I had planned to address the topic of setting off fireworks every summer weekend over Maple Lake even before I saw the “Letter(s) of the Week” in the Haliburton County Voice.
These letters, written by local cottage country property owners were not only food for thought but were enlightening in their enumerations of all the ways uncontrolled personal use of fireworks in cottage country is a very bad thing.
To digress for a moment, prior to this year I, Canadian born, and raised in Connecticut from ages 6-18 by Canadians with frequent returns to my entire extended family in Canada, found the Canadians that I encountered in Canada to be…not like Americans. For starters, they confirmed the oft-repeated stereotype by being refreshingly polite–if more the “arm’s length”- formal kind of politeness.
But does this type of “politeness” extend so far for some Canadians who hold a decisive opinion about a matter such as the fireworks but chose to pretend the issue does not exist? And is it at it’s base due to fear!?! Is there a fear among Ontarians that they will be perceived as impolite to speak up when they feel a large wrong needs righting?
I don’t know. I really hope not.
I always had a sort of idealized notion of what a Canadian is/was. But growing up, I was always steered in the direction of not talking about things that might make other people uncomfortable–even if said thing needed to be addressed–so for better or worse, here goes.
About five years ago a neighbour on Maple Lake, a year-rounder I believe, began setting off fireworks every single weekend of the summer. (This is not a precise accounting. I simply know that no matter when I went to the Lake, from the last weekend in May when we opened through Labour Day when we close, it was and has been the case.)
I hoped it was a passing phase as the fireworks startled me and scared the daylights out of my dog–and they destroyed the peacefulness that used to be indigenous to our little lake which is dotted with year-round personal residences and cottages.
The setting off of fireworks phase has not passed, however. I’ve realized belatedly that it is not just a band of folks on Maple Lake that have gone ga-ga over something that I’ve always thought very American. To embrace the crassness of setting off fireworks whenever and wherever you please, for there can be no other way to describe their intrusiveness when they go off unexpectedly near your home, is to ignore the specialness of setting them off one or two nights a YEAR.
So to everyone who still insists that setting fireworks off every weekend of the summer is special–as well as your “right,” as someone who has grown up with the American traditions involving fireworks let me tell you: You are acting like a bunch of Americans.
You are Canada. You will never be the United States nor do you want to be, trust me on this. Let’s just cite one reason: preserving your national identity as Canadians. Both countries have much to laud but they are separate, distinct entities unique unto themselves.
Let me reiterate the very real ramifications of Uncontrolled Use of Fireworks on Maple Lake and other lakes in cottage county:
1. Fireworks increase the potential of fires
2. Noise pollution and the consequences (e.g. loons leaving, tourists leaving)
3. Toxicity to the air, water, and surrounding grounds***
*Let me expound a bit about the toxicity of fireworks. They get shot off mostly over the lakes. Unlike how it may appear, they do not just explode. The reality is that the exploded debris falls into the water, along with the chemical residue. Yes, this is bad for the ecosystem and even if you don’t really care about the ecosystem and shame on you if you don’t–you are poisoning your own water.
Whatever you dump on the ground near a lake seeps into the water table eventually and then it gets into your water–your swimming water and in the case of our cottage, our tap & shower water. This dovetails into #4…
4. Interfering with wildlife habitats.
First-hand story. Last year I spent about a month living on Maple Lake. Despite the rainy and seasonally cold weather of the summer of 2009 on Maple Lake, I could hear and sometimes see a pair of loons that have taken up residence on the Lake each summer for as long as I can recall. Their haunting calls are unmistakable and for me, comforting that some things don’t change (though I wouldn’t know if the specific pairs of loons changed–I would guess they’d have had to)–you can count on them. Or so I thought.
I’m soon heading up to Maple Lake and I’m going to try to find a second loon on our lake because instead of the minimum 2 that I’ve seen every year for as long as I can remember–I’ve only heard the sound of a single, solitary loon in 2010.
Did my neighbour and his regular weekend fireworks frenzy drive away one of Maple Lake’s loons and if so, are we going to lose the single remaining loon, too?
I’m not at all an expert about loons. I just know they bring me stolen moments of serenity. Loons are beautiful creatures to behold as they duck under the water and resurface 100 or more feet away in their elaborate “game” of try-to-find-me.
