HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2009-09-10, Page 5THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2009. PAGE 5.Bonnie
Gropp
TThhee sshhoorrtt ooff iitt
When a man is tired of London, he is
tired of life; for there is in London all
that life can afford.
– Samuel Johnson, 1777
Oh, I’m not so sure about that, Sam. I
lived in London for a spell and it was
rich and stimulating alright, but I’m
not sure I’d dub it the absolute acme of
civilization.
Granted, I lived there during the 1960s, not
the 1770s.
Johnson got to hobnob with Goldsmith,
Wordsworth and Coleridge; the big names in
my stint were Lennon, Harrison and
McCartney.
Johnson got to live and work in Grub Street.
I got to shop for foppy shirts in Carnaby
Street.
Lively enough, to be sure, but somewhat
exhausting and – dare I say it – ultimately a
little tiresome.
If living in London taught me anything, it’s
that I’m not really suited to city life. That
makes me – as usual – out of step with the
times, because the human race has just passed
a milestone. For the first time in the history of
this planet, more people now live in cities than
in the country.
Imagine. We started out as nomads on the
grasslands of Africa, evolving over centuries
in our caves and huts and hovels. Over those
centuries more and more of us migrated from
the countryside towards that glow on the
horizon.
Now we’ve officially passed the urban/rural
tipping point; most of us live in concrete
jungles, bathed in bad air, continuous bedlam,
24-hour artificial light, surrounded by millions
of strangers.
Ain’t progress wonderful?
There are lots of good reasons for city living
of course. Operas, plays and The Cowboy
Junkies don’t tour much outside the city limits.
Cities get the shopping malls and the swanky
hotels and the five-star restaurants and you’ll
wait a long time to catch a live Leafs or Blue
Jays game in the boondocks.
But we pay a price for all that excitement. It
makes us crazy.
Okay, that’s overstating it, but only a little.
A recent study by researchers at the University
of Michigan confirms that just being in an
urban environment impairs our mental
processes. Hell, the study shows that even a
short walk in the city takes its toll.
“The mind is a limited machine,” says Marc
Berman, who led the study. “And we’re
beginning to understand the different ways a
city can exceed those limitations.”
He has a point. Just think of what the human
brain has to keep track of while taking a stroll
down a city street. There’s all those vehicles
accelerating and braking, people whirring by
on bikes and roller blades – all potentially
dangerous.
There are lampposts, telephone poles and
buildings looming up and over our heads;
curbs, trashcans and potholes at our feet.
There’s a blitzkrieg of noise – screeching
tires, overheard radios, humming air
conditioners, honking buses, kids yelling, the
chatter of passersby on their cellphones.
Plus we’ve got decisions to make. Should
we check out that 20 per cent off sale? Should
we buy a Vanity Fair or today’s Globe and
Mail?
How about a soy cappuccino latte or a cold
beer? Have I got a loonie for that homeless
guy on the corner, and wow, check out the
blonde in the Mercedes convertible.
And to process it all, we’ve got pretty much
the same-sized necktop wireless computer our
forefathers had when they were wearing pelts
and hunting for dinner with sharp sticks on the
savannahs eons ago.
The poet Wilfred Owen once defined the
typical North American city as a place that
lacks everything from which no profit can be
made. That’s why in cities you can find lots of
billboards, but not too many trees; plenty of
strip joints but precious few parks.
And that’s a pity, because according to that
University of Michigan study, serious green
spaces are exactly what our cities need most.
Results of the study show that our memory and
ability to focus actually improve following
time spent in nature, rather than in urban
surroundings.
The researchers say we need to look at green
spaces not just as a pretty social amenity but as
a form of therapy “with no known side effects,
widely available and absolutely free.”
Me? I spend at least an hour in deep therapy
every morning of my life. I walk along a creek
through firs and cedars. I often see deer,
raccoons, ravens, chickadees, frogs and
salamanders. Now and then there’s a surprise
appearance by a barred owl or a great blue
heron.
I never see a Blue Jays double play or a
Picasso exhibit or a Starbucks or a blonde in a
Mercedes convertible, but that’s okay – I still
love my shrink.
She even lets me bring my dogs.
Arthur
Black
Other Views It’s an urban jungle out there
Ontario governments have allowed
many to live a high life on the public
payroll for decades and one
reason is they have been able to get away
with it.
All parties in government, now including
Premier Dalton McGuinty’s Liberals, have
failed to prevent many already overpaid in
public posts from billing taxpayers for golf
club memberships, filet mignon steaks and
babysitters throughout the 46 years this
writer has covered the legislature. But this
never has been a major issue in a dozen
elections.
This in no way excuses the Liberals and
voters should consider it among reasons for
turfing them out in the 2011 election. But it
shows how easy it has been to fail to
protect taxpayers and escape the
consequences.
Governments allowing many they appoint to
agencies, the current main concern, and
elected politicians and civil servants to live
lavishly off taxpayers is as much a tradition
as ringing the bells to start legislature
sessions.
William Davis, Progressive Conservative
premier from 1971-85, appointed the
autocratic TV interviewer Adrienne Clarkson,
later an autocratic governor general, as the
province’s agent-general in Paris, where she
threw receptions Louis XIV would have
considered lavish.
