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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2017-11-09, Page 5THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2017. PAGE 5. Other Views We must take control of our future These days when it seems that rural municipalities are becoming more and more dependent on grants from the provincial government, communities need to be creative about how they can rebuild some financial independence. The November issue of our sister publication The Rural Voice contains a story of one small community's ingenious solution to funding its own priorities, a story that should be of interest to rural towns and villages all across the country. Ryan Gibson, Libro Professor of Regional Economic Development with the School of Environmental Design and Rural Development at the University of Guelph, told the story of Cartwright, Manitoba when he spoke last month at Huron County's Food and Beverage Summit in Exeter. I've heard Gibson speak before (he was at the Rural Talks to Rural conference in Blyth a year ago) and he often speaks about the transfer of rural wealth to cities that will happen as current rural residents pass away. He points to his own family's situation where his parents earned their savings in a rural community. When they die, however, what money the government doesn't get in taxes on their estate most likely will be divided between him, living in Guelph, and his sister, also no longer living in the community in which she grew up. Rural communities need to find a way of keeping some of that money to help build the community in the future, I've heard him say. But until I read Lisa B. Pot's Rural Voice article, I'd never heard about a successful example of making this happen. Cartwright, a village of 500 people, is the proof it can work. The village set up a Benevolent Society and asked people: "Where would you like your Keith Roulston From the cluttered desk money to go on your death? Your local street or Ottawa?" I'm guessing the Benevolent Society is a registered non-profit charitable corporation which means that legacies left to it avoid money being siphoned off to the senior governments. Whatever the case, Cartwright's Benevolent Society worked. Over the years a fund of $7.9 million was amassed, which, when invested, brought a steady return of $300,000 a year to be spent in the village. First, every pothole on every street was repaired but there was money left over. Next every sports team was given new jerseys. Still there was money left over. Eventually it was decided to give every student $10,000 on graduation to be used to further their education, start up a business or just travel. "Rural communities have wealth," Gibson said. "It's a matter of how to collect it and use it." I'm hoping that someone like Gibson may be putting together a template that communities can follow in order to create a local fund like Cartwright's. No doubt something that worked in Manitoba has to be rejigged to meet the laws in Ontario or other provinces but this seems like a workable solution to keeping at least some of the wealth generated in rural areas in rural communities. A similar $7 9 million fund requires only 79 people to leave $100,000 each from their estates for community betterment. For many people in these days of inflated real estate prices (particularly farm prices) that amount would still leave a substantial inheritance for their children. Making use of legacies, such as Cartwright's Benevolent Society does, is a rural resource I hadn't considered before. I've always thought there must be some way we could invest rural residents' retirement savings and other investments to build rural areas instead of cities and still earn a decent rate of return. More than 20 years ago I sat on a committee with the Huron Business Development Centre in Seaforth to set up a community investment fund, but unfortunately a change in government shut down the plan just as it was about to seek local investors. Rural areas have long been known for their self-sufficiency but we've been losing that part of our culture. We've turned over more and more community functions to municipal and provincial governments. Governments set standards and rules that often are too expensive for the smaller populations of rural areas to afford. Government priorities change and funding for programs can be cut. Rural municipalities have been starved for provincial transfer payments in recent years. We need to rediscover our rural self- sufficiency and our rural ingenuity. As Gibson said we need to be bold, unapologetic leaders who develop our own vibrant future. Some of this will come from re -envisioning our local assets, whether that be underused community buildings or landmarks that can become tourist attractions that can help bring customers to local businesses. One of these assets is the money that is in our communities that could improve these communities if we find a way to put it to work. Lessons on what we leave behind Jt seems I've had the past on my mind for well... the past few weeks. Sorry about that. Anyway, in more particular terms, I've been wondering about what mark I'll leave behind on the world. There are a number of ways that people can be remembered from doing good, to doing evil to Blyth's own way of remembering people: naming residential homes after them long after they're gone. In case you're not sure what I'm talking about, come by my place and I'll explain it. I live in Irvin Bowes' old house. All jokes aside — I'm starting to wonder what the world will remember of me as when I'm no longer here to remind it. I'm in a better situation than most because my name, my work and my passion is in print, something that is very hard to make disappear. Some people may point at the internes and say everything is archived there, but my argument is what are the odds of someone accidentally stumbling on something there that may have my name on it? A lot less likely than someone flipping through an old issue of The Citizen, that's for sure. Take, for example, computer documents and media — it's getting more and more difficult these days to find CD drives in computers, so anything kept that way will have a best -before date. Websites are only online as long as someone keeps paying the bill. Thumb drives (or USB drives) are only going to be good as long as we continue using USB plugs. Many new devices are coming out with new options. Heck, even VHS players are getting near - impossible to find. Paper, on the other hand, will last and be