EDITORIAL
OTTAWA THIS WEEK - CENTRAL - July 28, 2011
8
Policy, not pandering, please
E
ven with the scorching temperatures experienced across the province over the past few weeks, Ontarians should be forgiven if they thought Christmas had come a few months early this year. The gifts, or promise of, have been flowing freely this summer as part of the relentless efforts by Ontario politicians to win the hearts and minds of voters ahead of the Oct. 6 election. In one corner, we have Dalton McGuinty’s Liberal government falling over itself to spend as much money as possible before the election fall campaign officially kicks off. In Ottawa alone last week, there were four separate funding announcements made by the Liberals totalling more than $20 million. In the other corner are the Progressive Conservatives and New Democrats, led by Tim Hudak and Andrea Horwath respectively, who have been zipping across the province promising to “put more money in your pocket” and “put you and your family first.” The policies the opposition parties have been endlessly touting since the end of the legislative session range from removing the Harmonized Sales Tax from electricity,
heating and gasoline to killing the mandatory hydro smart meter program to creating a “buy Ontario” law. With a budget deficit of slightly less than $19 billion for 2010-2011, Ontario is in no position to take its finances lightly. We don’t have the revenue available to throw away on the whimsy of a government that is trailing in the polls, nor can we afford to remove sources of public revenue based on the populist impulses of the challengers. There are a great many challenges facing this province right now. Health care continues to consume a massive proportion of government resources and the baby boomers have yet to experience the worst frailties of old age. We still have an economy largely oriented towards manufacturing, but has yet to recover from the great recession and is coping with a dollar worth five cents more than the American greenback. We have crumbling infrastructure across the province, but no comprehensive plan to address what ultimately becomes a drain on the economy. Any man or woman can promise the moon, but it takes a brave leader to face challenges head on.
COLUMN
This is our vacation
T
here’s something about travelling with children that makes you want to turn around and forget the vacation all together. On route to the first destination of our two-week camping trip, the sun was beating down on us, the birds were singing and we randomly discovered an arts a festival at our midway point. I’d made car bingo cards to keep the offspring amused for at least three hours looking for moose crossings, silos and swing benches. It kept them going for about 10 minutes before... “Are we going to Algonquin Park?” asked my eldest son. “Yes,” I said. “I hate Algonquin Park.” “You’ve never been there.” “Well I hate it.” Sigh! As soon as we arrived, I, in spite of the car trip, felt unbelievably relaxed: The trees, the loons calling, the sound of Tea Lake below our campsite. But my son wasn’t having any of it. “Is this Algonquin Park?” he asked. “Yes.” “I hate Algonquin Park.” “Algonquin Park has 2,456 lakes. You’ve only seen one of them. You can’t possibly hate Algonquin Park.” Silence. Silence and moping. And then. Central Edition
BRYNNA LESLIE Capital Muse “My stomach hurts,” he said. “I think I need a doctor.” “You don’t need a doctor.” “I miss my bed. I think I need my bed. I’m sick, or I have an allergy.” And then he turned around and pounded his little brother on the shoulder as he passed by. Sigh! It reminded me of a Family Circus comic I saw a few years ago. In the single frame, the mom and dad are pulling a wagon carrying a gaggle of fighting kids, beach umbrellas and a dog. The father says, “I need a vacation.” To which the mother replies, “This is our vacation.” The whole day continued like this. The water was too cold. The washrooms were too dirty. The fire was too smoky. The loons were too noisy. The marshmallows were too sticky. THE MARSHMALLOWS WERE TOO STICKY! “I’m never going to get through the next