Davis hired almost every Conservative
lawyer and public relations man in Toronto as
a consultant and gave contracts to friends
without offering them to tender, as
McGuinty’s Liberals have now been
found doing. When one of Davis’s ministers,
Doug Wiseman, protested, the premier
solved the problem by firing the
interferring busybody.
Such abuse went unnoticed in the four
elections Davis won by maintaining that only
his Conservatives, with their sharp eye for
business and saving money, could keep the
economy strong.
After Davis left, Liberal premier David
Peterson, a habitué of the arts scene, appointed
David Silcox, a mover and shaker in it, as
deputy minister of culture. But he became
known as “Diamond Dave” and spent $65,000
in 18 months on travel and entertainment on
top of a handsome salary.
Peterson also appointed the former well-
connected federal mandarin Bernard Ostry as
chair of TVOntario. He ran up
$74,000-a-year travel and business expenses
and explained haughtily, when asked
why he also needed a government car
and driver who picked up his wife’s
laundry, “I am not in the welfare
business.”
These and other Peterson generosities to
those he liked were not mentioned in the 1990
election, in which Peterson was defeated
mainly because he called it a year early
and spent too much time trying to placate
Quebec in Confederation, in which Ontarians
had lost interest.
New Democrat premier Bob Rae, who
succeeded Peterson, felt keeping public
servants in such luxury would not appeal to his
supporters, who thought they were living high
when they bought a hamburger at
McDonald’s.
But the NDP premier was not penny-
pinching with friends and paid Ontario Hydro
chairman Maurice Strong, a former business
entrepreneur with whom he became a strange
bedfellow, nearly $100,000 expenses a year on
top of his $425,000 salary, and a deputy
minister crony $102,000 expenses in two
years.
These were not mentioned in the election the
NDP lost, because opponents had bigger
targets, the $10-billion-a-year budget
deficits.
The last Conservative premier, Ernie Eves,
fired a minister because he spent too freely
wining and dining, but lost an election mainly
because his predecessor, Mike Harris, had
weakened services.
In the 2007 election McGuinty’s Liberals
already were seen lax in supervising spending,
particularly because programs for needy
children were short of funds while their
supervisors trundled around in costly SUVs.
But the Conservatives’ proposal to fund faith-
based schools dominated.
Voters often have lost interest in such
excessive spending when elections come
around. They feel all parties permit it anyway
and issues of wider impact come up to
supersede it.
But the Liberals have been scared more than
any government before by being caught in
three major scandals involving those in
public posts billing taxpayers for such
extras as Weight Watchers’ memberships
and chewing gum. Governments will
find it harder to get away with it in
future.
Eric
Dowd
FFrroomm
QQuueeeenn’’ss PPaarrkk
Aresearcher posed a question to me
recently regarding my town and its
residents’ sense of community. Did
they support community events? Were they
involved in things that happened in the
community?
Now anyone who’s ever lived in a small town
knows the answer to those questions. When
something important is going on, while it may
not have any significance to anyone beyond the
borders, it’s generally a big deal to the folks
who love their village. And when a major
project needs to be undertaken, whether it’s
raising money for a new arena or rallying a
group of people to support a cause, even city
folk would be impressed by what a small
number of dedicated country folk can achieve.
Over the course of the next week or so, that
kind of spirit will be evident in a variety of
ways. The first takes in a broader sense of
community with volunteers from far and wide
combining their talents, skills and muscle to
put together the annual Thresher Reunion in
Blyth. Each year right after Labour Day,
trailers and RVs start pulling into the site their
passengers eager to meet new and greet old
friends. Thousands flock to the village to take
in a steam show, craft sale, displays and
entertainment over three days.
What can often be taken for granted is the
time, energy and commitment of the folks
dedicated to making this a must-attend event
for so many each year.
As the Reunion winds down on Sunday,
Sept. 12, the annual Terry Fox Run in Brussels
will be wrapping up as well. The idea to be one
of the communities hosting the event came up
several years ago. Since then organizers have
raised locally close to $100,000 to fight the
battle against cancer.
Not too shabby for a small town.
Then, in the middle of the week, with their
left, left, left, right, left perfected, school
children will hit the street for the annual fair
parades in Belgrave and Brussels.
While, as with any event, it takes the
volunteers to get a fall fair together, these
celebrations of agriculture and achievement,
probably more than any other gathering
exemplify community. Young and old are
drawn to a central place for social interaction
and friendly competition.
The first of these traditionally country fêtes
happens Tuesday in Belgrave as the hamlet
hosts its school fair, one of the only ones of this
kind left in existence. Then that evening and
into Wednesday the Brussels Agricultural
Society is holding its annual homage to all
things rural. From preserves to produce, from
pies to photography, the area’s beautiful
bounty will be on exhibit.
As we see the early fading of summer light at
the end of each day, as a chill creeps into the
evenings, we regretfully anticipate the farewell
to the glorious season of life, growth and
vitality.
But these occasions that traditionally arrive
with its coming demise celebrate life and
commitment and the rewards of service. They
welcome autumn’s arrival in the best way
possible, demonstrating what a community
working together can achieve, how much a part
of community people can be, and how simple
pleasures can often be all that’s necessary.
So take some time next week to support at
least one of these events in one way or another.
Experience the sense of community and enjoy
being part of it.
Governments rip public off
Community spirit