to
end their lives to escape taunting. The
emphasis is now on the elimination of the cruel
use of words to hurt others.
The effort to prevent the use of hurtful
remarks and taunts is proper, but in reality
humans will never be perfected. For our own
good those of us who are sensitive also need to
develop our ability not to become the victims
of bullies. I know from experience that's not
easy but it's self preservation in a world where
you can't make everyone change.
NH Councillors are missing the point
For years I have listened to members of
North Huron Council complain about
how no alternatives are presented by
people complaining about high taxes.
Council members (a couple in particular)
have said on more than one occasion they are
tired of hearing about how high the taxes are
in North Huron because no one presents them
with a way to reduce the taxes. They aren't
looking for ratepayers to do the extensive
research behind such an undertaking, but
looking for them to point out which services
could be cut to reduce the taxes.
It's an admirable request. Criticism without
actionable alternatives is just noise, after all,
that's why, when it comes to writing about
taxes, I have a slightly -more -even-handed way
of looking at the issue: I know that, without
giving up some of the services we use, we
can't expect taxes to decrease.
That said, when the community -at -large
does provide you with direction, you can't
ignore it so you can try and cut taxes.
Twice now, ratepayers have, through
surveys implemented by the township, said
they prefer weekly pick-up in the urban area.
In the first survey, which was created early
this year, it was made pretty clear that of the
near -400 respondents, an overwhelming
number of them create at least one clear
garbage bag of solid waste weekly.
Of the 380 respondents, 302, or 81.62 per
cent, say they produce one bag of garbage a
week. The rest said they produce two, three,
four or more bags of garbage per week.
That first survey also stated that the majority
of respondents (365) produce at least blue box
of recyclable materials per week. Of that
majority, most (220) produce more than two
blue boxes.
So here we have the majority of people
11.1% Denny
Scott
rianigh
Denny's Den
saying that they produce at least one bag of
garbage per week and at least one, likely more,
blue box per week.
In that same survey, more than 80 per cent of
people said they wanted weekly garbage
collection.
North Huron produced a second survey, one
that claimed more context.
Now, I could dispute that. As someone well
trained in communications, I could point out
how misleading the survey was (including a
dollar amount for garbage collection but not
including a reference to the overall budget or
other services is definitely what we in the
communications community call a red
herring, for example). I could do that, but that
would take an entire other column. Heck, I
may do that, but not today.
That second survey, despite the misleading
questions, resulted in a majority of
respondents saying they did not support
reducing collection services to lower taxes.
So, for those keeping score, we have a
majority of people, even when presented with
incomplete context, saying "maintain urban
collection".
What's council's suggestion? Make people
sit on at least one bag of garbage and probably
two boxes of recycling for an extra week. Hold
on, that doesn't track.
While people not wanting to provide
solutions to their council is a considerable
concern, councillors not listening to the
people who elect them is an even greater
concern.
The only logical argument against weekly
pick-up came from Deputy -Reeve James
Campbell and Councillor Ray Hallahan who
pointed out that East Wawanosh already had
bi-weekly collection. Of course, people living
in a rural setting do typically have more space
to store garbage, more options to get rid of it
(open fires are only permitted in non -urban
areas to eliminate acceptable burn materials)
and likely have, again, more room for
composting.
I've spoken to some folks about this issue
and they wonder why I'm so hot under the
collar about the issue. Allow me to explain.
I don't have a backyard. My property was
severed, once upon a time, with maybe a
dozen feet between my backdoor and my
property line and most of that is deck. I also
don't have a functioning basement. I have
nowhere to keep garbage aside from in my
house and, between pets, baby diapers and all
the regular garbage a family generates, I'm at
a loss as to where I would keep excess garbage
for as much as 13 days.
Beyond that, however, is the fact that the
people have spoken and our representatives
just aren't listening, so let me spell it out,
Steve Harvey style (you'll have to imagine me
wearing a double-breasted suit): How many
people want to keep weekly garbaging?
Survey says more than half.
That means, to represent the people who put
you in office, North Huron council members,
you have to maintain weekly garbage
collection and not just for two years, but until
a majority says they don't want it.
Stop asking for feedback if you aren't
willing to listen to it.
Shawn
Loughlin
Ajliggi Shawn's Sense
A day that will live on
Friday was a great day in Blyth. Everyone
said so. In the early morning hours of
Friday, May 19, I walked around town
and everyone I spoke with would exclaim that
it was a "big day" for the village.
It just so happened to be my 35th birthday.
Once I got over the childish notion that
everyone was talking about me and how
splendid it was to celebrate the anniversary of
that 1982 day in May when I was brought into
the world, it got me thinking about just how
important Blyth Memorial Community Hall is
to this patch of land we call Blyth.
The hall is right in the centre of town, so
there's that. Geographically it's hard for much
to go on within Blyth without the hall playing
at least some part in the festivities. But it really
is a psychological thing for those who live in
or frequent the village. When the hall is busy,
the village is busy. And when the village is
busy, life is just a little bit more exciting for
everyone here.
Politicians were buzzing about and
preparations were being made throughout the
day. It was clear it was a big day on the Blyth
calendar. And not just the 2017 calendar, but
that historic calendar that people will look
back on years from now and remember.
Millions of dollars were put into the
renovations at the hall. Whether it was for new
seats, technological advancements in parts of
the hall most of us will never notice (like
lighting, sound, the kitchen and general ease of
use), the new courtyard or even the Phillips
Studio, plenty has been done to make the hall
beautiful and historic, yet modern.
And while Blyth residents, business owners
and stakeholders have been told to expect a
boom as a result of numerous investments like
the Goderich-to-Guelph Rail Trail, Blyth
Cowbell Brewing Company and the Canadian
Centre for Rural Creativity, it's hard to
imagine the Blyth Festival and Memorial Hall
being dethroned as the focal point of the
village anytime soon.
Those things will be great, but Blyth has
built its reputation on the success of the
Festival over the last 42 seasons and its name
has become synonymous with the great
Canadian work being done on the hall's stage.
What then comes next?
It's easy to say that Memorial Hall and the
Blyth Festival are important to Blyth. That's
not exactly a "hot take" as they say in the biz.
But what comes next for the Blyth Festival and
the building it calls home?
Well, you don't pay a few million dollars to
renovate your home if you don't plan on
throwing a few parties — if that makes sense.
What I mean is that the village now needs to
bring people in.
Not to heap pressure on the shoulders of
Festival Artistic Director Gil Garratt — I'm
sure there's enough there already; likely
mostly of the self-imposed variety. But it's up
to him and the team at the Festival to put
fannies in the seats, as they say.
It will be the Festival's rising tide that will
lift all boats. If the Festival is successful,
everything else comes along for the ride. More
people eat and drink at Cowbell and Blyth's
other fine restaurants. More people become
aware of the Canadian Centre for Rural
Creativity (when it's built) and what's being
done there (once it's finalized) and maybe
more people even hop on the G2G trail and
take in this lovely landscape of ours on a
bicycle or even on foot.
To steal (and adapt) the immortal quote from
Field of Dreams: Blyth has built it, now we
have to get them to come.