Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2005-12-22, Page 5THE CmZBt, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 22,2005. PAGE 5. Other Views Enough to drive you to £ £ ood evening, Madame, welcome ■ 'W',° Ep*c Restaurant. Can I offer you something to drink? I have a splendid French Badoit, world renowned for its Hower)' bouquet and hints of the High Sierra, but if you don’t care for Artesian I can offer you a premium Glacial. I personally recommend the Gleneagles Natural. A transparently well-rounded libation imported from the heather-clad Ochil Hills of Scotland. It's a triumph of icy gusto with an astonishingly clean finish.” "What's that? You just want water with your meal? "Madame.. .I'm the water sommelier. Water is what I've been telling you about.” Sounds like a dopey spinoff from a Monty Python skit, but it’s true. There is an Epic restaurant - in Toronto’s Fairmont Royal York hotel - and it does have a water sommelier. He’s David Smuck. What’s more he can offer you everything from Welsh Ty Nant through Hawaii’s Kona Nigari to Austria’s Gerolsteiner and Italy’s Pellegrino. And it is all bottled water. Not to mention big business. Forty-five point eight billion dollars big. internationally. People are lining up to pay for the privilege of drinking the world’s most common liquid with an avidity not seen since the 17th Century Dutch Tulip Bulb Craze. After Americans, Canucks are the thirstiest per capita guzzlers of bottled water in the world. By the year 2000 each of us was chugalugging more than 30 litres a year. Pretty impressive, considering that even the mainstream stuff - Dasani, Polaris, Evian - retails for more than the price of gasoline. What's really Pythonesque is that most of us Gasping on the issue of smoking Ontario’s latest maneuverings on smoking should make residents gasp, but they are barely noticing. It is not often a premier, in this case Liberal Dalton McGuinty, provides the toughest law in North America to protect his province against smoking, then flies off happily promoting exports of the tobacco it grows, that causes the problem, to China. This took Ontario politics to its lowest in the 42 years this reporter has covered the legislature. Politicians, and this includes the opposition parties who have failed to protest, cannot be more callous than to say they will protect their friends and neighbors against illness and death, but foist them on others - after all, they are only Chinese. Smoking kills more than 16,000 Ontarians a yeai and the Liberals’ campaign against it, which was launched with fanfare and pride, will include a ban on lighting up in all enclosed public places, including restaurants and bars, starting May 31. Health Minister George Smitherman has said it will make Ontario a healthier place to live and work. Tobacco-growers in the province are having difficulty slaying in business, particularly because of increasing restrictions on smoking, and governments are helping them slowly sw itch to other crops. McGuinty led a trade mission to China to increase trade in November and it included representatives ot the growers, hoping to expand sales in what they called an emerging and important market. McGuinty explained they asked to accom­ pany him and do what they could to promote their product and his spokesman said the premier was not going to pick and choose who went. Fairly short stories mentioning that - not counting those poor sods in places like Afghanistan and Kashechewan — have an unlimited supply of the stuff on tap in our kitchens. Ah, but it’s not the same, you say. Tap water has chlorine and stuff in it, whereas bottled water is pristine and virginal, inveigled from glaciers or deep mountain springs. Bunk. Tests have shown that bottled water can contain as many or more contaminants as tap water, and in blind taste tests hardly anybody can tell the difference anyway. As for the glacier ancestry, here’s a tip: Coca Cola - which owns and sells the Dasani brand - gets its water from Brampton, smack in the urban heartland of Ontario. And, pointing at the snowy mountain crag depicted on the label of Nestle Pure Life water, public health inspector Marilyn Lee says: “This water is from Guelph, Ontario. Have you ever seen a glacier in Guelph? It’s misrepresentation...It’s good water, but I live in Guelph.,.It’s probably the same water from my tap.” And perhaps not even as safe as tap water. “Bottled water could have more bacteria, because it is disinfected with ozone instead of chlorine,” says Lee. “The ozone bubbles through so there’s no residue in the bottom of the bottle. The chlorine (in tap water) is Eric Dowd From Queen's Park McGuinty was taking tobacco growers appeared in two Toronto newspapers and one interviewed a group opposed to smoking, which warned this would increase health problems in China. But the issue has received nowhere near the interest its dangers warrant. There have since been some comments on the trade mission and smoking. McGuinty reported it had been exciting and a major step toward increasing trade with China and Economic Development and Trade Minister Joe Cordiano called it a real success. Health Promotion Minister Jim Watson announced the province will spend an additional $1.2 million to help public health units promote anti-smoking campaigns here. Progressive Conservative MPP Toby Barrett from a tobacco-growing area said many Ontario tobacco farmers are on the verge of bankruptcy and pleaded for more government funds to help them switch crops. The Conservative, who is concerned the Liberals are putting too many restrictions on smokers, also asked for more opportunity for critics to make submissions. New Democrat leader Howard Hampton, whose party normally leads fights for underdogs and rights abroad, seemed about to raise concern at McGuinty’s promoting tobacco in China when he mentioned the premier “flew to China to flog Ontario’s tobacco.” But it turned out he merely wanted drink always there.” So how come every second person you see is lugging a canteen of bottled water when they could be satisfying their hydration needs at the local water fountain? In a word: marketing. The same