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The Citizen, 2016-07-28, Page 5THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JULY 28, 2016. PAGE 5. Other Views We're thinker than you drunk we are Jhere are only two drugs that Western civilization tolerates: Caffeine from Monday to Friday to energize you enough to make you a productive member of society, and alcohol from Friday to Monday to keep you too stupid to figure out the prison that you are living in." — Bill Hicks We drink a lot, we Canucks. According to the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse, we drink more than 50 per cent above the global average. We come by it honestly. Our first Prime Minister, Sir John A. Macdonald, was a notorious sot who once vomited during a public debate. He apologized, saying that he "got sick not from drink, but from being forced to listen to the ranting of my honorable opponent". Did we learn from Sir John's intemperance? Not really. Canadians remain world famous for our robust embrace of the liquor bottle. One of our most illustrious diplomats, Charles Ritchie, observed "I sometimes think Canadians, who are at heart a sensitive, pugnacious, voluble and amorous race, are only released by whiskey." And then of course, there's our most recent poster child for alcohol overindulgence: Rob Ford. OlikArthur Black Rob would have fit right in in Sir John's day. Heavy drinking was the norm back in the early 19th century. And why not? Whiskey was cheaper than wine or beer — and easier to buy than tea or coffee. That's because farmers who grew barley, rye and corn found they could make more money distilling their crops than shipping them off as grain. And there was a ready market. Folks commonly started the day with a tumbler of rye rather than a cup of coffee. It was also — thanks to spectacularly lousy hygiene — often safer to drink booze than water. Children drank whiskey and physicians of the day even declared that whiskey was "conducive to health". In 1820, American men over 15 (and no doubt Canadian men as well) were drinking on average 14 gallons of whiskey a year. And it was uncommonly powerful whiskey too — 100 proof for the most part. Nobody had to seek out a tavern or show proof of age. They could buy a drink at the grocery store or at the barber shop. Men drank before work, on the way to work and at work. An astonishingly large portion of the North American workforce spent its waking hours in a drunken haze reeling from chore to chore. In a book called Heaven's Ditch about the construction of the Erie Canal, author Jack Davies writes: "The typical canal worker drank at least a pint, often a quart, of whiskey daily. Whiskey 'was provided bountifully (by the employers) and in true western style.' Thirsty from a salty diet and abundant sweating, the men drank and drank...." And drank some more. But change was coming. A teetotaller named Henry Ford was on the horizon. He and his fellow factory owners had no use for drunken employees. There would be no drinking on the assembly lines. Given the level of drunkenness it's amazing that anything was accomplished, much less an ambitious project like the Eric Canal system. It was miserable, exhausting, back -breaking work, but it got done. Maybe that's why it got done. As one worker put it "You wouldn't expect us to work on the canal if we were sober would you?" A family interview to remember Last week, in preparation for our annual Huron County Plowing Match special edition, I had the pleasure of sitting down with the hosts of the upcoming match: the Fear family. The family, who lives in Morris-Turnberry, the host municipality under its Mayor and Huron County Warden Paul Gowing, is heavily involved in the upcoming event with all four children participating in one way or another. Natalie, who has been a Princess of the match before, will be running for Queen of the Furrow while her sister Anna is vying for the princess crown. Brothers Andrew and Darcy will both be plowing as part of the match. Sitting with Paul, Ann Marie and their children was a great experience for me because, for the first time in a long time, I was interviewing a family about their experiences, how they got involved with the plowing match and their dreams for the event and every single one of them was around the table offering up their opinions. While I enjoy every interview I have the pleasure of taking part in, even those around rough or touchy subjects, this particular interview was truly something to remember — the members of this family of six were all involved in the event and each one of them had something to offer and had their own designs on how they were going to make it memorable. The story, which will appear in the special section of the paper in our first edition back from vacation on Aug. 11, was about a family and was truly told by that family, not just one member passing on the information for all of them. I'm not setting any kind of bar with the interview — some times you can only catch a single member of a family and you have to get the story told and that's fine. However, when you get an opportunity like that, it's something that sticks with you — I don't think I'm going to forget sitting around the Fear family table and hearing them each give their plans for the match any time soon. One thing that will always stick with me is how Ann Marie described the `plowing family' that the children have gotten involved with Denny Scott Denny's Den since they started participating in matches several years ago. That is exactly the word for the people I meet and interview for every match: family. They are one big family that works, wins and losses together. I've always enjoyed plowing matches. They offer me the chance to spend a day in the sun getting to see people try and be the best at a farming practice the I've never had the joy of trying. There seems to be a kind of family atmosphere and camaraderie at the events that just isn't matched in other competitive settings and I think, in part, that was what Ann Marie was talking about. Competitive tournaments