The Citizen, 2011-07-28, Page 12PAGE 12. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JULY 28, 2011.
Duncan McGregor, a Blyth
resident fresh off the success of last
year’s Barnardo’s Children, has
returned to the stage once more at
the helm of a sensational production,
although this stage isn’t the average.
Narcisse,a play about Narcisse
Cantin, a figure of historical
prominence in St. Joseph, a small
town near Zurich, was opened in a
field near the would-be centre of
commerce, had Cantin had his way.
“Cantin was born in the French
settlement that is now St. Joseph,”
McGregor said. “He was the
godfather of the St. Lawrence
seaway.”
The play, while steeped in both
local history and the history that
followed Cantin through his travels,really focuses on the life of the manand his family.
“While there is a lot of history
regarding his plans, the play really
shows a lot about him as a person
and his humanity,” McGregor said.
“He was an expert fiddler, an
incredible salesman, an inventor
responsible for the first prototype of
crazy glue and an incredible
entrepreneur.
“He was a very convincing
individual and, while some say he
was ahead of his time and his vision
was too large, I think it was perfect,”
McGregor said. “The play is
definitely historical, but it really
focuses on the love between Cantin
and his wife Josephine and on the
community of St. Joseph embracing
the idea of becoming prosperous.”
Written by Huron County authorPaul Ciufo, who, last year, debuted AKilling Snow on the Blyth Festival
stage, the play is filled entirely with
local actors and is performed
outdoors.
“Paul asked me to do the play,”
McGregor said. “We decided it
should be outside, Narcisse is just
too large a character to be contained
in a playhouse.”McGregor explained that Cantinsaw how canals could take
commerce straight out the St.
Lawrence, and then wanted to
employ the same technology to turn
St. Joseph into a commercial hub by
bypassing the shoals around
Detroit’s St. Clair River.
The would-be financial guru saw
how the Erie Canal lead to New YorkCity being such a major trade centre,and had planned to start a canal in
St. Joseph that would run nearly 50
miles.
“He wanted to turn St Joseph into
a city, and he got a good start at it,”
McGregor said. “He had bought land
and factories, including wine
One of the joys and frustrations of
writing a regular column is that you
find all sorts of tidbits of
information which are interesting
but aren’t really worth a column by
themselves.
To overcome this problem I have
decided to force on my readers some
miscellaneous bits of information
that I found interesting.
So here it is folks, loud chip bags,
oil company subsidies and
environmentally-sensitive coffins all
in one article.
At an American funeral products
expo last year one of the seminars
that was presented was entitled, ‘It’s
Easy Being Green’. Now I am not
sure that is the most media savvy
title for a presentation about burying
people, but it did cover the ground
so to speak.
What was on offer at the show was
a range of coffin choices including
‘sleek’, handmade recycled-paper
coffins in bright blue, red, green,
white or metallic gold. If that didn’t
‘dig your grave’, so to speak,
perhaps one of the imitation wicker
woven caskets made out of willow,
bamboo and sea-grass, along with
urns made of rock salt, cornstarch,
recycled paper, sand and gelatin
would be more to your taste. The
urns, by the way, are guaranteed to
dissolve in seawater if you want to
consign a loved one to the briny
deep.
Now I have no objection to
wanting to be environmentally
responsible even when dead, but I
just can’t help wondering if it is
really necessary to go to these
lengths to achieve that end.
This next bit also involves digging
in the dirt – the oil sands to be exact.
And before I get jumped on as a left
wing pinko, anarchist anti-Christ
please keep in mind that I found the
figures I’m going to mention,
quoted in excerpts from Quebecor
media publications. You know the
guys who have the TV channel
fondly, or otherwise, referred to as
Fox News North. They are not an
organization noted for left-leaning
environmental sensitivity.
In 2008, the last year for which I
can find figures, petroleum
companies in Canada received
approximately $2.84 billion in direct
or indirect subsidies. The Federal
Government provided $1.38 billion,
Alberta came up with $1.05 billion
and the rest of us sponsored the
loose change that was left over. The
National Post related in another
article that as much as five per cent
of oil companies’ world-wide profits
are related to government subsidies.
In addition, it was recently
announced that these two
governments were contributing
$865 million to a Shell Oil carbon
capture plant which we can only
hope works better than the one in
Weyburn, Saskatchewan.
Is it just me or is there a logical
disconnect in using tax dollars to
help oil companies produce massive
amounts of CO2 at a massive energy
cost and then turning around and
giving them more money to help
hide the environmental damage they
did with the first handout?
My third piece of information is
especially interesting as it finally
provides an answer to the oft-asked
question, “What is the difference
between a Canadian and an
American?”
An American potato chip
manufacturer decided to participate
in the race to be socially
responsible. As it is beyond even the
powers of the North American
advertising community to turn
potato chips into a health food they
decided to package their product in
an environmentally satisfying
biodegradable bag.
What they discovered was that
sales of their chips fell off in the
U.S. because customers claimed the
bags were too noisy. How noise was
measured is not noted so I am
unable to determine which type of
sound was the offending agent.
Regardless of whether it was the
crackle or the crunch, it offended the
sensitive ears of the Americans. In
Canada the bags were accepted
regardless of their auditory offenses.
So now you know. The difference
between Americans and Canadians
is that we will accept loud chip bags
in defense of the environment. It is
not significant I realize, but it is a
difference and is a little more
concrete than claiming we’re nicer.
Blyth man directs large outdoor production
Worshipping outdoors
Rev. Elwin Garland was one of the many local religious
figures at the church service held at Conservation Park in
Brussels on Sunday. Several of the churches in Brussels
came together to organize the service as part of the annual
Brussels FunFest weekend. (Shawn Loughlin photo)
FREE PROGRAMMABLE THERMOSTAT
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The Forest & The Trees
By David Blaney
A highly personal and idiosyncratic commentary on whether we are
going to hell in an environmental handcart
By Denny ScottThe Citizen
Continued on page 22