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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2017-09-14, Page 5THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2017. PAGE 5. Other Views Margaret Atwood Novelist Margaret Atwood, usually the darling of Canadian (as in Toronto) media, found herself on the wrong side of a heated debate in the past couple of weeks. She even found herself called the one insulting name that's perfectly permissible to throw around these days: a NIMBY. The term NIMBY, for not in my backyard, literally applies to Atwood because she was protesting the possible construction of an eight storey condominium on a busy Toronto street that would back onto Atwood's backyard on a quieter street in one of the tonier parts of the city. (Another protester was Galen Weston Jr., head of Loblaws.) Despite the fact that other neighbours also didn't want the apartment building in their backyards, it was Atwood who bore the brunt of sniping in the conventional and social media, perhaps because she's usually in the forefront of liberal causes and on this issue, she's a conservative — as in wanting to conserve what's there. Atwood committed the sin of going against the new religion of forward-looking Torontonians: densification. These are people who have embraced the 80 storey condo tower. According to them, all good things flow from stacking more people into a smaller area. More people on the streets leads to more shops and restaurants and theatres and nightspots, all the good things about the city. The densifying condo crowd also claims virtue, since people living in downtown Toronto can walk or take the subway instead of driving their cars. In fact the densified city makes it almost impossible to own a car. You'll need to buy a space to park your car in that condo tower at a price that could buy you a fixer -upper home in Huron County. Unless you're driving out of downtown there are fewer and fewer places to park your car when you get Gettin public enemy Keith Roulston From the cluttered desk somewhere because every decent -sized parking lot is being turned into a sky -scraping condo tower. While car lovers might see this as a form of hell, they are really just showing their moral frailty as far as the densifiers are concerned. To these downtowners, suburbanites who insist on their own patch of lawn but need a car to buy groceries, are morally flawed (and probably secret Trump supporters). They are destroying the planet that those living in a 49th floor condo are working valiantly to save. Lord knows what these people think about rural Ontarians. So anyway, when Margaret Atwood spoke out against losing the privacy of her backyard, she instantly went from a hero to a villain in the eyes of many. Not only was she speaking out against densification, but she was being selfish because she wanted to protect an outdated sense of privacy. She was a NIMBY! Now the thing I've noticed about the accusation of NIMBYism, is that it's usually made by those whose backyards are not endangered against those who actually have their backyards threatened. Most often those who are protesting against a development that's going to affect their quality of living are blasted for standing in the way of something that's for the benefit of the many, so they're supposed to quietly accept their lives being upset or they are that horrid creature: a NIMBY. So rural Ontarians who protested that they didn't want hundreds of wind turbines churning in their neighbourhoods became NIMBYs to self-righteous environmentalists living in downtown Toronto, a hundred miles from a wind farm. Their concerns could be easily dismissed as those of backwards, self- serving NIMBYs. If somebody proposes a new landfill or airport in a rural area that will serve millions of people in a city far away, the locals who become upset are NIMBYs to city -dwellers. There's some truth in this charge, of course. People who are comfortable seldom want to change what gives them comfort. I recall going to a planning meeting, years ago, over a development proposal by a landowner in the Bayfield area who wanted to turn his farm into a centre for horse lovers who would build estate -type houses to live in and keep their horses in communal stables. The loudest opponent was a woman who had moved to Bayfield a decade earlier and wanted to prevent any changes that might undermine the pleasure she'd found in the quiet village. The proposal didn't go ahead. Probably Atwood's protest against the apartments in her backyard is doomed, particularly given the vicious public backlash which is, in another way, a vote of support for the project. For sure Toronto does need to grow up, not out, if it's going to keep getting bigger (though being creative enough to share the growth with smaller communities might solve multiple problems). Condemning as NIMBYs those who stand up for their own rights against the perceived societal benefit, however, is self- serving of those who want others to sacrifice for what they want. to know you, all about you Anyone who wants to represent the tax dollars of a ward of 1,000, 1,500 or even 2,000 people should have no difficulty finding 25 people to support an application to run in a coming municipal election. If they can't find 25 people, maybe they shouldn't run in the election. The Modernizing Ontario's Municipal Legislation Act 2017 states that anyone wanting to run for municipal office needs to have 25 electors sign a document in their support. During a North Huron meeting last month, several council members said it wasn't reasonable for a would -be -candidate to find 25 supporters in North Huron. Councillors Bill Knott and Brock Vodden both felt the request was unreasonable. Knott said anyone should be allowed to run regardless of the support they could get. Vodden, on the other hand, felt the number was too high. Deputy -Reeve James Campbell feels it's unreasonable. I feel the number is perfect and anyone who thinks this is an undue hardship needs to give their head a shake. Using the village of Blyth as an example, which several councillors did, shows just how reasonable finding 25 people comfortable signing the document is. Heck, take Hamilton Street for example. Starting from County Road 4, Queen Street, there are at least 25 electors in the first block and knocking on doors (after dinner, but not too late mind you, if you interrupt Jeopardy there will be heck to pay at my house), you could likely meet at least half of them. By my math, that's the first of 17 similar stretches of road in the community with at least that many. If, after knocking on a third of those doors and introducing yourself as someone wanting to run for council, you can't find 25 