CIVIC SITUATIONS
A journey to the northernmost stop on the Underground Railroad plus comments on Civics & My Close Encounters with Mayors
On the Civic Holiday in Ontario Canada sometimes referred to as “The August Long Weekend” (which includes the first Monday in August), I usually take some time to reflect on the meaning of civic engagement.
A quick google search of the definition of civic brought up, ”relating to a city or town especially its administration; municipal”.
Types of civic engagement includes voting, volunteering, and engaging in group activities. During the pandemic, we have also learned that social distancing and wearing masks to stop the spread of the COVID-19 virus is a type of civic engagement or responsibility to protect oneself and others. As community members, we have rights but with those rights we also have responsibilities.
The 2020 August Long Weekend occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic which has paralyzed economic activity and also The Black Lives Matter Movement which has galvanized civil rights activists into action, primarily at a local or civic level.
The 2020 August long weekend included Saturday, Aug 1 in Ontario. August 1 was declared Emancipation Day in 2008 to commemorate the anniversary of the enactment of the British Imperial Act of 1834 to abolish slavery in most of the British Empire.
“In Canada, Ontario has been the only province to have passed legislation proclaiming August 1 as Emancipation Day. However, 2021, marks the first year that Emancipation Day will be acknowledged federally in Canada on August 1. Emancipation Day is about honouring the past as well as reflecting on our present and preparing for the future”.
https://www.wrdsb.ca/blog/2021/06/15/juneteenth-and-emancipation-day/
Motivated by The Black Lives Matter Movement and in anticipation of Emancipation Day in Ontario, my wife Linda and I visited the Oro African Episcopal Methodist Church Site in Oro Ontario off The Old Barrie Road between Barrie and Orillia.
The Oro African church built between 1846 and 1849 memorializes the only Government sponsored Black settlement in Canadian history and is a National Historic Site.
Visiting the site was a moving experience.
The civic hardships endured by the new community back then must have been trying but it appears the local people for the most part welcomed the Black settlers. However, racism has persisted and in 1981 a group of intolerant idiots apparently stole dump trucks and tried to wreck the Oro church but it survived the attack and has been restored as a symbol of hope and acceptance.
MY CLOSE ENCOUNTERS WITH MAYORS
On a personal level, I have long been involved in civic activities, although most of my civic engagemet was an inside job.
I was fortunate and privileged to work for the City of Thunder Bay for over thirty years, initially as a Social Worker for nine years and then as a Supervisor of various Community Support Programs such as Meals on Wheels It was a win/ win situation for me as I was able to help the less fortunate in my community while financially contributing to my family.
Although I was not high in the hierarchy of City officials, I did encounter the top civil officials — namely their Worships the Mayors on more occasions than one would expect under the laws of probability.
Before I continue with my mayoral memories, I must add that a Mayor’s job is not easy. Mayors are shackled by their chains of office, praised by their supporters and scorned by their detractors. However, as public officials with the power of persuasion over local policies, they are fair game for criticism and praise.
My barber once asked my mockingly,“Why don’t you run for Mayor of Thunder Bay?”. After laughing out loud, I said something like, “I am self deprecating but not a masochist”. Public flagellation is not worth the adulation.
My first encounter with a Mayor actually happened when I was young lad.
I met Mayor Saul Laskin of Port Arthur Ontario when I was an Easter Seals ‘Timmy” in March 1968.
(I was born with double hip dysplasia, an affliction that affects some Scandinavians and Finns as well as certain breeds of dogs at an above average rate).
I had no idea what to expect of my role as an Easter Seals “Timmy.”
From the letter Easter Seals sent my parents, my Ma thought there was going to be a group of us, not just one Timmy & Tammy so I had to learn to improvise quickly to make a public speech I didn’t know I was going to be required to do at a special Easter Seals dinner.
That event gave me the confidence to speak in public and later to play drums and perform on stage.
My next “His Worship” encounter was with true mayoralty royalty.
The infamous, Mayor Walter Assef of Thunder Bay Ontario Canada.
Mayor Walter Assef’s accomplishments included introducing Prince Philip and the Queen of England as ‘his Royal Highness and his lovely wife” during their 1973 visit to Thunder Bay and then later patting the Queen on the derriere. Prince Philip reportedly referred to Assef as, ”that jolly little mayor from Thunder Bay” where the term, “Jolly Wally” to describe mayor Assef apparently originated.
Some of the Council meetings Mayor Assef chaired were so chaotic that all the City Councillors present walked out.
Mayor Assef was a populist politician before electing them become popular. (Mayor Assef has the distinction of being Canada’s first and thus far only Mayor to be elected for two discontinuous terms. He served from 1973 to 1978 and from 1981 to 1985).
