Two directions

This is not a story about how the boy band One Direction doubled its number and went on tour. This is way more serious than that, though that might be cool.

I read a lot, and a lot of readers write a lot. I have the kind of brain that likes to make sense of what I see, hear and read. Sometimes it takes a long time—not because my brain has slowed down (though it has), but because there’s so much information my brain goes into overload. This is why we sleep. The conscious mind can’t cope, but the subconscious mind churns away to find solutions to our puzzles.

I woke up one night and realized we are still in the pages of The County Handbook. I wrote back then that there were three types of people in the County: Long-timers like me, resistant to change; New residents, mostly from metro areas, who saw what we had, and what we were, moved here, and became us. The third group wanted a place in the country, and had enough money to afford it, by selling a $1.5 million house in Mississauga and buying a ‘country home’ for $150,000.

We wrestled with this weird mix for years, and then settled in with each other, as we do. Accept them if they have learned how to be ‘County’, and don’t really relate to those who just ‘bought in’ because they could afford it, without seeing the heart of community.

I am of the mind that Group 2 is a great boon to the County. New artists and young entrepreneurs are part of our progress. They keep us vibrant, and growing in the right direction, as the Old Guard grows older.

I have seen friction over the years, but I’ve also seen the County grow in many new ways. This was good.

LOOKING BAC K . . .
I need to tell you an anecdote, as I do. You’ll get the connection later.

I’ve been writing columns for many years. I’ve actually attacked people who are now dead, so yay for me. I believe that Mike Harris destroyed Ontario. Amalgamation alone threw their ‘jobs we need to do’ into the ‘not our problem anymore’ category. He tore our province down. McGuinty tore it down even more, because downloading huge cost projects to under-funded municipalities made big smiley faces on their spread sheets. Wynne took a look, and said: “Let’s scorch this to the ground, and do nothing for anyone.” We are orphaned children. Interesting to see how Council’s appeal to the province on Hwy. 49 turns out. Probably, “Same ol’, same ol,’” But Doug Ford has a propensity to surprise. Time will tell.

(By the way, I don’t always call things right. I fought Mulroney’s introduction of HST. Turns out it was way easier than filing PST and (at the time) Federal Sales Tax three weeks later. Used to take me a week to fill out the forms. Now an hour, and the government does the work about where that money goes. That’s the only thing I got wrong about Mulroney. The only thing.)

MOVING AHEAD …
As you know, I need to vent a pile of things to you—and tend to go off track—so I don’t have to pay a high-priced therapist. So read the first couple of paragraphs, and let’s jump back in.

I always read Conroy’s Comments, and the Letters page. It gives me a feel for the thought process of the community. Flashing back to the beginning of this column—everything has changed. Everyone is active. I understand. This is a progression of the three groups I described. Let me describe the weird situation we are in: Council does stuff. They do stuff that does not make sense to us. We fire off objections to what Council is doing, and they respond with ‘community involvement seminars’.

Let’s stop the train here. The answer is: Two Directions.

We grew to embrace newcomers. They became us. And now, we are us. Most new arrivals came here to be what we are. I noted this in The County Handbook years ago: People came here in the hopes that they would be the last person to land in the County. They wanted what we wanted. To keep all of the things we had—the things that drew them here in the first place.

Like the old-timers before them, they did not want big change. They wanted to be here. Just to be here. And then …

TWO DIRECTIONS
Why is Council now our adversary? It’s simple. None of us want Big Change. We want what we have. That would be fine, except our view of what we want is totally different from Council’s plan. We are, in fact, moving in two different directions. Why is that?

First, Council sees that growth is inevitable. They see what is happening all across Ontario. Provincial population booming. People abandoning urban areas and moving to rural. Ridiculous projections on growth, because they see uncontrolled growth everywhere in Ontario, and want to be ready.

Can’t fault them for that, except that projections that call for approval of uncontrolled growth is not what we want. It’s probably not what Council wants. But the province has the last word on this. Even though they don’t pay our bills anymore, they still run all the rules. Doesn’t seem fair to me. In my business, the client who pays the bill sets the rules. In this case, the province does not pay the bill, but yet sets all the rules. Doesn’t make sense.

Two Directions: We are right to choose the direction we want to go. We don’t want to grow, and we certainly do not want to pay for the infrastructure needed to support a pile of people who have no commitment to the County or our community.

Council feels it needs to prepare for a future. They see what’s coming, and they are responding. But they don’t ask the question: “Is this what we want?”

Everyone seems to want to be here. But not just buying a home on the waterfront, sitting on the deck sipping wine. They want 20 or 50 units, and a spa and pool and sauna and a tennis court. Really? Is this what we want? Sorry, I forgot that we are not in the equation anymore.

PROBABLY TOO REVEALING
When I look at things around me, I relate it to my experiences. I divorced a few decades ago. Everyone who witnesses a break-up wants easy answers. But the answer was: two directions. Started out great, hand in hand. Had many great times, and terrific kids. After a while where she wanted to go in our lives and where I needed to go created a huge rift, until we could no longer communicate in terms either of us could understand.

That’s what’s happening here in the County. Expectations unfulfilled.

We can’t quit Council, and they can’t quit us. Sure, we could vote in a new Council, but my years of Council- watching tells me it’s pointless. Electing new people will be ineffective, unless they want their direction to align with ours.

Like love, sometimes change hurts. Everybody.

countymag@bellnet.ca