folks who convinced us that we craved a beer like Labatt’s Lite (Labatt’s Lite? Is there some beer aesthete out there for whom the taste of Labatt’s regular is too robust?) have conned us into shelling out a fistful of loonies for what comes out of our taps for free. It’s a con job with a long term price. Eduardo Souza of the Council of Canadians says: “The more bottled water we drink, the more we undermine public confidence in the ability of municipalities to serve water.” Not that you necessarily want to give government a blank cheque when it comes to liquids. Last year, then-U.S. Secretary of State Katherine Harris strong-armed Florida state officials to adopt a ‘miracle’ liquid called Celestial Drops, which she claimed could cure a canker disease menacing Florida’s citrus crops. Celestial Drops came with a bafflegab pedigree worthy of the priciest item on Epic’s water menu. It was promoted as having “improved fractal design, infinite levels of order, high energy and low entropy”. And how did Celestial Drops come by these lofty credentials? Well, it ‘absorbed’ them - by being stored in a holy room with sacred Hebrew texts. Florida scientists ran an analysis and determined that Celestial Drops was actually — you guessed it - tap water. The late, great P.T. Barnum observed “there’s a sucker born every minute.” I think we’re picking up the pace. McGuinty to fly to General Motors and other company headquarters to protest job cuts. A letter in a Toronto newspaper said it was disgusting McGuinty helped Ontario growers market their tobacco in China, when he should promote healthy lifestyles wherever he goes. The legislature has now adjourned for Christmas without any MPP in any party Criticizing a government which supposedly is against smoking, promoting tobacco sales overseas. None is now likely to. Smitherman, who normally is a formidable battler for his causes, had no word of protest and neither did the health promotion minister, who confines his job to promoting health among Ontarians. And Liberals would not want to cause any turbulence over their premier’s flight to China.. Most of the Conservatives, including leader John Tory, voted for the new smoking law, but half a dozen voted against and said it is harsh on smokers, bar-owners and tobacco-growers, and their party is unlikely to alienate such a wide group of voters. The NDP also has a history of being big on causes, but sometimes backing off when it could cost votes. These politicians should carry warnings they are hazardous to another country’s health. Final Thought When I had youth I had no money; now I have the money I have no time; and when I get the time, if I ever do, I shall have no health to enjoy life. I suppose it’s the discipline I need; out it’s rather hard to love the things I do, and see them go by because duty chains me to my galley. If I ever come into port with all sails set, that will be my reward perhaps - Louisa May Alcott Bonnie Gropp The short of it Where are the angels? Well, that was somewhat disappointing. We asked for arfgels and one might assume there were none. Angels come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Their gestures may be grand, such as on television shows like Extreme Home Makeover or Three Wishes, or small like giving you a hug when you need it most. But the impact is always the same. Angels make us feel good. For this special Christmas issue of The Citizen we felt it might be nice for our readers to share personal experiences of when a simple act, kind gesture or the right words made a life just a little better. Unfortunately, only one person was apparently affected enough by someone’s deed to send in a submission. At least that was the initial thought. At first I felt it was just one more commentary on a world that has become so cynical, selfish and/or busy that they either don’t notice or don’t care. But then I began to think about that. It suddenly occurred that maybe we’re more blessed than I thought. Maybe, I wondered, kindnesses happen with such regularity that it’s impossible to name just one. Looking to my work colleagues and to myself for stories of the ‘angels among us’ (lead by example I guess), I started to see that despite the way things may occasionally seem to be, people are still pretty dam decent. And the ones who came to mind didn’t necessarily do anything that was a big deal to them, but they sure did manage to brighten someone else’s day. This may have been another reason why people didn’t respond to our request — the idea that we are looking for the grand gesture, that act that is so bold, so incredible you simply have to notice. Bu in fact, it is often the tiniest gesture that can carry the biggest impact. Just in my life and off the top of my head there have been the neighbours who cared for me as family when my husband was out of town. There is the friend who always knows the right thing to say when it needs to be said and more importantly when it doesn’t. There is the acquaintance who fetched a heater for me when he saw me shivering in the office one day. There is the stranger who saw tears and offered a handkerchief. And of course, there’s always my family. Hearing one of their voices on the phone can dispose of even the worst garbage from a rotten day. My husband’s humour has saved me countless times while my children and their children give to me in ways they can’t even imagine. One day several summers ago in response to my frustrated “I need a miracle”, my grandson Mitchell said that he would be my miracle. No, it really doesn’t have to be the grand gesture that does it for somebody. His naivety that day lifted my spirits in a way that nothing else ever eould. If there is a time of year for ‘good’ news stories it’s Christmas. It would obviously therefore have been nice to include dozens of warm-fuzzy inducing anecdotes in this issue. But, if I’m right in my assumption that people didn’t think they were big enough to warrant the space it’s really too bad. No act of kindness is too small for notice. So, maybe we didn’t get the chance to acknowledge them publicly, but take time this holiday season and think of the people who have warmed your heart.