two weeks,” I said to my spouse. “Sleep on it,” he said. “He’s just tired and excited and out of his routine.” The next morning, I woke up early to waddle, knock-kneed through the woods, fending off potential bears with a whistle on my way to the vault toilets. When I returned with a longer stride and a subdued ache in my bladder after the one kilometre trek, my eldest son was waiting for me. He’d peed in a bush. “The birds woke me,” he grunted. “Wonderful!” I was not going to let him get me down. “Let’s go see what kinds of birds there are around here.” I said. So off we went, hand-in-hand in our pyjamas, breaking my first rule of the fortnightly camping trip: Thou shalt not wander about the damp woods in one of two pairs of pyjamas. It wasn’t long before we spotted fungus growing on a tree stump. From there, we found some interesting evergreen trees that were dark green in the middle, with almost translucent needles. We saw moths and birds, and some early morning fishermen before we settled on a large rock located about two feet from the shore. We sat on the rock and looked in silence. That’s when we saw the loons. They were swimming toward us. We were
80 Colonnade Rd. N., Ottawa, Unit #4, ON K2E 7L2 T: 613-224-3330 • F: 613-224-2265 • www.yourottawaregion.com
Vice President & Regional Publisher Chris McWebb chris.mcwebb@metroland.com • 613-221-6201 Regional General Manager John Willems john.willems@metroland.com • 613-221-6202 Advertising Manager Terry Tyo terry.tyo@metroland.com • 613-221-6208
Editor in Chief Deb Bodine deb.bodine@metroland.com • 613-221-6210
Digital & Classifieds Advertising Manager Josh Max josh.max@metroland.com • 613-221-6207
Political Reporter Laura Mueller laura.mueller@metroland.com • 613-221-6162
Director of Distribution Elliot Tremblay elliot.tremblay@metroland.com • 613-221-6204
Reporter/Photographer Eddie Rwema eddie.rwema@metroland.com • 613-221-6219
Distribution Operations Manager Janet Lucas janet.lucas@metroland.com • 613-221-6249
Flyer Sales Bob Burgess bob.burgess@metroland.com • 613-221-6227
Managing Editor Patricia Lonergan patricia.lonergan@metroland.com • 613-221-6261 News Editor Matthew Jay matthew.jay@metroland.com • 613-221-6175
silent. They were bobbing for fish. We were silent. All of a sudden, they disappeared under the water, and that’s when I realized that loons can hold their breath for an indefinite amount of time. An hour later, we returned to our campsite, just as my husband and younger son were emerging from the tent, fullydressed, according to the rule. My eldest had a huge smile on his face. He pulled out his sketch pad and drew a picture of the things we saw that morning. “Mom,” he announced, “I used five different colours of green in my picture.” “Perfect,” I said. And that was the beginning of our vacation. Charles Gordon will return Aug. 18.
Editorial Policy Ottawa This Week welcomes letters to the editor. Senders must include their full name, complete address and a contact phone number. Addresses and phone numbers will not be published. We reserve the right to edit letters for space and content, both in print and online at www.yourottawaregion.com. To submit a letter to the editor, please email to patricia.lonergan@metroland.com , fax to 613-2242265 or mail to Ottawa This Week, 80 Colonnade Rd. N., Unit 4, Ottawa, ON, K2E 7L2.
For distribution inquiries in your area or for the re-delivery of a missed paper or flyer, please call 1-877-298-8288
Automotive Representative Derek Boyd derek.boyd@metroland.com • 613-221-6152 Classified Advertising Danny Boisclair danny.boisclair@metroland.com • 613-221-6225 Classified Advertising Kevin Cameron kevin.cameron@metroland.com • 613-221-6224 Distribution District Service Rep. Traci Cameron traci.cameron@metroland.com • 613-221-6223 Regional Production & Projects Manager Mark Saunders mark.saunders@metroland.com • 613-221-6205
Distribution: 23,989 Homes Weekly Advertising Deadline Monday 10 am Classified Deadline Monday 10 am Editorial & Community Calendar Deadline Friday 5 pm
Publisher’s Liability: The advertiser agrees that the publisher shall not be liable for any damages whatsoever arising from errors in advertisements beyond actual amount paid for space used by the part of the advertisement containing the error. The publisher shall not be liable for non-insertion of any advertisement. the publisher will not knowingly publish any advertisement which is illegal, misleading or offensive. The contents of this newspaper are protected by copyright and may be used only for your personal non-commercial purposes. All other rights are reserved and commercial use is prohibited. Permission to republish any material must be sought from the relevant copyright owner.