Forgotten to time - Shawn's Sense with Shawn Loughlin

As I mentioned in my column last week, I have had cause to go through back issues of The Citizen from about 10 or 12 years ago. Throughout that process, I’ve been reminded of names, businesses, situations and concepts that I’d either forgotten about or was happy to leave in the past. However, to paraphrase the mantra of the movie Magnolia, “We may be through with the past, but the past isn’t through with us.”

 

So, in addition to the tomfoolery I wrote about in last week’s column, there were a lot of jump-scare moments going through those pages. First up: Dalton McGuinty and Kathleen Wynne. Seeing those two certainly brought me back to a very specific, very divisive time in this province’s history. They are, for better or worse, the figureheads of a very bad government that got a little too comfortable with its power, with Wynne eventually leading the party to a crushing defeat, going from 55 seats down to seven. In that election, the Liberals lost official party status and it still stands as the biggest defeat for a governing party in provincial history. It should be noted, however, that, unlike some party leaders facing a fork in the road, Wynne won her own riding, retaining her seat.

 

As bad as that government was, it directly led us to the Doug Ford era, which is ongoing and full of wasteful spending, overreach and scandal. To paraphrase The Dark Knight, you either die the hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain. Take note, Doug. It didn’t end well for those folks.

 

Then there were some business ventures that, at the time, sounded silly, and, over time, proved to be just that, coming and going in record time despite an owner’s best intentions. I won’t get specific about those, but let’s just say that when you do this job for nearly 20 years, you see a lot of people come and go.

 

There was the John Black era with the Fire Department of North Huron (newly named after amalgamating its original Blyth and Wingham stations). Black has passed on, so I won’t take any unfair shots here, but he and The Citizen didn’t get along for a variety of reasons, so I didn’t like revisiting that time.

 

On a related note, there was the Emergency Services Training Centre, which was a valiant attempt at making Blyth a hub of training for firefighters, paramedics and more. Speaking of valiant attempts, there was the 14/19 project that delivered on renovations to Memorial Hall but came up short in other areas. 

 

Speaking of festivals, there was the Festival of Wizardry and its new home in Blyth. Great in a quidditch sense, not so great in a paying-its-bills sense.

 

Then there were faces around council tables that I’m happy to leave in the past. Again, I won’t get specific and name names, but it’s funny how just a little bit of power can be intoxicating for folks and how easy it can be to take that out on the local newspaper.

 

It’s funny though, as I was looking through those pages and remembering back to people who were once a problem of mine, but who no longer are, I couldn’t help but think of the staying power of the newspaper, especially one as revered as The Citizen in its community.

 

As those people have come and gone, The Citizen remains. It stands as a pillar of the community, telling its stories and holding those who may not have the community’s best interests at heart to account. We’re certainly not perfect here, but we have stood the test of time. That, I think, is an accomplishment that I believe, in many ways, speaks for itself. The Citizen will endure in the face of its critics.