Columnists
The little things
There’s a lot of big things happening in the County. Council has big plans, and we don’t particularly like them, for reasons letter writers and local residents have made clear. Let’s start with this: The train is moving too fast. Also the train is not headed to the destination we want to go. This is not a useful train, which—by definition—takes passengers where they would like to go.
Here, on the ground, as local residents, we look out on a changing County. Those of us who liked the County, just the way it was, were born here—or moved here because it was just the way it was. These are County people. Don’t care if you were born here, but you came here because of what we are.
It’s a new game now, because “growth is inevitable”. But is it? Prince Edward County is hot. People want to move here. I have a question: Do we respond to your need, or do we respond to ours?
This is not currently in the equation. Council goes, “Sweet damn, we got us some customers!” This was a good idea back in 1990, when our tourist brochures called us “The Undiscovered Island Adventure”. Damn, it worked, and we were no longer “undiscovered”. Then all hell broke loose.
IN THE OLD DAYS
I still laugh about the days when the Ontario Tourism group, COTA (Central Ontario Tourism Association), ran the show. They did high-priced publications to attract visitors. Their map did not include Prince Edward County. No kidding, the Bay of Quinte ended at the North shoreline! Not a hint we were there. Oh, how I long for those days!
I contacted COTA and asked them why we had fallen off the face of the earth. Turns out, we were supposed to be under the jurisdiction of CEOTA (Eastern Ontario) who also did not know we existed, and did not include us on their map either. For a nice quiet time, we did not exist.
[BTW, being invisible to the rest of the world would have been fine with me. But then we were “discovered”. I should have kept my mouth shut.]
In the Old Days, I would be in an airport talking to a guy: “Where you from?”
Used to be: Prince Edward County. Got nothing. “We’re kind of an island. South of Belleville?” Belleville … it’s an exit off the 401, and we’re just south of there.
“There’s nothing south of Belleville.”
And I say, “Yes, I meant Prescott. An island just off Cornwall, which you have also never visited, since the 401 is your life.” End of conversation. That has changed.
EMBRACING CHANGE
I’ve been a County Boy all my life. I’ve watched things change, and I get that. Moore’s Grocery in Bloomfield died when supermarkets came in. I get that. Big stores took over. And so it goes. What we are is different. That’s what draws people to the County. Not “Yeah, that would be on aisle 62. I would take you there, but I don’t care, and frankly, I don’t know where aisle 62 is.”
Pierre Berton once said: “Canadians define themselves by what they aren’t. Not what they are.” This is too true. “Well, we’re not Americans! Sorry.”
Knowing who you are is important. What we are defines us. Lots of people, including me, fight that fight. But still, it’s the little things. The day to day. The “What the hell is happening? I need to write a letter.”
That’s all and good. It’s important, but it’s pointless. We face people who have Big Things on the slate, and you and I are “little things”, like the guy who has a neighbour’s dog that howls all night. Expecting a SWAT team based on your complaint? Dream on.
YOU CAN’T ALWAYS GET WHAT YOU WANT
True? I don’t think so. Restore your perspective. All the driving forces in the County are—us. We raise money for a hospital because we are us. We raise money for the Regent because we are us. We raise money for every damn cause that keeps us—us. You need help? We rally and we fix it. That’s what we do.
We lose track when we focus on the good and bad deeds of our council. Council is not us, though I may live to see the happy day when the people around the horseshoe think like us. They have a job, and a complicated one. A few councillors can actually see what we see, and stand by us. But not enough.
I get it. I’ve lost a few relationships because I was so focused on the jobs that needed to be done that I lost focus on the most important thing: Protecting and working for the people you love. What really counts. So, yes, (thanks to Paul Anka) I have regrets, but then again, too many to explain in the space the Times allows me to have.
PERSPECTIVE
There is only one way to gain perspective. When you are inside a problem, it’s a hard path to find a way out. Stand aside, and look into the problem. The view is much clearer there.
Council has failed at this because all they hear is talk, and all they see is paperwork, and meetings after meetings. They are embroiled with “problems to be solved” and they react. No opportunity, and no time, but to forge ahead on their path.
And, sorry, we are the same. We choose our battles, and we follow our paths. We accuse Council of planting their feet on ridiculous projects we don’t understand. So we plant our feet and fight. This is not the way it should be. Nothing can be gained here. Trouble is: Council fights with info sessions that explain nothing, but gives them the ability to say, “We have outreached to the community many times.” No mention as to whether the “community” walked away happy.
On our side, the community responds with a pile of “What ifs.” Never a good rebuttal.
I SEE IT AS T H I S . . .
Like my sadly lost relationships, I lost track of what was really important, because I needed to invest myself in my work. Our councillors are good people, but they’ve lost track of what is important. Serve the people you love, and give them the best County you can give.
If you think like this, you will gain perspective. You will see the real job you sit on that seat to do.
Council is big business now, making deals everywhere, presumably for us. I liked the Older Councils, when we were not a corporation, just a bunch of councillors who got together around a kitchen table and solved the problems of their constituents. Y’know, that thing councillors used to do?
Council’s perspective is growth-driven. Maybe step back, where the view is more clear, and not look at what the County has to gain, but what it has to lose. And that’s a lot. Do you work for the County you love, making sure we preserve what we have, or spend your time filling the pressing work demands in front of you? I made the wrong choice a few times in my relationships. How about you?
As always … thank you.