"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

Wednesday 15 April 2015

WINK? NUDGE? SAY NO MORE

Several comments to yesterday's post commended the advantage of donut shop employment. One referred specifically to Tim Horton and how friends initially laughed at the idea of a coffee and donut shop.
Tim Horton's was not initially an attractive venue. The  late Dave Thomas made Tim's what it became and it has moved along  further since he died. 
Though donut shop employment and potential opportunity was not the point of the post, it's not the reason comments weren't posted. 
I did something. I know not what. It caused the loss of the comments. 

But I think I also failed to make the  points I felt important.

Millions of dollar debt is owed to the province by students who graduated  in fields in which there are no jobs.

Government  contributes generously to universities producing these graduates. Faculties  are well compensated but  government offices are filled with graduates from other countries. 

Several generations of Canadian youth have already been processed through a system without a future. 

John Tory, Mayor of a city with a larger  budget than some Provinces, skims the surface of city problems with spins and pirouettes that dazzle the eye and delight the media. 

Premier Kathleen Wynne, esteemed leader, holds press conferences about a tiny step that may or may not reduce climate change, in terms  of conversation with a six year old grandchild. 

For most of its history Canada identified as a hewer of wood and  drawer of water.

Then two wars close together killed hundreds of thousands of Canadian youth and Canada became an immigrant and an industrial society.

Frank Stronach  came from Europe with twenty dollars in his pocket and became a billionaire. Mostly in Aurora. 

Brian Mulrooney signed a free trade agreement with the Elephant to the South and accepted  money from an arms dealer.

Now a city state is making agreements to subsidize jobs in the coffee and donut sector to solve the problem of unemployed youth. 

Those who survived wars and economic depressions, worked hard for modest wages, paid taxes and built schools, universities,colleges and hospitals for a better future for their children. 

Now they  find themselves forced out of modest homes, their only asset after a lifetime of hard work and high taxes, with higher taxes to buy culture for the privileged few.

The best their grandchildren should hope for is a job serving coffee and donuts.

And for entertainment, the spectacle of Ex -Senator Mike Duffy helping himself  generously at the public trough.

Or perhaps the adventure of an expedition to  Ukraine, courtesy of our federal government at a cost of half a billion dollars, to intervene in that country's domestic politics.

No lessons learned there from chaos in Iraq resulting from divine intervention of the wise and righteous. 

Wink Wink. Nudge nudge. Say no more.Say no more.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ron Joyce would claim responsibility for the expansion of Tim Hortons to what it is now, not the late founder of Wendy's.

Anonymous said...

I don't know where you get your history from but it seems to be flawed.

Dave Thomas was the owner of Wendy's. There was a merger of the Wendy's and Tim Horton companys a number of years ago. In the beginning there were good prospects for US development - the goal of the coffee giant. However, while new locations began to spring up with Wendy's and Tim's sharing spaces, the results on the bottom line were far from "juicy". After a while it was decided to jettison the coffee assets and return to the way they were. Leases are still in place with Wendy's and Tim's sharing the footprint.

Now, Tim's is part of a bigger burger empire - Burger King. What will happen is still anyone's guess. Will it get a bigger hold in the US? Hard to say.

I will hazard a guess that soon the leases on the Wendy's/Tim's buildings will expire and there will be pressure from the BK bosses to not renew unless the Wendy's side is displaced by a whopper maker.

It's too bad. Personally Wendy's makes a better product than BK. BK no longer has a precence in Aurora or Newmarket. The old Aurora location is now a cell phone store. When it was a BK I found it very dirty and low rent. Most BK's are in the same condition I am afraid.

Anonymous said...

I'm not sure why you seem to feel that this generation, graduating at record numbers from universities with degrees that provide little or no use to what our society actually requires (a BA or Masters (!) in fashion design), are deserving of such attention or concern. They, and/or their parents, have been led to believe that the securing of a university degree, regardless of the discipline, will automatically thrust them into high-paying, satisfying careers. Not so, as we have a glut of these degree-riddled young people in our society. At the same time, the trades are begging for people. I have neighbours and friends working in the construction industry, in HVAC, carpentry, electrical, plubming, etc., most earning $80K + annually with benefit plans and RRSP contributions, and arrive home each afternoon to spend time with their families without having to work into the night answering emails and preparing reports. And on those occasions where they do work nights or weekends, they do so earning premium pay rates. Most important of all, they generally seem happy and satisfied in their careers. And isn't quality of life what we're all here for? But somewhere along the way, our society deemed the trades a lower-tier life choice, almost as if to imply "well, if you can't make a go of it at University, then there's always the trades". Hogwash. I do as well, have those University friends. While their sheepskin hangs on the wall in a shiny frame, some have come to regret the choices made (or choices they were shamed into), the debt they've incurred, and the fact that working at Starbucks, an honest job, is nevertheless far removed from what they were promised. Choices. They are ours to make and live by, and beautiful in the fact they can never be taken away from us, so long as we choose to exercise our our right to free will. Our governments, whether municipal, provincial, or federal, often make decisions based on self-preservation and popularity, and often at cost to the taxpayer. Always have, always will, this is hardly a new concept. So for those with degrees on the wall, but no career prospects to show for it, blaming the government is simply to deny the hard truth. We all make our choices.