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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2015-02-05, Page 5THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2015. PAGE 5. Canadians have long been relegated to mere ‘hewers of wood and drawers of water’ – fit only for menial tasks on the world stage. Pure horse pucky. Canada produces plenty of refined products for world consumption. And not just the obvious ones like maple syrup, hockey players and Alice Munro. This country also does mayors. No other nation in the world can measure up to Canada’s mayoral output. I first came upon this natural phenomenon when I lived in Thunder Bay, Ontario some years ago. Back then, the Lakehead had a mayor by the name of Walter (Jolly Wally) Assef. He was a diminutive man, standing perhaps 5' 2" in his stocking feet – but a stick of dynamite is pretty small too. The analogy is apt, and in Wally’s case, the fuse was short. Mayor Assef was renowned for, shall we say, spirited outbursts at unpredictable times. But, hey, this was Thunder Bay, a town that was full of characters. Wally’s oratorical pyrotechnics didn’t distinguish him all that much. What did was patting the Queen on the bum. Or so legend has it. It is certainly true that Wally profusely thanked the Duke of Edinburgh for bringing his ‘good wife’ to the city during a royal tour. Whether the mayoral hand slipped southwards as he was helping Her Royal Highness into a chair is still a matter of some debate. One thing that’s beyond debate: Canadian cities have a habit of picking remarkable mayors. Take Winnipeg: Citizens there have just elected Brian Bowman. Mayor Bowman is Metis – and that makes Winnipeg the first large city to be governed by one of Canada’s aboriginal peoples. Or how about Calgary? That city now has possibly the most progressive and cosmopolitan mayor in the country. His name is Naheed Nenshi and he is a Muslim. Calgary used to be known as Cowtown. Not any more. Quebec City has a mayor named Rene Labeaume, a man who’s been called a one- man reality television show. That’s because he has a tendency to behave in a way that most politicians instinctively shy away from: Mayor Labeaume actually says what he thinks. He compared a local union leader to “a militia colonel vying to overthrow a democratically elected government”. Does such talk get him in trouble? Oh yeah. As he told a reporter: “I tend to drop the ball once a month or so.” The image of chief city executives dropping balls brings to mind, inevitably, an image of the only Canadian mayor to go truly supernova on the world stage – ex-Toronto Mayor Rob Ford, staggering across a football field and pitching onto the turf during an abortive ceremonial kick-off. Methinks we shall not see his like again. Probably just as well. Arthur Black Shawn Loughlin Shawn’s Sense There’s an old adage that every generation thinks the one that follows it is the worst ever but every day I’m finding evidence that it isn’t an antiquated notion. One of the parts of my day I look forward to the most is checking out my RSS feed, a tool that anyone who regularly uses the internet should be very interested in. RSS feeds (accessed through a usually-free RSS reader) are feeds from certain websites that show what has recently been posted on websites. Today (Monday), I flipped over to mine during my lunch break and found a story about the University of Waterloo. Now, UW is not my alma matter, its neighbour Wilfrid Laurier University, literally a few blocks down the street, is. That said, I got fairly familiar with the UW campus when I worked there for a brief period at a small start-up company. It was a long walk (okay, only four kilometres, but long enough) from the building where most of my classes were at WLU to the research and technology park that sat north of UW’s main campus, but I made it, rain, snow, sleet or shine, and then made it the three kilometres back to University Avenue and King Street to catch my bus home to Kitchener. As long a walk as it might have been, however, I don’t think there was a single day I didn’t make it due to snow, so I was a little shocked when my RSS feed featured a story by CBC titled “Students lash out at University of Waterloo for staying open during storm”. The story, which came complete with pictures that looked almost exactly like Blyth did Monday morning, showing snow-covered vehicles and landscapes, shows that students have been complaining because the school decided to stay open to those who could get there safely. When I was at school, both in Waterloo and Brantford, snow days were few and far between, but each and every time it happened, I looked out my window, shrugged and chalked it up to city living. People in the city (including students) just weren’t as hardy as folks from my home county of Huron. Looking back now, however, I realize that I’ve adjusted my thinking. I didn’t just think the snow days were a waste because of the relatively tame weather that caused them but also because I knew the cost of the class I was missing because of it. Maybe the problem is these complainant students’ parents are footing their education bill or maybe, like me, they have student loans, so they aren’t making the connection between the course and the class (unlike me there, I knew very well what each class cost, I broke it down by the number of classes and how much my tuition was). I’ve been out of school for just under a decade now and I’m still paying back my student loans and these students are complaining because they have to dig their car out before they drive to class. I don’t want to turn in to one of those old guys who didn’t have boots in the winter and went up hill both ways here, but I didn’t have a car. I had an apartment in Kitchener. I walked three blocks to catch my bus, which I sat on for just under an hour, and then arrived at school usually to work at the on-campus Tim Hortons for several hours before I started class. (To be fair, I have a very good friend a few