What I can say with confidence are the facts as I’ve observed them.
I have a neighbour across the way who every weekend of the summer at about 9:30 p.m. sets off about 20 minutes-worth of fireworks. He (I presume it’s a “he”) scares my older dog out of her senses. She quivers & shakes both during the noise assault and long after. The noise kills the atmosphere of peacefulness that Maple Lake always exuded. I’ve now read that this is a problem for other lakes in cottage country and the fallout (no pun) is remarkably similar to our own.
Naturally, the question of what have I done to try to solve this problem ? is a relevant one. I’ve worried and complained about it as I’m doing here for the first time but have I addressed this with the people setting off the fireworks? The answer is no, I have not. I was hoping the novelty would wear off but of course, it hasn’t or I wouldn’t be speaking up now. Now I do want to try and have courteous conversation with them but I cannot figure out where exactly they live. It is somewhere in here:
Area of Fireworks Activity on Maple Lake
Please click to enlarge.
As you can see by the named roads this is a densely populated area of Maple Lake and it’s going to take some sleuthing to find out “who” is shooting off fireworks on their property out over out lake every. single. weekend. Not to mention to do the sleuthing I’m going to need to either go to the site of the fireworks by canoe or trespass on “private property.”
Even here in the U.S. of A. in the great state of Illinois (absolutely no sarcasm–I love where I live) there are much stricter limits on the type of fireworks that can be bought legally. For us, it’s sparklers and poppers essentially but then, we do a very American thing. On and around Independence Day a/k/a The Fourth of July, towns and cities alike put on displays for everyone to enjoy. They have a distinct beginning and end, are controlled for safety and someone cleans up afterward. Not perfect but way more in-line with something I used to think was a standard Canadian trait: civility and respect for one another and the environment.
I do believe that both countries share in the desire to put a halt to unnecessary pollution of our precious natural surroundings. Surely banning unregulated use of fireworks in cottage country, Haliburton County specifically, is unquestionably a positive step that we, as stewards of this planet, should not hesitate to take.
Am I going to continue to be the “misdirected” polite Canadian and ignore what is being done to Maple Lake in the name of a (very) few people’s need to entertain themselves with exploding gunpowder? Nope. Can’t do it anymore. I love the Lake too much. And I’m not walking away. I’m digging in. (On a personal note, it was harder to attempt to do so this year as my youngest son was preparing for college and I was needed back here in Chicagoland.)
I’m willing to meet halfway in my suggestion for a remedy as is so often the end result of circumstances like this. If I made the law, I would allow use of fireworks on specific holidays like the July 1st Canada Day, Victoria Day on May 24 and quite possibly both the civic holiday on the 1st Monday in August and on Labour Day. The rest of the time I’d allow small “personal” fireworks like sparklers & poppers that will neither drive away our wildlife or our human residents and vacationers alike who would prefer to enjoy their evening without the punctuations of those that wish to emulate bombs exploding.
I’d love to hear any sincere comments, ideas or suggestions from you about on fireworks in Ontario’s cottage country so use the comment box or please drop me a line at maplelakeontario@gmail.com.
Federal prosecutors expanded their case against former Gov. Rod Blagojevich today in an indictment that drew more of his closest aides into the scandal and adds new schemes to the list of charges against him: Pocketing money funneled through his wife through a phony real estate job. Shaking down a powerful congressman. Running the state as a racket.
Coming nearly four months after federal agents roused a sitting governor out of his Northwest Side home in a predawn arrest — and weeks after lawmakers dumped him from power — today’s indictment of Blagojevich, his brother and four former top insiders could have been anti-climactic.
Instead, prosecutors added a few more chapters to the Blagojevich saga, further pulling his family into the pay-to-play conspiracy, revealing yet more confidants had turned on him and suggesting he was intent on corruption before he was even sworn in. The indictment carries a potentially lengthy prison sentence and possible forfeiture of his family home should Blagojevich be convicted.
After turning Illinois politics into an amusement-park ride, most notably for allegedly trying to sell President Barack Obama’s Senate seat, Blagojevich spent the day of his indictment with his family at Disney World.