important as long as English remains the powerhouse language it is in the universe. As long as there is sunlight to read and newsprint , 4 Denny Seott emirDenny's Den to read from, my name will be a part of the history that follows me. Of course, with the birth of my daughter, there will be a genetic legacy of my existence as well as someone who (hopefully) remembers me. However, just like the cartoon skydiver whose parachute doesn't open, I have to wonder what kind of impact I'll make on the world at large. Fortunately I'm often reminded that people, both close to home and from far away, know who I am and what I do. Take, for example, the incredibly flattering letter in last week's issue of The Citizen thanking Shawn and me for the work we've done. As I explained to my wife, that's the legacy I leave when I come to my job every day, and it's a legacy of which I'm very proud. Others, however, may be faced with a legacy they may not want people to see. Take, for example, the 45th President of the United States of America, Donald Trump. Earlier this year, it was revealed that, as official correspondence from his office, Trump's Twitter messages, including deleted and unedited messages, would be kept for posterity by The National Archives. The Twitter comments will be available forever thanks to the archive, regardless of how long the world has to (try and) forget him. Every typo, every mistake that was later deleted and every controversial remark that Trump makes off-the-cuff on Twitter will live on and show just how Twitter became such an important tool for the White House. The Tweets include both the official @POTUS account (President of the United States if you're not familiar with the acronym) and those from his own @realDonaldTrump account. I'm not throwing rocks here. Who knows, maybe I will follow in my great-grandfather's footsteps and try and find my way into national politics and I'm sure, if that were ever to come to pass, I'd have a gaffe or two to deal with. I'm also not one to criticize the typos and mistakes of others. Some of you have found them in my stories and Shawn has likely gone through a landfill of red pens since I started at The Citizen. That said, I hope that a legacy of inspiring hatred and intolerance is not what Mr. Trump is aiming for. This may sound odd but, I hope, one day, Trump is embarrassed by what he's left behind — especially the remarks about the mass shooting over the weekend and those about service men "knowing what they signed up for" after their deaths. The office of President (or Prime Minister) is a heavy burden to bear in the day of the internet. Every comment, every Tweet, every facial expression and every off-the-cuff remark is going to be recorded somewhere and dissected by the media and both sides of the political aisle. While I may be worried that I'm not leaving the right kind of historical impact, anyone in those positions has to be aware not just of the impact they make now, but of the future generations their words, actions and digital footprint will shape. Pauper or President, however, we all need to be aware of how we will be remembered. Set the right example As uncle and godfather to a one -year- old niece, I am quickly learning the importance of setting the right example. No doubt my sister Dana and her partner Kevin learned it even faster, but I too have learned the importance of doing the right thing in front of someone who's learning her way in the world. For example, I have left my mark on young Addyson in a few ways. I used the old "monkey see, monkey do" method to teach her how to clap and I have instilled a mechanism in her brain to unleash a very refreshed - sounding, "ahhh" after every sip of water she takes. The latter has taken so much of a hold on the young lady that she has begun saying "ahhh" for anything related to a drink of water. When she wants a drink of water, for instance, she will point at her bottle and say, "ahhh". Addyson is only just one year old and she's learning at a rapid rate. She is in that "sponge" phase that you hear about where if you do something in front of her on Monday, you can guarantee that you'll see her doing it on Tuesday. Lately, however, I'm learning that this isn't just a toddler thing. It seems as though that in the world today, if someone in a position of authority sets an example, subconsciously, many will follow along. Take, for instance, the esteemed and controversy -free U.S. President Donald Trump. With what has been seen by many as a sympathy towards white supremacists and other hate groups, hate crimes have spiked. It's a very basic cause and effect. People see that the president comes across as racist, so the racists in the world feel that they too are allowed to be racist in the world. Whether it's assaulting a black man at one of Trump's rallies or spray painting anti-semitic graffiti on walls, people think they can do it because they think their president thinks it's alright. That is, unless someone comes out and unequivocally condemns whatever action is up for discussion. For example, if someone of some import was being racist and the president condemned what he was seeing, then other Americans would see that behaviour isn't encouraged and won't be accepted. The same could be said for what happened in game three of the World Series. It's no secret now that Yuli Gurriel, first baseman for the Houston Astros, was seen clearly and publicly making a racist gesture in the team's dugout after homering off of Japanese pitcher Yu Darvish. The words and actions of Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred said two very different things. "There is no excuse or explanation that makes that type of behaviour acceptable," Manfred said of the gesture. However, when push came to shove, Manfred suspended Gurriel for five games at the beginning of the 2018 season. He would go on to play a key role in the Astros' series victory and now has a World Series ring. Manfred was gutless in disciplining Gurriel and, because of the message that gutless discipline sent to the world, in the next game an Astros fan was seen making the exact same racist gesture behind the plate in Houston. If Gurriel can do it and not face punishment, neither should the fan — or at least that's how the reasoning goes. Old as we may be and with as much as we've learned along the way, we're still one- year -olds on the inside when we see someone we look up to doing something. If we see great things, we can be inspired to be great. The opposite, however, can be just as inspiring.