Loading...
The Citizen, 2016-07-14, Page 5Other Views You're not God - thank God! That's that you say? Your kids are ippy, the Toyota won't start, you can't find your glasses and the dog is doing yoga skids across the living room rug? You think you've got troubles, pal? Just thank god you're not God. Never mind the big stuff he's got on his plate — the UK committing Brexit hara-kiri, Venezuela dissolving, Russia and North Korea under the jackboot of psychopaths — one who looks like a lemur, the other like a renegade puppet from Sesame Street. Never mind that Iceland — Iceland! — put the boots to England on the international soccer pitch or the fact that America is seriously considering a lunatic in an orange fright wig for the top job in the country — never mind all that farcicality piling up in God's In Basket... Consider Mary Lou Bruner. Ms. Bruner has spent 36 years as a teacher and a counsellor. She has a master's degree in English. She has also run for election to the East Texas Board of Education. She wanted the job of determining content in East Texas school textbooks because she believes President Obama is a drug -using gay prostitute who "hates all white people and all wealthy people". fri4Arthur Black She refers to the president of her country as 'Ahab the Arab', wants Islam banned and believes Climate Change is 'a ridiculous hoax' originated by Karl Marx. And here's the bad news for God — Mary Lou Bruner identifies as a card-carry- ing, Bible thumping, `til -death -us -do -part Christian. Bad enough God has a foaming -at -the - mouth whack job like Mary Lou tugging at the hem of his robes. He's also got to deal with Luis Roldan Patino, a priest in the parish of Xestoso in northern Spain. He is seeking divine intervention to patch up the parish potholes. Verdad! Father Patino went so far as to splash holy water on various road craters around his church claiming that asking God to do roadwork is just as feasible as "praying to the Lord for rain". THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JULY 14, 2016. PAGE 5. And then there's the guy in Israel who wants to take God to court. According to a report in the Times of Israel a ticked -off Israeli has petitioned Haifa Magistrate's Court to issue a restraining order against God. He complained that over the past three years the Almighty has exhibited "a seriously negative attitude" towards him — a behaviour the plaintiff wants to cease forthwith. No word yet on who'll be representing God if it comes to trial. He could send his son of course, but we know how that worked out last time. Reminds me of the story of a burglar who broke into a house late one night and was going through the dresser drawers when suddenly he heard a voice: "GOD IS WATCHING YOU." He froze, peered into the darkness, then whispered "Who's there?" Again the voice: "GOD IS WATCHING YOU" The burglar shines his flashlight in the direction of the voice and sees a Blue -Fronted Amazon perched in a cage. "What the hell?" says the burglar, "You're just a lousy parrot!" "YES," says the parrot, "AND 'GOD' IS THE FAMILY ROTTWEILER" Looking for the benefits of arts Last week at Huron County Council something was said that, as a life-long resident of the county (minus a few years chasing education) I never thought I'd hear — the arts haven't had an impact on the communities in the area. First and foremost, I guess I should say that I'm not familiar with Howick Reeve Art Versteeg except to see him and, given some of the things he said at council, I can't help but feel he isn't familiar with me either, or at least, not with my work, because this isn't the first time I've touted the benefits of the arts in Huron County. Versteeg, when talking about potential economic benefits of the Blyth Festival and the proposed school for the arts through the Blyth Arts and Cultural Initiative 14/19 Inc., said that he hasn't seen any benefit of the former in the past 40 years. "I don't see economic development happening because of the arts," he said during a discussion about a grant for 14/19. "I don't see it after 40 years in Blyth and the theatre isn't self-sustaining on its own." While I won't argue the latter, the Blyth Festival does benefit from financial aid from all levels of government to make sure it can continue to tell the stories that are born and raised throughout the county, I can't help but feel that Versteeg has either not visited Blyth since the Festival's opening or is being willfully ignorant of the benefits of the Blyth Festival. When I started at The Citizen more than six years ago, there were a lot more empty storefronts on the main street than there are now and, while some of the shops are there because of the current high -tide that is business in Blyth (and all boats rise with a high -tide, right?) some of them are directly related to the existence of the Blyth Festival. There are two restaurants which have opened in my time here and they each employ at least four people at any given time throughout the year and provide a chance for a local business owner to live and thrive in Blyth. There are several businesses which have opened their doors offering unique shopping and service experiences including naturopathic DennyScott iiimak Denny's Den healing, architecture and textile creation, to name a few. We're not talking about Bayfield -style businesses here (and that's not a derogatory thing, just a statement of fact) that are only open for the tourist season. We're talking about restaurants and businesses that are open nearly all -year long, and enhance the ability of Blyth's downtown to provide the people of Blyth and its visitors with a chance to grab a cup of coffee, a chance to have some clothes repaired or find a new knitting pattern or supplies, a nice dinner or a reasonable lunch. The village will even see two more big additions to its commercial landscape with the Blyth Cowbell Brewing Company destination brewery and gas station/restaurant set to open just past the southern tip of the municipality. All of that development is in addition to the businesses and restaurants that were already here which include a supermarket, a hotel and restaurant, gift shops, decor shops, gas bar, spa, salon, massage therapist and a music shop as well as all the other businesses in Blyth. Anyone who doesn't think that the arts hasn't made an