Editorial
Lisa Dumontier

So I received a little flack over my editorial last week and the fact that I don’t think that the Municipality of Red Lake—with such a dispersed population to consider—has room for a part-time Councillor. This was hardly unexpected and while some interesting points were made in defence of Councillor Leave of Absences, I haven’t changed my mind. The taxpayers of the Red Lake area deserve a committed governing body and if that’s not what we’re getting, the loss is completely ours. But is it overindulgent to think elected officials should consider our needs first?

We live in a very overindulgent society these days where the vast majority of us focus on ourselves and our little piece of the globe easily losing sight of the bigger picture. What we need undoubtedly trumps the needs of our neighbours and the voice of reason is becoming more and more difficult to decipher in the crowd. Checking in with various news publications last week I came across so many stories that should have had readers offering their condolences or sympathy but instead featured pages and pages of contempt for situations that could hardly have been avoided. It seems the victims of society are bearing a lot on their shoulders these days.

A cat got loose on an early morning Air Canada flight packed with suit-clad business folk enroute to morning meetings. The delay was substantial as employees worked to determine where the pesky feline had hidden itself away eventually uncovering the scared kitty buried amidst the wires behind the cockpit instrument panel. Poor Riddles. The cat shouldn’t have been loose and I’m sure the owner will bear the consequence as the other passengers were surely forced to bear the frustrations of it all but somehow what I would expect to result in a conversation about banning pets from non-cargo travel turned into a free-for-all on why children should not be allowed aboard airplanes. Really? Do you think parents enjoy hearing their children cry from popped ear drums anymore than you do?

Planning a trip to Mexico? Apparently you deserve to be beaten and left in your resort elevator with every bone in your face broken. Sounds harsh doesn’t it? But according to popular discussions, Canadians across the nation are convinced that if you dare step foot outside this country, you risk being injured and deserve no sympathy if you are the victim of crime. Oh and don’t expect your medical bills to run cheap either or dare complain when the costs are astronomical, you’ll get no sympathy from us—heck you should have anticipated such devastation while you were planning that perfect vacation south.

Advocates calling for a better education and adequate school buildings for Ontario’s First Nation children also came under fire last week because apparently, if you live on reserve and “rely on federal dollars” your education doesn’t deserve to be on par with the level of education received by students in non-reserve communities province-wide. Such discrimination would never be permitted if the shoe was on the other foot but for some reason, when it’s happening in another community and our own children are above the status quo, it doesn’t seem like too big of a problem.

As a society in general I fear we’ve adopted this “doesn’t affect me/not my problem” attitude that lacks major sympathy for the trials and tribulations of other people, countries, circumstances, etcetera. And if we don’t have sympathy for others at the end of the day, what is that saying about us and where the future of this country—and world really—is headed?

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