Recession at least provides a hiatus for Muskoka's hinterland
There are thousands of arguments bandied about today, expounding all the live long day why Muskoka needs greater and more diversified economic development. I agree. As a long serving editor and columnist with the Muskoka media, I have always supported the commission to attract more business and industrial investment to the district. So before I'm whacked with the critique that I'm anti-development and unCanadian, it just isn't so. Sensible proportion and the right location are two of my most debated issues for Muskoka's hinterland survival. I won't support development that diminishes our natural assets which fuel our historic and number one industry....tourism. And it's true I'm a big quality-of-life nut, and I live in the rural area of the province because of the embrace of hinterland a short distance in any direction from my front door. I do want my sons and their eventual families to live, work and prosper in our region, so it is without question that I am reverent and adaptable to the necessary change to make opportunities more abundant. While it might read as a contradiction of wants and values, it really has more to do with being careful about what is being attracted to Muskoka, and that progress continue to be in the best long term interests of the environment. I have to remind untutored revisionists today that no matter what numbers you crunch and philosophies sculpted to promote an agenda, truth is undeniable.....our tourist and second home-owner economy is number one in 2008-9 as it was more than a hundred years ago. If we become less desirable as a vacation escape from the urban jungle, we will lose thunderously more earnings than we're experiencing now sparring with the present Bear market.
Although there were a lot fewer folks back in the 1870's, to offer arguments, it was pretty obvious to the pioneer businessman that commerce would improve as opportunities increased. As the historians could explain in great and even burdensome volumes, there have been arguments for economic expansion since the first homestead shanty here in Muskoka.....as elsewhere, when capitalism starts its initial exploratory unfurling.....onward toward the "demand-monster" with the insatiable appetite for more and more and more.
I get a kick out of the poiliticians here who speak in such broad terms about economic development, as if they're the only ones who have ever hoisted and marched forward with that goodwill banner. Every decade in Muskoka's history has produced the glad-handers trying to hustle business opportunity. Some decades and personal efforts have fared better than others. There's simply no end result to the pursuit of economic development. Every modern day controversial development that has had to contend with opposition, draws on the "economic development" heartstring because proponents know it's a motherhood-family issue to keep sons and daughters employed at home. It's hard to argue against a project or development, when some families you know are struggling with unemployment. But there will always be unemployed citizens even in boom times. In the past 20 years particularly "economic development" has been both a boon and a boondogle. Folks selling the virtues of a crappy project on the basis it will create economic opportunity. Then the construction company brings in workers from everywhere else in the province, versus hiring locally because we don't have the skilled labour force they require. It is why they hire key staff as well from outside the area to manage the projects. While there is still hale and hardy economic spin-off having anybody reside, even temporarily in our district, the sales pitches are wild in their estimation of just how well we Muskokans will do, if we buy into selling off the hinterland to the new vested interest.
In Muskoka we have been ripe for the picking and a lot of developers know this all too well. We have bought into a lot of magic potion cure-alls recently about this need to accomodate growth.....and that without new and improved commercial investment, we will whither and become irrelevant. Listening to the developers and their shills is like standing in front of the steam belching, light flashing, roaring old contraption that made the Wizard of Oz seem so frightening and sage with his warnings. Take away the bluster and you've got just another plan to make money....some more grandiose than others but always with the advisory that our community's well being rests on a positive outcome when council finally casts their vote. Most of the time this is done without nary a soul wondering silently or aloud, whether it is actually true or a manufactured hollogram of an imaginary situation; what if we said no, and decided to be twice as prudent about compromising our natural assets....would the world really come crashing down? Is there any truth that we can only survive as a community and a region, if we prostitute ourselves for every last development dime. To hell with the environment. We like the really big show! The forests? Hell, you can plant a new one. Wetlands? Let's make crappy land into better land by draining and infilling.
The problem in the District of Muskoka for people of my ilk, who prefer development on a sensible, manageable, sustainable level, is that local politicians are simply too eager to accept development in the name of progress without truly appreciating the consequences to be faced in the future. While the City of Toronto is facing an amazing array of crime situations, pollution, traffic congestion, infra-structure dilemmas, and congestion issues constantly, we know this to be the acceptable carnage that comes with a region's economic engine.....yet they want more and more and more without fixing what needs to be fixed.....what needs to be improved about humanity's rights and privileges here in this vast Dominion. It's the glorification of city life which makes its way to the hinterland and what used to be a city dweller's retreat, is becoming an arm of the urban scene itself. We are becoming a suburb here in Muskoka and our proximity to Barrie and Toronto is now pounding the crap out of our open spaces. What could we have done about it? First of all, the glad handers in local politics over the past ten years, simply couldn't believe all the good fortune in economic development. The box store influx. What could be wrong with this? Give us more and we will be great! Or something as ill thought out!
