I don’t know if many others have noticed, but this era of populism also seems to be ushering in a culture of systemic anger.
A few days ago, a political event planned by the Prime Minister of Canada had to be cancelled because security officials feared for his safety. Members of Parliament are now required to wear panic buttons for the same reason.
Not that long ago angry crowds gathered outside Premier Doug Ford’s personal residence, causing a serious security risk. Hospitals and other public institutions have been harassed and interfered with.
The so-called Freedom movement fuels anger. Politicians on all sides of the political spectrum, continually and increasingly point fingers at what is wrong with this country, rather than what is right about it. In my view, they promote anger and anxiety for their own partisan purposes.
The sad thing is that it appears to be working. Many people these days are just plain angry and will express that anger on the slightest whim.
I saw that clearly in Huntsville this week when a story published on Doppler about Kent Park went somewhat viral. This is a small piece of vacant property at the corner of Main Street and Brunel Road. At one time it was a Fina Gas Station. At another, it was parking space for a few cars, and then a small park with some green space with an ice cream vendor smack in the middle.
As part of Huntsville’s streetscape project to revitalize the downtown area, Kent Park was redesigned in a manner that is unusual for a Muskoka Park, somewhat futuristic in its nature, and quite controversial. The point here is not that the park design was unacceptable to some people, but rather the vitriol with which it was expressed.
I cannot recall a story on Doppler that resulted in so many angry and negative comments both on our Doppler site and on Facebook. Almost all comments, both on our Doppler site and on Facebook, were critical of the park design. Many of them were angry and some, like this one, were downright nasty. “It looks like shit. It was better green space when it was a Fina station.”
Kent Park is a small part of the Town’s streetscape project and an even smaller part of the town itself. Certainly, its design is controversial, and it is understandable that many people will object to it. But there are a number of greater and more substantive issues in Huntsville, and one needs to ask why it is this one that has become the tinderbox that could easily develop into a central issue in the upcoming municipal election.
In my view, it is because people are generally angry these days and Kent Park has become a focal point to vent this anger. It’s not just about Kent Park. It’s also about so many other things that are frustrating, frightening, and angering people today.
There are “Kent Parks” in many other communities in Canada; relatively small issues or grievances that become catalysts and are escalated to a boiling point simply out of a sense of frustration and anger.
The real genesis for a great deal of this anger comes from much larger issues such as declining health care services, a critical lack of affordable housing, rapid inflation, and terrible service from some public entities, including roads, major airports, and passport offices.
Only government can fix or ameliorate these larger issues. Individuals can only express their frustration and anger.
I get frustrated at all levels of government that resort to more talking and finger-pointing, more excuses as to why someone else is responsible for fixing things rather than actually doing something about the plethora of challenges many Canadians face today.
And there are steps that can be taken immediately, notwithstanding that many of these challenges spread well beyond Canadian borders.
First, we have to get people back to work. There was not nearly the labour shortages pre-pandemic that there are now, which is affecting our productivity and the services we receive. Could it be because the federal and provincial governments made it too easy to stay home?
But until the labour shortage is resolved, there are things that can be done now to ease tension and anger. Medical personnel in Canada’s military could be seconded to hospital Emergency Rooms that need staff to remain open. Similarly, other military personnel could help out at major airports with security, baggage handling, and so on. Camping and Park fees and fees for other publicly-funded leisure activities, could be waived or reduced, to give families a badly needed break they might otherwise not afford.
As for the passport offices, just move personnel from other less challenged public services to that office, to ease the backlog. Simple solutions for all of these initiatives, that don’t need an expensive and time-consuming task force to accomplish them. Just get it done.
As for inflation, there are temporary steps governments can take now to ease the burden on Canadians such as reducing sales and gas taxes. And in relation to health care and affordable housing, the Feds and the provinces need to stop kicking each other and actually come together to get something done. We need a new national health care plan, and we need it quickly. There should be no competition between jurisdictions when it comes to fixing our broken health care system.
Governments at the federal and provincial levels need to take meaningful steps now to bring relief and a sense of well-being to Canadians. We do not need excuses. We do not need delays.
What we do need government to do is to arrest this culture of anger that is creeping into our society. That can only be done by dealing quickly and effectively with those issues that can only be resolved by government action rather than inaction. Failure to do so will be an open invitation to individuals to express their anger and frustration at their own level and in their own way.
And therein lies the rub.
Hugh Mackenzie
Hugh Mackenzie has held elected office as a trustee on the Muskoka Board of Education, a Huntsville councillor, a District councillor, and mayor of Huntsville. He has also served as chairman of the District of Muskoka and as chief of staff to former premier of Ontario, Frank Miller.
Hugh has also served on a number of provincial, federal and local boards, including chair of the Ontario Health Disciplines Board, vice-chair of the Ontario Family Health Network, vice-chair of the Ontario Election Finance Commission, and board member of Roy Thomson Hall, the National Theatre School of Canada, and the Anglican Church of Canada. Locally, he has served as president of the Huntsville Rotary Club, chair of Huntsville District Memorial Hospital, chair of the Huntsville Hospital Foundation, president of Huntsville Festival of the Arts, and board member of Community Living Huntsville.
