Harry Oct 15, 2009
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.
Consultant anyone?
?When I leave this earth, and if I decide to come back, I'm going to return as a consultant. Not sure what I will specialize in but, after learning about the abuse of our tax dollars by numerous government consultants, I don't think it much matters. It can be health, environment or even the lottery operations operated by the government.
When I covered council meetings in several different communities, there were always 'experts' being called in for this that and the other thing. The second a project came up, regardless of size, one would hear the “better check with our consultants about that”.
Looking around the council table, I was puzzled at this because there were often members of council who had expertise in the very field that was being discussed. Why didn't these people speak up and advise how the project should be handled? I often wondered if this wasn't a way out for councillors who could always blame the consultants if things went wrong.
We soon came up with a good definition for these so-called 'experts'. An 'expert' is someone from out of town with a briefcase.
But the actions of those councillors are small potatoes compared to what has happened here in the Province of Ontario. Abuses by high-priced staff and consultants in various departments have wasted over a billion of our hard-earned tax dollars. And what did our esteemed leader, Dalton McGuinty, have to say about it?
“Sorry about that. We'll do better in the future”. Hopefully there won't be a future for McGuinty and his gang. Trouble is, will the next party to take power be any different?
Then, in a brave move by McGuinty the whole bunch were fired. But do they leave in shame with their tail between their legs? No, that isn't the way government works. They all received large severances for, get this, “wrongful dismissal” and walked off with more millions of our tax dollars. A nice reward for doing a poor job.
With all the use of the words 'billion' and 'trillion' that have invaded our vocabulary with ease the last few years, it is hard to comprehend just what a billion means.
Well, a letter writer the other day put it into a perspective that we, as taxpayers, can easily understand. The writer said, “ to raise a billion dollars in taxes 100,000 Canadians have to pay $10,000 each”.
And we have a leader who says, “Sorry”. If all of this waste of our hard-earned dollars doesn't make you reach for a cold one, or for the 'barf' bag, I'm not sure what will.
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Not sure if golf is your game, but if it is you know that every golfer hates to lose a golf ball. But it happens and, according to a study, it is estimated there are about a billion golf balls lost per year around the world.
A lot of golfers when they see their ball go off into the woods, or long grass, simply drop another and carry on. Others take what seems like light years searching every nook and cranny of the woods or looking under every blade of grass, much to the chagrin of the golfers playing with them or those following.
I've played with a few golfers like that, but none could match the determination of a 67-year-old golfer who was playing a round in South Carolina when his ball landed in the water. It was an expensive ball and he was determined to get it back. He saw the ball but didn't notice the alligator lying in wait just a few feet away.
When he reached in the water to retrieve his precious ball, that's when the alligator made a swift move and the golfer lost his arm.
Don't know the rest of the story, but can't imagine it had a happy ending. Not sure if his buddies got help for him, then finished their round. But that is something that wouldn't surprise me when I think of the dedicated golfers I have met in my years of playing this enjoyable, but frustrating game.
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As we near the end of October, we realize that it is close to Remembrance Day. An annual event when we celebrate the freedom we enjoy in this wonderful country thanks to the sacrifice made by so many fellow Canadians who have served in our military in several wars.
In Uxbridge, we are still blessed with many veterans living amongst us. Wonderful men and women who make wonderful friends and neighbors and, in most cases, still do volunteer work to help make Uxbridge the caring community it is.
You can do your part in two ways. One, buy and wear a poppy. Second, help sell poppies throughout the community. It takes a lot of people to make the poppy fund a success and this is where you can do your part.
Starting Friday, there will be sheets in the Uxbridge Legion where you can sign up to do a two-hour stint selling poppies in various locations around Uxbridge. If you would like to get involved please drop in, pick a time and location and be a proud supporter of this very important annual campaign.
The Legion clubrooms are open every day at 2 p.m. Hope we can count on your support.
