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.
An unfair advantage
At least one organization in the world seems to have got it right. The World’s Biggest Liar Competition is held annually in Cumbria, England. Every November, the tellers of tall tales gather at the Santon Bridge Inn where competitors have anywhere between two and five minutes to spin the finest yarn they can muster.
Previous winners have captivated judges with stories as varied as mermaid farming to an impromptu snail-racing competition with Prince Charles. But contestants will have to come up with a monstrous lie if they hope to beat John Graham, a Lake District farmer, whose engaging delivery may only be matched by the quality of his fibs and has won him the championship seven times.
This year the organizers have added a new rule and will not allow politicians or lawyers to enter the competition. They claim that they have an unfair advantage as they are professional liars and would take away from the popular annual competition which is for amateur liars only. Sure captures the feelings of a lot of people.
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As a lover of the Canadian Football League I couldn’t have been more pleased to see the 100th annual Grey Cup game played in Toronto and the Toronto Argonauts walk away with the coveted trophy. I’m just sorry I couldn’t be at the game. Toronto won the cup the first time it was presented 100 years ago, so it was fitting they should be victorious this time around.
Watching fans enjoying the festivities and the game brought back memories of the fun times I enjoyed with a wonderful group of friends who attended many Grey Cup games across Canada. Unfortunately Harry Hudson, Keith and Carl Durham, Bing Wells, Fred Ballinger are no longer with us. But I know that Grant ‘Doc’ Elliot, Sandy Williamson, Bill Ballinger, brother Barry Stemp, Kent Painter, Nelson Cheung, Jim Schwan and Jim Munro will remember the good times we had attending the Canadian classic over the years.
We’ve all gotten older and enjoy the comfort of a warm room and a large-screen TV, but the memories of fun times together will always be with us.
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As if the Liberals aren’t having enough problems rebuilding their party and trying to work themselves back up the popularity ladder with voters, especially in western Canada, along comes MP David McGuinty who, for some unknown reason, publicly threw a number of cheap shots at fellow MPs who hail from Alberta. It’s well known that the Liberals are not popular with Albertans ever since PM Pierre Trudeau came up with what they saw as an unfair national energy plan many years ago. Ever since then Liberal leaders have worked hard to get back in their good books and have made some headway, but remarks made by McGuinty have no doubt cancelled much of the progress made to date.
And it gets worse for the Liberal Party as a TV interview by Justin Trudeau, who hopes to be anointed party leader at the convention next April, only adds to the bad feelings and distrust westerners have for the Liberal party. In the interview – made a couple of years ago - Trudeau said “that Canada isn't doing well right now because it's Albertans who control our community and socio-democratic agenda. It doesn't work." The reporter then asked Trudeau if he thought Canada would be better off if there were more Quebecers in charge. "I'm a Liberal, so of course I think so, yes," Trudeau responded. "Certainly when we look at the great prime ministers of the 20th century, those that really stood the test of time, they were MPs from Quebec. This country - Canada - it belongs to us."
Naturally, once the brown stuff hit the fan, Trudeau backtracked immediately and claimed he had been misunderstood, along with a myriad of other excuses politicians are noted for using when they find they have only taken one foot out of their mouth so they could put the other one in. Now Justin is going across Canada doing damage control, backtracking and claiming all is well in an effort to make sure that his coronation as Liberal Party leader is still on track. Kind of reminds me of that wonderful quote by Groucho Marx – “if you don't like my principles, I can change them for you”
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The wonderful season of giving is fast approaching and I would like to suggest the Jennifer Ashleigh Children’s Charity be placed near the top of your list. For over 22 years this charity has quietly financially assisting seriously ill Ontario children and their families. We all know there is a huge financial cost when you have a seriously ill child who requires special medical treatments and is facing months in the hospital. Our community has always been well aware of these cases and have been more than generous in helping families cope through these trying times.
This year their goal is $250,000 and that will get a big boost as their partners, Richard Muir/the Jericho Foundation has offered to match the first $50,000 in donations received before December 15. A great way to see your donation doubled so I am hoping you will help.
You can learn more about this wonderful appeal and, more important, make a donation which will be doubled by going online to www.jenash.org/bridgethegap All of our children have so much at this time of year. I’m sure they wouldn’t mind giving up just one gift knowing they may be helping another child enjoy the gift of a reasonably healthy life.
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I can just imagine that shoppers in Quebec must be ecstatic because, thanks to their newly elected separatist provincial government, they will now be able to find the nearest Walmart. You see they have had a problem because the name on the store is not bilingual. Heaven forbid it is only in English. So enter the language police who have now told the multi-national, multi-billion dollar company that they must change their name to French. The recent victory by the Parti Quebecois has awoken those in the Office Quebecois de la Langue Francaise (OQLF) who are demanding several major international companies change their names in Quebec to suit a new interpretation of the province's French protection laws. Stores such as Walmart, Gap and Costco — the three horsemen of English imperialism — have been told their brand names are no longer acceptable and must either change them into French or add a French tag line to their signs.
The OQLF has suggested Walmart, for example, change its name in Quebec to "Le Magasin Walmart," which translates to "The Walmart Store." That should clear things up and make shopping more comfortable. Understandably these companies are not entirely thrilled at the new interpretation and are taking the Quebec government to court over the demand to change their names. This, of course, thrills the many legal firms who will reap millions of dollars – a lot of those are taxpayer dollars – fighting the case that will probably take years to settle. The chap who said they aren’t all in an asylum, they are elected in Quebec and walk among us, sure had it right.
