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The Citizen, 2010-10-21, Page 5THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2010. PAGE 5. On our way to the airport to catch a flight to San Francisco recently I subjected my sweetie to a few lines from the poem “High Flight”: “O I have slipped the surly bonds of earth,” I intoned, “And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings. Sunward I’ve climbed, and joined the sun- split clouds And done a hundred things you have not dreamed of… I recited those lines to re-kindle my appreciation for the sheer glory and wonder of the flying experience – the miracle that a wingless, gravity-burdened biped like me can actually soar above the clouds higher than an eagle, swifter than a peregrine falcon… …and to prepare us for the fact that the flight we were about to take would probably not be glorious, wonderful or miraculous. It would more likely be stressful, uncomfortable and slightly crazy-making. I was right. It began at the check-in desk, where the Gorgon in charge cast an appraising eye over our two suitcases. “You are aware,” she smirked, “that United Airlines now charges $25 for each piece of checked luggage?” No. No, we were not aware of that. I guess we just assumed that the obscenely inflated price of the airline tickets included a piece of checked baggage for each passenger, the way it has since, oh, the days of Wilbur and Orville Wright. We fork over $50 we had hoped to spend in San Francisco. Then there was the security shakedown. I was lucky – I only had to remove my hat, empty my pockets, undo my belt and take my shoes off. My sweetie got all that plus a humiliatingly intimate hand frisk from two Stalinesque Amazons who didn’t trouble to hide the fact that they were Not Having a Good Day. “With a grope like that I was expecting a marriage proposal,” muttered my sweetie. But I didn’t get angry. Not even when the check-in goon pounced like a mongoose on my tiny money clip. It has (had) an I-swear-to- the-gods, inch-long nail file I’d forgotten was even there. A nail file. An inch long. You’d think they’d apprehended a Talban grenade launcher – or a Turkish scimitar at least. “That can’t go on,” said the jut-jawed security guy. “Keep it,” I told him. My Number One rule for air travel: Never, ever lose your cool going through security. That only leads to a world of pain. Not that an aura of Zen-like equanimity will protect you from trauma in the flight that follows. You still have to wedge yourself into the Lilliputian seating accommodation in which you spend the flight inhaling the hair oil of the passenger in front of you while the edge of your “chair table” cuts off circulation to your lower body. I have breaking news on that particular feature of air travel: it’s about to get even worse. An Italian company called Aviointeriors is flogging a new…well, aircraft ‘seat’ is not quite the word – it’s a kind of saddle that passengers would be expected to straddle leaving them in a half-sitting, half-standing position for the duration of their flight. They’re calling it the Skyrider. Prospective passengers have been understandably cool towards the Skyrider but airline executives are salivating all over their pinstripe vests. Why? Legroom, baby. The Skyrider not only weighs less than half of normal airline seats, it offers only 58.4 centimetres of legroom compared to the grotesquely wasteful 76.2 centimetres passengers currently receive. Result: a plane full of Skyrider ‘seats’ can cram in 14 per cent more human meat than a conventional plane. Ever wondered what it feels like to be a factory farm chicken? Looks like air travellers are about to find out. I can think of one or two improvements airlines might make before they invest in Skyrider squat seats. They could give us tray tables that actually work instead of the flimsy wafers that buck your coffee up in your face at the first a whiff of air turbulence. They could give us actual armrests wide enough for the two forearms that are supposed to share them. How about some real smiles? Cutting back on the canned announcements? Some actual fresh air? How about treating us like actual paying customers instead of just so many units of unruly freight? How about just being honestly pleasant? Yeah, right. When pigs fly. Arthur Black Other Views Airport security spoils flight With seven all-candidates meetings in the area last week and many more throughout Huron County, there were no shortage of people asking for your vote, but what was heard even more than those pleas, were people asking you simply just to get out and vote. Many candidates shared their thoughts on the system of democracy, encouraging everyone to exercise their right to choose their representative, no matter who they vote for. Unfortunately, there are thousands of people throughout the county who were not at those meetings and will not cast their vote on Monday. Voter turnout at municipal elections is often notoriously low and unfortunately (for those who choose not to vote) municipal councils make the decisions that can affect your life on a day-to-day basis. While that statement could be disputed, tax rates, road maintenance, recreation and many other things are dealt with by municipalities. These councils also offer a ratepayer’s best chance at a receptive ear that is willing listen to the concerns that ratepayer may have. Anything higher can be intimidating or unreachable by the average man on the street. However, more time is often spent worrying about who will run the country as opposed to who will run the municipality. After a prime minister is elected, the majority of citizens are then left to wait and see, whereas the door to municipal councils is always open and the seats in the gallery are almost always empty. When a public meeting was held to consider the future of the Brussels Library in 2007, 12 people voted for a new library, while four people voted against a new library. If the hockey players on the ice at the arena below came upstairs and voted against the proposal, it could have been overturned after so few votes. I can’t say how