"Cowardice asks the question...is it safe? Expediency asks the question...is it politic? Vanity asks the question...is it popular? But conscience asks the question...is it right? And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular but one must take it because it is right." ~Dr. Martin Luther King

Monday 8 August 2016

DICK WHITTINGTON , DICK WHITTINGTON WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?

Pre-occupation with the family gathering for the wedding meant I wasn't paying the same attention to the town's affairs. I wasn't even dividing my attention but I was keeping my eye on the headlines and  the last two issues of the paper were on the table in front of me, most of it waiting to be read. 

Seems the town had a visit from Patrick Brown, head of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition. 
Hosted, it appears by the Mayor and one other,not Councillor Paul Pirrie. The doughty pair took  the provincial  pol on a tour of various points of non- interest in the town; the downtown core on a Saturday morning for example.

The Mayor and the  Honorable Member paused for photo opportunity at the library. 

One can't help wondering how the conversation went. 

Would they chat about twenty- odd years and thousands of dollars spent on engineering studies and successive councils that failed to make the obvious decision on redundant buildings on Victoria Street?

Would they lament  the fifty-five year failure to implement avowed intent to revitalize the down-town core ?

Would they show off  the  centre of culture in our town at Church Street School and tell him about the culture contract with a private self-appointed Board that pays neither rent nor maintenance for a public facility and meets in secret and discuss how to spend ,as they see fit ,hundreds of thousands of tax dollars transferred  to them by our elected council?

The old drill shed on the corner of the Town Park and the genius of paying the Federal government more than half a million for the contaminated antiquary  for which they have no stated use, might have been on the tour and entered the conversation while in the proximity, visiting  the Farmers' Market.

There would likely be no time to show off the wizard  traffic calming plan in the Heritage Neighbourhood in the central north- east quadrant or the resulting traffic grid-lock at Yonge And Wellington.

Or new joint Centre for works and parks completed and occupied without fanfare or publicity, almost surreptitiously, just a few short weeks  ago .

Or the six acres here and seventeen acres there, taken out of private  into public ownership at a loss forever of municipal revenue to pay for municipal services. 

Come  to think of  it...what would the trio chat be about? 

What could Patrick Brown, Geoff Dawe or John Abel have to say to each other about Aurora's affairs on a sunny Saturday morning in the vibrant, bustling Town of Aurora. 

What would be the point of the visit?

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

Maybe the Mayor is going to run against Ballard?

Anonymous said...

It was just a Show & Tell. The interesting thing was that he admitted the incredible hash the conservatives made of the last election. We have some good folks in town. They might even select one to run in the next election. Ballard is vulnerable and there is a new seat.
Enjoy the bit of decent weather..

Anonymous said...



You left out the Cultural Precinct, the Heritage Zones, the "shovel ready" university, the Parisian boulevard that will be the saviour

of downtown Yonge Street, the Hillary "Disney-world," the many Heritage trees that must be saved even though the home-owner

will be flooded, the magnificent Frank Stronach land gift that was apparently rejected, the nature/wildlife reserve that will cost only

$5,000,000 and that no one will be permitted entry to it.

The list is boundless.

Three political stooges daydreaming on a lovely summer's day.

Anonymous said...

Maybe they were planning for a hotel?

Anonymous said...

Too funny!

Anonymous said...

Maybe they were just walking around looking official and not talking about much. Isn't that what they all do?

Anonymous said...

They were marvelling at the well manicured, green lawns. That way they can see how the entitled flaunt the law and water their lawns.

Anonymous said...

14:31, you're entitled to know that the word is flout, not flaunt.

Anonymous said...

is there a law against watering lawns??? if so perhaps it needs to be better communicated ...

Anonymous said...

10:53 Who can afford to water lawns? Haven't you seen the new water bills? The Town and the Region are making a killing. They would love for us to water away at anything and everything.

Anonymous said...

The water we are buying from Lake Ontario?

Anonymous said...

21:44.. you would also be entitled to know:
flaunt


/flônt,flänt/


verb

verb: flaunt; 3rd person present: flaunts; past tense: flaunted; past participle: flaunted; gerund or present participle: flaunting




display (something) ostentatiously, especially in order to provoke envy or admiration or to show defiance.

Anonymous said...

15:37, are you saying that I flaunted my knowledge of the language in correcting 14:31?

Anonymous said...

10:53 There are by-laws about watering. Some are not enforced or are only enforcing in certain areas. We also sell water to those who then sell it on. Some see this as poor management of resources. f you wish an example, watch the water trucks take water from the Marsh early in the morning or as they leave the town with their loads for landscaping.

Anonymous said...



Why don't you take the rest of the summer off?

Anonymous said...

I'm assuming that this blog is something Evelyn likes to do. She writes when she wants to. It's clear people like reading it. :)