17 March 2012

 

turn, turn, turn...

Gentle reader, originally posted to rediscovering the centre blog as of Thursday, December 15, 2005.

Much has changed since then--the two parking garages have not been built. Municipal employees have lost their taxpayer-subsidized parking passes. The King Street reconstruction project has provided secure bike parking stands downtown. The warehouse district is currently being rebranded into the Innovation District.

The original post follows:

It's rather fitting that access to downtown parking will pass by this wheel in order to enter the Charles/Water Street above-ground parking garage for 380 cars soon to be built at a cost to the taxpayer of $10 million or $26, 316 per parking space. A second below-ground parking garage for another 380 cars is to be built in the Centre Block at an additional cost of $15 million or $39,474 as recommended by the recently Council approved Downtown Parking Feasibility Study.

Inside that report, one can learn that existing municipally operated parking facilities: 1) generated $784,000 annual revenues in 2005; 2) cost taxpayers $900,000 in annual subsidies; 3) thereby, creating a net loss of $116,000 to the taxpayer.

Perhaps the time has come to re-examine our dependence on our turning wheels? Even the City's top planner Jeff Wilmer wondered whether to provide for current parking demand or encourage other modes of travel. Councillor Gazzola noted that hundreds of parking spaces in core could be freed up if city stopped subsidizing parking for municipal employees* and instead issued bus tickets or subsidized transit passes.

Notes: *Note: of a total employment of 10,801 in all downtown districts, 572 are City of Kitchener employees who receive subsidized parking passes per contract provisions; another 455 are Region of Waterloo employees for a total of 1,027 subsidized parking spaces.

Photo: punch press industrial artifact corner King and Francis Streets, Kitchener ON. This piece of obsolete industrial machinery has been painted and mounted in the Francis Green parkette to establish the theme of the Warehouse District nearby.



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07 December 2011

 

the Old Order alphabet


A= Amish to distinguish the Amish from other Old Order groups look for clothing with hooks and eyes and wider-brimmed black hats; beard is worn after first child is bornNotes: this post was originally published 01 May 2005 to Grand River blog which is about to be deleted because of confusion re La Grande Riviere--our local river is just one of thousands named La Grande Riviere by the early French explorers. The alphabet allowed Rambling Rose to summarize notes taken on a bus tour throughout Region of Waterloo Amish countryside. Note that customs observed locally are not observed by Old Order Amish communities elsewhere throughout southwestern Ontario. Photos chosen to illustrate both the variations and the remarkable simplicity of the Amish culture.

Worth a visit: Anna Mae's Bakery & Restaurant, Millbank ON for 1) fabulous pies of all varieties; and 2) the "full meal deal" @ $9.75 or "chicken deal" 4 dine for $35.00. Anna Mae specializes in Mennonite cuisine. True to Mennonite custom, Anna Mae's is closed on Sundays.

Photos L to R top to bottom: 1)Belfast, Huron County farm with stooks;2)Karishea, Bruce County farmstead; 3) Amish couple near Millbank, Perth County who willingly posed for this photo =most unusual;4) this pair of young lads swooshed past Rambling Rose near Wellesley, Wellesley Twp = hence poor photo quality; 5) Newry, Perth County harvesting the grain & the chap taking the break is using a cellphone; 6) Millbank, Perth County typical landscape & do note the absence of hydro poles.

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27 November 2011

 

the iconic man's dress shirt?


Gentle reader, winter's onset finds Rambling Rose reviewing various rambles around town and farther afield.

First photo is of the Arrow Lofts redevelopment in downtown Kitchener i. e. "a new condo project by Auburn Developments currently under construction at 112
Benton St. in Kitchener. The project is scheduled for completion in 2011. Available condos range in price from $243,900 to $661,900. The project has a total of 136 units." (1)

The Auburn website promises prospective buyers "exciting new shirt tales in Kitchener" whereby a factory that once produced "the iconic man's dress shirt" locally now is now trading on an established brand name to market its lofty spaces. However, the brand name only appears in the promotional materials as the iconic Arrow painted signage has been removed from the bricks as part of the overall cleanup of the property.

