EDITORIAL
Finding our way, with thanks It’s only been a couple of weeks since we have been able to do more, like visit our favourite restaurants or gather in larger groups. We’re back out in the world, thanks to the heavy lifting done by the vaccinated. It feels like a cautious victory, and the optimism it engenders is well deserved. Walking down the street and seeing people hugging or shaking hands makes one do a double take after being isolated for so long. But these taboos are rightly falling away, at least for the double vaccinated. If there is a feeling of gratitude, to whom should it be directed? For starters, we salute the health scientists who every day are watching and learning the behaviour of the coronavirus and its variants. They are our first line of defence against this and other health threats sure to come. Doctors and nurses and other health professionals are on this gratitude list. They are the critical front-line workers who continue to meet this challenge head on. We also think highly of our parents and teachers. Scientists and doctors are not hatched in a lab; they are people of sufficient curiosity and knowledge who were likely inspired by a parent or one or more teachers in elementary or high school. That spark was enough to carry them into university where they specialized, chose a path, and whether consciously or unconsciously began making a meaningful contribution in their careers. Others among us chose the path of business — and we all benefit when our neighbourhood businesses do well. Three cheers for our small business owners who have weathered this pandemic that threatened so many livelihoods. Only the trifecta of ingenuity, government support and loyal customers ensured their survival. In other words, our individual success depends on everyone else in our village, which is literally the meaning of this country. (Kanata was the Iroquoian name for village.) If we have found our way, we do so with thanks and with the knowledge no one did this alone.
LETTER SPOTLIGHT Cameron concerns with development While there is something true about the Advocate’s July editorial (“Kawartha Lakes Life for All”), it also had a bit of an ominous ring to it, given some of the advertising in that issue. In an issue that reflects on whether Kawartha Lakes is being “Muskokaized” isn’t it just a tad ironic that we have advertising from Flato Developments? What would a five-star resort and Douglas Carrick-designed golf course in the community of Long Beach be, if not Muskokaization? Let’s be clear: if we had the basic income program in Ontario that the Advocate has championed from its inception (including in this issue in the fine opinion piece by Leah Barrett Werner), no one on that program could afford to golf at this course or live in that community of one-acre estate homes. I get it. The magazine needs advertising revenue. But perhaps a little more discernment in selling that advertising space could be exercised. I hope that the Advocate will not be part of the Flato public relations strategy in Kawartha Lakes. Brian J. Walsh, Cameron Advertisers play no role in our editorial content. The Advocate will continue to fight for the social policies we need and tell the community stories that need to be told. ~ Roderick Benns
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