electors, you obviously need to take four years off and get to know your community a little better. I agree with Knott, who said this is a barrier to new people in the community (which he describes as people who have been there for less than two years). Unlike Bill, however, who sees that as a problem, I see the barrier doing what it's designed to do: weed out people who aren't familiar enough with the community to be governing it. If you have spent two years in Blyth and you haven't introduced yourself to at least 25 people, you should probably spend a little more time at the grocery store, the local restaurants or pulling up a stool at a local bar because you need to meet some of the great people in this village if you want to represent them. Fortunately, however, every community in North Huron (probably in Southwestern Ontario) has a habit of bringing people together for events, which should make connecting with 25 people a matter as easy as going out for breakfast. For example, over the weekend, the Emergency Services Training Centre held breakfasts on Saturday and Sunday. Sure, there would likely be many people enjoying breakfast that are from out of town thanks to the Huron Pioneer Thresher and Hobby Association reunion, but I can guarantee there will be at least a handful of local people there, if not 25. Head to the Royal Canadian Legion Ladies' Auxiliary bingo nights, join a community service group like the Lions, go to the Blyth Inn's wing night or grab some sewing needles and head to knit and knatter at Stitches with a Twist. I guarantee, if you keep getting out in the community, you'll meet enough people to try and convince of your worthiness as a council member. Notice I said convince. I didn't say they will sign — part of what makes this number of 25 important is you need to have 25 people who think you running is worthwhile. These people being comfortable signing the document is important because we've had elections where candidates couldn't get 20 votes, let alone 25. Having this rule in place may have saved those people from running and forced them to get face-to-face with a lot more constituents before thinking about throwing their hat in the municipal ring. The 25 -signature minimum also forces people who want to run take a good, long look at themselves and ask if they're running for the right reasons. If they have a bone to pick with council and want to change things, that's great. They are actually doing something instead of just grumbling on Facebook or at the coffee shop. If, however, they can't find 25 people who are similarly upset about the thing they want to change, maybe they need to realize that the problem isn't with council. In reality, the entire idea comes down to one simple truth: you need to know who you are going to represent if you want to run for council. Getting those 25 signatures proves not only that you have at least some connection to your community, no matter how tenuous that is, but also proves that there are 25 people out there who think you would be good at the job. I urge councils, North Huron as well as others, to consider this move as a positive one and not lobby for the exemption that was offered with the documentation. A% Shawn Loughlin Shawn's Sense Navel -gazing Last Tuesday night, Huron East Council voted to eliminate its at -large deputy - mayor position, opting instead to elect a deputy -mayor from within, dropping one person from its 12 -member council. This, however, is only part of the story. Several councillors see this as a first step towards a further reduction in the size of council. The figure that has often been bandied about is a seven -member council (one councillor for each of the five wards, a mayor and a deputy -mayor, although the elimination of an at -large deputy -mayor may throw that figure out the window). I have written about this before, pleading with council to retain its current size. As the biggest municipality in Huron County, Huron East needs a lot of representatives. However, with the repeated resurgence of the topic that refuses to die, I have to admit that I have finally been beaten into submission on this and I no longer care. My advice: do it or don't do it, but just do SOMETHING. Last Tuesday night was the final council meeting for the municipality hosting the 100th International Plowing Match — a historic celebration of all things rural that has been on the lips of everyone for over five years. Chief Administrative Officer Brad Knight reported about arrangements that had been made for water, sewage, waste, emergency services and security at the match. He also delivered councillors their shirts and passes. These final preparations were treated as housekeeping for councillors, who only wanted to talk about whether or not they were going to eliminate the deputy -mayor position. There is an old running joke with the Academy Awards that was on display just last year when La La Land, a love letter to classic Hollywood musicals, won best picture over other, hard-hitting (and better) contenders. Films about films, Hollywood, actors, etc., will always be disproportionately rewarded by Hollywood compared to those that don't kiss up to Hollywood — for obvious reasons. That is my assessment on the issue of council size. Sure, councillors will say that their phone has been ringing off the wall and that they can't walk the streets without being mobbed by people wanting to express their opinion. But the handful of residents in the gallery that night would tell a different story. People don't care. As long as those at the table represent the people well and do their best, people don't care how many councillors there are. Only councillors care, because they deal with it on a daily basis. Denny and I just recently poured over our 52 -page special Salute to the IPM issue. We each brought a copy home. Jess read through it and said she didn't see anything wrong with it. Meanwhile, Denny and I both returned the next day with laundry lists of changes that needed to be made before it went to print. These issues were, largely, only things we would notice, but we wanted them changed. I have been covering Huron East Council for 11 years — longer than many of the councillors have been at that table. I have seen this debate carried out over and over again. Recommendations will be made and will likely be discarded, but I implore council to simply do SOMETHING and get on with life. Budgetary concerns are real and constant, IPM planning is crucial and not to be ignored and rural Ontarians are worried about the ongoing viability of their communities. Look past the mirror, talk to some residents and find out what's important to them, rather than focusing on what's important to you.