Welcome to Muskoka. What's left of it, some might argue! Our disappearing hinterland that is! The urban sprawl beast has been set loose and I'm doubtful it can be stopped. I don't like what has happened in my home region during the past decade, and it seems I'm going to be involved in a weighty number of protests upcoming, in an attempt to spare Muskoka its entry into the "looking like every other urban community in the world" era.
I've been an active Muskoka historian since the late 1970's. I've been a newspaper reporter, editor and feature writer working in this region of Ontario for about the same period. I'm a past editor of numerous publications in Muskoka, and a founding director of the Bracebridge Historical Society. I believe I've got a pretty firm grasp of Muskoka history and feel I'm up to speed on a majority of the District's most pressing modern day issues. I've spent a considerable amount of time thinking and occasionally writing about the perils, particularly environmental, facing Muskoka in the next decade, and because of the chagrin I feel about the sell-out and sell-off of our district to developers, it seemed to be the right time to pen some editorial opinions about our fragile state of affairs in so-called cottage country.
One of the primary reasons for considering the Blog venue, is my deep and profound disappointment with the local media. I can't read a newspaper these days, supposedly ones representing our regional interests, and find anything more than surface scraping of important events and news coverage. I don't feel comfortable that our communities are being served by anything more than courtesy coverage, and that's keeping a lot of critical information under wraps and out of the reach of public scrutiny. I can't recall how many times recently I've turned off the television or tossed down a publication in disgust because of the poor treatment of story, issue, and the complete absence of "investigative anything."
Should we be concerned about the most recent fumbling by local government? Will our newly elected municipal councils work to safeguard the environmental well being of our "paradise nearly lost?" I've long burned my bridges in this area with editorial insolence and insubordination to my superiors, in this supposed-to-be-dynamic news gathering enterprise. I've been shown the door many, many times, because I didn't tow the publisher's line. I didn't make a habit of shaping news to keep advertisers happy. Actually I did a poor job according to most of the advertisers at publications I worked for, because I didn't see what they wanted me to see about the dream communities "they" wished to achieve. They thought it would be nice if we published more positive news stories, and lots more grip and grin photographs on the front page,.....instead of breaking news coverage, auto wrecks and burning buildings. Unpleasantness apparently is a drag on profitability.
I watched carefully the so called economic movers and shakers and the unfolding of agendas. I don't recall many occasions when environmental well being topped any of these agendas. It was about money making then just as it is now, and it keeps us tree huggers busy because commerce and progress, "the urban sprawl way," usually makes short work out of nature in its path. I can get sick to my stomach watching a stand of pines come crashing down in the flash and thrust of the mighty chainsaw.
I have a profound concern there are many projects in the wings that will be thrust upon us when it is simply too late to mount a defence. We've seen evidence of this in the past year particularly in Bracebridge and Gravenhurst. There are overlapping developmental projects, with explosive potential to bulge into larger commercial nodes that could swallow up large tracts of forest and wetlands, and change the historic character of our communities forever.
This isn't a tell all, negative, fear mongering blog site but rather a collection of hopefully insightful editorial pieces about the imminent threats to our region; and a few stark observations about making a last, effective stand, to deal more successfully with future development applications, and counter against a council's blind faith that any progress is good progress. I will throw out a few suggestions about how we can get the message across to our elected representatives, that we need to proceed with caution. The best investment in our Muskoka region is your heart and soul. I love Muskoka and will do what is necessary to protect its integrity. Hope I can count on your support.
I have lived and worked in Muskoka as a writer-historian since arriving in Bracebridge, as a weary, bedraggled cast-off of city life in 1966. It was from this starting point that my passion for Muskoka's conservation became an obsession. I would like to take you on some historic, outdoor adventures in this region, as well as offering some home town reminiscenses, to illustrate my ongoing commitment to represent Muskoka's future with equal, unyielding commitment.
Thanks for joining this first Blog from the Gravenhurst office of the critic's critic, Ted Currie.


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