Next photo is of an antique Arrow clock used to market the iconic man's dress shirt found in at Fay's antique shop in Sebringville, ON this past summer. Quite possibly the wall clock is still available to purchase as RR passed on it in order to emerge with an antique washboard as her rare treasure from that day's rambles.

Found online, the story of the iconic men's shirt as follows:
 Fay's Gift & Garden shop is located on 269 Huron Road in Sebringville and definitely worth browsing-- as there are some incredible treasures to be found there. Fay relocated there from Shakespeare to take advantage of tourist & cottage traffic to and from Lake Huron. The building itself is an historic boomfront commercial structure that Fay and her husband have restored.

Even during the long winter months ahead, it's a short daytrip that RR recommends highly. Just take Erb Street west out of Waterloo to Phillipsburg & cross the intersection to follow the same direction that will take you on the scenic back road through Amulree & just keep going until the Amulree road ends at a T-intersection with signs pointing to Stratford. Once you have arrived in Stratford, take a right turn on Huron Road to Sebringville. A return trip RR would recommend would be to follow Huron Road through downtown Stratford with more interesting shops and restaurants; thence follow Stratford's main street (Highways 7/8) as far as Shakespeare's main intersection, turn left as far as Amulree, and right turn back into Kitchener.

In closing, RR wants to state emphatically that she has nothing to gain financially from either the Arrow redevelopment or Fay's commercial operation. RR just finds both ventures interesting and promising as they further local history.

Notes: * When RR was reviewing the Forsyth family archives & history, she learned that the machinery required to attach a collar to a man's shirt was developed locally. Elsewhere in this blog, there are details as to when which company acquired the other as at the end of this building's use to produce shirts locally, this building was owned by the Forsyth Company. ===> RR's personal connection with the Arrow shirt tale was through her students i.e. the laid off factory workers who vented their anger: at the end, although the Arrow shirts were sold with a label that said "made in Canada," the shirts had actually been manufactured in Mexico, shipped to the local Benton St factory where the label was attached. The women were furious that the famous quality had been sacrificed i.e. cheap thread and not enough stitches to secure buttons.

**The creation of the Arrow Collar Man by artist J.C. Leyendecker became one of the most recognizable brand icons. Arrow collar man with photo and details of marketing campaign here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Arrow_Collar_Man



Source: (1) realtor promo link

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14 April 2011

 

great moon gathering


Gentle reader, today's blog has been taken from Time Warp -- a daily journal kept by RR during the 2 1/2 years she worked and lived in Moosonee. This journal entry provides an interesting parallel to Professor Roger Epp's talk at Conrad Grebel University College (see previous blog). RR is offering up this experience of "being in the way" [ Epp's exhortion] in a spirit of gratitude to the Mushkego Cree community whose silent support kept her safe during her wilderness exile. Meegwetch!

Herewith, RR's notes taken during the Curriculum Circle sessions 16-9 February 2000:

We set out in Tom’s truck across the Ice Road to the Island* for this year’s professional development days. This year the James Bay Lowlands Cree Communities were invited to participate.

Our first speaker was Leonard Rickard who got a degree in political science from Western. He first became aware of his “Indianness” and the different colour of his skin when he found himself surrounded by “whiteman culture” at Western. That experience forced him to ask himself “Who? What am I?” He notes that acknowledging his “Indianness” and identity required a decision. He mourns the loss of the Cree language in his community & traces a gradual erosion of language and culture over the past four generations. He notes that those who do not speak their native language are “disconnected from their culture” and feel an emptiness. Therefore, he advocates a) positive images and stories to serve as role models for the young and b) the encouragement of Cree language development within the schools. He concludes by urging his audience to “think like a child and imagine the possibilities.”

