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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2017-06-29, Page 5THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JUNE 29, 2017. PAGE 5. Other Views We 've come a long way since 1967 Remembering how much Canadians were changed by the big party that marked our nation's centennial in 1967, I had hoped that Canada's 150th birthday would have become a much bigger event than it has turned out to be. Everybody under 50 deserves the experience we older types enjoyed in that remarkable summer. It was probably unrealistic to think that kind of magic could be touched off this summer. After all, part of what made 1967 so special was Expo 67, that outburst of futuristic creativity that put Montreal in the world's spotlight. The most frequently -asked question that summer, at least in eastern Canada, was "Have you been to Expo?" But, urged on by a federal government concerned about Canadian identity, there were many things to celebrate. Mobile museums telling the story of Canada's history set up for short stays in towns and villages across the country. Most towns had centennial parades and fireworks displays and special church services. There was a general euphoria as people who had been used to being the boring neighbour of the interesting nation to the south found themselves getting excited to be Canadians. The excitement changed the country. For the next few years our consciousness of being Canadian was raised. Canadian stories were told in books, in paintings, on theatre stages and television screens. We've never been the same since. To be truthful, some of these changes were already in the works before the centennial transformation. The federal government of Lester B. Pearson had introduced medicare, the Canada Pension Plan and student loans, which almost instantly opened the door for children Keith Roulston From the cluttered desk of poor parents to go to university or college. In the years ahead, these programs, particularly medicare, would set us on a path of thinking differently than our American cousins. Most Canadians still shake their heads at the violent opposition to Obamacare, our criticism being that if it had a fault it was that it didn't make healthcare free for everyone. Increasingly, Canadians chose different paths than Americans over the last 50 years. We were already diverging even as we celebrated the centennial. Americans were embroiled in the vicious, seemingly -endless Vietnam war at the time. Canada had refused to take part, even when our Prime Minister was lectured by the American President. American officials became even more irritated when Canada welcomed draft avoiders and deserters — many of whom became valued and even model citizens. The failure of American efforts in Vietnam led to one of our proudest moments. After hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese who had stuck with the Americans until the Communist takeover fled the country in flimsy boats, Canadian individuals, church groups and communities welcomed thousands of "boat people" to their communities. It's amazing how different Canada and the U.S. have become given the increasing dominance of U.S. media. In 1967 most Canadians had little choice but to watch a television station based in this country. That station might show many American-made programs, but it would be packaged around Canadian news or current events. CBC was still the main source of television in many Canadian homes, bringing its distinctive Canadian vision. But people want what they can't have and the coming of cable television soon brought dozens, eventually hundreds, of American choices and many Canadians, feeling left out of the main stream North American culture, couldn't wait to watch American networks. Since then, the coming of the internet and social media has made it even easier for people to bypass Canadian sources of news and entertainment. Canadians can cocoon in American culture as easily as somebody in New York or Nebraska, not even knowing what's going on in their own country unless a friend sends them a link to a national news event on their Facebook page. It's hard to know how all this will play out in shaping the thinking of generations that are growing up in this media environment. Maybe we will slowly succumb to the kind of American mindset in which they are being enveloped but perhaps they are making their judgements of what to pay attention to by what we have come to accept over the last half decade as Canadian values. I'm hoping, too, that the sesquicentennial will reinforce our pride in being Canadian and give us a booster shot of national pride to fend off the infection of the kind of mean-spirited Americanism espoused by supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump. We've come a long way since 1967. Let's keep going in building Canada as a special place. Finding a use for that old tech When it comes to old technology, one might say I'm a bit of a collector. Unless you're my wife, in which case she might say I'm a bit of a pack -rat. It's not that I have some kind of affinity or desire to enshrine past technology, I just look at things and think, "I might have a use for that some day." Recently, thanks to our family getting a little bigger, I've come to terms with the fact that I don't need to keep every single computer, handheld device and cable I've ever owned. That said, I still have a long way to go, but recently, I've run into a couple opportunities thanks to computer -savvy designers and my own ideas, to reuse old computers and electronics and I thought, in the interest of helping other people to discover new uses for old tech, I would share them. The first is for those who find themselves with an extra laptop or computer collecting dust in their home. I acquired a computer that wasn't working as it was supposed to, so I wiped the hard drive, reinstalled its operating system and set it up next to our router. The computer serves as a repository for everything related to our family — photos, videos, documents, etc. It may seem like a pain to have a computer that so rarely gets physically used taking up space, but the first time you're looking for that cute picture of your daughter, son, niece, nephew or grandchild and you can't remember if it was on your phone, your tablet, your work computer or your home computer, having that central storage location will make a lot of sense. The second idea is for those new parents out there who have a few extra iProducts kicking around (if, for example, you've got an old iPhone and a