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The Citizen, 2007-03-29, Page 5THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MARCH 29, 2007. PAGE 5. Bonnie Gropp TThhee sshhoorrtt ooff iitt Things are moving rapidly toward an October election in Ontario except that one party, ironically the one voters have turned to most in the past half-century, still does not have anywhere near enough policies. The Progressive Conservatives led by John Tory have been slow letting the public know what they would do if elected and there is some evidence that when a party waits too long, voters lose interest in it. Tory in two-and-a-half years as leader has established himself as an attractive personality and has some policies that can be gleaned from statements he has made, usually while denouncing the Liberal government under Premier Dalton McGuinty. But the Conservative leader does not have policies covering the wide range of issues that concern voters and to go into an election without them would be like stepping out in the rain without shoes. The Liberals have policies that can be seen in what they have done (and failed to do) as a government and promises including those in their recent Budget. The New Democrats have policies on every conceivable issue, usually passed by rank-and- file in conventions and sometimes too many for their MPPs, who found themselves committed to some they could not afford to keep the sole time they were elected to government in 1990. Parties often wrestle with whether they should announce policies long before or close to an election. Announcing early gives more time to publicize, but also for opponents to criticize or steal, and announcing late can appear last-minute desperation. The best-known and extreme example of a party waiting too long was the Liberals under Lyn McLeod keeping their platform secret in 1995 until after the election was called on the grounds their opponents would take shots at it. Conservative leader Mike Harris announced his plan, with the catchy title The Common Sense Revolution, full of promises to cut taxes and balance the budget, a full year before the election, inveigled the governing NDP and Liberals into debates on it and created interest with phone hotlines where voters could “call Mike” about it. McLeod did not unveil her platform until six days after the election was called and it was 82 pages long, packed with promises that made it a watered-down version of Harris’s, because cutting costs had become the rage, and included affirmations from 55 movers and shakers it could be done. But few cared, because Harris had been there first. An example of last-minute desperation failing was Liberal premier David Peterson promising to cut the sales tax in the 1990 election, when what had appeared a sure win for him was fast disappearing and voters recognized the motivation. A politician without enough policies is like a comedian without jokes or a singer without songs and the Liberals have begun deriding Tory almost daily for lacking policies. Tory among his few promises has said he would end the healthcare tax the Liberals imposed which takes $2.6 billion a year from residents and their huge increase in spending. Tory would provide more money for autistic children and, to avoid lengthy and painful waits, allow provincial medicare to pay for surgeries in private clinics where service is equal or better and costs the same or less. Tory also has said he would move some government branches from Toronto to smaller communities, where their well-paid jobs would stimulate local economies, and cap increases in assessment of homes for property tax at five per cent a year. Tory may be delayed in coming up with policies because he is trying to satisfy his caucus, which includes moderates like himself and extreme right-wingers more in tune with Harris, and feel he can wait a few months longer to announce a fuller range of policies. But the Conservative leader is taking risks voters will be thinking of other things by then and he already will be established in the public mind as a leader who is short of ideas. Taking the moment They say such nice things about people at their funerals. Makes me sad to realize I’m going to miss mine by just a few days. – Garrison Keillor We humans do a lot of stupid things in a lot of stupid ways but few can match the way we let ourselves be treated after we croak. I’m talking about our terrestrial sendoff. Can you think of any other ritual as bizarre and illogical as the conventional burial experience? If I was going to have a traditional burial here’s what I could look forward to. My carcass would be splayed out jay-naked on a slab in front of one or more total strangers who would bleed me, disembowel me and pump me full of noxious chemicals to keep me ‘fresh’. Then they would dress me in my best suit and tie, pimp me out with rouge and face powder to make me look ‘natural’ and comb what’s left of my hair. Then I would go on display in a strange room where a lugubrious greeter would show in my friends who want to pay their respects as well as my enemies who want to make sure that I’m dead. I will be, the while, ensconced in a luxurious casket of impeccably hand-crafted wood lined with plush satin and festooned with beautiful brass accoutrements. Eventually my box and I will be lowered into a cement vault in a hole in the ground and covered with dirt. The whole operation will take less than a week and cost my heirs and assigns more than the price of a new car. Now how dumb is that? Fortunately, I don’t have to worry about this grisly scenario because when my bell tolls I’m going up in smoke. But apparently even cremation is not the warm and fuzzy eco-friendly alternative I always assumed it was. Turns out that where I live, there are absolutely no requirements for emission