The second speaker was Jackie Moore Daigle of the Constance Lake First Nation. Jackie is here from Queen’s ( MED & PhD in education) and tells us that although she understands Cree, she cannot pronounce its words. According to Jackie, language issues are involved in all issues of equity and justice and that Natives still are not on a par with the dominant white society. In order to save the Cree language, she advocates its use in all gatherings. She notes that natives need to enjoy both languages to feel complete and that there is a good chance to save the Cree language in the James Bay Lowlands. In closing, she emphasizes that the issue of language and culture is part of one’s identity.

The next day I opt to attend the elders’ workshop and find myself one of only two women present. The Cree Grand Chief, Lawrence Martin, is part of the panel and eyes me curiously. The chair questions my interest and after I respond satisfactorily proceeds to translate for me from the Cree. Our moderator, Greg, is working on a Cree Language Institute.

Martin announces NAN & DIA have a framework agreement in place at $4.6 million and notes that consultations have begun on the education portfolio. Moosonee is inside Mushkego territory and that 80% native population is in Moosonee, i.e. provincial schools. The native goal is that the Mushkego constitution encompass whole communities as well as their lands and resources. Currently Martin is advocating a regional educational administration under one Nishnawbe Educational Authority. He points out that religion and culture always get mixed up and that there is a conflict between native traditions and the Christian viewpoint. His goal is to strengthen Mushkego Cree teachings and culture by encouraging native teachers in native schools to take over. He pauses to provide a brief
overview of 300 years of James Bay/ Hudson Bay history and traces governance from the HBCo factors to their agents to First Nations chiefs/councils to the present goal of an
overall Mushkego tribal council, which he currently heads.

Martin is followed by John, a Cree elder, who speaks most expressively in Cree and urges all to reclaim the Cree teachings/values from the pre-Contact era as, in his opinion, Christianity has divided the Cree. Jackie speaks in turn to their Vision 2020 and proposes roundtable discussions to set the direction for ab ed (aboriginal teacher education) programs and to answer the question, “ What kind of teachers do you want? “ One elder after the other insists that it is their desire to take control of education back to the Cree community and to promote language and culture development before these are lost to them. Someone points out that there is a need for interpreter service for elders at the Moose Factory Hospital. Someone else notes that the Cree** gave up everything when they signed Treaty 9.

Notes: *The Moose River divides two communities: Moosonee on the mainland & Moose Factory on the island. Moosonee has the liquor store adjacent to the OPP station, the provincial high school whereas Moose Factory Island has the hospital, the Indian reserve, and the native Dolores Echum high school Both communities date historically to the fur trade: Moose Factory was one of the first Hudson Bay Company posts established in the 1600s; Moosonee was established early 20C by Revillon Freres (now Revlon) as fur trading outpost to compete with the Bay. The two communities are connected in summer via freighter canoes (water taxis), the ice road once the Moose River is frozen solid, and during spring break-up and fall-freeze up by helicopter @ $30 for the short flight. RR used both the helicopter and the water taxi service to complete a Trent University course in native studies: the professor arrived by plane from Peterborough and other students arrived from up the Hudson Bay coast by air, water, as well as by train from Cochrane to attend the weekend classes. Amazing how vast distances can be overcome if the desire to learn is there.

** RR actually has read Treaty 9 whereby northern 1/3 of Ontario was given over in exchange for an annual payout of $8; by the time Commissioner Scott returned to Ottawa, the oral agreement of $8 had been reduced to $4. The Cree managed to include two clauses that Trent University Professor Kulchyski calls 1) the schoolhouse and 2) the medicine chest provisions. Thus status Indians (sic as per Indian Act that has yet to be repealed) are entitled to funding for education and health care. However, that has come at a tremendous cost as mineral rights (cf. Attawapiskat diamond mine) belong to the Province of Ontario.

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31 March 2011

 

uncommon ground



Dr. Roger Epp, Professor of Political Studies University of Alberta Augustana Campus, delivered the 2011 Bechtel Lectures in Anabaptist Mennonite Studies at Conrad Grebel Univesity College in Waterloo this month. Gentle reader, what follows is a transcription of notes taken during the two lectures.

