{"id":38934,"date":"2020-11-16T08:33:04","date_gmt":"2020-11-16T13:33:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/?p=38934"},"modified":"2021-01-27T08:48:51","modified_gmt":"2021-01-27T13:48:51","slug":"news-from-the-park-time-is-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/2020\/11\/16\/news-from-the-park-time-is-up\/","title":{"rendered":"News from the Park – Time is Up"},"content":{"rendered":"

I remember a favourite primary school teacher who, when I think back, really knew how to get her students to quickly switch gears and engage their minds on a particular focus.\u00a0 It was nothing terribly special really, but she would tell us to reach into out desks, pull out our thinking caps and be sure to tie them on securely below our chins just in case our minds suddenly might burst with ideas. \u00a0She really brought the point home by demonstrating and talking us through how to fit it on squarely and tie an imaginary secure knot.\u00a0 Laugh if you want to, but it works with grade twos and threes.<\/p>\n

So now for a moment, pretend I\u2019m Miss Nadeau asking you to put on your thinking cap and tie it securely under your chin — \u00a0not too tight though as we don\u2019t want to cut off your circulation.<\/p>\n

\"\"

I meet plenty of great people travelling across #AlgomaManitoulin but then there\u2019s that special person you meet who just gives you #goosebumps and tadah you have Kennedy Helena … she took on the #WinterRoadMaintenance of Hwy 614 concerns of the community and took action by collecting over 1400 signatures (and counting). I\u2019m so impressed and proud of Helena and community for taking this action. As MPP it\u2019s a privilege and honour to take my seat at the Legislature on your behalf … thank you Helena a very wise man once said #dontletthemtellyouitcantbedone and that was Jack Layton he inspired me just like you\u2019ve inspired me #idowhatidobecauseofpeoplelikeYOU<\/p><\/div>\n

Now, over the next two minutes I want you to think hard and make a list of the 5 most important resources to ensure Canada remains a prosperous and free nation.\u00a0 Use a pad and paper if you wish, but don\u2019t cheat by reading ahead.\u00a0 For added motivation, ask someone to hum \u201cThink<\/em>,\u201d \u2013 you know — the Final Jeopardy theme song in the background.\u00a0 Do it twice for good measure.<\/p>\n

Okay, time is up.<\/p>\n

Well, of course the list of possible answers will be as long as your arm, but I bet you that one of the most common responses will be \u201cour children.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nelson Mandela said, \u201cOur children are the rock on which our future will be built, our greatest asset as a nation. \u00a0They will be the leaders of our country, the creators of our national wealth, those who care for and protect our people.\u201d\u00a0 He\u2019s right, for without our children, we have no future.<\/p>\n

Now for the scary part.\u00a0 Author Pam Leo says, \u201cChildren are mirrors.\u00a0 They reflect back to us all we say and do.\u201d\u00a0 I say scary because just look at what we have done \u2013 or rather have not done \u2013 for the children of Neskantaga.\u00a0 And let\u2019s be very clear, also, that Neskantaga is only one example<\/u><\/em> of this.\u00a0 Unfortunately there are many more in Ontario and across Canada where water supply is not adequate to meet demands, reliably supplied, safe to drink and in some cases not even safe to bathe in.<\/p>\n

For 25 years \u2013 an entire generation \u2013 the people of Neskantaga have been without clean water, living under a boil water advisory. Not 25 days.\u00a0 Not 25 months.\u00a0 25 years! \u00a0Then, just recently, dangerous hydrocarbons were found in the local water reservoir. \u00a0Neskantaga went from having no clean water, to having no water at all \u2013 while also contending with the COVID-19 pandemic. \u00a0The entire community has been forced to evacuate for weeks now with no end in sight.<\/p>\n

Imagine now that it is your own children, not someone else\u2019s, who are living this experience.\u00a0 Imagine that you are the parent.\u00a0 How would you explain how our leaders could let this happen while at the same time trying to teach them to love and care for others?<\/p>\n

I know many readers will have seen or heard the recent segment on the CBC news in which they showed little children of Neskantaga holding up signs begging for someone to show some compassion by fixing the longest boil water advisory in Canadian history.\u00a0 One sign read, \u201cFix our water\u2026We\u2019re not animals.\u00a0 We\u2019re not things.\u00a0 We\u2019re just like you\u2026\u201d\u00a0 These are children who just want to go home to live safe, health happy lives, just like all children in Ontario do.<\/p>\n

Members of Neskantaga First Nation held a sit-in at Queen\u2019s Park to ask Doug Ford to stop ignoring the pleas of the people.\u00a0 In the name of humanity, the Conservative government must step up and fix this problem.\u00a0 Sol Mamakwa, MPP for Kiiwetinoong and the NDP Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation critic says that \u201cEvery Ontarian knows Doug Ford would never<\/u><\/em> neglect and dismiss a community like Etobicoke North this way.\u00a0 Every day that Doug Ford does nothing to fix this crisis is another day he makes the shameful choice to put the health and lives of Neskantaga\u2019s community members at risk.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mamakwa went on to point out that not only has the Province ignored their pleas but has also slashed 80 per cent of the budget for Ontario\u2019s Indigenous Drinking Water Program; totally walking away from any potential efforts to invest in infrastructure for clean drinking water in Neskantaga and other First Nations that need it.<\/p>\n

This is outright abuse.\u00a0 Remember, \u201cChildren are mirrors.\u00a0 They reflect back to us all we say and do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Look around at how the world\u2019s historic lens is refocusing on what our founding fathers and societal leaders have done.\u00a0 Some much celebrated historic icons and national heroes are now seen as symbols of inhumanity and shameful values \u2013 their statues and memorial\u2019s torn down.\u00a0 Nelson Mandela was right when he said, \u201cHistory will judge us by the difference we make in the everyday lives of Children.\u201d<\/p>\n

Above all else, clean potable water is a basic human right.\u00a0 People can live for about three weeks without food, but only three or four days without water. So how can successive federal and provincial governments dismiss this most important source of life to an entire generation as they have Neskantaga residents and other communities?<\/p>\n

I have often said of Algoma-Manitoulin that people are our greatest resource \u2013 and the most precious of these are our children.\u00a0 And if we don\u2019t get this right, not only am I worried about the health, safety and happiness of our children, but also I\u2019m worried for ourselves \u2013 the adults of today and the aged of tomorrow.\u00a0 I\u2019m worried because children are not always very good at listening to what their elders say, but they never fail to imitate us.<\/p>\n

Again, the wise words of Mandela, \u201cThey will be the leaders of our country, the creators of our national wealth, those who care for and protect our people.<\/u><\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

As always, please feel free to contact my office about these issues, or any other provincial matters.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I remember a favourite primary school teacher who, when I think back, really knew how to get her students to quickly switch gears and engage their minds on a particular focus.\u00a0 It was nothing terribly special really, but she would tell us to reach into out desks, pull out our thinking caps and be sure …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":4519,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[216],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38934","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-editorials"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-27 16:22:07","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38934","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38934"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38934\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38943,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38934\/revisions\/38943"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4519"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38934"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38934"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38934"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}