Acceptance has meant an opening gate for everything else that looks good on paper, and steadily rings the municipal coffers. But the double edge sword is that old saying....you've got to spend money to make money. As the District deficit attests, there's a big price attached to progress. What could we really afford? What have we over-spent? Do we still have the magic means? No! Just the defecit for a long time to come. But has it been responsible for the citizens of Muskoka who have a great appreciation for their forested/lakeland situation. There's a lot of opposition, a large number of naysayers....but unfortunately the will to fight every project the municipality tells us is good for what ails us.....well, we would be fighting constantly. And when you do this, believe me, the "yes" side of everything progressive and greed-laden, can do a lot to trip you up.....the community boycott. I've been at the heart of many protests against development, and I'm quite familiar with the blackballing protocol. As an old reporter for the Muskoka media, I've never given up on investigative practice and I know full well those who are pulling the strings locally and how they get even with trouble-makers who force projects to the Ontario Municipal Board. Let's just say opportunities kind of dry up as the word gets around that "oh, oh, it's that Currie again......you know what to do now......show him why it's not nice to object." Many citizens who have done so....and got involved with protests against specific large-scale projects have faced various forms of intimidation and disrespect, and many knowing this potential outcome, and needing jobs and their businesses to succeed, simply retreat knowing this to be the politics of a small town.
I have heard so much bullcrap over the past five years about the need for more urban and regional economic expansion. When you confront, for example, someone with a vested interest in real estate locally, by suggesting hundreds of new houses have been built on spec....by speculators, and speculating developers,....the mood turns real chilly fast. If you ask local politicians if there has been any significant speculation here by developers in the past half decade, and the defence commences. "What speculation? Where? Not here? Not in Muskoka. Every house built here is to fulfill a housing need, they argue. Okay, call it what you want but the truth is Muskoka is being consumed by speculation......not by the opening up of business as such but the fact that sprawling subdivisions are plain and simply unnecessary to support the local population now and for quite a few years into the future. But the operative phrase here is "Build it and they will come. From Toronto, Belleville, Oakville etc. etc. So they have, and then some. Now take away those folks who bought a second and third house as an investment in their own community. Take away the folks who have bought these homes for summer only, retiring south from three to six months each year. Consider how many are used as rental income properties until the market strikes upward and they can sell for a huge profit. Hey this is just capitalism in a hale and hardy democracy fulfilling the plan. Accept this darn old near recession situation where houses are selling less per month for lower prices, with an inventory of many months of dust-gathering listings. So did we build too many houses? You certainly won't here that from a local politician unless a reporter asked for a comment off-the-record.
The problem is that local elected officials operate in the "now" largely and as far as being visionary, well, that's not their strong point. There isn't a thirty something person in this region who should be surprised by the economic downturn. There shouldn't be an elected representative in these parts who couldn't have recognized the signs.....so just how high can real estate prices go......before something was going to pop. With an high number of economically challenged citizens from the get-go, and food banks needing all the support they can get to tend the hungry, here we were so proud of the escalation of property values.....and many got so pumped they bet the farm and the homestead that what goes up never comes down. Stunned! Our leaders should have known better and looked at the projects on the books, and in the field, and thought about the catastrophe that could unfold......if developers offer big incentives on new houses while poor bastards who have lost their jobs and futures here, have to sell their homes just to survive. New home clear out versus necessary liquidation in order for a family's economic survival. I know, it's free enterprise right? Survival of the fittest and the most wiley. Just consider for a moment that you have to sell your lived-in house to fend off the bank's interest in repossession. Do you stand even the smallest chance of selling when a new home, for a few thousand more, is being offered with warranty and other incentives.
