A Lesson Learned in the Past

I wrote a weekly column in the Aurora Banner for a number of years. It appeared in the editorial page, the special preserve of the editor, the late Bob Buchanan.

He held the space in high esteem. He lived in the town for twelve months and covered Council meetings himself before he wrote any editorials on issues of political substance His principle was, he would not attempt to influence public opinion until he felt confident he had a full understanding .

Buchanan was a veteran journalist of the Toronto and Ottawa scene. He was torn between
being a journalist and a yen to be involved in the political process himself. He loved everything about it but especially how real people are in a small town like Aurora. We were less than ten thousand.

I learned more from Buchanan about Council and Rules of Order and by the way, how to write for a newspaper, than from any other source before or since.

When I was first elected, I took little notes to remind myself of the points I wanted to make. We stood to address the chair then. There were no microphones. No cameras.

"You 're not going to keep that up" he said.

"Well" I said "I'm afraid I'll forget the points I want to make"

" You won't" he said " They don't allow notes in the House of Commons."

He advised me to learn the Rules of Order." If you don't" he said "They'll cut you off at the knees"

So...I did and they didn't. I learned them better and did a bit of truncating myself.

Came a time when the New Democratic Party obtained a regular source of funding from unions. David Lewis was the Leader and a friend of Buchanan.

With new funding, support staff could be hired and David offered Buchanan a position He left Aurora and went to Ottawa . To discover the job was very much support and not the least influential. He was a small cog in a huge impersonal machine.

He had left a place he loved and a job which had been like the proverbial pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, for a long- held dream of something better.

It may have been that election that saw David Lewis, a giant among politicians, brought down by a woman called Ursula Appoloni. who was never heard from after the election.

I think David was the first casualty of union power in the New Democratic Party. He wasn't the last.

But that's another story.

While Buchanan was still here, The Weekly Newspapers Association , created awards for newspapers within a certain circulation.

The Aurora Banner won an award of excellence for the editorial page.

Buchanan was reasonably proud. I was thrilled. I was part of the editorial page. I wanted to know which page was the winner. Which column , to be precise.

He wouldn't tell. I persisted. He became irritated. I still persisted.

Finally he lost it and told me awards don't mean anything. They are just a form of promotion. There weren't many newspapers within the circulation category. They took turns awarding them to each other.

What a downer.

I've never looked at awards the same way since.

When Aurora won the Prince Of Wales Award for whatever, I became curious. How many towns and cities were in the competition?

St John's, New Brunswick, Elsie's city, was a past winner. The city is one of the oldest in North America. It was pretty run down the last time I saw it but truly a place locked in time and they have some very dramatic art in the city centre.

I phoned the office responsible for awarding the prize and asked who else was in the competition

She wouldn't tell. Said it wouldn't be fair .

Go figure!!