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Home>Kincardine>2007>Jan
by
Fred Kirby January
3, 2007
Mr. Kraemer may believe he apologized for his
unauthorized actions but that is not the way it appeared. He should tale a
long look at the tapes.
I applaud the two women on Council, Marsha Leggett and Laura Haight, who
held Mr. Kraemer’s feet to the fire as he fumbled time and time again to
squirm out of making an apology. Those men who told me, during the
election, that women should not be in positions of power now can crawl
back into their caves whence they came.
Larry Kraemer never once gave a clear, unequivocal apology to Council or
to the citizens of Kincardine. I have heard more succinct apologies from
school children. His statement was a rambling monologue full of irrelevant
observations signifying nothing. All he accomplished was to demonstrate
his lack of literacy and his inability to speak clearly.
That Mr. Kraemer, in trying to justify his behaviour, mentioned the name
of a staff member is unforgivable. The rare occasion when Council should
meet in camera is for the discussion of staff. It is totally unfair to
mention staff publicly. There seems no end to Mr. Kraemer’s lack of
understanding how municipal government works or perhaps, because of his
arrogance, he doesn’t care.
I thought Council did well in rebuking Mr. Kraemer for his behaviour. The
motion of censure was well written and the consensus was heartening. The
councillors now have an office, as it should be, and once a reservation
book is set up and mail slots for councillors are installed, this
arrangement should work well.
Mr. Kraemer has one more duty to perform before this matter can be closed.
He now needs to pay in full the cost to the municipality for his foolish
and ill-considered actions. That he acted without authority could be
construed as misappropriation of funds; the tax payers ought to be
reimbursed. If Mr. Kraemer has any self-respect and any respect for the
citizens then he should make that payment immediately and it should be
recorded in the minutes at the next Council meeting. The public deserves
to know. Trust, once broken, is not easily repaired.
January 10, 2007
I attended a children’s Christmas concert at Elgin
Market Public School in December. It was a delightful experience. Mary
Senese, the Grade Two Teacher, had telephoned me in response to my
article, “Multiculturalism Denied”, to invite me to their Christmas
concert in which the children celebrated other religions.
It was more than delightful; it was heartwarming to see children
demonstrating a Jewish dance, singing in honour of Hanukkah or to watch as
students honoured their Muslim friends by recognizing Eid Al-Adha, a
principal holy day for Muslims. There was much more as the children sang,
danced, and played the piano in joyful celebration of the three religions
of the Book.
As an older, retired person (never call me a senior) partially deaf, I
could not fully appreciate the morning’s joyous activities but I am
certain the many parents and grandparents in attendance were filled with
delight and pride as they snapped photos and cheered their young ones
through their performances.
I spoke with Liz MacPherson, principal of Elgin Market, and Mary Senese. I
congratulated Liz MacPherson on her leadership and commended Mary for her
obvious passion for the children and for nurturing multiculturalism in the
school. Liz MacPherson spoke with pride of all her teachers because the
entire staff are committed to this program and make it work for each
child. They all recognize the basis of human rights that while we all are
members of groups and communities, each person is also an individual and
has the right to be who they are. There are no minorities at Elgin Market;
there are only children, each recognized for his or her personal needs and
beliefs.
Elgin Market offers Junior Kindergarten through Grade Three, i.e. ages
approximately three to nine years. These are the critical years for the
education of the child. That Elgin Market staff is committed to such
values and work every day to instill them in the children at this so
important time in the children’s lives is an example for all educators.
These teachers are teaching tolerance and respect; to minorities within
our community, Elgin Market says, “You are one with us, not one among us.”
That is not political correctness; that is the simple practice of
tolerance, respect, and human decency.
January 17, 2007
After a shaky start, Council appears to want to get
down to business. After three years of suggesting, asking, and haranguing
it would be a pleasant change to see this Council engage in serious fix
and finish activities.
Why spend thousands of dollars on radio-advertising ‘to attract visitors
to Kincardine’ when the visitors will not find a working drinking fountain
on the beaches or in the parks? Why paint a striking mural on the water
tower vividly illustrating to the passer-by what we are about and then let
the mural deteriorate thereby telling the passer-by that we are a fading
municipality?
In Joseph Conrad’s Typhoon, the captain is taking commission of a new
freighter and during his inspection he comes across a door knob not
turning properly. He comments on it but the builder’s representative
dismisses the broken knob as insignificant. The captain replies that if
what you can see is not right, what then is the state of that which cannot
be seen?
Council should remember this when the garbage cans are left overflowing,
refuse mars our public space, and washrooms are not tended to. It is not
what the public reads in glossy brochures that convinces them; it is what
they see and smell.
Past Councils have spent thousands of dollars on projects such as the
Streetscape and Reunion Beach, The Kinsmen donated a pleasant children’s
playground on the North Beach. Plaques are mounted; garbage cans painted,
drinking fountains installed and an attractive mural painted on the water
tower. Sadly, previous Councils relegated maintenance to the dustbin,
wasting the original money invested and insulting the volunteers who
contributed to many of the projects. The neglect is nothing short of
mismanagement.
Volunteers have given countless hours to rebuilding the historic Walker
House and the public have donated money to the project. The Board and
volunteers have my wholehearted appreciation for what they have achieved.
