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2 - Orono Weekly Times Subscriptions $38.09 + $1.91 GST = $40.00 per year. No Refunds. Publishing 48 issues annually at the office of publication. "We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Publications Assistance Program (PAP) toward our mailing costs." Wednesday, April 7, 2010 ORONO WEEKLY TIMES - 5310 Main St., P.O. Box 209, Orono, ON L0B 1M0 E-mail: oronotimes@rogers.com or Phone/Fax: 905-983-5301 Publisher/Editor Margaret Zwart Production and Display Advertising - Roxanne Johnston Classified Advertising - Sue Weigand The Orono Weekly Times welcomes letters to the editor on subjects of interest to our readers. Opinions expressed to the editor and articles are those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Orono Weekly times. Letters must be signed and contain the address and phone number of the writer. Any letter considered unsuitable will not be acknowledged or returned. We reserve the right to edit for length, libel and slander. If your retail or classified ad appears for the first time, please check carefully. Notice of an error must be given before the next issue goes to print. The Orono Weekly Times will not be responsible for the loss or damage of such items. Jerusalem, the Golden, with milk and honey blessed! by J. E. Graham You have to be very old, very religious and/or very musical to remember that old hymn! Yet, it so well encaptured the desires of the ancient Jewish tribes who searched for their promised homeland for centuries. These last few months, for many reasons, we seem to be living in "Canada, the Golden." And somehow, the recent Olympics underlined that in the most dramatic terms. Our media (likely myself included) had a few sarcastic quips ready to apply to the "Own The Podium" program. Instead, the media had to find more and more superlatives to describe our victories. And the golden times in Canada seem to be extending well beyond athletics. Our stock market has been the steadiest in the world. While we did share the heart stopping drops of 2008 and early 2009, we also have seen a recovery that has been faster and greater than almost any other. Our dollar -- not that long ago, rarely mentioned by the world's financial press, and when mentioned, often as the butt of a joke -- now is as solid as the Rock of Gibraltar. I read an article recently by an American who now resides in small town Ontario. He headed his article "Why Canadians hate America." I do not know how long ago that writer decided that Canadians hate America, but his conclusion was reinforced by the booing of the U.S. men's hockey team at the recent Olympics. He credits a considerable amount of Canadian hate to George W. Bush. He states, "Bush's presidency hung around the neck of intelligent Americans like a shameful Albatross." That is a pretty good line, isn't it? I almost wish I had written it. The writer goes on to say, another reason Canadians hate the U.S. could be "the obnoxious celebrities, or gun toting morons, who many consider to be the quintessential American." But, as a very old timer, who has read much history, I feel obligated to straighten out this young man. Canadians do not hate Americans, we resent Americans, we sometimes fear Americans, we have watched, with envy, three centuries of golden times for the U.S.A. We heard the repeat boasts of how the U.S. won both World Wars, wars which we had been fighting while most American sat comfortably at home. Canadian history tells us that Americans repeatedly invaded Ontario, killing Canadian pioneers. Our forebears actually killed more Americans, which is why Canada is a separate country, but we sometimes overlook history. The Canadian response to things American also varies greatly from one part of Canada to another. Here in Ontario, our dislike of Americans actually goes all the way back to 1777, when the United Empire Loyalists were driven by so-called American Patriots into the harsh, frozen, unpopulated areas that are now Orono, Kingston, Hamilton and the Niagara Peninsula. Even considering all that, we do not hate Americans. In fact, we like Americans, and we may even love Americans. Virtually all Canadian families have relatives in the U.S. This, fortunately, gives to most Canadians the opportunity to see Americans at home, at church and at play. In Barack Obama's book The Audacity of Hope, he states that his campaigning for office (back in the year 2000) was tiring, frustrating and discouraging. He ran up against many of the huge problems in the American system. However, the time that Barack spent talking to people, visiting the small churches, hearing of both the suffering and successes of the American families, convinced him of "the fundamental decency of the American people." We Canadians see that too. We know that for all the booing, all the smart remarks on TV, all the reference to ill-informed Americans, all the wrong-headed military misadventures, nonetheless, there is that huge and powerful group of average Americans who hold, close to their hearts, the same ideals that are so dear to us, here north of the border. We also know that, in spite of the misguided attempts at whatever it was the Bush administrations were trying to do, and the truly horrible consequences of those mistakes, nonetheless, the American presence in the world has been a force for good over the last two centuries. Now, Canada is having a golden time. Our economy is strong, our financial system is being lauded as the best in the world, our way of governing is, for the moment, working. So, for however briefly, it is "Canada the Golden." I wonder if we can use this opportunity to show the world a new type of patriotism, proud, but not exclusive. Maybe, we could even return to the ideals of Lester Pearson, when our soldiers were seen as peacemakers, rather than in active combat. Now is a dream time for Canadians, enjoy it. Nothing lasts long in world affairs. Letters to the Editor A use for integrity commissioner To the Editor, Re: "Why no integrity commissioner?" (Letter March 31, 2010) Mr. Prout's letter makes some excellent points about integrity and the many recent questionable decisions by the mayor and some members of Clarington Council, but I'm afraid an integrity commissioner is not the answer. Let me draw an analogy with transparency and freedom of information. The Federal and Provincial governments have Freedom of Information laws and government departments have administrators to receive and process FOI requests from the public and the media. However over the years, those requests have become a means for governments to keep tabs on what the watchdogs are sniffing out, stall the process, and then finally produce heavily blacked out documents (redacted, as they now say). I can imagine the stonewalling from our mayor after a stinging rebuke in a delegation, "We can't discuss this because it's before the integrity commissioner." To me, it appears that this council made the right decision, but for the wrong reasons. Maybe I should not have pointed this out: now that they see the potential for obfuscation of an integrity commissioner, they might reconsider. Sincerely, Louis Bertrand Bowmanville ON Lack of integrity "obscene" To The Editor, It was with dismay that I read your March 17 Editorial ("Councillors Pay Springs Eternal"). You took pains to provide us with the remuneration packages paid to Chairman Anderson, and our Regional Councillors (Charlie Trim and Mary Novak). You went on at length about Ms. Novak's paycheque, and I would like to comment on it. She was paid $41,483.00 from Clarington (incl. mileage allowance and other perks) as well as $51,637 (incl. mileage and perks) from Durham Region; that's $93,121.00 of taxpayers money. Not too shabby for a part-time job! The rest of Clarington residents should do so well. Some might wonder if we got true value for the money. What was most disturbing about your reporting of the tax-grab was the fact that COUNCILLOR see page 3