blocks away who also went to WLU with whom I was able to catch a ride with on occasion, but, for the most part, I took the bus). The only possible time I would ever miss class due to weather is if the buses weren’t running and I can’t imagine the school would stay open if the buses weren’t able to run. To be honest, snow days are still kind of a foreign concept to me. I attended Robertson Memorial Public School in Goderich which had no students bused in so we had very few school days. I also, when I was in high school, lived a few blocks away from the school and you can bet that if the school was open (regardless of the buses being cancelled), my mother expected me to be there and not sitting at home. To be honest, I guess the real frustration here comes from the whole student loan situation. I worked, on campus, (or, in the case of my time in Brantford, in a building adjacent to campus) so I could afford to go to class and if I decided I couldn’t make it to a class, there was typically a good reason for it, not “Oh my gosh, you can’t see the lines in the parking lot.” (That’s an actual complaint made by a UW student, in case you’re wondering.) It’s enough to make me think that young people should be more responsible for their education right up to post-secondary. I’m not saying we should punish people who come from affluent families, but if everyone had to do something to equate the value of a single class to a dollar amount, I think fewer of them would be complaining and more would be putting on their boots and scarves and making the trek to the school and being glad that they can continue their education. I guess the other frustration I have is that UW, through its various social media presences, stated in plain words that each student, faculty and staff member is responsible for deciding what is safe to travel in and what is not. Each person has to be an adult and, if you’re a post-secondary student, odds are you are between the ages of 17 and 25 and able to be responsible and mature and make that decision. That said, I would imagine almost all the students live in either Kitchener or Waterloo, which features a very comprehensive mass transit system, so safety of travel isn’t really an issue. I guess all I can do is talk to my siblings, my cousins and any future family members of mine and remind them that being in post-secondary education is a privilege not everyone has. It shouldn’t be viewed as something to be avoided but a learning experience to be appreciated. Denny Scott Denny’s Den No straight line Members of the Brussels Agricultural Society were faced with an interesting conundrum last Friday: to be, or not to be... part of the 2017 International Plowing Match? Jacquie Bishop, chair of the 2017 International Plowing Match (IPM) Committee, made an ambitious presentation to members of the society Friday night at their annual meeting. It included a lot of facts and figures about the historical match, set to take place in Walton in just over two and a half years. At the heart of the presentation was a proposition that the IPM and the Brussels Fall Fair partner, since both events will be happening on the exact same days, less than 10 minutes away from one another. There are a ton of pros to this idea and there are also a ton of cons to the concept as well. Mostly, however, there are uncertainties. On the surface, it’s easy to see the positives that would be associated with a partnership between the IPM and the Brussels Fall Fair. The first thing that comes to mind – for me, anyway – is the immediate and astronomical increase in attendance. I have been going to the fair for a number of years now. I have sat on the bleachers on those warm September afternoons as local children show their animals as part of their 4-H achievement program. I am often among a small group of people. When Bishop told society members that 4-H shows could potentially be hosted in the Dodge Ram Rodeo show ring, I immediately thought how great it would be for those local 4-H members. I remember as a kid playing baseball in front of a larger crowd than we often had. Whether it be at a park on a long weekend, or in a popular stadium, it was thrilling to have hundreds of people watch, when we normally averaged crowds of dozens. That’s a thrill that every young person should have, no matter which hobby they practise. I also thought about how many visitors – thousands per day – would be able to take in the fair’s exhibits, as well as potentially the parade, adding to the thrill factor and perhaps even driving up fair participation for 2017, and hopefully beyond. Unfortunately, however, it just isn’t that easy, as I saw as soon as the floor was opened to questions after Bishop’s Friday night presentation. It was then when I started thinking about reasons why a partnership won’t work. Just like with the positives, a few glaring examples jumped out to me almost immediately. The first is admission costs. The beauty of the Brussels Fall Fair, and many other community events like it, is that it’s free to all. Events like the fair’s 4-H competition, its parade and student activities would have to now be viewed through the lens of an admission cost (one that is rather high at $18 for adults, and lower for children – $5 for the 2014 IPM in Simcoe). And while some residents may be prepared to pay that to a local service club, they may not be to the Ontario Plowmen’s Association, as local as some members may be. There are also plenty of other concerns, such as having to leave out established aspects of the fair, or creating a sort of hybrid fair that fits the IPM for 2017. Partnering with the IPM could be a great opportunity for the 2017 Brussels Fall Fair, but there are certain risks as well. There is certainly no easy path to this decision and I don’t envy those who have to make it. Other Views Entitlement is out of control Our most famous product: mayors You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life. – Winston Churchill Final Thought