Blagojevich was indicted on 16 racketeering, fraud and extortion counts. Among the new, damaging allegations were that Blagojevich delayed a $2 million grant to a public charter school while trying to extort campaign cash from now-White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and threatened to withhold future state business from financial institutions that refused to hire his wife.
Blagojevich’s effort to profit, both personally and for his Friends of Blagojevich campaign fund, was so pervasive that federal prosecutors labeled the racketeering scheme the “Blagojevich Enterprise.”
“The primary purpose of the Blagojevich Enterprise was to exercise and preserve power over the government of the State of Illinois for the financial and political benefit of Rod Blagojevich, both directly and through Friends of Blagojevich, and for the financial benefit of his family members and associates,” the indictment alleged.
This day couldn’t come soon enough. I can only hope for a speedy trial. Did you know that 4 of the last 7 Illinois Governers have been indicated? As a resident of Illinois, I find it hugely embarrassing that Blagojevich and his cronies (including quite prominently, his wife) have absolutely no shame. It’s just priceless that the Feds didn’t really move in until Barack Obama’s Senate seat was put up for sale to the highest bidder by the then-Governor of Illinois, the man we’ve nicked-name “Blago.”
Ontario will rack up a record $14.1-billion deficit in 2009 as it commits billions to infrastructure projects and job retraining aimed at pulling the province out of a recession, provincial Finance Minister Dwight Duncan revealed on Thursday in the tabling of his $108.9-billion budget.
The fiscal plan also proposes corporate tax cuts to ease costs for struggling businesses and stimulate investment in Ontario’s sagging economy, which has shed hundreds of thousands of jobs in recent years.
The budget forecasts a deficit of $3.9 billion in the 2008-2009 fiscal year, followed by a deficit of $14.1 billion in 2009-2010. It anticipates Ontario will run deficits for the next seven years, with a proposed return to balanced books no later than the 2015-2016 fiscal year.
The province and the federal government have also agreed to harmonize the provincial sales tax and GST into a single 13 per cent sales tax by July 1, 2010, which Duncan called the “next essential step” in growing the province’s economy and improving competitiveness.
It also allocates a $3.4-billion contingency fund, from which an unspecified amount can be directed toward a bailout package for the province’s beleaguered auto industry once negotiations with automakers are completed.
You know what alarms me about Ontario’s fiscal situation? Just last summer the Canadian dollar was worth more than the American. For the first time ever we spent more to vacation in Ontario at the cottage that in my entire life! And I was completely happy to do so. Happy for Canada, happy for Ontario. But in less than nine months time the Canadian dollar has plummeted to be worth roughly 80 cents on the American buck! Call me fiscally naive but that seems really out of whack. What the heck happened?! And so quickly.
Here in the States we are up a creek with no paddle but this has been building for many years. I have to think that the Canadian economy was in a fix 9 months ago but something was over-inflated and it appeared you all were fine. Best of luck. We’ve got a long slog too so at least you are not alone. Hate to consider this but I’ve been told that as the US goes so goes Canada about 6 months later and darned if it’s not happening.
Second point. What is with the word “harmonize” when describing the fusing of the provincial sales tax and GST into a single 13 per cent sales tax? Harmonize? Really? The politicians really know how to spin.
And 13%? Oi! Even with socialized medicine as a benefit and that silly baby supplement that families get– a 13% tax? We have the highest sales tax in the United States and it’s 10.25%. Honestly, when I really start comparing the two countries I have to believe that Canada is not better off than the States. What’s next? Your infant mortality rates going up and life expectancy going down? Do you really want to follow the muddy path that the States has followed– or is it too late? I hope not. On both counts.
It is easy! From 8:30 – 9:30 local time turn off all lights and non-essential electrical appliances to support an increased awareness of environmental issues. See below for unique ways to mark Earth Hour 2009 with friends and family.
10 Ways to Mark Earth Hour
Attend local Earth Hour events or organize one.
Go outside and look at the stars.
Find a great viewing spot to see your town or city go dark at 8:30 p.m.
Take pictures and send them to Your Weather.
Go for a lantern walk through a park.
Patronize local restaurants and businesses taking part in Earth Hour.
Gather your family or friends for a candle-lit dinner.
Meet your neighbours at a street or block party.
Have an acoustic music jam.
