The Citizen, 2004-08-26, Page 5Arthur
Black
Aisk,
Final Thought
It takes courage to push yourself to places that you have never been before ... to test your
limits ... to break through barriers. And the day came when the risk it took to remain tight
inside the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.
— Anais Nin
THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, AUGUST 26, 2004. PAGE 5.
Other Views
Canada: too small for its own good
/love my country — can we get that straight
right from the get-go? I love it right down
to its black flies and cold snaps; yea, even
unto Revenue Canada and Celine Dion.
In terms of real estate, I wouldn't dream of
moving anywhere else on the planet. In terms
of citizenship, I will relinquish my
Canuckhood only when they pry my Tim
Horton Coffee Card from my cold, dead
fingers.
However.
There is one thing about Canada that drives
me absolutely nuts.
It's our smallness. Oh, I know we're huge
geographically — biggest country in the world,
now that Russia's been sliced and diced. But in
so many ways we can be smaller than a June
bug's johnson — even toward ourselves.
I'm talking about our relentless, tiresome
self-deprecation. Was there ever a nation
on earth more aw-shucks-humble than
Canada?
The blushing schoolboy routine might have
been charming a hundred years ago when we
actually were hewers of wood and drawers of
water, but we're all grown up now. We have
pubic hair and drivers' licenses and everything.
It's about time we acted out age.
And Ralph Klein, if you're reading this, go
out and brand a steer or something, because
you don't want to hear what I'm going to say
next.
It's about the results of a recent York
University study on bilingualism. The study
shows that speaking a second language
actually improves the brain.
Forget Premier Dalton McGuinty's
broken promises and all those warnings
medicare is collapsing — Ontario has a
deeper worry. -
This is how it will cope if one of its political
parties chooses a leader with the same name as
his party.
It could happen because the Progressive
Conservatives will pick a leader in September
to replace the defeated former premier Ernie
Eves and most observers say the likely choice
is John Tory.
He is a long-time backroom worker whose
attractions include being moderate,
unconnected to the last two tarnished, far-right
Conservative governments and having links to
business that could raise money.
Tory's surname also has been another name
for conservative for two centuries and
newspapers use it often, particularly because it
is shorter and easier to fit in a headline.
The possibilities for confusion are immense.
Papers have reported, Tory leads in
Conservative race, which seems superfluous
because a Tory would have to lead. It could not
be a Liberal or New Democrat.
If John Tory wins, papers - will have
headlines like, Tory wins Conservative
leadership, which similarly sounds repetitious.
John Tory's rivals have criticized him for his
centrist policies and this has produced
headlines such as, Tory accused of being
Liberal, which may confuse some.
If John Tory becomes leader, one of his
burdens will be that the word Tory has become
a four-letter word to many, because the
governments of Eves and particularly his
predecessor, Mike Harris, cut services and
directed millions to political friends.
New revelations of their misdeeds still fall
out of closets constantly and John Tory would
have to overcome reminders such as, Tory
lobbyists raked in cash, and, Tory insiders got
Researchers tested the mental skills of
bilingual speakers of Cantonese and English,
Tamil and English, and French and English.
The bilingualists consistently outperformed
English-only speakers.
Ellen Bialystok, a researcher at York,
explains that speaking a second language
actually produces physical changes in the brain
pumping more blood to carry more oxygen.
"Being bilingual is like going to a brain
gym," she says.
So do English-Canadians embrace the
principle of Official Bilingualism — which
amounts to a unique, government-sponsored
opportunity to enrich our lives and broaden our
horizons?
Nah. We bitch and whine about 'the Quebec
conspiracy' and the immense burden of having
to confront a few French words on our Corn
Flakes boxes every morning.
Come on, Canada...stretch a little.
Then there's our smallness towards others —
specifically, our knee-jerk anti-Americanism.
That's childish too — and kind of pathetic.
Sure, Yanks can be obnoxious and bossy and
stubborn and downright scary.
Just like Sheila Copps and Don Cherry.
untendered contracts, at least in the short term.
Ontario parties sometimes have found it
advantageous to play down their parties'
names in elections, because of their
shortcomings or those of their federal parties
to which some voters link them.
Candidates running under Harris before his
bloom faded tended to have lawn signs urging
Vote Harris rather than Vote Conservative,
because Brian Mulroney when prime minister
made his party unpopular, and Liberal premier
David Peterson similarly urged Vote Peterson.
But a party led by John Tory would not have
as many options to disguise, because it might
not help to switch signs from Vote
Conservative to Vote Tory.
Individual candidates alsO have found
changing their names useful. Durable Tory
(sorry, Conservative) premier William Davis
ran in his early elections as William G. Davis.
But in the 1971 election he put his name
forward as Bill Davis, because the NDP
candidate running against him was Neil Davis
And yes, they currently have a dangerous
idiot for a president.
But you know what? Americans can — and I
believe, will — send that bum back to his dry
gulch Texas ranch next November. With
ballots, not bullets.
