THE PROBLEM WITH UNEMPLOYMENT, AND THE INCREASING CRISIS OF POVERTY AMIDST PLENTY
WHAT IS THE SOLUTION? FIRST OF ALL……, LEVELS OF GOVERNMENT THAT APPRECIATE WHAT VULNERABILITY REALLY MEANS
I JUST RECEIVED AN ASTUTELY WRITTEN EMAIL, FROM A BLOG-FRIEND, WHO HAS POIGNANTLY DETAILED THE GAPING, DANGEROUS SHORTFALLS IN OUR LEVELS OF GOVERNMENT, TO EFFECTIVELY DEAL WITH THE CRISIS OF UNEMPLOYMENT, AND THE SERIOUS ESCALATION OF POVERTY……IN OUR REGION, AND YES, WELL BEYOND. I GET THIS A LOT. NOTES FROM FOLKS WHO WANT TO WORK; WHO ARE WELL QUALIFIED FOR MANY JOBS, BUT ARE CRUNCHED HERE IN PARADISE FOR ANY NUMBER OF REASONS. IF THERE'S ONE THING ABOUT MUSKOKA HISTORY, THAT HAS INTERESTED ME MORE THAN ANY OTHER ASPECT, IT HAS BEEN OUR INHERENT RELATIONSHIP WITH POVERTY. I DON'T WANT TO SEND THE MESSAGE, OUT THERE, THAT ALL OUR PROBLEMS ARE HISTORIC IN NATURE…..BUT I WILL SUGGEST WITH A FAIR BIT OF CORROBORATING EVIDENCE, THIS IS EXACTLY THE WAY THE ECONOMY HAS DEVELOPED SINCE THE FREE LANDS GRANTS WERE OFFERED IN THE LATE 1860'S ONWARDS. THIS MAY NOT BE THE KIND OF RESPONSE MY READER WAS LOOKING FOR, BUT I ASK FOR SOME PATIENCE, SO THAT I CAN OFFER A CLEARER EXPLANATION.
IN THE NEXT WEEK OR SO, I WILL PRESENT A LITTLE HISTORICAL BACKGROUNDER, WRITTEN BY NONE OTHER THAN CHARLES DICKENS. NOT ONE OF HIS STORIES, SET IN THE MEAN STREETS OF ENGLAND, BUT RATHER OBSERVATIONS FROM A TOUR HE TOOK TO AMERICA IN THE 1840'S, VIA THE SHIP BRITANNIA, I BELIEVE. I HAVE A LATER EDITION OF HIS "AMERICAN NOTES," AND OF PARTICULAR INTEREST TO ME, IS THE REFERENCE HE MAKES TO THE STEERAGE CLASS ON THE SAME BOAT. THE POOR AND DESTITUTE, LOOKING TO AMERICA FOR A BETTER LIFE. FROM HIS FIRST CLASS ACCOMMODATION, BUT HIS ASTUTE REGARD FOR THE PLIGHT OF THE LESS FORTUNATE, HE PUBLISHES AN ENLIGHTENING ACCOUNT OF JUST HOW MISERABLE PASSAGE WAS FOR THESE POOR SOULS, INCLUDING CHILDREN AND THE ELDERLY……SOME WHO NEVER MADE IT TO THE PARADISE THEY WERE PRAYING FOR. ALL OF THEM GAMBLING ON THE POTENTIAL, THE FRONTIER ACREAGES, OFFERED BY LAND AGENTS TO THE MOST VULNERABLE IN EUROPE, WERE GOING TO BE FULFILLING OF DREAMS AND ASPIRATIONS. DICKENS, LONG BEFORE HE ARRIVED IN HALIFAX, AND ONTO QUEBEC AND ONTARIO, REALIZED THAT FOR MANY OF THESE FLEEING THOUSANDS, IT WOULD BE AN UNFORTUNATE ODYSSEY OF MISADVENTURE.