Dr. Epp summed up his thesis thus: "It matters what stories we tell. For the descendants of Mennonite settlers in present-day Ontario and in the West, as for all Canadians, historical accounts rarely acknowledge the existence of aboriginal communities regardless of what is often close geographical proximity. The claim I want to advance in these lectures-- that we are all treaty people, by inheritance, by virtue of living where we do--
In the first lecture, after he had fully warmed up his audience with stories of his life on Treaty 6 lands in southern Saskatchewan and Alberta, Dr. Epp posed the first question, "What is the settler problem?" He then suggested it is time that we look at ourselves. We need to examine our moral indifference and historical ignorance of what Treaty Commissioner Duncan C. Scott labelled "the Indian Problem" during the 1920's. Although the Harper government delivered a frank and unequivocal apology for the abuses of the residential school system in 2008*, that apology has done "little to transform the settlers who still do not know the residential school story". Moreover, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission set up in 2008 continues to work in obscurity.

This "willful amnesia" (sic. Dr. Epp's phrase) can be traced back to the myth of "no one's land"** that existed when the first settlers arrived here and the belief system that insisted that 1) cultivation was the justification for property rights; and 2) the wandering aboriginal tribes had no right to so much land. Thus the settler mythology offers justification for the hard work involved in clearing the land as "there was nothing here; when we came we made something of the land by hard work." Inevitably Mennonite settlement followed closely on displacement of aboriginals. In the discussion that followed, Dr. Epp referred to aboriginal oral history around the treaty-making process that speaks to the concept of "sharing the land"*** and also to new settlers who did not like competition and limited aboriginal access to markets and education.

In his second lecture, Dr. Epp re-emphasized that "we are all treaty people"****by virtue of the history in which we are entangled; thus we exercise treaty rights daily by living where we do. Thus, in our relationships with our aboriginal neighbours, we must be mindful of the following: In our daily lives then, if we are to face up to our own history and do the work of reconciliation, we will find ourselves walking "uncommon ground" where our work awaits us. This work requires:
  1. the gift to be in the way
  2. the willingness to accept the invitation
  3. the openness to reciprocity
  4. the sense of risk i.e. not knowing
  5. listening, not talking
  6. respect for the other's cultural protocols and sacred spaces
  7. refusal to accept that the past is past.
In closing, Dr. Epp appealed to his Mennonite audience that Mennonites have certain advantages: a) the gift of proximity as they are settled all over Canada; b) share the same stories of displacement, sorrow & loss; as well as, c) share similar cultural traditions of giving/receiving hospitality and staging feasts.

Notes: * Somewhere in her mess of papers, RR hopes to find a news clipping of a previous apology made by then Indian Affairs Minister Stewart approx 10 years ago; ** concept of terra nullis; *** Per Dr. Epp: "this act of sharing is almost incomprehensible in its generosity" ****according one law professor it will take approximately 50 years to resolve all land claims that on average take approximately 16 years to resolve; one case filed in 1885 regarding land sold by an Indian agent who pocketed the money was finally resolved 120 years later.

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21 February 2011

 

heritage scavenger hunt #1

Gentle reader, today's photos invite you to take a cyber stroll through downtown Kitchener in a longish block bounded by Francis, Duke, Frederick/Benton and Charles Streets. The vast majority of these heritage gems can be found on King Street. Clues are provided to help you identify each photo. Rambling Rose invites you to use the comments section to provide your best guesses and memories/associations evoked by each photo.

#1 (above)-this mural depicts a designated daylight factory designed by Albert Kahn that has been repurposed into residential lofts; this American architect also was involved in the design of another rubber factory farther west adjacent to the railway tracks.

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heritage scavenger hunt # 2 and #3


#2 (left) represents an artifact salvaged from a civic building demolished during the 1970s in a previous Kitchener attempt at downtown renewal; name the building where this historic artifact can be found currently-- its location also involved the demolition of entire block of historic commercial buildings; #3 (right) the sculpture of Mary of the seven sorrows graces a significant religious structure in downtown Kitchener.

