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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2012-01-26, Page 5THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JANUARY 26, 2012. PAGE 5. Do you know anybody named Rose? It would be no contest if I’d asked you that question a century ago. Back in the early 1900s, one out of every 18 newborn girls was dubbed Rose. It was the 18th most popular name you could give a girl child back then, but it’s been fluttering downward like a maple leaf in autumn ever since. Today it’s the 352nd choice, way behind Tiffany, Madison and Samantha –and even other floral appellations like Iris, Daisy, Violet and Lily. As for boys, not too many are named after flowers. (I know a small time dealer who answers to B.C. Bud, but that hardly counts). It’s not surprising parents lean to flowers when it comes to naming their daughters. Flowers are soft and unthreatening, nurturing to birds and insects, graceful, fragrant…and the gods never made an ugly one. They did, however, bestow one upon us that made people crazy for a time. We call it the tulip. It was discovered by explorers in Asia back in the 1500s. Bulbs of the strange plant were carefully dug up, packed in straw and transported by caravan and ship to the Netherlands. It was love at first sight for Dutch farmers and the Netherlands just happened to provide the perfect combination of soil and temperature for the new plant to thrive. Dutch growers fell on their knees (not to mention all over themselves) in their haste to plant and cultivate more bulbs and varieties. By the 17th century tulip bulbs were being bought and sold in downtown Amsterdam like pork bellies and crude oil stocks on the NYSE. Tulipmania had struck with a vengeance and the fever grew like wildfire. In 1637, it reached its peak when a single bulb of one variety sold for 5,200 guilders. In 1637 you could buy a mansion in Amsterdam for that kind of money. And then the fever broke. Somebody, somewhere, gave his head a shake and muttered the Dutch equivalent of: “Hold on a minute – we’re talking about flower bulbs here!” The market crashed like a house built of rose petals; fortunes were lost. The tulip went back to being a garden variety flower. Well, not quite. The Dutch may have been temporarily crazy but they weren’t long-range stupid. They continued to grow tulips and to develop new varieties. Eventually the Netherlands developed auction houses and pretty much took over the global market for the tulip trade. Last year they produced three billion bulbs and exported two billion cut tulips. Together the Dutch auction houses handle about $300 million worth of tulip sales annually. Back in 1637 that kind of money would have bought a whole lot of mansions in Amsterdam. Tulip never became a popular girl’s name – it’s not even in the top hundred – but it is the third most popular flower in the world. The best-selling flower on the planet is – no surprise – the rose. In fact it’s so popular that there is one variety that’s named after a woman instead of the other way around. It’s a hybrid tea rose called the Dolly Parton rose. It is distinguished by (surprise) large, magnificent double blooms. The second most popular flower in the world? According to Google, it’s the chrysanthemum. The chrysanthemum? Hold on a second. Nobody ever named their kid Chrysanthemum. True, but the late great P.G. Wodehouse once used the flower to get off a good line. Looking at a shaggy-headed university student he sniffed: “Why don’t you get a haircut? You look like a chrysanthemum.” Arthur Black Other Views Flower names a dying breed Earlier this month I was lucky enough to take in a Toronto Maple Leafs game. It wasn’t just any night at the Air Canada Centre. It was the fifth annual Canadian Forces Night. The Leafs, who call themselves Canada’s team and adorn their storied hockey jerseys with the Canadian maple leaf, used the night to honour members of all divisions of the Canadian Armed Forces. Season ticket holders were asked to give up their seats, if possible, and donate them to members of the Armed Forces. There were approximately 500 active members of the Armed Forces in attendance that night. So as I watched four soldiers rappel to the ice from the building’s rafters and saw members of the Army, Navy and Air Force participate in the ceremonial puck drop, I couldn’t help but be filled with a sense of pride in my country and those who have helped make it what it is. After a display like that, it was no surprise that the night’s singing of the national anthem was the loudest I had ever heard. The game, however, turned out to be an absolute snoozefest with the Leafs losing by a score of 3-0 to the New York Rangers, so Jess and I had to find other ways to amuse ourselves. In doing so we got talking to a young American man sitting next to us. He was a huge hockey fan, specifically a huge Rangers fan, but he had a lot of respect for Canada and its place in hockey history. This was his first trip to Canada and while I apologized to him on behalf of all Canadians for the truly awful hockey game he travelled so far to witness, he said he had a great time in Toronto. And while this native of Hackensack, New Jersey loved his native United States, he said he could see why so many people would want to call Ontario home. “You guys in Ontario,” he said, “you really have it all.” He said his drive through the province with his dad really showcased how beautiful Ontario is, not to mention how much our coveted universal health care system, among other things, impressed him. So between that conversation and seeing hockey fans buying beer and food for soldiers in every nook and cranny of the Air Canada Centre, it was clear that it wasn’t lost on any of us that we have these soldiers to thank for having it all. And while seeing a pair of soldiers marching through the concourse enjoying a night out at the Air Canada Centre was great, it was tough to repress the sobering fact that many of the soldiers we have