On June 27, my wife and I went to Niagara-on-the-Lake for an infusion of culture.
We attended an excellent performance of Cole Porter’s Anything Goes.
Based on a book by P.G. Wodehouse and Guy Bolton, this show is filled with music and spirited dance - including a superb tap-dance segment skilfully staged to create laughter and fun.
The Shaw Festival Theatre is Canada’s second-largest theatre and has been operating for around half a century.
My wife and I have been enjoying Niagara-on-the-Lake for two decades. We go at least once a season and generally attend three performances on each visit.
Imagine our surprise, when, for the first time ever, the orchestra began the performance by playing O Canada.
We, the audience, promptly got to our feet and began to sing the words. Afterwards, the applause lasted longer than the anthem.
A week later we drove to Stratford where we met a daughter and grand-daughters, ages eight and 11.
We treated them to a performance of Annie; live theatre we very much hoped the girls would enjoy, despite being steeped in our general “digital culture”.
Again, the orchestra struck up O Canada, and the audience promptly stood to belt out our anthem.
The applause was enthusiastic and long.
These heartwarming moments were a sign that Canadians are not taking lightly Mr. Trump’s threats to absorb our country as the 51st state.
It was a polite and very Canadian way to thumb our collective noses at our bullying neighbour.
At the end of last January, my wife and I fled the frozen north’s winter for the southern hemisphere.
We took an 18-day cruise from Auckland, New Zealand to Sydney, Australia. Then we flew to Tasmania for three weeks with old friends.
Half of the cruise passengers were American.
When they learned we were Canadian, many spontaneously apologized for their government’s actions.
In Tasmania, we also came across a few Americans. They too assured us their government’s attacks on Canada’s sovereignty did not reflect what most Americans felt.
But back to Barrie.
On Monday, July 7, the day after we returned from the Stratford O Canada, I was chatting to neighbours just as our street’s shiny new garbage carts were being delivered. Steve was shocked at how large it was at 240 litres.
“I’ll never come close to filling that in two weeks,” I pointed out, as our garbage cart was “small,” at only 120 litres, which we requested. “Still too large; we’ll never fill that either.”
A month ago, I suggested all of us need to generate less waste.
We are rapidly running out of places to dump it.
Smaller bins could encourage waste reduction; much could be achieved by recycling more, and by rejecting over-packaged products.
Many people could compost organic waste on their own property. We have been doing this for decades, using composters bought from the city.
The city benefits by having less to pick up and truck to an Arthur facility, 110km away.
Our home composters yield a rich, virtually odourless fertilizer.
Pesticide-free, it ensures our worms and other soil creatures are healthy for our bird visitors to eat.
I am waiting for our spiffy new trucks with appropriate equipment to hoist and empty our new bins. That will be on Sept. 6.
Temporarily, our new wheelie bins are stacked on top of our winter tires.
We use our garage for its intended purpose: Cars.
Our problem is where to keep the wheelie bins when they are in use.
Our organics bin will be stashed somewhere - clean and pristine for the next owner of this house.
However, our garbage bin needs a home.
While wrestling the wheelies into their temporary storage stacked on our winter tires, I wondered where they were made.
Good question, and this information is nowhere on the bin; only the manufacturer’s name: Rehrig Pacific Company.
Google that name and look for “supply chain”.
That search shows eight factories in the USA and one in Mexico.
These wheelie bins are made by our newly aggressive southern neighbour.
I am thinking about people I see examining product labels in our grocery stores to find out where everything is made.
Grocery stores have begun to help us by labelling their shelves, so we no longer need to bring a magnifying glass while shopping.
On the streets, there are clearly more Canadian flags displayed this year than in previous years.
On July 7, CBC Radio news announced that overall wine sales volumes are down, but Ontario wines have been flying off the shelves.
Apparently, sales of domestic wines are up by 60 percent despite the declining market.
Meanwhile, we just experienced a remarkable and heartwarming display of Canadian patriotism at both the Shaw and the Stratford Festivals.
City hall seems to have overlooked the memo.
The United States of America is gunning for us, and the city meekly purchased American goods for us.
Why didn’t someone spend a little time to seek out a Canadian supplier of wheelie bins?
Perhaps the garbage collection agency insisted on using these specific American bins.
Why didn’t we squeak out a complaint?
My wife and I have been using our modest purchasing power to send America a message.
Many other Canadians have joined us.
Friends and neighbours are resolving to abandon winter breaks in Florida. There have been so many cancellations that Canadian airlines have reduced service to popular American tourist destinations.
It’s not just us.
Other tourists have also reduced travel to the USA.
It was predicted that tourism would pump an extra $16 billion into the American economy in 2025, however current figures suggest there will be a fall of 25 to 29 billion dollars instead.
It may get worse.
Cuts in U.S. government spending have hit Brand USA, a public/private partnership advertising America to the world:
"Just as America needs to restore its reputation, its primary marketing arm faces deep cuts," one report states.
"Brand USA, the public-private group promoting U.S. tourism overseas, just saw its budget slashed from $100 million to $20 million. This is a dangerous moment for marketing to go dark. Every dollar Brand USA spends returns $25 to the economy. Cutting back leaves America silent while competitors shout their messages worldwide," the reports says.
We need to fight the wrecking ball currently swinging through the world economy.
Some rich countries may move into recession.
In poorer countries, the vaccination and treatment programs once funded by American aid has been cut, causing a rise in diseases like measles and tuberculosis.
Get with the program, chaps; spend our municipal taxes in Canada employing Canadians. Most citizens would support that, even if it costs slightly more.