Examining priorities in Oshawa

By Bill Fox/Columnist

Are we becoming more like the States? This past weekend near the Entertainment District in Toronto, the police described a crime season as being like the OK Corral. There were many shots fired and many people injured, with bullets being found in condo units, cars and taxicabs. How did something like this happen? Even in our own area, we’ve recently seen bank and drug store robberies, things that were rare just a few years ago.

I want our area to be as good as I imagined it when I moved here 30 years ago. As a former teacher, I question whether we are doing right by our children, our community and whether our priorities are in order.

We may ask ourselves if we’ve shown enough kindness and generosity and compassion to the people in our lives. In the fleeting time we have on this earth, what matters is not wealth, or status, or power, or fame – but rather, how well we have loved, and what small part we have played in bettering the lives of others.

He could have said this on a number of occasions, but President Barack Obama said some years ago, “Rather than pointing fingers or assigning blame, let’s use this occasion to expand our moral imaginations, to listen to each other more carefully, to sharpen our instincts for empathy, and remind ourselves of all the ways our hopes and dreams are bound together.”

Listen to each other. Sharpen our instincts. Remind ourselves of all the ways our hopes and dreams are bound together. As President Obama said, now is the time to talk with each other “in a way that heals, not in a way that wounds.” I think we need to do that in Oshawa.

It’s difficult to chart our own future when we are so influenced by our large neighbour to the south. Seems to me that Donald Trump is doing exactly what Obama suggests we should not do. He is pointing fingers and assigning blame! Perhaps if he were not so wealthy, he might be ignored? Let’s not go there in our communities! In Canada, we already have our own mini-Donald Trump in Kevin O’Leary of Dragon’s Den fame. Speculation is that he might possibly be seeking to lead the Conservative Party of Canada! O’Leary fervently believes in outsourcing all our work to overseas companies to maximize profits…thus promoting more youth unemployment and less opportunities for our own young people. Interesting that O’Leary didn’t start out in the software industry with a net worth of $300 million. Rather, he started his company, SoftKey Software Products, in his Toronto basement thanks to a $10,000 investment from his mother. Ah, back in the 70s, we all had mothers with $10,000 to invest in our ideas!

Yet in our area, I believe we may be depriving our youth in ways we do not even realize by taking away their hopes, by outsourcing jobs to the cheapest bidders in other countries.

So I ask:

• Are we depriving our youth of easily finding real love relationships by making porn so readily available?
• Are we are depriving our youth by not clamping down more on illicit activity in our area, whether it be drugs, underage drinking, smoking, etc.?
• Are we depriving our youth when we allow a garbage incinerator into our area where more than 10 per cent of our children suffer from asthma? Are we telling them their health is not as important as the financial and employment benefits a local incinerator will bring?

As President Obama also said, “What matters is not health, or status or power or fame, but rather how well we have loved, and what small part we have played in bettering the lives of others.”

Agree or disagree, you can send your comments to bdfox@rogers.com.