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heritage scavenger hunt #4 and #5



#4 (left) is of the second and third storeys of a building that once upon a time lodged travellers but has been mothballed until the developer secures the financing to convert it into a boutique hotel; #5 (right) is the only pre-Confederation commercial building in downtown Kitchener.

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heritage scavenger hunt # 6 and #7



#6 (left) captures a decorative gargoyle adorning an Art Deco structure dedicated to the founders of Ontario Hydro; #7 (right) provides a detail of a building that throughout its history has been dedicated to academic pursuits.

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heritage scavenger hunt # 8, & #9



#8(left) window detail from oldest bank building still in use as bank at this King Street location--the drip mouldings are utilitarian and serve to redirect pigeon droppings away from the building; #9 (right) this row of buildings was an early adaptive reuse project undertaken by Shawkey Fahel responsible for similar projects in downtown Brantford for Wilfrid Laurier and an upcoming one in Cambridge/Hespeler on the Speed River.

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heritage scavenger hunt #10 & #11



These photos capture two tranquil spots in downtown Kitchener. Your challenge is to identify the buildings in the background: #11 (left)is a federal building whose construction was a stimulus project during the Great Depression; #12 (right) the white building in the background has been repurposed to house offices of major technological firms locally eg. Google etc.

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heritage scavenger hunt #12 & #13


#12 (left) is the exterior of another spiritual institution that provides a reading room where current and past issues of a highly respected newspaper are available; #13 (right) is of a tile mosaic mounted on a side wall of a building that provides multiple services to jobseekers and new immigrants locally.

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heritage scavenger hunt #14 & #15



These photos speak to Kitchener's German heritage: #14 (left) is a Glockenspiel. Challenge is to name the central location where it has been installed. #15 (right) is the oldest church building in Kitchener whose first pastor was nicknamed the "marrying pastor" on account of the great number of marriages he performed.

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27 January 2011

 

the curious case of the alien exotic garlic













Alien garlic, gentle reader? Yes, alien garlic grown elsewhere at huge price differentials. During her latest shopping ramble, RR was searching for garlic to support her culinary adventures. She had two to choose from: the first, imported from China @ $0.49 per lb; the second, imported from the USA @ $3.49 per lb. Before that, the challenge was to find apple juice made from apples grown and processed in Canada after she wondered why, when we grow good apples locally, is she paying farmers elsewhere for their crop?

Then for one brief week last summer, RR was engaged in the debate as to the fat, juicy, flavourful blueberries she had brought home for an indulgent feast: "Here, enjoy, these are British Columbia blueberries that we once took for granted. Marvellous fluke that they have travelled cross-country to us!" An argument ensued to the effect that these blue jewels had come to us from the United States as that was the location of the packer but the label was "grown in Canada." Later last year that conundrum was solved [i.e. were those blueberries actually grown in Richmond, B. C. as RR adamantly continued to assert]. Her hostess explained the process as they were driving through the Lower Mainland blueberry fields. B. C. blueberries are shipped across the border for packing and continental transportation.

Gentle reader, RR would like to crunch some just-released numbers re inflationary pressures as follows:

  1. Inflation of food prices in 2010: +53% corn; +49% wheat; 28% soybeans; +25% sugar. (1)
  2. Fertilizer cost also rising. The same report also noted US ethanol policy requires increase in production; thus 40% of US corn crop diverted to ethanol production. (2)
  3. Energy costs were higher across the board last month. Along with gasoline, natural gas rose 9.2 per cent from last year, electricity 6.2 per cent, and transportation costs, which are heavily influenced by gas prices, rose 4.9 per cent. (3)
Food production is extremely energy intensive; oil @ US $92 per barrel and still rising===> expect gas $1.20/ litre this spring +15-20% over year ago.*Food production is extremely energy intensive; oil @ US $92 per barrel and still rising===> expect gas $1.20/ litre this spring +15-20% over year ago. Each truck passing you on the elephant trail stretching from Windsor to Montreal guzzles $60,000 annual gas cost even though a local trucking company sets max speed @ 96kmh to conserve fuel costs. (1)

That's a pretty dismal picture already without factoring in the impacts of the 2010 wet,cold summer that decimated grain crops in the prairies. Nor does it take into account the extreme weather events such as the lake-effect snow that shut down Highway 403 this January and emptied nearby grocery stores within three days. So much for long-distance just-in-time delivery of basic necessities.

