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Sometimes it works…

Posted: August 24, 2023 at 9:32 am   /   by   /   comments (1)

And sometimes it don’t. This is a description of our history, and our present, and our future. We move along through life, and engage with the changes, and possible changes, that come to face us.

Change is difficult and, in my opinion sometimes totally unnecessary, except for the need to change, and change itself. This is not good planning.

County folk are faced with dozens of, shall we say ‘controversies,’ which bring out the ire—and wisdom—of our people. I’ve learned a lot about our history, and I live in the present (for now), and have about as much of a prediction of our future as a monkey with a dartboard. Just like all of us.

RIGHTS AND WRONGS
Stepping back in history, people were alarmed when the ‘automobile’ arrived, which were loud and obnoxious, barely controllable, and scared the crap out of horses, which were the transportation of the time. One woman was killed when a vehicle mowed her down. She was so terrified of the oncoming machine, she did not move away, hence the disaster.

Slowly the automobile caught on, and joined trains and steamboats as preferred transit. This was good. Later, this was bad. (See how this works?) All of these were based on oilbased products and coal, which caused heavy damage to vegetation, air and humans. (I can’t elaborate on how that happened, because the Rockefellers and their bastard-children oil companies have way more money than me.)

So, it was good, then it was bad. History tells us that good turns to bad in a heartbeat. Remember when vegetables were good for you? Then they weren’t because they were sprayed with things we couldn’t pronounce to make them ‘look better’ and ‘last longer’. This was a good thing, because you could get bananas for cheap, shipped from Costa Rica while green, and warmed up in the well-known warmth of the Canadian winter. Bananas are actually straight, but Canadian workers are hired to bend them, so they look more a-peeling. Get it?

So now, we look for organic everything. I’m not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing. I can vouch for the fact that I will pay more for ‘organic’, but how much do I trust the marketers? In Canada, true organic farming carries a strict regimen of rules (and a hefty payment to the people who certify them), so I’m cool with that. But am I going to call Costa Rica to check out my banana?

“Ola, I check out me Chiquita banana. Este organic por favor?” Apparently I needed to speak to someone about a “Loco Gringo,” and they hung up.

Whether we are all eating better with organic foods, or going vegetarian or vegan, or going on a full vodka-only diet—which I hope to write a book about some day—only the future will tell. I think we’ll look back and go, “Well, that was silly.” And that will be title of the book written by some future food genius/guru.

THINGS THAT WERE RIGHT, THAT WENT WRONG
First up: Highway 49. A brilliant idea. A virtually indestructible road made of concrete. A good thing, and much applauded at the time. As we do, we now look back and say, “Stupid idea,” largely because we expected this stretch of road to last forever, and would still be straight and smooth when scientists explore the County after WW3. It was right, then it was wrong.

Second: I need to bring up the ghost and the brittle bones of Industrial Wind Turbines in the southern County. Good idea; wrong place. I know people are still bemoaning their loss, and the provincial government’s mishandling of the whole thing should require jail sentences.

The point here is: This was right and wrong right at the beginning. Almost everyone in the County knew the harm vs. the benefit, and it split the County apart. Short version: The threat to the South Shore won the battle, as well it should have.

Despite this mess, a great right came out of the original wrong, and the South Shore people united and gained power to do what needed to be done— protect our vanishing protected land. They succeeded, and good came from bad.

THE PRESENT
Trouble is, it’s easy to see our past, and the good and bad it’s done, but it’s always hard to tell where we are right now. We are changing, and we can’t control how we change. In Wellington, long-time residents on a quiet crescent now have a major resort complex building next to them. On the other side is the site of the proposed water plant.

This kind of thing is happening all over the County. Sum it up as: “This is not the place we moved to.” And people are leaving, because control of their surroundings is not in their hands anymore. It’s in the hands of Council decisions, planning committees and wishes from developers. Our home is our home, but not the home we had.

Many County people are looking to the future, and they don’t like what they see.

THE FUTURE
Council wants to do right. I don’t see what they see, and I fault them for that. They don’t see what we see, and they bloody-well should. Population quadrupling in 5-10 years? Simply foolish. People running away from the County, because they no longer control their surroundings, and their neighbourhood and see a ‘Bad Moon Rising’? Are they factored into the equation? Big Growth versus Big Loss?

County Council wants growth. They yearn for it, and likely stay awake at night picturing it. They probably took down their Pamela Sue Anderson posters and replaced them with a sketch of the new Wellington water tower.

can’t see the future. But the future I see, is not what Council sees. They can go blah-blah about planning for the future. They can have paperwork and consultants’ reports, and graphs and charts and a bona fide psychic, and knock-down public presentations in which the presenters talk but don’t listen. You and I have decided this can’t be done. The future, in my life, unfolds as it sees fit. That’s worked so far.

Predicting that things that might happen might actually happen? No, that’s a fool’s game, and only fools play it.

Council wants what it sees, and wants to see their future fulfilled. My read of County people is that they don’t embrace that vision.

SO, WHAT’S IT GONNA BE?
I like to simplify so, to boil it down: I don’t believe the County will quadruple in size in the next 5-10 years. This would defy all evidence from other rural regions in Ontario. If I’m wrong, there is one serious question left:

If that happens, is that the County we want? Council is planning for enormous growth. Is that what we want, even if their crazy predictions are true? They should consider that, but they don’t. Just because they want to sell us to everybody else doesn’t mean we want or need to be sold.

 

countymag@bellnet.ca

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  • August 30, 2023 at 10:20 pm Michelle

    Very poor article. Why on here?

    Reply