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The Citizen, 2003-01-15, Page 5THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 15, 2003. PAGE 5. Other Views Can’t see the forest for the trees Old-growth adj. (of a tree, forest, etc.) mature, never felled. - Canadian Oxford Dictionary Moron it. (informal) a very stupid or foolish person. - Ibid an I propose a moratorium on the use of the two words cited above? ‘Old- growth’ because it has been so over­ used we can no longer be sure exactly what it means, and ‘moron’ because it is too precious to be squandered by mere functionaries in the prime minister’s office. For readers who have spent the last couple of months living under a bushel basket, I should explain that Francoise Ducros, a flak for Prime Minister Jean Chretien, recently created a modest international diplomatic flutter of dismay by referring to U.S. President George Bush as ‘a moron’. And for readers who don't normally take The New York Times with their morning coffee, I should explain that Gordon Campbell, the current premier of British Columbia, recently enlightened the NYT readership by informing them, in a letter to the editor, and I quote: “There is more old-growth forest in British Columbia now than 100 years ago, amounting to 62 million acres. That total is projected to increase in the century ahead.” (Where’s Francoise Ducros when you really need her?) Mister Campbell’s assertion came as quite a surprise to many of us who had assumed that old-growth forest was a pretty finite resource, on account of they weren't making any more Closest resemblance to a dynasty gone Politics is often a family business in Ontario and it has just lost its closest resemblance to a dynasty. Chris Hodgson, who resigned after seven years as a Progressive Conservative minister and frequently touted future premier, had two uncles elected to the legislature before him. Glen represented the same eastern riding based on Lindsay for more than a decade starting in the 1960s and was steady and reliable but never made it to cabinet in an era when the Tories had huge majorities from which to choose. Lou, who lasted only four years as an MPP in Scarborough, was an ex-Mountie, livelier and more personable, but not inclined enough to pound the sidewalks in his riding. Richard Sutton, who married into the Hodgson family, was elected to the legislature in the 1950s and Chris Hodgson’s great-uncle Thomas ran for it in 1914, but was defeated. Chris’s grandfather, Clayton Hodgson, was an MP for a couple of decades. The family presumably felt it should send Ottawa a share of its political talents. Glen and Lou were, the only brothers in memory to serve in the legislature together. One fraternal story is that Leslie Frost, later Tory premier, and his brother Cecil both wanted to launch their political careers in the 1930s seeking the party’s nomination in their home riding, the same based on Lindsay that later became a Hodgson fiefdom. Neither would contest the nomination against the other, and each offered to step aside and let the other run, so they tossed a coin. Leslie won and went on to become the unbeatable Old Man Ontario, while Cecil became party organizer, one of many examples of the huge impact of luck on politics. Chris Hodgson says he has no idea why so many in his family ran for elected office and he was motivated by wanting to serve the public, not emulate relatives, which is the proper thing Arthur Black of it. How do you increase a commodity that, by definition, was created centuries ago? Annex Oregon? Ask Buck Rogers if you can borrow his Time Machine? Leaving aside the dubious fact-checking standards of the folks at The New York Times, a lot of Canadians began to wonder what they were smoking down at the premier’s office. From here, it smells an awful lot like prime B.C. Bud. But there’s something about a forest that seems to bring out the Homer Simpson in politicians. It was another myopic BC premier, the unforgettable Bill Vander Zalm, who once suggested brightly “Let’s cut down the trees and create jobs”. That’s right up there with Dan Quayle’s mystifying observation: “Voters are like trees, if you’re trying to build a forest. If you have more trees than you have forests, then at that point the pollsters will probably say ‘you win’”. And Dan Quayle was hand-picked to be a heartbeat away from the U.S. presidency by guess who? Dubya’s daddy - George Herbert Walker Eric Dowd From Queen’s Park to say. But five current MPPs have followed in a parent’s footsteps. Liberal leader Dalton McGuinty’s father, also Dalton, was an MPP, not as ambitious as his son. Tory Norman Miller is a son of former premier Frank Miller. Liberal David Caplan’s mother Elinor was an MPP who went federal and held senior ministries at both levels. Tories used to sneer at him as ‘Elinor’s boy,’ but he now has won some respect. New Democrat Shelley Martel’s father Elie is a former NDP house leader who once jumped to his daughter’s defence by accusing critics of ‘lynching’ her. Tory minister Tony Clement is stepson of former attorney general John Clement Another Tory MPP, Ted Chudleigh, is a grandson of Tom Kennedy, who was premier briefly in the 1940s. Tom’s nephew Doug Kennedy also was an MPP. Former Liberal leader Bob Nixon, whose father Harry was briefly premier in the 1940s, seemed bent on establishing a dynasty, but his daughter, Jane Stewart, became a federal minister. Other parents and their offspring in the Final Thought If you don’t believe in yourself, very few other people will. - Anonymous Bush. Then of course there’s Ronald Reagan. The 40th president of the United States was never likely to be mistaken for a Rhodes scholar at the best of times, but he saved some of his most magnificent malapropisms for observations involving trees. Such as: “If you’ve seen one redwood tree, you’ve seen ‘em all.” And: “Eighty percent of pollution comes not from chimneys and automobiles, but from plants and trees.” Say what you will about Chretien, he never said anything that stupid about trees- in either official language. Or if he did, nobody understood him. Which brings us to the man whom Chretien faint-heartedly defended as “not a moron” - the current resident of the Oval Office. Here are some of Dubya’s pronouncements on the environment. “Natural gas is hemispheric. I like to call it hemispheric in nature because it is a product that we can find in our neighbourhoods.”