MUSKOKA BEYOND THE POLITICS, IS A GREAT PLACE TO LIVE, WORK AND WRITE

I have resided in Muskoka since the mid 1960's. I've worked in the region as a writer since the late 1970's. I became a regional historian by the early 1980's. By the late 1980's my partner Suzanne and I had celebrated our first child Andrew, then Robert, and by golly, we thought it would be neat to become antique dealers on the side. That was before we'd hit the 1990's. As a retrospective, I am thankful my parents, Merle and Ed, decided to move to Muskoka in the 1960's. I left city life and it has felt right ever since. When I write about my former hometown, Bracebridge, and my present home place, Gravenhurst, I do so as a transplant. After all these years, I still feel like a newbie to the region. Suzanne is from local pioneer stock, and my boys are, well, home-grown. We have all celebrated our lives spent in this beautiful district, and we have no intention of leaving any time soon. There are disadvantages living in Muskoka, primarily the seasonal economy. Our boys operate a vintage music shop on the main street of Gravenhurst, and after five years of learning the peculiarities of the seasonal tide, are still thrilled to be able to stay in the district……when many of their mates have had to seek employment outside the area.

This isn't an info blog to promote Muskoka living. It's just an honest appraisal of how we have become loyalists to this wonderful region, that has for long and long given us inspiration and natural comforts. If there is any one thing I dislike about the region, it's the local political follies. Even as a reporter, covering the municipal beat, I found it almost impossible to write an unbiased news piece about the incompetence I witnessed serving a number of district municipalities. Councillors and mayors who weren't in any way experienced enough, to be running a multi million dollar corporation……and staffers who seized opportunities to prevail their own mandates over the folks we elected to oversee the stewardship and prosperity of the region. I had to remind councillors, time and again, that the directives coming from some of their department-heads were ridiculous, and the way they administered their staff was beyond what they were entitled. On numerous occasions I let the public decide if a department's actions were fair or not, and usually it was obvious the poop was going to hit the fan. Even before the ink had dried on that week's paper, councillors reacted to the news copy, about rogue department heads, and things were corrected quickly. I wondered out loud many times why councillors felt they were of lesser relevance to the taxpayers, who elected them, than the employees. I still find evidence of this today, as a civilian, and frankly it makes me nuts. There's nothing wrong with a reliance on the professionals, supposedly trained in their respective fields, but occasionally, and in some case more frequently, employees quickly over-ride weak councillors…..and even a weak council. I worry a lot about our district because our political representatives seem terribly out of touch with what is going on at street and neighborhood level……where food banks are in great need to handle their ever-expanding client list, and wetlands and forests are still being mowed down to facilitate urban sprawl in the hinterland.

I recently applied to act as one of three citizen advisors for our mayor, here in Gravenhurst, and was, after months and months of waiting for a response, rejected……undoubtedly for speaking my mind about such things as the failings of local councils to protect our resources, and our good life here in Muskoka. I respect the mayor's decision. There is a fear, you see, of bluntness these days, and the preference is the protocol of gentle nudging. I've never found much that moved with gentle nudging, even the two cats that get up on my lap in the evening. I have always felt strongly about blunt honesty, and while I'm environmentally keen, my opinions have never been such that a council, or councillors should feel them the rantings of a madman. I have never poo-pooed development. Just development in the wrong places for environmental well being. I suppose my biggest fight, to protect a wetland known as The Bog, earned me a pretty big "thumbs down," because we challenged every councillor's knowledge of wetlands, first, and just how many had even, just once (even from their cars) had visited what they planned to destroy with development. The more I found out about their ignorance, and indifference, and that they would have, without reservation, voted on the sensitive matter without feeling any obligation for a site inspection, it meant, for me, a future of pro-active assertions at town hall. Council generally doesn't like over-zealous citizens who think they know more than they do.

I love my hometown. I adore Muskoka. As does my family, who have links to the first settlers. There is no place we'd rather be. Even if there was, well, we'd unfortunately expect a similar governance……and we're sorry to admit this…..that our faith in local government, like the upper levels, has had so many holes punched in it……there's not much durability of faith left. I won't change my opinion about the region, or the good graces of my hometown. But it will take a behemoth change in local politics, for me to ever feel it is truly and totally working efficiently, sensibly and reliably. I'm just a crusty old reporter, and a crustier historian, who has seen this manifest over decades…..not just months. And when I mistakenly think that these insights might help council develop a more pro-active, citizen-responsive way of conducting business, I'm reminded time and again, change is better with a nudge than a push. I'm pushy. I will not apologize for my bluntness. Bluntness is precisely what our elected officials need……and the recent Toronto debacle of tax cutting and program reduction, is clear evidence, that when you think you're smarter than the population……sometimes you find the opposite holds true. Ramming stuff through is really stupid for any council. It didn't take days to create the mess. So it will take years to correct. The restoration will depend on conciliatory action by all the partners in the city. The same holds true for our town, and our region.