In business, Hugh Mackenzie has a background in radio and newspaper publishing. He was also a founding partner and CEO of Enterprise Canada, a national public affairs and strategic communications firm established in 1986.
Currently, Hugh is president of C3 Digital Media Inc., the parent company of Doppler Online, and he enjoys writing commentary for Huntsville Doppler.
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People have a right to be angry especially when they feel that life is no longer in their control. How much crap do we have to consume? How do we deal with the everyday life issues when we know that big business and billionaires are just ripping us off, making big profits on the backs of hard working folks. I just hope that I live long enough to see the day of reckoning when the mighty fall.
I agree with Bob Braan’s comments. Kent Park is no longer a park, it is a moonscape.
I grew up in Toronto and that city had far more nature in their developments than we do. There are mature trees lining the streets, extensive local parks, miles of ravines, relatively large front and back yards by today’s standards, and miles of publicly accessible boardwalks and beaches along Lake Ontario.
Why is Huntsville allowing developers to rip out every last bit of vegetation by the roots, devastate the landscape, flatten and pave over every inch of ground, and build roads that are not pedestrian or cyclist friendly or safe?
The current staffing problems at hospitals, airports, immigration and passport offices cannot be fixed by a flick of a wrist as in Hogwarts spells or wand waving.
Where were we when the Kent Park design was proposed? It is what we have now and there are no doubt bigger projects ahead that we need to pay attention to and speak up before they happen. Participation is the community we want not the complaint department.
On a more positive note, council should follow resident’s thoughtful suggestions to correct the Kent Park mistake. Instead of ignore them.
Toronto protects their trees and green space FAR more than Muskoka.
Immediate solutions include removing most of the pavers, gravel and rocks and putting the topsoil back with sod. Take out the sticks and plant medium size trees for at least some immediate shade and colour in the fall and review the earlier suggestions of a central fountain and/or fireplace log gazebo. It’s not that hard.
It’s no wonder so few bother to get involved when their ideas are totally ignored by council.
Pure Deflection.
The many negative comments about the Kent Park disaster have nothing to do with a culture of anger.
The same negative comments would have been made 5, 10 or 20 years ago.
It is not a futuristic design unless Hugh believes in a bleak, dystopian future.
The redesign is simply a mistake that needs to be corrected immediately.
Huntsville is NOT going to put up with this eyesore for the next 15 years at least.
Resident’s suggestions for the park have been ignored.
Perhaps vandals can improve the look of the park with graffiti of trees, water and greenspace on the barren rocks.
It couldn’t be worse.
The first part of a solution is admitting there is a problem.
My rant !!!! Pigs at the trough ! Businesses gouging, fuel prices go up up up and then down a bit and stay. Then we feel ok?? Packaging at the grocery stores getting smaller so we don’t see the price increase? Real estate companies bumping up the prices of land and homes up for profit margins? Ya know some of us just want to live the dream of owning an affordable home and not worry about losing it to property taxes in a later years. Seniors just got a couple of dollars increase per month ???? Why buy your own home when you can live in mum and dads basement? There is a separation of classes and it’s widening. The people in control are not being held accountable. Young people need a winfall in order to live the dream we expect to get by working hard. There is very little motivation for young people. We have the people, we have the jobs available, what we don’t have is reason to try ! We need a leader not a speaker. I now ask politicians what have you done to prove your worth, not what do you promise.
Hugh, you tried to shift the lightning rod that is Kent Park to a higher level of government. The most important things to people in Huntsville is what happens in Huntsville. Cutting down trees, ripping up grass and eliminating seven parking spaces in Kent Park as well as countless other parking spaces on Main Street is a hot topic. Throw in a cross walk that almost no one uses because they fear someone will be killed on it. The narrowing of the street gives locals the feeling that their local government does not understand their needs. Bringing a company into town that has no knowledge of our habits or likes our traffic patterns or the age of our permanent residents, or that many of these residents have mobility problems.
Then there is the waste of past investments and money, without ACTUALLY RESOLVING any of the traffic problems downtown. No turning radii IMPROVEMENTS for large trucks that have to negotiate their way through the new shrunken maze of downtown. We could have made Kent Park narrower so trucks coming up or down Brunel Road could make the turn at Main Street easier and much safer. We could have closed Main St. completely and moved the traffic lights to the top of the hill at High St. changing this street into, the way through town.
Greatly reducing the gap at West Street and Main with the crosswalk means plow trucks and every other vehicle that must use these streets nervous. There is very little space to turn here now so even those who might want to use this crosswalk, move farther along the sidewalk in both directions to J-walk across the street. All this and many streets and roads in Huntsville put your fillings at risk every time you climb into the car.
But worry not, we have large rocks on Main St. for children to run into or fall off of, as well as those in Kent Park, but the Park is a perfect speakers corner with all that stone in it for demonstrators to be heard and BE HEARD THEY SHALL!
All good points Britt. Thank you.
Quite a rant Hugh! Let me leave just one thought. When a person has anxiety or depression, their world can seem chaotic and angry. The 3 questions their doctor (or phycologist) usually ask them.
#1 do you have a job (any job) *most important of the 3 points
#2 how many close friends do you have
#3 how much alcohol or cannabis do you consume.
The pandemic has amplified these problems and if a person has all three of these problems they are in big trouble.