- Austin, Texas, Dec. 20, 2000 “I know the human being and fish can coexist peacefully.”-Saginaw, Mich., Sept. 29, 2000 “It isn’t pollution that’s harming our environment, it’s the impurities in our air and water that are doing it.” - Portland, Ore., Oct 31, 2000. Francoise Ducros’ epithet for President Bush has been called a lot of things - rude, impolitic, disgraceful, outrageous. But have you noticed how nobody’s arguing that she’s wrong? legislature have included Allan and Larry Grossman, who both became Tory ministers, (Larry also being opposition leader), and New Democrats Cliff and Allan Pilkey and Norm and Michael Davison. Liberal Margaret Campbell, who caused one of the biggest upsets by defeating Tory heavyweight Roy McMurtry, later attorney general and now Ontario chief justice, in his first bid to be elected an MPP, had a son Sterling, who also became an MPP. Former NDP premier Bob Rae said if any of hrs three daughters thought of going into elected politics he would encourage them and “tell them you have to have a love of people, a good sense of humour and a thick skin - it took me a long time to develop the last one.” When Ernie Eves became premier he chose as chief of staff Steve Pengelly, son of former Tory minister Bette Stephenson. Chris Hodgson, come to think of it, has a brother Andrew who is executive director of the Ontario Tory party, and such backroom boys often yearn to go public. So the Hodgson dynasty may not be over. 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 prinfod. 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. Bonnie Gropp The short of it Time together Life has pretty much returned to normTfl. Now in the middle of January, the festive season is stored and treasured with so many others in our memory bank. While the holidays present th6 opportune occasion for family get-togethers,’ the resulting exhaustion at the end got me thinking. Family has always been the most important thing for me. There are no people 1 would rather spend time with, no people with whom I am more comfortable, no people with whom I am as relaxed. So with all the social commitments in past weeks, you would think 1 should have been delighted. After all, family was for a change, virtually ever-present in my world. Yet, as each day ended, I was left with a certain discomfiture. We were all together, we had laughs and fun, but when all was said and done it was one big blur. To enjoy quality time on an individual basis there was just no time. Five minutes in the kitchen with this one, 10 minutes in the living room with another, you flit trying to chat with everyone, not having enough time with anyone. Which actually sums up much of our socializing nowadays. How often do you say or have you heard, “We’ve been meaning to get in touch but there’s just so much going on.”? Ironically, while people are often thought of fondly, we aren’t finding the time to savour their company one-on-one. We grab moments where we can, but we rarely enjoy long periods of lazy, relaxed socializing. Well, realizing over the holidays that there are certain people with whom I’m a fool not to seek out more of their company, I reached a decision. Actually, I guess the idea came from my mother. Just before the holidays began, she told me she was going to have each o her children and their families in for dinner. While it would still mean a sizeable gathering in each instance it would be more personal time than usual with her offspring and theirs. I thought it a marvelous plan and decided to borrow it for myself. Thus, I am asking my children to find weekends that work for them individually, give me the list and we will make dates. It will be spent relaxing and talking, catching up on their lives, one at a time; uninterrupted by the demands or comments of others. I’m not sure how they fee! about it, but 1 am greatly looking forward to it. I have as well, though, taken the concept a little further. There are friends and siblings whom my husband and I never seem to see without a crowd around us. To get the ball rolling, I have spoken to some of them asked them to arrange times with their children that suit and en masse come see us. For fitting a visit to our home into their hectic schedules, we shall wine them and dine them to the best of our ability. Not a bad deal, as it will provide us all not just with a chance to share time with the people who were so important to us as we were growing up, but also to firm the ties with nieces and nephews. We all lead such busy lives that those occasions which provide us with the opportunity to spend time with family and friends are special and all-too-rare. But while there is much to enjoy with a large gathering of relatives, we shouldn’t forget the pleasure in those more intimate, leisurely occasions and make time for them as well.