FROM MUSKOKA'S ORIGIN, THE POOR OF EUROPE, WERE ENTICED TO TAKE A CHANCE ON A NEW LIFE IN A NEW LAND. I'VE WRITTEN ABOUT THIS EXTENSIVELY, AND I DON'T WANT TO BORE ANYONE WITH THE SAME OLD, SAME OLD. THE GOVERNMENTS OF THE TIME IN THIS COUNTRY, SANCTIONED THE SOLICITATION OF THE MOST VULNERABLE, AND SO DID THE STEAMSHIP AGENTS, AND THOSE WHO WROTE SETTLERS' GUIDE BOOKS, MAKING THE HINTERLAND APPEAR IN GRANDER, MORE ACCOMMODATING TERMS, THAN IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN. THOSE WHO WERE DOING WELL FINANCIALLY IN EUROPE, HAD LITTLE IMMEDIATE INTEREST IN JOINING THE EXODUS FOR FREE LAND GRANTS IN CANADA, AND THE UNITED STATES. AS INVESTORS, SENSING THERE WAS MONEY TO BE MADE, SUPPLYING THE POOR HOMESTEADERS, THE PROVISIONS THEY NEEDED, THEY WOULD EVENTUALLY EMBRACE OPPORTUNITY TO IMPROVE THEIR HOLDINGS. BUT THEY HAD RESOURCES TO INVEST, WITHOUT THE SAME DIRE CONSEQUENCE, AS EMIGRANTS WITH ONLY PENNIES TO BALANCE THEIR SUSTENANCE. WHAT CAME AFTER THE FREE LAND GRANTS? PROPERTY SPECULATION! MANY WITH MONEY, SCOOPED UP HUGE TRACTS OF PARTLY CLEARED LAND, AND YES…..EVENTUALLY FLIPPED THE LAND FOR LARGE FINANCIAL GAINS. THIS HAPPENED IN MANY OTHER LOCALES, SO IT'S NOT JUST A MUSKOKA-THING. TAKING ADVANTAGE OF OTHERS IS A REALITY OF FREE ENTERPRISE. IT'S DEMOCRACY, AND AT TIMES IT'S TRAGIC AS WELL.
WHEN I HEAR AND READ STORIES ABOUT THE TERRIBLE CIRCUMSTANCES, THAT PREVAIL FOR THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE IN MUSKOKA AT PRESENT, AND READ HASTILY PREPARED EDITORIALS, THAT SEEM TO IMPLY POVERTY HAD ITS ORIGIN IN OUR REGION IN THE 1980'S ONWARD, I ADMIT FEELING THE NECESSITY TO FIRE BACK AN EDITORIAL, CORRECTING WHAT IS USUALLY A THINLY BASED, LAST MINUTE EDITORIAL, IN RESPONSE TO THE LATEST STATISTIC…..OR GOVERNMENT PROFILE. WE HAVE HAD TO DEAL WITH POVERTY IN OUR REGION FROM THE LATE 1850'S. SIMPLY BECAUSE OUR GOVERNANCE AT THE TIME, SOUGHT OUT THOSE PEOPLE WHO WERE DESPERATE, AND WHO WOULD TAKE-UP THE OFFER, TO COME TO OUR REGION OF ONTARIO, AND MAKE WORKING FARMS FROM SOME VERY POOR LAND. MANY SETTLERS, WHO HAD NO BACKGROUND IN AGRICULTURE, OR DEALING WITH A WICKED CLIMATE, STARVED TO DEATH ON THESE FAILED HOMESTEADS. BUT THEN THE ONTARIO GOVERNMENT KNEW THERE WOULD BE CASUALTIES, AND WERE QUITE INTERESTED TO SEE JUST HOW MANY WOULD SURVIVE, AND MANAGE TO EKE OUT SUSTENANCE FROM MODEST FARMSTEADS. TRUTH IS, MUSKOKA WAS AN EXPERIMENT. IN AGRICULTURAL COMMITTEE RECORDS, IT'S KNOWN THAT THE SETTLEMENT OF MUSKOKA WOULD HAVE A LOSS ATTACHED, JUST AS THE MILITARY WOULD BE ABLE TO CALCULATE BEFORE ENTERING CONFLICT. ACCEPTABLE LOSS, I THINK THEY CALL IT! HOW MANY FAILED AND DECEASED EMIGRANTS WAS TOO MANY?
