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