Harry Stemp was born in Uxbridge in 1934. He started his career with the Uxbridge Times-Journal as an apprentice typesetter at age 14. He soon began writing sports for the Times-Journal and eventually owned 10 community newspapers in central Ontario including the Times-Journal. He started writing his award-winning Stemp’s Stew in 1965. The column came to an end shortly after he sold his newspaper chain in 1989, but was rejuvenated in 2006 when Harry became a regular contributor to The Cosmos.
It's a cruel wind that blows no good
?Most Canadians realize that our legal system states that you are innocent until proven guilty. This has been on the books for years and works well in a free society.
However, that fact of law does not apply when it comes to Revenue Canada, the tax-collecting system that makes sure big government gets every last penny owing. As far as Revenue Canada is concerned you are guilty until you prove yourself innocent.
This applies to financial disputes with Revenue Canada. But when Revenue Canada makes a major error one would thnk the onus would be on them to correct it. Not so.
Take the case of Mike Bednaski. Revenue Canada announced that he, along with some 94,000 other living and breathing Canadians, was dead. Now this came as a major shock to Mike and his family, and he decided he had better correct the matter immediately. A simple matter of visiting a Revenue Canada office, producing documents showing that he was really Mike Bednaski and since he was standing in front of the clerk, was a living Canadian.
One would think that would do it. Think again. This is Revenue Canada you are dealing with, a huge government beaurocracy that does not operate in the real world. Its mission in life is to make life for ordinary Canadians as complicated as possible.
Mike was told he would have to go to a lawyer, swear out affidavits and incur costly legal fees to correct the error made by Revenue Canada, and then attend a hearing at the agency.
If this had been a major commercial operation, there would have been an apology and the matter would have been corrected on the spot. Matter closed.
So Mike, and a lot of others, will fight their way through the red tape and entail a lot of effort and financial costs to correct someone else's mistake. Can you believe it?
No wonder big government costs so much to run, wastes so many of our tax dollars and is so distrusted by most citizens. -----------------------------
Mentioned that here, in Barbados, we don't get a lot of Canadian news via TV. But we do get most U.S. stations, which is nothing to rave about. However, it can be a bonus on occasion.
Channel surfing the other day I came across an NBC special on Gander, Newfoundland and the role the residents played in 2001 when the airspace over the U.S. was closed due to the 9/11 disaster. I know that most Canadians feel our American neighbours often treat us unfairly, but I was most impressed by the 20-minute special narrated by former Canadian Tom Brokaw.
We all know that easterners, and especially our Newfoundland citizens, are down-to-earth, kind people. And this showed in spades as 160 jumbo aircraft landed in their community and the 7000 passengers doubled their population.
These stranded people from all over the world could not believe the kind treatment they received from the residents of Gander. In interview after interview they sang their praises and expressed disbelief that this small community would welcome them with open arms.
The wonderful ongoing story from this disaster that stood out concerned a lady who lives in New Jersey. She collected $15,000 from fellow passengers but the residents of Gander would not accept the money. They declined saying, “we do not need to be paid for helping people in trouble. You would do the same for us under the same conditions”.
The lady was so impressed with this attitude that she kept working at collecting money and started a Scholarship Fund for Gander, which has now reached $900,000. The same lady has returned to visit Gander 17 times since 2001 and every year attends the graduation ceremony at the local Secondary School. This year she saw 120 students receive money from the fund to further their education.
Just one of many touching stories that came from this experience.
There is a saying “it's a cruel wind that blows no good”. And that saying rings true when we think back to that tragic day in 2001.
Out of the death and destruction caused by those senseless acts comes the wonderful story of the love affair between 7000 stranded travelers and the people of Gander, Newfoundland.
I am always proud to proclaim, “I'm Canadian”, but my pride sure kicked up a notch after watching this wonderful documentary.