In the short term, RR has options: local farmers and specialty produce markets or to shop directly from regional Mennonite farmers.** As noted in reports dealing with agricultural supply management policies: "Old Order Mennonite farms approx 720 diversified farms with communal ownership of
equipment and frugal lifestyle continue to farm productively."

However, RR's personal culinary choices distract from the crucial issues: 1) this nation's food security; and 2) the ongoing loss of prime industrial farmland. The price differential between the garlic from China and that from US is worrisome. She suspects that China is dumping cheap garlic just as they did with cheap steel earlier this decade (Hamilton's steel industry has been incredibly hard hit). She also suspects that the most costlier US garlic factors in higher transportation and water costs-- both dependent on cheap gas and water flowing south from Canada and not adequately protected under NAFTA. As well, we need to more effectively protect our diminishing supply of prime agricultural land cf. map below
Numbers on map indicate growing areas sandwiched in between the hard rock of the mountains (pink) and Canadian Shield (rust): 1) BC's lower mainland between Vancouver and Hope; 2) the prairies: ranchland (cattle) and flatland (wheat); 3) southwestern Ontario; 4) the St. Lawrence Lowlands; 5) the Maritime valleys (apples); 6) the great Clay belt in northern Ontario and Quebec (very short growing season); 7) the Peace River region in northern Alberta (also extremely short growing season). We need to think of foodland security and protect the little that we have. End of rant!


Notes: * to track gasoline prices go to Www.Gasbuddy.com
The same report noted: “Oil companies are earning absolutely amazing profit margins” (1);
** Farmers markets: (1) Kitchener Market; 2) Waterloo Kitchener Stockyards; (3) St. Jacobs Farmers’ Market; (4) Guelph Farmers market; (5) Cambridge Farmers’ Market. Specialty niche food markets: niche market farmers 1) Organic beef @$1,000 more per animal sold directly to consumer by Baer’s Vibrant Farms ; 2) asparagus grown & sold locally by Peter Barrie, King’s Road Cambridge;
3) Oakridge farms, a cooperative of 32 local farmers.

Sources: (1)Canadian Press, Price at pumps could hit $1.20 per litre by spring, The Record 20 January 2011: (2)Michael Pento, Easy money behind food prices, National Post 22 Jan 2011; (3)Greg Mercer, Flexibility is its own reward, The Record 28 August 2010; (4)Watkins, Melissa & Stewart Hilts, Emily Brockie, Protecting Southern Ontario’s Farmland, University of Guelph Farmland Preservation Research project 2003;



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24 January 2011

 

supply management?



Gentle readers, in its lead editorial ,"“Protectionism by any other name’"The National Post thundered forth: “Our government should ... put a stop to supply management...“Our protectionist agricultural policies, including dairy and poultry marketing boards, which shelter domestic farmers at the expense of consumers and international competitors by imposing heavy duties on foreign products and quotas on domestic production. These duties include tariffs as high as 295% on imported butter and cheese. Apart from raising roadblocks to trade, marketing boards also raise prices at the dinner table.” (1)

