Transition Articles
Why we don’t act
Written by Drew Monkman
I have wondered for many years why it is that the environmental movement has generally failed to bring about any substantive change in human behaviour or, by extension, in laws and regulations. Why, for example, are we so slow to heed the advice of climate scientists? Only two years ago, it seemed that Canadians had finally woken up to the reality of climate change with public opinion polls showing the environment at the top of our list of concerns. People said they were ready to support tough government action on this problem, even if it might affect one’s own pocketbook. How quickly things change. The idea of a carbon tax was soundly defeated in the last election, and a recent poll shows a majority of Canadians would choose to save money instead of buying environmentally friendly products if they cost more.
We accept Kawartha Dollars!
Written by Fred Irwin, founder, TTP
“We accept Kawartha Dollars!” is the sign needed in windows, and on barn doors of a thousand businesses and farms throughout the Kawarthas.
And why not? We Canadians love our Canadian Tire money. It’s as much a part of our culture as a Tim bit. Problem is they don’t take Canadian Tire money at Tim Horton’s or Shoppers Drug Mart or the Farmers Market for that matter. But isn’t that now white Optimum Card another form of money? Your Optimum points balance is a savings account for you to buy more stuff at Shoppers Drug Mart. Of course they hope that you will come in and buy a lot more stuff than your points will pay for, and that you likely don’t need, but that’s another story... and son of a gun does it ever work!
The simplicity of community gardens
Written by Mike Lacey
Growing up on a non-functioning farm, complete with a rundown barn and about 100 acres of fields and woods to explore daily, the one memory that still remains with me is the giant vegetable garden my father toiled over every year.
Now, firmly planted in the city-living lifestyle, I appreciate even more the ability, at a whim, to simply pluck a carrot from the ground, wash it off and wolf it down before heading back out to play.
A return to common sense
Written by Lois Tuffin
Back in school, sitting with the kids who wore blue jeans and had Dukes of Hazzard lunch boxes, I would explain how my parents were raising the seven Tuffin children as if we still lived in the Depression.
We had homebaked cookies instead of Joe Louis cakes, homemade clothes on our backs and vegetables in our lunches that had grown in our own garden. We weren't complaining, just explaining why things were the way they were in our house.
Instead of shopping or going to movies, we took long walks and bike rides around the neighbourhood. Vegetable scraps went back into the garden as compost.
For people living in the past, we sure seem to be ahead of our time.
Get Out of It!
Written by Munroe Scott
The following is from the author’s book, From Nation to Colony (Tri-M 1988) and was first run in his newspaper column, Down Paradox Lane, on September 30, 1986. (At that time he was living in Victoria County which has since been reclassified as “The City of Kawartha Lakes,” a name that he claims is a crime against the English language.)
I think we Canadians are just on the brink of discovering the magic solution to all our problems. At the moment we're just grabbing at the edges of an idea but when it really sinks in, watch out.
I came to this conclusion recently while reading an in-depth article on the current thinking among some Ottawa mandarins, bureaucrats and high level politicians.
It's no secret that the government feels there are some farmers who should be assisted in getting off the land and that there are some crops that shouldn't be grown. But apparently what is really being advocated by some of our visionaries is that Canada should get out of agriculture.
CANADA SHOULD GET OUT OF AGRICULTURE.
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