Which is not an option with the ayatollahs,
imams, supreme chieftains, sultans, warlords,
'Dear Leaders' and other assorted thugs who
rule most of the rest of the world.
Before we cheap-shot the U.S., I think it
behooves the average Canuck to ask himself a
couple of questions. Such as where was the car
you drive manufactured? How about the
clothes on your back? How about the fact that
you get to listen — and react to — voices as
various as Rush Limbaugh and Michael
Moore?
And to eat fresh oranges and avocados in
January?
As much as it galls doctrinaire Leftoids. fate
placed our homeland right next to the richest,
most technologically-advanced civilization in
the history of this planet. That immutable fact
has imbued Canadians with one of the highest
standards of living in the world.
Is America perfect? Not even close. The U.S.
comes not just with warts, but with carbuncles,
pustules, goiter, hives and great running sores.
Our neighbour may be sick and delusional,
but she is our neighbour. And she is ailing, not
terminal.
What if Canada — instead of sniping and
griping and Holier-Than-Thou-ing, worked at
actually helping the folks next door?
That would be mighty big of us.
and the premier, leaving nothing to chance,
wanted to be first on the ballot.
No candidate with the surname Tory has run
in an Ontario election before and only a
handful of people named Tory are listed in
Ontario phone directories, so the odds against
one leading a political party are huge.
The term Tory is sometimes seen as u‘tra-
conservative, but it was used originally, to
describe those who supported the right of a
Roman Catholic to succeed to the throne in
Britain.
Later it was used to describe a party that had
become broadly representative of the interests
of the country gentry, merchant classes and
existing administration, as distinct from those
of dissenters and reformers.•
Ontario's news media will seize any
opportunity to play on John Tory's name if the
Conservatives choose him leader.
They recently awakened to the impact they
can cause by giving a slight twist to names and
their descriptions of the Liberals as "Fiberals"
and "hypo-Grits," after they broke promises to
avoid tax increases and balance the budget,
have become part of the language.
But the bright ray is someone named Tory is
not running for leader of another party and
raising the prospect of headlines such as,
Tory seeks to head Liberals, Tory picked
as New Democrat leader, or even, Tory
attacks Tories — now that would be really
confusirig. -
Bonnie
Gropp
The short of it
A summer that wasn't
Fall is such a beautiful time of year. With
its crimson, gold and saffron it paints a
glorious picture and eases the transition
to the cold palette of winter white.
It wouldn't be right to not find autumn
somewhat pleasing. I just hadn't expected it to
arrive in August.
During our holiday in Southampton my
husband and I noticed a number of lawns
buried under a blanket of dried, dead maple
leaves. Those remaining on the trees were also
visibly crisp, soon to be joining the rest below.
It was clear that some blight had struck the
trees and I thought how sad it would be to see
the glorious maples stripped so early in the
y6ar.
Then last week, travelling to an evening
council meeting, I was shocked by the number
of trees along the highway already showing
some of their fall colours. Hints of red had
boldly burst onto the tips of branches, varying
shades of oranges and yellows were splashed
throughout the green.
And I felt loss, not huge, but there, for a
summer over too quickly, a summer that had
really never happened.
Certainly it's not the first time spring segued
straight into autumn. Most recently I recall a
summer, I believe it was 1992, when the days
never warmed. It was sweater weather all the
way.
And if memory serves correctly, the next
year was our reward, a glorious summer of
sunshine, warmth and enough nightly rain to
keep the agriculturalists and green thumbs
happy.
Which is the way it is - when it comes to
weather we take what we get. Sometimes we
win, sometimes we lose. I can accept that.
What I do have a problem with are the broken
promises.
It was late July, with its rain and chill;
summer had failed yet to live up to anyone's
expectations. But, a news report announced
Environment Canada's assurance that from
here on it was going to be hot and dry straight
through September, so I prepared to enjoy.
Each new day, however, dawned with more
of the same or worse. During my holidays I
tried to brazen it out wearing sweaters with
shorts, wrapping myself in blankets to sit
lakeside, rather than hide from the cool breezes
indoors.
The next week brought rain and more rain.
This past week more of the same. Patience was
wearing thin.
Then a radio weatherman gave the long-
range forecast, stressing at the end that it could
change. No kidding. Considering they're hard-
pressed to give an accurate report for the day
they're in, one can hardly give much credence
to something more long-term.
Wouldn't it be an interesting world if we all
did our jobs that way? A doctor gives you six
months to live, but adds he might be wrong.
Your lawyer advises you and his information is
totally inaccurate. I write a news 'Story.
concluding it with the line that things may not
happen as stated,
Granted our changing environment is
probably to blame for the inability to get it
straight. But if you can't, why bother. Frankly
I'm tired of the subterfuge. I look toward the
red sunset for my prediction of tomorrow's
weather.
And to the red leaves, preparing myself to
say goodbye to the summer that wasn't.
Tory name threatens confusion