Talk to your children about how much electricity your family uses. Brainstorm ways to reduce it.
Source: WWF-Canada
From the official video source: Official Earth Hour 2009 video. Earth Hour is on March 28th, 2009 at 8:30pm. More at http://www.earthhour.org
Jake Pothaar for the Family Coalition Party, Independent Jason Taylor, Bill Denby of the Freedom Party, the Green Party’s Mike Schreiner and Liberal candidate Rick Johnson.
That could never (in-a-million years) happen here in the States in that powerful of an area of the country which I submit, makes Canada a place of more choice and in some senses less oppression, than the USA. <counts> Six guys running for this seat! Six distinct partys including some familiars like The Greens, Independents, and the Freedom Party. Looks like the Christians are in there now, too. Yay. At least they clearly identify themselves.
Johnson wins riding, Tory resigns as PC leader
Updated 1 day ago Liberal Rick Johnson is the new MPP for Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock after winning the March 5 byelection. In a close race, Johnson, trustee chair for the Trillium Lakelands District School Board, edged out PC candidate John Tory to become the riding’s first Liberal MPP in almost 20 years. [more]
Canadian fighters scrambled to turn back a Russian Bear intercontinental bomber over the Arctic within 24 hours of US President Barack Obama’s visit to Ottawa last week.
The Tu-95 turboprop was approaching over the Northwest Passage but never crossed into Canadian airspace after two the interception by two Canadian CF-18 fighter jets, Canadian Defense Minister Peter MacKay said today.
The Canadian pilots told the Russian aircraft “to turn around, turn tail and head back to its own air space, which it did,” MacKay said.
“I’m not going to stand here and accuse the Russians of having deliberately done this during the presidential visit” on Feb. 16, MacKay said, “but it was a strong coincidence.”
Russian Bearcat Fighter Jet
Russian bombers have stepped up patrols approaching U.S. and Canadian airspace to press Moscow’s jurisdictional rights and access to the potential mineral wealth on the Arctic frontier.
On Jan. 27, two Tu-95s were intercepted and turned away from the Alaska coast.
I was quite tickled by a number of photos taken in Ottawa yesterday.
In re: the maple cookies which Obama tried to buy for his daughters, Sasha and Malia: He must be freaking the Secret Service right out.
Take a look at the looks on their faces when Obama wanders into a shop to buy a souvenir–they are intensely staring at the arms/hands of every person that is near Obama.
CLICK to enlarge!
Several Canadain News Reports:
Why are they not scanning the room? Because there’s more guys just
steps away. The Secret Service hardly make a secret of their Now the weather.
When then-U.S. President George W. Bush took office in 2001, he chose Mexico instead of Canada for his first foreign visit, and relations with Canada suffered throughout his presidency. To blame the decline of Canada-U.S. relations entirely on his choice to go to Mexico rather than Canada is overly simplistic. In my opinion it was just an early symptom and harbinger of a a serious chill in relations between the two largest trading partners in the world.
Today, the newly- elected U.S. President Barack Obama is preparing for his first trip outside of the United States and he’s going to Ottawa, Canada. This particular visit will be quite short–just 8 hours– but hopefully it can begin to set the tone for much warmer relations between the two countries which are often characterized as similar to members of the same family with the last eight years being akin to a family feud.
On the agenda is a visit to Ottawa, a meeting visit with Prime Minister Stephen Harper and select parliamentarians, a press conference, a brief meeting with U.S. Embassy staff, and then back to Washington in the evening.
It’s a bare-bones whistle-stop visit, but his administration is counting on it being enough to lift the tenor of relations between two strong and interdependent neighbors.
“Canada is a vitally important ally,” said Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs when he confirmed the trip late last month. “The President looks forward to the opportunity to speak with Prime Minister Harper and visit our neighbor to the north.”
The Bush Years
Over the years, there had been exceptions to the “first-stop-Canada” rule, but the enmity between Bush and then-Prime Minister Jean Chretien — a strong supporter of multinationalism who enjoyed excellent relations with Bill Clinton and Al Gore — gave Bush’s move the air of a deliberate slight.