The following arguments were advanced to support that position:
  1. A survey of farm-gate prices by the International Dairy Foods Association estimated prices for the past three years at $16.40 in the United States, $19.19 in the European Union, $14.49 in New Zealand and $29.87 in Canada (all prices in U.S. dollars per fixed weight)...Canadians pay twice the world market rate for dairy produce.
  2. “...not only does the policy inflate consumer prices, but also the cost of farming. A farmer's purchase of entry-level quotas for chicken farming, for example, typically represents 75% of start-up costs.”
  3. the average value of a family farm has increased by 74% in the past 15 years, to almost $1.3-million. The average farm income is 15% higher than the average Canadian family income. The average dairy farm in particular makes a 25% profit margin -- an enviable margin for any business, and certainly not one meriting government assistance.
The Post's editorial does present the viewpoint of "protectionists" who would argue: 1) the need to protect an "independent" food supply, which they claim would otherwise be eroded by cheap imported food; 2) the vagaries of farming, a business at the mercy of weather patterns and other forces beyond human control, which makes it difficult to earn a predictable, stable living.(1)

Earlier this past year, The Record's reporter Greg Mercer provided a profile of the local agricultural industry: For another point of view, RR turned to a saved report whose author Wally Secombe writes: “The industrialization of farming[ i.e. larger, more specialized, capital-intensive and productive] would
appear inevitable as dictated by global competition [i.e. long-distance, export-oriented, market reach] is not working for the majority of Ontario’s farmers. It is also undermining [Ontario’s] future food security....52% of Ontario farmers earn less than $100,000 a year.....[resulting in] rural
depopulation....Every year we lose more of Canada’s best farmland to low-density urban sprawl... From 1951 to 2001, the Central Ontario region lost 49% of its farmland to the expansion of Greater Toronto Area...Ontario has 52% of best farmland in Canada;however, only 5% of Canada’s total area is suitable for farming." (3)

Locally there are exceptions to the overall trend to the twin pressures of industrialization and globalization of agriculture:

 This ongoing loss of our minimal prime agricultural land should concern all of us. We need to guard against:
Sources: (1) "Protectionism by any other name," lead editorial National Post, 18 January 2011; (2)Greg Mercer, Stock farmers face the chop, The Record 28 August 2010 (3)Wally Secombe, A Home-Grown Strategy for Ontario Agriculture, Toronto Food Policy Council September 2007; (4) Watkins, Melissa & Stewart Hilts, Emily Brockie, Protecting Southern Ontario’s Farmland, University of Guelph Farmland Preservation Research project 2003.

Photos top to bottom: (1) Wellesley Township mixed farming operation; (2) locally produced dairy and meat products sold at Kitchener Farmers Market; (3) Brant County dairy herd; (4) West Montrose corn fields: (5) Old Order farming near Hawkesville, Ontario; (6) Baden farmer cutting hay; this particular farm no longer exists and has been covered with another suburban subdivision.

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19 January 2011

 

RR's diary: why? or why not?


Gentle readers, today's photo was taken last summer when the City of Brantford was engaged in another heritage war. The buildings reflected in the shop window above were slated for demolition; at the eleventh hour according to one Brantford councillor, heritage advocates rallied to mount a spirited to campaign to ask "Why not save them?" The 46 heritage buildings that once lined Colborne Street have now faded into memory; their loss has been memorialized by the Heritage Canada Foundation as one of the Canada's top heritage losses of 2010.Later this year, RR has high hopes of captioning the photos RR took of what once was.

Time moves on even as history repeats itself. This past week has seen a resumption of old political strategies with the launch of attack ads (aka character assassination)targeting Ignatieff that suggest we might find ourselves embroiled in a possible spring election. James Travers, a veteran of the federal political scene, observes:

“ ...in current pre-election positioning, Conservatives are taking a stand on corporate tax cuts while lunging a second time at party subsidies. They’re not documenting how more breaks for already lightly taxed big business will create jobs, stimulate productivity or boost international competitiveness. They’re not explaining why a feel-good promise to cut the purse strings to federal parties isn’t a slippery-slope step backwards to the bad old days of backroom bagmen, influence pedaling and toll-gating federal contracts for political donations. Missing, too, from the national dialogue are looming challenges that dwarf the importance of the topics Conservatives prefer discussing. Off the table and out of mind are, among many things, the future of universal health care, the complex transition from hewing wood and drawing water to a post-industrial economy, and Canada’s changing place in a rapidly evolving. helter-skelter world."