impact on Blyth needs to understand that all of those businesses are at least surviving, if not thriving in a town of 1,005 people (according to the 2011 census). There is a phrase that is tossed around by people from Blyth, especially those involved with things like 14/19, that says that Blyth swings above its weight class and it's true. The amount of commercial successes we have is higher than the population would lead anyone to believe is possible and it's definitely helped, if not made possible only through the existence of the arts, including the Blyth Festival, in the village. Sure, not every storefront is filled right now, but, believe me, things are worse elsewhere. Blyth is doing pretty darn good and to think that the arts have nothing to do with it is shenanigans of the highest order. Take it from someone who lived in downtown Brantford before its most recent renaissance took place — there are places in this country and in this province that have massive population bases but can't support their own commercial districts. Blyth is doing pretty well and I think that is likely directly connected to the existence of the Blyth Festival. Many things, including this newspaper, are tied directly to the success of the arts in the community. Versteeg also stated that the arts, in his opinion, were "self-indulgent entertainment for the rich" He said he couldn't support taxing the `poorest' of ratepayers to give financial help to the major projects unfolding in Blyth. I get where he's coming from. I talk to enough people who say it's tough to think that their tax dollars are often used for things like fixing the roofs of the North Huron Wescast Complex and the Richard W. LeVan Airport. However, the success of community centres, of airports and of the arts is what is going to grow our communities and, in the end, lower the tax burden on each individual ratepayer. I could get very "finger -wagging" here and explain that Versteeg is taking a very short- sighted and ill-informed view of things if he believes that the arts are "self-indulgent entertainment for the rich," but instead, I'll stick to the facts. I enjoy going to the Blyth Festival. I also enjoy going to the Huron Country Playhouse. I enjoy plays, concerts and improv nights and one-man shows and everything else you can catch on local theatres. The shocking part, for Versteeg, and anyone who thinks like him, is that I'm not rich. Far from it actually. I'm still facing the (financial) demons of my past. Despite that, I can still find the time, and the money, even if it means switching out ground beef for onions in spaghetti sauce a couple times a month, to go see a play or a concert. I'm actually fairly insulted that Versteeg would link some of the activities I enjoy to `self-indulgent entertainment for the rich,' however, I'll just leave it at this: he's wrong. Shawn Loughlin Shawn's Sense The HC Trust Fund Taxes are always on everyone's minds. Whether it's property taxes when you own a home, the government taking its bi-weekly portion of your pay cheque or sales tax when you buy something, paying into the government machine is an inevitability. Because we are so often taxed and purse strings everywhere are constantly tightening, people increasingly want to know what it is they're paying for with their taxes. The standard and historic answer is that cities and communities need money in order to function and that money comes in the form of taxes. Cities need to have employees, whether it's police officers, firefighters or road crews, it takes many people to keep a city running and looking its best. Roads are always deteriorating, so there is always road work to be done. There is also a huge inventory of infrastructure in most areas — a collection of buildings and properties owned by the government that need to be kept up. I felt my understanding of the whole tax system — and what it pays for — has been at its highest level since I began working for The Citizen. Every year you learn how much it actually costs to run a municipality and you also learn that there's simply no way to give everyone what they want. There just isn't enough money to re -pave all the roads or repair all the sidewalks. People have to wait their turn and, depending on how the financial winds blow, maybe their time won't even come. It is through this lens — an understanding that there is barely enough money to go around in terms of keeping up communities and levels of service — that I have watched with interest as, in my mind, things have changed at Huron County Council. The county collects taxes through its lower - tier municipalities. The justification is that the county, like lower -tier municipalities, has levels of service to keep up. There are hundreds of kilometres of county roads, medical and paramedic services, libraries, the planning department, etc. There are plenty of pots the county has to fill with money. But increasingly in recent years, I find the longest and most expensive debates come from grant requests. Organizations, charitable or otherwise, have made the county a must -visit stop on their fundraising journeys and councillors have turned into members of a trust fund panel, deciding between worthy causes and where the county's money should go. While I didn't agree with much of what Howick Reeve Art Versteeg said last week (which you'll read in my coverage of the meeting this week) I did agree that it feels like all the county does any longer is hand out taxpayers' money to causes those same taxpayers may or may not support. And I'm not talking about costs like shelters and food banks and social programs, I'm talking about private enterprises and hospitals that should be funded by the province. Requests have recently been received (and approved) for monuments and celebrations. There are plenty of examples, but whether or not these sorts of expenses are a government's business is certainly debatable. These are not small expenses either. At least week's meeting, the county handed out $1 million in grants. We're not talking about $400 here or $500 there for an agricultural society or a Lions Club. These are big-time expenses and residents aren't telling their councillors whether or not this is how they want their hard- earned money spent. Versteeg thinks the county is reaching beyond its mandate and he might just be right.