many times I’ve seen issues raised by councillors simply because they received a phone call about them from a ratepayer. Councillors receive these calls at home and then bring the issues to council on the ratepayer’s behalf. The issue is raised, and more often than not, changes are made or reasons behind a decision are explained. How many Ontarians would like a chance to see a change after calling Dalton McGuinty at home? Or have Stephen Harper explain a decision he made that day just before he beds down for the night at 24 Sussex? Sounds pretty unreasonable. But with municipal councillors, these are not unreasonable ideas. Opportunities are there for us to have our say at the municipal level and too often these opportunities are not seized. These are forums in which the voice of the average ratepayer can be heard, but too often, voters will focus attention on national and provincial races and neglect their local representatives, turning their backs on someone willing to help. Countries fight wars over the right to democracy and in a country that has it, just over half of the population exercises its right to choose the leader of the nation, while people in other countries say they feel trapped under the reign of a dictatorship or a system of government that doesn’t allow them opportunity. In the last federal election, under 60 per cent of the population voted. It was a record low. For residents of a land prided on being glorious and free, too many don’t take advantage of the freedom we’ve been afforded by millions of men and women. So get out and vote, no matter who you vote for and let your voice be heard. Have your say Premier Dalton McGuinty has suggested one reason voters should keep him in next year’s election, but it is far from compelling and may even remind them too much of his past faults. The Liberal premier, once dominating in polls, has fallen so dramatically behind the Progressive Conservatives, after a series of major mistakes with programs, he is asked constantly whether he will step down as leader and allow someone else to take over. McGuinty’s latest, emotional response is he wants to stay because there is so much he wants to improve, and pointed to a newspaper’s exposure a few days earlier of conditions in a retirement home where seniors suffering from dementia were left lying in filth. The premier said he remains passionate about righting wrongs in society and asked “what about that retirement home story – what if that was your father or mother? There’s still more work to be done, obviously.” McGuinty claimed he still has the same enthusiasm, energy and idealism for solving problems, and being premier, as when he was first elected to the job in 2003. But he has chosen possibly the poorest example on which to claim he will improve a program if he has more time. Inadequate treatment and often abuse of residents in some, not all, retirement homes have been exposed for decades and successive governments of all parties have promised to end them, but done little. McGuinty has been promising to improve conditions in the homes, as reports of abuse in them continued, since before he became premier. The Liberals, painfully slowly, eventually introduced legislation this year supposed to protect residents. But it is not yet in effect, because regulations still are being drawn up, and it still is uncertain how much the retirement home industry, rather than the public, will supervise and investigate the homes, although more public influence can be expected because of the latest disclosures. The questions about whether McGuinty will step down before the election are futile anyway and not merely because he has said many times he intends to lead his party in the vote. Premiers’ assurances about their own future are notoriously unreliable, because they do not say they are leaving until the day their bags are packed, fearing otherwise they will be seen as lame ducks. But McGuinty had said he will stay for the election many times when his party was leading comfortably in the polls. If he announced now he is stepping down before the election, it would be a sure sign he fears he will be defeated and he would be seen as running away, which would further dishearten, and even panic his party. McGuinty also has no readily identifiable successor. The closest to a front-runner was former attorney general Michael Bryant, who left elected politics when McGuinty showed he resented his breathing down his neck and, after a highly publicized traffic accident for which he was found not to blame, is unlikely to return. None of his ministers have established much rapport with the public and the whole party is built around McGuinty and his name. Additionally, although he has a steep hill to climb to win, it is by no means certain that McGuinty is headed for defeat. He has improved many programs. Examples include health by restraints on smoking and high drug costs and education by starting full- day kindergarten that eventually will improve the economy and testimonials from abroad show the Ontario school system is relatively strong. He has improved the environment by closing some coal-fired generating stations and supporting green technology and public safety in many ways by such acts as banning drivers talking on cell phones and curbing the most dangerous dogs. McGuinty has improved some programs, but he has delayed so long on retirement homes there is no way for him to claim much credit as their Mr. Fix-it. Eric Dowd FFrroomm QQuueeeenn’’ss PPaarrkk Shawn Loughlin SShhaawwnn’’ss SSeennssee McGuinty pleads to stay in office Letters Policy The Citizen welcomes letters to the editor. Letters must be signed and should include a daytime telephone number for the purpose of verification only. Letters that are not signed will not be printed. Submissions may be edited for length, clarity and content, using fair comment as our guideline. The Citizen reserves the right to refuse any letter on the basis of unfair bias, prejudice or inaccurate information. As well, letters can only be printed as space allows. Please keep your letters brief and concise.