In truth, many presidents have visited other countries ahead of Canada. Indeed, some never ventured north at all during their tenures in the Oval Office. But in the modern era — given the massive trade partnership between the two countries, as well as their energy interdependence and the mutual commitment to NATO — Bush’s decision raised hackles. What started perhaps as benign neglect or a minor diplomatic snub took hold like a prairie fire with a series of successive gaffes.
In his address to Congress following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Bush thanked more than 20 countries for their messages of support but failed to acknowledge Canadians for their response, which included providing safe harbor to passengers on more than 200 transcontinental flights who were left stranded when the U.S. closed its airspace. Bush never publicly refuted false claims made by members of his own administration and conservative pundits that some of the terrorists had entered the U.S. from Canada. And he repeatedly referred to Britain as the U.S.’s closest ally.
In April 2002, Bush showed little remorse after four Canadian soldiers on a nighttime training exercise in Afghanistan were killed by a bomb dropped from a U.S. F-16, the pilot of which claimed that the Canadians fired at his plane.
In the run-up to the Iraq war, the Bush administration used an unprecedented diplomatic full-court press to pressure Canada, already a key partner in the war in Afghanistan, to join in the invasion of Iraq.
Bush did ultimately did reach out to Canada, visiting in late 2004 after securing his second term He even went to Halifax to thank those Canadian communities that welcomed the diverted passengers in the days after 9/11. But Canadians saw it as too little, far too late. To make matters worse, Bush’s reelection had many moderate and secular Canadians questioning whether they still had much in common with their American friends and business partners. Source
Enter Obama
While President Obama’s visit is largely symbolic, there is some real business to be discussed. Topping the list will be the future of the North American economy, especially the financial sector, manufacturing industries, energy security and trade. The latter is suddenly a hot topic for many Canadians after U.S. congressional leaders earlier this month tried to include “buy American” provisions on federal spending related to the stimulus package, a clear violation of the spirit of the North American Free Trade Agreement.
The White House cautiously denounced the protectionist measures and the provisions were tamped down some, but Canadian business leaders remain unnerved by the prospect of the costly legal battles these measures would ignite.
The two leaders are also likely to discuss integrated security, Obama’s commitment to devoting greater military attention to Afghanistan and the closing of the Guantanamo Bay detention center.
Both sides are clearly aware of all that is at stake in restoring the health of the North American economy, and will use the meeting to heal wounds and rebuild a friendship between good neighbors.
OTTAWA — Barack Obama’s highly anticipated visit to Canada will result in a virtual lockdown around Parliament Hill and restrictions on airspace around the national capital region as the U.S. president makes his first official stop on foreign soil.
The trip is scheduled to last only a few hours on Thursday, but it has already sparked a massive police and security operation that will restrict everything from pedestrians, guided tours and cars to the movement of members of Parliament in and around the House of Commons.
It’s really hard to read this type of news. I realize that all the choices are tough but I’m disheartened to see that Canada truly has morphed again–back into a 10X smaller (in population) version of the United States.
Last I spoke with my favourite aunt on the topic of the US and Canada she said, “as the United States goes, so goes Canada six months later.” This was just last summer and according to news reports then the Canadian housing market was still strong. Now, it’s in free-fall like here the US. Yesterday, I saw that the Canadian government had voted to bail out their automobile industry with millions of Canadian tax dollars–exactly as is been debated (and all but finalized) by the US federal government.
Now this. Canada actually got worse grades at the United Nations Climate Conference than did the United States. I have to agree that is indeed a mark of shame.
Mark of Shame for Canada
The UN climate conference in Poznan, Poland, was a “mark of shame” for Canada, Green Party Leader Elizabeth May said on Saturday.
Delegates from poorer nations were angry at Canada for not meeting its commitments under the Kyoto protocol, as well as all industrialized countries for stalling on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, May told CBC News.
During the conference, which began Dec. 1, Canada won several Fossil of the Day Awards, announced by Climate Action Network International, a group that includes more than 400 non-governmental organizations.
“It was embarrassing being a Canadian at these meetings,” May said.
“Canada, unfortunately, was about the worst performer here, and that’s saying a lot. That means worse than the United States with the lame-duck Bush administration, still doing what it can to obstruct.
“But in the negotiations, Canada, I say, won. It’s really a mark of shame,” she said.
Canada Source
The Secret Service hardly make a secret of their Now the weather. 