to thank weren’t able to be at the game. One soldier being honoured that night carried out his three-year-old daughter with him, whose birth he missed due to a deployment to the Middle East. However, my mind couldn’t help wandering, thinking of the brave soldiers this country has lost who never had the chance to have a daughter, let alone be there to welcome her into the world. The plight of both soldiers, both the man at the Air Canada Centre holding his daughter and my hypothetical fallen hero, and every soldier in between really brought the sacrifice these folks make into perspective for me. If it wasn’t for these brave men and women, we wouldn’t be doing much with our days, let alone having nights out watching hockey at the Air Canada Centre. Be sure to support our troops and remember that without them, there is no us. Having it all If I could stand in front of the entire county’s population and ask one thing, just one small request, it would be to have each of them donate $2 to me so I could argue about something that will be null and void in less than five years. Think about it. That barely will buy you a large (or medium, or extra large or whatever size Tim Hortons is now using as the standard... more on that at a later date) coffee anymore. It can’t get you a garbage sticker, it can’t buy enough milk to last the week and it’s a stretch to say you could even use it to get something at a dollar store thanks to the Harmonized Sales Tax. So what does a toonie matter, right? Before you answer that, do the math. There are (approximately, as of the 2006 census) 60,000 people in Huron County according to official reports in 2006. That means that if I asked each of them to give me a toonie, I’d immediately receive $120,000. Recently Huron County Council was divided over whether they should retain its composition or implement an existing bylaw that would see several municipalities lose representation on the council. Now I’m not going to say whether it’s right or wrong to try and impose a rule about composition months after an election (when it could have solved many issues had they dealt with this prior to the past municipal election, but hey, hindsight is 20/20), what I am going to say is it was absolutely ridiculous to spend, as reported by former Huron County Warden Neil Vincent, $75,000 of taxpayers’ money on trying to decide this and an estimated $20,000 on the appeal of the decision. That’s getting awful close to $100,000 for this decision as an estimate and, I know a few lawyers or lawyers-to-be and cases seldom go the length of time you hope they do, so I can safely say it could (could, as in possibly) go over that. The final legal costs could be as much as $120,000 (or about a toonie per person, now you get it right?). The problem with this case, with these legal proceedings, is that County Council, instead of going to these expensive extremes, could have acted like mature, reasonable individuals and realized they have a problem and have just under four years to fix it. They could have either agreed to follow or amended the standing bylaw regarding composition. Councillors will say that, several years ago, there was an attempt made to change the bylaw that was supported by eight of the nine heads of municipal councils at county council and that attempt was thwarted by the ninth head of council and all the deputy reeves and other representatives. That’s fine, that means we follow the rule that already exists. If that means that we lose a representative in North Huron because 152 people who weren’t on the voter’s list decided not to vote during the last municipal election, that’s fine. It’s frustrating, but it’s the rules. Now for the real puzzler. They probably will anyway. By the time the next election rolls around, there will probably be either the same, or a different bylaw in place. But apparently that three year deadline isn’t quite fast enough for the wheels of democratic leadership in Huron County council chambers in Goderich. They wanted to bring this issue to a gloriously expensive head through legal action. Whether they are on the side whose action resulted in the first decision or the side now looking to appeal that decision doesn’t matter, what does is that, in three years, this could have been resolved at a lot less cash. Now I’ve had this discussion with other people who have said that not paying those extra councillors for mileage and time will make a difference and, I have to say, they’re right. But unless those councillors were making more annually than I do for sitting in council chambers a handful of times a month, odds are that won’t be this year and might be next year. I worry about the precedent this sets. What happens the next time someone tries to enforce a bylaw that’s only popular with barely more than half the council? Will it result in another $100,000 legal situation borne by the taxpayers? What is the point of having elected officials to make these decisions (and paying said elected officials) if they can’t deal with their problems in-house? When I smack my vote down and say “I believe this person will do the best job for my municipality,” I’m saying that I believe they are mature and responsible enough to speak their mind, vote on issues and, even when their view doesn’t win out, continue on with business. I don’t expect them to continue pushing their own agenda on issues that are already completed. It’s important to note that last sentiment can swing both ways. It applies both to the councillors who went outside council chambers to find a resolution and those who are now going outside that resolution to try and find a different one. Stop wasting money and deal with the issue before the next election, Huron County already pays enough in taxes and we don’t need more. And if anyone happens to be reading this who has the power to stop this process, do so. Also, consider this my official request to get my $2 back. Shawn Loughlin Shawn’s Sense Denny Scott Denny’s Den Composition quandary a waste