Travers concludes with the wry observation that Harper is changing the fundamental nature of this country: "Determination and the patience to alter a country’s course, one incremental step at a time, are core characteristics of a prime minister who is changing Canada more fundamentally than friends or foes often recognize. Measuring Harper’s five-year re-alignment of Canada demands no more than deconstructing what the country is — and isn’t — talking about." (1)

Noted in RR's diary are the following:

  1. Viewed: Sisters in the Wilderness ( i.e. Susanna Moodie & Catharine Parr Traill); Next DVD to watch ? A Question of Loyalties 1775-1815 (why? background to Ontario’s motto “loyal she began”) . These two DVD's are part of the excellent series: Canada: A People's History which aired ca 2002 on CBC & available at the local library. RR highly recommends watching them.
  2. RR is currently reading: Jane Jacobs, The Death and Life of Great American Cities (1952) & plans to purchase a copy of this classic @ $12.97 used on Chapters/Indigo website.
  3. RR has also located and plans to purchase: Andrew Jackson Downing, Victorian Cottage Residences @ $5.24 used Chapters Indigo. This book is one of the pattern books used by nineteenth century builders to construct many of our Ontario classic (Gothic) and bracketed (Italianate) houses RR previously blogged about. Incredible that what once was lost has been found again!
Today's photo captures R. F. Kennedy's rallying call to his generation when he quoted G. B. Shaw: "

“There are those who look at things the way they are, and ask why...

I dream of things that never were, and ask why not?”


RR should like to add another memorable RFK quote to counter the cynicism and the skepticism so prevalent now:

“ The answer is to rely on youth -- not a time of life
but a state of mind,
a temper of the will,
a quality of imagination,
a predominance of courage over timidity,
of the appetite for adventure over the love of ease.

The cruelties and obstacles of this swiftly changing planet will not yield to the obsolete dogmas and outworn slogans.
They cannot be moved by those who cling to a present that is already dying,
who prefer the illusion of security to the excitement and danger
that come with even the most peaceful progress.

It is a revolutionary world we live in,
and this generation at home and around the world has had thrust upon it a greater burden of responsibility than any generation that has ever lived.”-- R. F.Kennedy

Sources: (1) James Travers, Harper is at work patiently changing Canada, The Record 18 January 2011.

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29 December 2010

 

blue snow ( tales of survival)

After recounting amazing tales of survival, Kathryn Blaze Carlson (1) asks her readers:
  1. Could it be that our bodies and brains are capable of far more than we once thought?
  2. Can we now dismiss the so-called Rule of Three -- the survival principle that says a person can survive roughly three minutes without air, three hours without shelter in extreme weather, three days without
    water and three weeks without food?
She proceeds to redefine survival according to the latest research:

An emergency survival kit contains all of the basic items you need to remain comfortable for at least three days immediately after or during an emergency: Flashlight and batteries; Radio and batteries or crank radio; Spare batteries (for radio and flashlight); First-aid kit; Telephone that can work during a power disruption; Candles and matches/lighter; Extra car keys and cash; Important papers (identification); non-perishable food (ready-to-eat items that do not require refrigeration; Manual can opener; Bottled water (4 litres per person per day); Clothing and footwear; Blankets or sleeping bag; Toilet paper and other personal items; Medication; Backpack/duffle bag; Whistle (to attract attention, if needed); Playing cards. (2)

Sources: (1) Kathryn Blaze Carlson, Redefining Survival, National Post 24 December 2010; (2) www.theweathernetwork.com
Photos: blue snow captures last ray's of setting sun in Moosonee (top) ; Cochrane Railway and Pioneer Museum & T&NO (Temiskaming and Northern Ontario) locomotive # 137 and its many artifacts that are housed in the three coaches and two CN cabooses. From steam engine to cabooses, it is a home to an abundance of railway memorabilia. Enjoy the trapper's cabin replica, antique photographs and display of the pioneer life in Cochrane.

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