This old chestnut - Shawn's Sense with Shawn Loughlin

By now, no one is really a stranger to the erratic and irrational ways of President Donald Trump. He says something. He means it (or not). He takes it back (or not). He never says he’s sorry and he always thinks he’s right (or at least that’s what he projects to the outside world, to the point that he’s posting pictures of himself as Jesus Christ a doctor).

 

When he first “joked” about Canada being the 51st state of the United States of America with then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, a lot of Canadians got their backs up. Not only did they get their backs up as if they were being threatened, there too was a feeling of profound betrayal. Canada had not been credibly threatened in such a manner in generations and for it to come from the United States, our closest trade partner, friend and ally, it felt like the old horror movie trope, applied to poly-sci, that the call was coming from inside the house.

 

Admittedly, I was one of the many who was caught up in this. I was insulted and I still am. What has subsided, however, is the panic I felt. I am not actively worried about it anymore. Why? Because Mark Carney is a great leader and negotiator? Not necessarily. Because I don’t think Trump would actually do it? Nope. Because I’ve had a lobotomy? Not yet. It is because, fellow North Huron residents and our friends in Morris-Turnberry, we have been here before. And we lived to tell the tale.

 

Going through back issues of The Citizen for a history book side project, I stumbled onto a pair of stories written by the great Denny Scott in the wake of the 2018 municipal election and there it was in black and white. Bernie Bailey, who North Huron residents saw fit to elect as their mayor, minutes after being sworn in, got to detailing his to-do list for the coming term. 
“North Huron and Morris-Turnberry should amalgamate,” he said. There’s coming in hot and there’s whatever the hell Bailey did there.

 

He further elucidated that the two townships share just about everything from services to fire protection, so it only made sense, and he immediately ordered a complete review of all agreements between the two townships to lay the groundwork for potential amalgamation. 

 

So, here, in Bailey, we have our Trump (for the purposes of this anecdote, anyway - I can’t necessarily speak to any further similarities between Trump and Bailey, nor would I be at liberty to divulge them even if I could). That was in the Dec. 6, 2018 issue of the paper.

 

Then, newly-elected Morris-Turnberry Mayor Jamie Heffer was sworn in, saying that the township would grow in the next four years with him at the helm and that he and council would be working with the five municipalities along its borders, but that Morris-Turnberry would, in order to accomplish those goals, remain autonomous. 

 

So, Heffer is our Mark Carney. He’s rubbing elevated elbows with Mike Myers - Wayne Campbell himself - and standing up for the sovereignty of the little guys middle powers.

 

Bailey’s idea died on the table and never really did gain much traction, despite his best efforts to make North Huron great again. But hey, it was a worthy swing that would have uprooted not the generations of sovereignty that Canada has, but certainly almost 20 years (at the time) of history that this area has had since then-Premier Mike Harris forced amalgamation on the province just after the turn of the century.

 

So, to the people of Canada, especially those who live in this glorious area, people have tried and failed to absorb what wasn’t theirs before. We got through it then and we will get through it now, no matter the consequences.