These huge residential expansions, from condos to single family units, are seen as outstanding improvements to our way of life and enhancements toward the future. This may be so. We know expansion is necessary as the population does increase. Yet there is a burden of responsibility, as a driver knowing when to signal, when to break, when to put on lights, and when to slow down on icy roadways. It's no different for municipal governance operating this region of ours. They needed to be cautionary when they began their open door policy of development. They needed to know just what a consequence was, and how to minimize impact. These same folks who put the pedal to the metal are now facing a serious reckoning with all of us constituents, who are starting to see the flaws of accepting too much too soon, without adequate reservation about what can and will topple under the right stresses. And you can make comment about hindsight being 20/20 but in fact, it doesn't apply here, because these folks knew all too well what was lurking around the corner. Economic cycle. They should have had a clear understanding about the recession of the late 1980's and early 90's. It's not distant history it's relevant historical fact that should have been applied here, to ensure that if a recession was to hit, a bear market at the very least, and it was overdue.....how to you ensure a safe balance of interests.....a sensible debt load....and a workable number of options to fall back on in case things started to fall apart. With the massive debt load of this region, you bet we're in trouble at this time of the economic downturn.....and there isn't a municipal councillor in Muskoka who shouldn't be deeply concerned about the future well being of their region.....and being able to meet its demands over the next gruelling decade.
Short sightedness. Greed. Stupidity. There are many descriptions to borrow, to deal with the glad-handers of our region who have perpetuated a dangerous situation, of economic tight-roping.....an urban expansion that would put at risk, at a most vulnerable time, mainstreets still trying to cope with decentralizing business strategies begun in the 1970's. In Bracebridge it is anybody's guess how the pods of commerce will fare in an economic down-turn but there are a few experts out there.....namely the business people on the front line who have already begun preparing for the new reality....hoping to survive the new economic deficiencies in an already stressed business environment.
If local government leaders had employed the smallest amount of wisdom, which comes from life experiences, they would have been pumelling the respective mayors about budget restraint, seeking a development hiatus, to allow for the storm to hit and pass. It's just logical. If a storm is coming, take precaution. We tell our kids to use caution. Be careful crossing the street. Don't take rides with strangers! Don't do anything stupid. Yet, when it comes to caution and the public good, all of a sudden it becomes a non issue. "Naw, it'll be okay....you'll see."
The problem here is that there are too many advisors locally with vested interests. People who should not be so close to councillors and mayors who are free-wheeling with their economic visions. We don't need the local arm twisters and ceaselessly progressives, the lobbyists who are in it for the virtues of expansion, under the guise of "it's be so great for the community." What if they're wrong? We'll see! Soon.
I'm deeply concerned about the small business community here, and the hard working citizenry who will suffer the consequences of less responsible government......elected officials who have voted in favor of urban expansion on the grounds it is always good and positive to have economic expansion. Well, that's not true. With each expansionary wave there are consequences of accepting the urban culture.....thrust for capitalist folly on the good folks who have made this beautiful part of Muskoka home for decades. It has been at their expense. It's hard not to get upset, as a regional historian, to see how and know why we have been mauled by progress.....such that investors from Southern Ontario can turn their accustomed profit, and then try to figure out how the locals can be influenced yet again, to buy into the snake oil fix-all.
Muskoka's number one industry is tourism. It has been this way from the late 1800's. What are we doing to make tourism better and more prosperous in the future? Apparently, we have opted to build more residential neighborhoods and commercial nodes. Does this help tourism? Not really but try extracting a wee bit of logic from town hall.
For the next two years of their municipal terms, the present herd of elected officials will see the results of their handiwork......and wish they had employed a somewhat more conservative, sensible approach to accepting so much, so quickly, without fearing the "kid locked in the candy shop" syndrome of over-feeding on a good thing. We warned them. Many citizens saw the potential dangers of over-development and commercial node planning but we were the bastard "critics" of the good life. I guess this is what it comes down to after all the expended debate....what makes a good life in a good community.......abundant commerce, hundreds of thousands of neighbors, no wild animals to worry about; no bears, deer, ever-pooping birds and other annoying wildlife. Just tarmac and more tarmac and traffic lights at every intersection, and oh so many shopping opportunities.
I will validate this with one question, and hopefully an answer from a critic........."When will economic development be enough to satisfy everyone?" "When will a councillor(s) stand up and say.....'by Gum Mr. Mayor, we have finally achieved an economic balance that can't be bettered!" There is no possibility of this being achieved because it is a timeless excuse to seek more.....and who doesn't want more?"
In the meantime, don't let these elected officials who have accepted development over and above sensible proportion, off the hook. And when they fall back on that nasty old Bear market as the culprit.....let them know that bear or bull, there's always a consequence for making precarious investments. And speak up when they brush off the calamity of failed businesses by referring to the survival of the fittest.....because even the most fit amongst us, is weakened by reckless expansion of commercial pods.....and it is almost always the case the mainstreet takes one for the Gipper.
I love Muskoka. I love the hinterland way of life. What has happened here in the past decade has been anything but positive to the development of Muskoka's recreation industry.......already in the grasp of a serious, unabated decline.
-30-