controls on crematoria. Great. Can’t even check out of this place without making one last ugly contribution to global warming. Still, if I can just hang on long enough, I might be able to avail myself of a third alternative. It’s called Green Burial and it’s coming – eventually – to a boneyard near you. People who elect to have a green burial do not get embalmed. Nor do they get entombed in a concrete vault or even a wooden casket. Bodies are wrapped in shrouds and placed in unpretentious economical coffins designed to degrade quickly and naturally in the ground. You don’t have to mortgage the house to pay for a marble memorial either. Green burial graveyards are left in a natural state, unencumbered with tombstones or memorial markers. Instead, a common memorial appears at the entrance listing everyone who’s interred there. Rather than a half-ton of chiseled granite listing your check-in and check-out date over some cheesy poetry, you get a tree or a shrub planted over you. Now how refreshing is that? That’s the good news. The bad news is there aren’t any green burials going on in Canada. They’re big in Britain and growing in popularity in the U.S., but so far they are not happening here. That may be about to change. The spokesman for a graveyard in Victoria, B.C. has announced that next year, they will be opening a half–acre of their property exclusively for green burials. It’s Royal Oak Burial Park if you want to get your name in. The company claims it will be the first green burial site on all of Vancouver Island, but that’s not technically true. Many native tribes including the Coast Salish disposed of their dead by placing them on platforms in trees. It’s a tradition that endured for hundreds of years. Now THAT’S recycling. Incoming white settlers pooh-poohed such barbaric rituals, of course. They dismantled and burned the platforms and insisted the natives adopt our enlightened ways. But it’s best to tread lightly on other folk’s traditions. I’m reminded of the story of the redneck in a cemetery putting flowers on a friend’s grave when he notices a Chinese man leaving a bowl of rice on another plot. “When do you expect your friend to come by and eat that rice?” he sneered. The Chinese smiled politely and said, “Probably about the time your friend shows up to smell the flowers.” Arthur Black Tory’s, conservatives lack policies Apicture, so they say, is worth a thousand words. Working in journalism in small-town community newspapers you soon learn, however, that you are expected to tell the story both ways. I knew pretty early in my life that writing was important to me, something I enjoyed and that I was not as humiliatingly bad at as algebra and physics. A vivid imagination allowed me to turn boredom into fun as I created fanciful plots for acting out with friends in rainy-day basement play. Many times in my teens, pen and paper had a cathartic effect, as all the angst of adolescence spilled out in essay and poetry. Thus, I suppose it was kismet I would find my way to working on a newspaper. But a bit of a shock to find that I was not just a writer now, but a writer with a camera. Until then photography was always just a way to chronicle special moments. I never thought about composition, framing, or mood. I didn’t think about whether or not my subject conveyed a message. And I certainly hadn’t seen the potential in little things. I eventually got it figured out on a modest level of course, but it never came easily to me. Unlike some. Several years ago I met a young girl through my son. While we shared a love of writing, it soon became evident that Sarah was passionate about photography as well. The camera was an extra appendage accompanying her on every excursion. It wasn’t just that she was snap happy either. She could see the possibilities behind the simplest subject, a single flower, a block of wood, and make it picture perfect. And she worked to improve. Those who knew her could see how important photography had become and that it wasn’t enough to be good. She wanted to be better. How much better is something we’ll never know. Sarah was sadly lost to us last summer as the result of a car crash. But the legacy she left with her prolific photographic recording of everything from local rock bands to clouds, and (thank you so much Sarah) to our grandson, is a treasure to be shared. Sarah didn’t just take a picture of something; she captured the moment in a way that made it as vital to see months later as it was right then. One of her favourite subjects was the sunset. Anyone going through the boxes and boxes of photos she took will discover its fiery image frozen for posterity over and over again. And which has now inspired a special event in her honour. The Huron Camera Club, of which Sarah was a founding member, is calling for sunset shots for Last Light, a photo contest, exhibit and sale to be held at the Goderich Library for two weeks beginning May 5. What a fitting tribute to this young woman and a beautiful way to remember. I even went through some of my photos thinking that it might be nice to be part of something for Sarah. Whether I enter or not I’ve yet to decide. But, as I looked at the pictures, I came upon one which, while she wasn’t there with me, will always make me think of her. It was a beautiful day at the lake. Against the backdrop of the water illuminated by the crimson sun as it began its sultry decline, my grandson was on an excursion of discovery along the rocky shore. Two of her favourite subjects and I, just as Sarah would have, saw the moment and took it. Other Views Green is the only way to go Eric Dowd FFrroomm QQuueeeenn’’ss PPaarrkk 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. Good judgment comes from experience, and experience – well, that comes from poor judgment. – A. A. Milne Final Thought