like hockey and soccer can have moments where players are cheering for someone on a different team. Slightly -less competitive events, like a holey board tournament or snow volleyball, can be more about fun than winning, however, at the heart of both types of events is the drive to do better than your opponents. While I'm sure that drive exists amongst the princess, queen and plowing competitors, it seems to be a lot more tempered when it comes to the matches. Competitors seem to be cheering each other on and sharing their experience more than hoarding secrets and hoping to beat each other and there is an unspoken rule that skill will only get a competitor halfway to the finish line. Whenever I talk to any competitors about how the event went, they will talk about how the ground makes the biggest difference in whether or not they did well. They don't talk about trying hard, or the other people doing better, they talk about whether the ground co-operated because, in the end, that seems to be what the matches are all about. The plowing competitors and the queen contestants, aren't working against each other as much as they are working against the land and, in that, there can be a bond. There seems to be less hoping that one does better than someone else and a little more hoping that the ground gives way and the crown is perfect. Perhaps that's what leads to the laid back atmosphere that seems to happen at the matches: people realize that it doesn't matter how the competitor beside them does because the only thing that matters, at the end of the day, is how well each individual did. As anyone who has read my other pieces on sports will know, I find tremendous value in competition and what it unveils about people. Competition drives us to be better and, to paraphrase some quotes, you don't get diamonds without pressure. However, the fact that the people plowing are as much working against the ground as they are against each other seems to create this environment where everyone knows just how difficult or easy a day it's going to be. That kind of base understanding creates a relationship among competitors that is unmatched anywhere else. Regardless, mark your calendars as the Huron County Plowing Match is coming up fast. By this time next month, the dust will have settled and those going on to represent Huron County at the International Plowing Match, the Canadian Plowing Championships and maybe even the World Plowing Match will have been selected. Good luck to all the competitors and don't forget what it is that makes the plowing family, especially in Huron County, such a special one. Final Thought The mystery of life is not a problem to be solved; it is a reality to be experienced." — J.J. van der Leeuw Shawn Loughlin Shawn's Sense Our representation An interesting debate without an easy answer has again reared its ugly head — this time around the Huron East Council table in regards to Huron County representation and where, if anywhere, lower - tier councils fit in to that process. While there are plenty of issues currently at play around the Huron East table, especially surrounding the issue of representation, the one I'm talking about is in regards to who represents whom at the Huron County Council table. Discussion surrounding this topic began at Huron East Council's July 19 meeting, regarding the controversial decision to discontinue the advanced -care paramedic (ACP) program throughout the county. Several councillors, including John Lowe, Kevin Wilbee and Brenda Dalton, among others, said they had been approached by residents in regards to the decision made by Huron County Council last month. The question that came up most often, the councillors said, was whether or not the issue was voted on at the Huron East level. And if it wasn't, why wasn't it? It was Councillor Nathan Marshall who then followed up by asking Deputy -Mayor Joe Steffler (Mayor Bernie MacLellan was absent) how he views his role at Huron County Council. Does he vote how he feels his lower -tier councillors, and therefore Huron East residents, would want him to vote, or does he vote how he wants to vote? This issue was also raised in a nearby municipality not too long ago when Morris- Turnberry Mayor Paul Gowing, who is also the county's warden, voted in favour of the Goderich-to-Guelph Rail Trail despite his lower -tier council's vocal opinion against the trail. So Marshall's comments, as well as those of several other councillors, beg the question, what is a councillor's role when he "represents" the municipality at the Huron County level. Is it, as the terminology suggests, to represent his lower tier to the best of his ability, or is it to, to use a term many councillors often use, put on his "county hat" and vote in a way that will best help the county, as a whole, thrive? It even goes on at the lower -tier level. When a councillor is elected, should he then vote as his residents would want him to, or vote as he sees fit, thinking he already has the support of his residents because he's been elected? It's a tough question and I'm not so sure I'm qualified to answer it. You'll never please everyone. Anyone with half a brain knows this much to be true. But there must be a balance where decisions are made that appeal to the majority of ratepayers, without having to hold a referendum vote every two weeks — I guess I just don't know how to get there. As Councillor John Lowe pointed out, there is an established part of every Huron East meeting for a report from Huron County Council. How should that be used? Should councillors consult with their lower -tier colleagues on county matters, asking for guidance on how to vote? Or, should it be used as it's used now, as a reporting mechanism to let lower -tier councillors know what happened weeks after a decision has been made? It's a conversation worth having, either with your councillor, deputy -mayor or mayor. There are big things happening at the county level and if you want your representation to hear your voice, that may be a job for you, not necessarily the other way around.