Municipal Politics – Page 30

Santa Claus comes to Babel.

November 21, 2011 by Peter Lowry

The City of Babel should stick to fireworks. It does good fireworks. It has work to do on its Santa Claus parade. The city is so embarrassed by its parade for Santa that it holds it after dark.

Tired, hungry and cranky children should not have to wait until after dark for an all-to-brief view of dear old Santa. In the dark, you have no way of reading the signs saying who sponsored what. Nor do you really see many floats at their best. The only one that was well identified was the one for the new Member of Provincial Parliament for Babel, whose name was almost as big as the old fire truck on which he was riding. And we had no flowers to throw.

It was just as well we could not read who was sponsoring what because we would have liked to talk to the people sponsoring the truck load behind the small pipe band. The pipers were doing their best but the stupid truck driver behind them kept adding his discordant air horn to the cacophony.

There was another very large marching band in smart yellow capes and we could not tell if they were from the Knights of Columbus or the Loyal Orange Lodge. It was suggested that with the size of the band, the two organizations might have got together this year. In any case, we enjoyed the piece they were playing.

The organizers of Santa’s float had gotten smart this year. There were high intensity lights mounted on the front of his sleigh so the little tykes could see Santa. He was a good one too and he talked to the children as he went by.

It was a fair crowd on the Lakeshore considering it was after dark. The parade had to wind its way downtown to the tree lighting ceremony and fireworks. The fireworks were brief but excellent, as always.

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Complaints, comments, criticisms and compliments can be sent to [email protected]

Politics in Babel: Strange happenings.

November 20, 2011 by Peter Lowry

Writing about politics is fun. Being part of the game is hazardous. You never know from where the next missile will come. That thought was present the other day when we found out that the upcoming annual general meeting of the Barrie Federal Liberal Association would not be as uneventful as these events usually can be.

Instead of just considering dull constitution changes, there will be a contest for the party presidency. The role of president is no easy job. It requires a lot of work, a considerable amount of time and dedication. When you get a good one, you like to keep them for at least a few terms. It helps build a strong association.

And the local party has a good one at this time. He has been in the job over the past year. He helped bring the party together. He provided strong organizational support during a tough federal election campaign in the spring. He has been doing an excellent job in building the riding executive. He not only worked hard through the federal election but he helped ensure good support to the new provincial candidate this fall.

And now he is being challenged—not by a newcomer–but by a former Member of Parliament and the now retired Member of the Provincial Parliament. Why she wants the job is not clear.

She hardly needs the position of riding president to be influential in Barrie. It is actually a step backward. She would never put in the work that the current president is doing.

And where was she during the federal election earlier this year? The federal candidate could have used her help.

When people run for a position such as president of the riding association, you expect them to explain why. When they decide to run against someone who has been doing a good job, you expect them to have a very interesting explanation.

To help her campaign for the party presidency, the former MPP has enlisted her husband to run for the association position of fund-raising chair. The riding association would have sent a brass band to welcome one of Canada’s more prominent lawyers if they had known he was willing to do that job.

But what is her agenda? She should explain.

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Complaints, comments, criticisms and compliments can be sent to [email protected]

Old arguments; same busybodies!

October 31, 2011 by Peter Lowry

Some days Babel is a smaller one-pony town than other days. One of the problems with this pretend city is that too many services are controlled by the farmers of Simcoe County. Not only is Simcoe County the biggest county in Ontario but it seems to have more out-of-touch busybodies per square kilometre than you should properly stack in a square mile. What brings them to mind today is that the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit is wagging a collective finger at Babel and telling us not to go along with selling beer and wine in the local convenience stores.

The statement from a spokesperson for the health unit actually said “We know that increased availability leads to increased consumption which leads to alcohol-related harm.” That was the same statement as the Women’s Christian Temperance Union used 100 years ago that got the booze industry in this province into the messed-up monopolies that it is today.

We have no idea as to what the health unit spokesperson knows or what the WCTU spokeswomen knew 100 years ago but that statement shows they do not know what they are talking about. In fact, if anything, the opposite is the case.

When people buy something from a ‘convenience’ store, it is because the store is convenient for them and they tend to buy smaller quantities of the desired product. This is because they know that if they want more, the store is convenient for them. This is why manufacturers who sell through convenience stores tend to provide the stores with six-packs as opposed to two-fours. Less product is sold for a higher profit.

But you can hardly expect a health unit to know a damn thing about modern marketing. All we know is that if we are going to drive over to that disgusting Beer Store cum bottle return dump on Anne Street, we are going to get enough beer to make the trip worthwhile. We always feel that we need a hot bath with lots of soap after visiting there.

So let’s hear a cheer for the stalwarts at all the convenience stores in Babel. Keep fighting the good fight guys and gals. We are with you!

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Complaints, comments, criticisms and compliments can be sent to [email protected]