I can understand why people want change in the government. I am not against change. I just think change should be constructive rather than destructive and progressive rather than regressive.
Electing someone who is not qualified “to shake things up” often turns out creating a toxic mix of incompetence, corruption, cronyism and chaos. You wouldn’t hire a jack hammer operator as your dentist so why would you hire (vote) for someone unqualified to be a powerful politician?
One reason people vote for populists, I believe, is that they want to be “entertained” by their politicians. Walter Assef apparently had been a Vaudevillian performer. Trump of course is a TV personality.
However, actors can rage onstage, but behind the curtain the truth is more certain.
My first personal encounter with Mayor Assef was not what I expected.
When I first started working as a Social Worker with the City of Thunder Bay in 1978, I helped clients complete applications for admission into the Municipal Homes for the Aged.
The form had to be signed by the Mayor, who at the time was Walter Assef.
I remember waiting in his secretary’s reception area when I heard loud swearing coming from behind Mayor Assef’s office door.
I said something like, “Sounds like the Mayor has an angry citizen to deal with.”
His secretary looked up and without a pause said, “No, that’s the Mayor talking.”
When I went into his office to have the form signed, Mayor Assef signed it and looked up at me and said ( I’m paraphrasing) “You look like you know what you’re doing.” He then gave me a plaque of the Coat of Arms of The City of Thunder Bay.
I still have that plaque.
I naively thought that Mayor Assef was OK then. Maybe even entertaining.
I later learned that Mayor Assef was not always a man of his word.
One time while working in the Social Services Dept., my boss told me that Mayor Assef told a man he could get Welfare and to go to the Social Services Office and apply. Then Mayor Assef apparently phoned the Social Services Administrator and yelled, “If you give the man I just sent to your office welfare, You’re Fired !”
I have heard similar stories from other people. ( Sounds like Assef would have been a good host for the “The Apprentice”)
My next Mayoralty encounter occurred sometime between 1997 and 2003.
That was when photographer Gary Moskalyk took a picture of Mayor Ken Boshcoff and I at a Meals on Wheels luncheon.
Gary asked me who the Big Cheese of the event was. I answered, “I guess that would be me”.
Just then Mayor Boshcoff appeared from behind Gary and said, “And I cut the cheese.”
Gary then snapped the shot of the Mayor & I which appeared in a weekly Thunder Bay paper.
My last close encounter with a Thunder Bay mayor occurred in the fall of 2009.
That is when I briefly shared the stage at Old Fort William with Mayor Lynn Peterson while I received my retirement gifts.
My encounters with Mayors was not restricted to Thunder Bay however.
I also met Mayor Steve Parish of Ajax Ontario during the 1990s or early 2000s. He was the longest serving Mayor in Ajax for seven terms over 23 years.
I admit the odds of meeting him were good since Steve was also the law partner of my brother in law.
Steve reminded me of Groucho Marx and he could be grouchy. He once berated me for not changing the recorded music fast enough at a family birthday.
I did however admire Mr. Parish’s drive and perseverance in taking on Big Developers and preserving much of Ajax’s waterfront.
Mayor Parish also intervened in a parking ticket mix up.
I received a notice that I had not paid a parking fine in Ajax when I was not actually in Ajax at the time the ticket was issued.
It turned out that the Parking Enforcement Officer wrote the wrong licence number down on the ticket. Mr. Parish cancelled the parking ticket saving me an unnecessary trip to Ajax to fight the ticket in court.
Some may think that was unfair, but it was a rare preferential call from a Municipal Umpire aka Mayor that went my way. When life throws you a curve ball, sometimes the arc of justice works in your favour even if the call should have been a strike out by conventional standards.
My most recent encounter with a Mayor occurred via Zoom on July 8,2020.
It was a virtual meeting with Mayor Jeff Lehman of Barrie Ontario and 44 members of the Barrie Chapter of the Canadian Association of Retired Persons (CARP).
Barrie is fortunate to have Jeff Lehman as its Mayor.
Mayor Lehman holds a B.A. from Queen’s University and a Masters Degree in Urban Planning from U.K.’s London School of Economics. He has won several awards for his governance and innovative solutions.
He was reelected as Mayor of Barrie in 2018 with a 91% approval rating. He is a popular Mayor without being a populist.
If I have a close encounter with a Mayor again it will likely be unexpected but not forgotten.
AUTHORS’ NOTE
An edited version of the above article was published in the Oct. 2020 edition of The Thunder Bay Seniors Paper.
© 2020 G.G. Niemi