new one, or an iPad). It seems that video baby monitoring is the Denny giorli-_ai Scott Denny's Den new norm now, so I want to share an app that I had heard about before but was reminded of during a television show on the weekend: Cloud Baby Monitor. Technically, I suppose you could use it for monitoring anything. This $10 app lets you use those extra phones or iPads as baby monitors or security cameras, or as a means to talk to your pet, or keep an eye on anything really. You set up the app on an old phone or tablet, mount it somewhere it can see what you want to see then access it from anywhere in the world, just like a video chat. Those kinds of ideas are the ones I appreciate — with people upgrading their phones every two or three years (or more often if you're like me and a bit rough on them), you're bound to have some superfluous tech hanging around the house. This will also save you hundreds of dollars for the cost of a lunch. I guess the only downside is, compared to the baby monitor we were given, it doesn't have a built-in thermometer, which, in a house as old and drafty as ours, has actually proven to be quite useful in making sure Mary Jane stays comfortable. That brings me to baby monitors in general. Ashleigh and I have had long discussions about what to do with things Mary Jane has outgrown. The question of us having another child has led to a lot of those items going into storage, however, some of it will find a use even afterwards. Take, for example, the video baby monitor I just mentioned — when Mary Jane gets a little older, we may turn it into some kind of security camera for the door or, if I get my way, mount it in the living room to make sure Mary Jane, when she's older, isn't having any guests of whom we don't approve. Audio baby monitors may have a use as well. Many come with built-in speakers to allow parents to soothe their child even if they aren't in the room which means you've got a wireless intercom to use in the house. Or say you're worried you won't hear the chimes on the dryer while working in another part of the house. Set up your baby monitor and, boom, you'll never miss any important notifications from your home devices. Finally, I'll share my idea of a family calendar. Ashleigh and I still have a low-tech calendar hanging in our kitchen. It features handwritten notes and, with this particular calendar, an envelope for each month in which to keep bills and documents. That functionality is hard to replicate. That said, when you're not at home, those handwritten notes may prove to be less than useful. To that end, I grabbed an old tablet I kept beside my bed for reading e -books, something I don't do much of anymore, and set it up in a central location with a small keyboard and, just like that, we have a digital calendar accessible to all. The tablet allows us to input our scheduled events and, through any computer or phone in the world, see whether Ashleigh is working nights, whether I have a council meeting or whether someone needs to go to the doctor. This is a relatively new system, so I'm not sure how well it will work. That said, I have high hopes. Shawn Loughlin Ajillik Shawn's Sense Hands off! He's ours Much has been made by Publisher Keith Roulston and others — even more so in Canada's sesquicentennial year — about Canadians telling their own stories. It was a revelation when Canadians began to recognize themselves as noteworthy and that we didn't have to go to the U.S. to make something of ourselves. Well, it was good that we realized that, because there are still plenty of people, namely those south of the border, who have yet to grasp that concept with both hands. By now many have likely heard about the Canadian Elite Special Forces sniper who shattered the record for the longest confirmed kill shot, besting the previous mark by over a kilometre. And as much as it feels a bit icky to celebrate someone blowing another's brains out, we are still at war whether we like it or not and accomplishments like these are the barometer by which war success is measured. So, here are the facts. Last Thursday the Canadian Armed Forces confirmed that one of their snipers shot the record-breaking bullet, killing a member of the enemy Islamic State from 3,540 metres away. Yes, he was over three and a half kilometres away from the man. That's like standing at the intersection of Highways 4 and 8 in Clinton and shooting someone in Vanastra — a distance it would take you over four minutes to drive. When attempting to accurately land a bullet at that distance, the sniper apparently had to take all the standard factors into account like wind, temperature and elevation, in addition to — due to the extended distance — the curvature of the earth. Take that flat-earthers. With the U.S. being the war -hungry nation it appears to be, surely this accomplishment would be met with cheers and high fives from our neighbours to the south, right? Nope. Sure they're proud of the accomplishment — so proud in fact that they're trying to poach our newly -minted Canadian war hero. In the much -maligned "Comments" sections of many American news websites, there were scores of people suggesting that due to an accomplishment like his, this sniper should be "upgraded" to an American. Perhaps this is a news flash to many Americans, but most Canadians, if not all, would not consider that an upgrade. This is, however, the latest in a long list of attempts to annex all things good and right about Canada to serve American purposes. The most recent example of this that sticks out in my mind is worldwide superstar and Stratford native Justin Bieber. When he was the world's heartthrob, he was an honourary American. However, when he started blowing off concerts, causing disturbances everywhere he went and just being a general pain, the talks of deportation began. He was only a Canadian when the Americans didn't want him anymore. There's always been this sense of pride in Americans when someone who's seemingly "on the fence" chooses the U.S., because it confirms that there's the U.S. (hold your hand flat at eye level) and there's everyone else (move your hand down to shoulder level). Remember Brett Hull, the hockey player? Well he was always one. A native of Belleville, you may remember him from some of the great American hockey teams (a move that worked out well for him if he was a fan of silver). Americans will always have that one. Regardless of who they are or what they've accomplished, most Canadians aren't aspiring to be Americans, they're working towards being the best Canadians they can be.