Perhaps it is a little ironic that the City’s capital plan seems to have been based on a movie myth. In the movie ‘A Field of Dreams’ Kevin Costner changes a dream into a fantasy when he believes that if he turns his corn field into a baseball field, the ghosts of old players will return for a game. Of course the reality was that all he accomplished was losing a good portion of his corn crop because ghosts are only figments of our imagination.
Okay, I admit that having a Shoeless Joe’s restaurant come to town a year after we built that sports field in the swamp is a little eerie. My point is that Councillor King may be right when he says we ought to put a hold on extending services to undeveloped land in the hope that “they” will come. We have vacant industrial land that is already serviced, enough for small businesses to set up shop if they can be enticed to Ontario with its high electric rates and hidden ‘chromite’ taxes. If we get a nibble from a major company that needs a large tract of land, all Council has to do is show a willingness to provide the services quickly and for a reasonable charge – if any.
In the meantime we might try lowering our property taxes and concentrate on repairing or upgrading the infrastructure we have. I think that is what councillor King was saying.
On the other side of the ledger we have the said councillor pooh-poohing the arts as being just a flash in the pan and not providing permanent jobs or work. Unfortunately he is not the only community ‘leader’ who holds that opinion. The focus seems to have been mainly on manufacturing –related workers, and although that is what we need, one must stop to think what these people do when they are not working. That’s where they and most everyone else comes to the arts and entertainment sector.
Whether they watch TV, movies, play video games or attend live theatre – those actors or presenters studied acting and are all part of ‘the arts’. Maybe the workers are taking after-hours classes in woodworking, weaving, figure skating, dance or music – more arts. Maybe they simply go to the mall and buy a designer shirt, scarf or book – those were created by artists or artisans. Architects use their studies in esthetics (arts) to design pleasant dwellings or functional offices. Sign makers use their artistic eye to attract us in advertising and sales. Promoters use the arts to entice tourists and guests to their business. As you can see, ‘The Arts’ touch our lives everywhere.
The accompanying photo (taken in Mattawa and carved there by an artist) portrays a working man who perhaps has stopped a moment to dream of what lays ahead – perhaps building a special cabin by the lake or maybe a wooden bridge over a river so others may travel safely along their way. That solid figure from our past had a vision. No doubt our present city leaders have one too – but it should embrace the ‘arts’.