The Walker House will be a heritage asset to the entire municipality. It
will not be a private club for those volunteers and for those who donated
money. It is time the municipality, on behalf of all citizens, contribute
the remaining funds to completely restore the Walker House so that it may
be used to its fullest.
While the Pavilion’s history of restoration is not as long or as involved
as that of the Walker House, the idea to restore it was brilliant. After
the many roadblocks put in its way by the former Council, the Pavilion
Committee pressed on and now completion is in sight. Again, I ask Council
to now commit the needed funds to bring a terrific idea to fruition. Let
the bands play, the dancing start and Kincardine party in the moonlight.
Council should see to it that these two worthy projects are completed this
year and by so doing The Municipality will celebrate our volunteers for
their initiative and hard work.
January 24, 2007
A recent headline in The Guardian speaks of the “death of ethics” in
reference to illegal arms sales by the British Labour government. We read
much of the lack of ethical behaviour by our governments: promises are
made to get elected and broken once elected, expense accounts are padded
and members cross the floor shortly after being elected, leaving their
constituency organization with debts, spin replaces truth, requests for
transparency are viewed as interference. The list goes on. The behaviour
is so prevalent that politicians and members of the public no longer
consider the behaviour unacceptable.
It is not that there have never been scandals, unethical behaviour and
plain crooks in politics just as there were in business and in the general
population. As long as man has lived in social organizations, there has
been deviant behaviour. If we write it off as human nature, we will be
wrong. The difference lies in our social norms. There was a time when we
did not need law to tell us an activity was wrong – we simply knew it and
even if we transgressed, we at least knew it was wrong.
Norms change. Today we downplay community values and see ourselves as
individuals with few responsibilities towards others. It molds our
behaviour. We idolize celebrities regardless of character and we envy
their money and baubles. Adult ‘toys and play’ are considered goals in
life; eradicating poverty in Canada is not even on the radar screen. We
elect governments that embrace selfishness, then quickly return to our
self interest.
With the lack of any ethical social coherence our sense of stewardship
also declines into the muck of blind individualism. The wind generator
farms are an example of this. Our previous council members, with one
exception (Guy Anderson) were blinded by the possibility of money coming
into the area and easily swayed by a self-serving international company.
Researching alternatives was not even considered. The result is a
beggar-thy-neighbour attitude with no thought of others or community. The
participants, like many in business and politics, believe that being legal
is sufficient. Their one guideline is, “What is in it for me?” That their
behaviour is harmful to others is totally outside their purview.
When we cannot see the difference between the environmental impact of a
silo and a giant wind power generator we do not display a deficiency in
scientific knowledge; we display a deficiency in morals and in a true
sense of community. To beggar-our-neighbour is not a way of life; it is a
way to destroy life.
January 31, 2007
Conventional wisdom is popular but dangerous for, more often than not, it
flies in the face of proven knowledge. It satisfies for the moment but
says nothing of the future. With that in mind, I take a look at the
greening of politics and the lemmings rushing to the cliff’s edge.
Large problems should be addressed with small, balanced solutions. All
will have advantages and disadvantages; there is no one huge magic bullet.
We need cool, intelligent heads assessing solutions objectively. We do not
need politicians who simply seek a surge in their popularity, nor do we
want buccaneers looking for quick riches, or companies to bleed the
public. Our appetite for energy and our mountains of waste cry out for
solutions. Clean water and the necessity to protect our rivers, lakes and
aquifer demand attention now. Pollution is a serious health concern,
killing and disabling Canadians while adding to our health costs. We
cannot afford not to act. Each possible solution will have its vocal
opponents and proponents, but rather than waste time and resources
fighting as to which is better, Canadians need to work together and
develop the best mix available.
If we look at simple household waste we find large amounts of plastic
containers of all kinds and shapes; in the food industry, vegetables have
joined the list of products covered in plastic. But is that a convenience
to producers or a demand by purchasers for protected products in response
to health concerns? How much of this concern is the result of using
pesticide and herbicide? How much of our concern over our fruit and
vegetables comes from buying them from countries whose controls may be
suspect? We have become dependent on other countries because we now want
produce out of our season. We pay in packaging and health fears because we
want asparagus and strawberries in January.
Recycling is increasing but it will never be the complete answer.
Recycling can harbour its own problems: in the Southern United States they
used recycled oil for their roads until they found it made the roads
toxic. Making silk purses out of sows’ ears is not always practical, even
if possible. Prosaic as household and industrial garbage and waste is,
government needs to spend more on applied research and encourage, with a
big stick, manufacturers to rethink their packaging policy.
Still, there will always be large amounts of waste. Burying it in the
ground is not a sound way to go for the vast majority of garbage. Imposing
garbage on others as Toronto does is a beggar-thy-neighbour solution. Its
citizens may not like the alternatives but they produced the problem; the
solution should not be left for others to bear.
Incineration creating useful by-products should be considered, at least.
It is not perfect but no solution is. The technology is continually
improving. Sweden is comfortable employing incineration and sees many
advantages. Reservations arise from our memories of older incineration
practices which have become part of our conventional wisdom. We need to
consider the possibilities. Clean air will only come when we have
successfully addressed the above.
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