THE SUCCESS OF THE HOMESTEADERS WAS ENOUGH TO SHOW THE AGRICULTURAL COMMISSION, THAT FREE LAND GRANTS WORKED. THERE WAS A LOT OF SIMILARLY POOR, WET LANDS IN THE NORTH, THAT ALSO NEEDED COURAGEOUS SETTLERS. IF HOMESTEADS COULD PROSPER, EVEN MARGINALLY, IN MUSKOKA, THERE WAS HOPE FOR DEVELOPING CRAPPY LAND ELSEWHERE. WHO CARED ABOUT THOSE WHO BECAME CASUALTIES OF A GOVERNMENT PLAN? CONSIDERING THAT THIS IS WHERE OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH DIRE CONSEQUENCE BEGAN, POSSIBLY YOU CAN SEE, THAT THIS WAS ONE INCREDIBLY ROOTED TREND THAT HAS, FOR ALL INTENTS AND PURPOSES, LASTED FOR ALL THESE YEARS. HERE'S WHY!
WHEN TRAPPING, LOGGING, AND THE TANNING INDUSTRIES FALTERED, THE TOURIST REVENUE BECAME THE OUTRIGGER FOR THE LOCAL ECONOMY. THE FIRST VISITORS TO OUR REGION, FOR HUNTING AND FISHING, WERE BACK IN THE 1850'S. BY THE MID 1870'S, EVEN THE HOMESTEADERS, WERE FINDING ECONOMIC ADVANTAGES, WORKING FOR THE BUDDING TOURIST ECONOMY. MUSKOKA'S LAKES AND RIVERS, AND VAST HINTERLAND (NOT MUCH GOOD FOR FARMING), BECAME A HAVEN FOR THOSE WISHING TO ESCAPE THE URBAN CLIMES. THE POOR WERE ESCAPING FROM THE FETTERS OF DEPRESSED ECONOMY, AND THE TOURISTS WERE ESCAPING FOR VACATIONS FROM THEIR PROSPEROUS ECONOMY. ON STEAMSHIPS INTO THE HINTERLAND, THE BOATS HELD THE RICH AND THE POOR, GOING TO ROUGHLY THE SAME PLACES, BUT WITH MUCH DIFFERENT OUTLOOKS ON THEIR TIME TO SPEND IN THE DISTRICT.
HOW DOES THIS RELATE TO MODERN DAY MUSKOKA
Tourism is the number one industry in Muskoka. Even thirty years ago, when we had much greater diversity of industry in this region, tourism out-performed all other established industries in our district. There was a time, and l remember it well, as editor with Muskoka Publications, that I watched as municipal councils started getting ridiculously cocky, about industrial diversification in our respective towns. What they forgot, for a long period of time, was that there was little encouragement for the tourism industry, which after all, is worth multi-millions each year. We stopped building resorts. We weren't even building average motel and hotel accommodations, and for awhile, it looked as if we were actually trying to become something we could never be……an industrial area. Quite a few industries tried, and some were successful. In the meantime, the pre-occupation with trying to create diversification, put us decades behind meeting the needs of the tourism economy. We allowed other tourist regions to gain on us, spending huge amounts, to upgrade their attractions and accommodations. What has always amazed me about this, is that local politicians seemed so bewildered during this period, as if it was unbelievable, industry wasn't able to thrive this close to Toronto and other major markets. The historian could find hundreds of precedents of the past, that if councillors had only asked, could have been offered, as clear evidence, the beanstalk syndrome was at best, wishful…..even delusional thinking. Not that there's anything wrong with diversification. What is wrong, is chasing magic beans, instead of looking at what the realities are……and this has always pointed back to our modern times' under-investment in tourism. But tourism is seasonal, right? It is. It has been. But it doesn't mean it is a forever thing. Unfortunately, there are still lots of key players, in local and regional government, still chasing the dream of industrializing Muskoka…..trying to prove that there's more to the local economy than tourism. This is their folly, and it has hurt Muskoka's bid to be competitive. Certainly in the past. What I will predict for those who are interested, is that, in twenty years, providing we have any environment left, Muskoka's number one industry will be tourism. If you don't like that projection, you'd better pack up and move. Unless of course you happen to be a municipal, provincial or federal employee. By the way. If there is ever a serious government downturn, such that civil servants are reduced in numbers, Muskoka will be the setting of the new realities of the "Grapes of Wrath," and "Tobacco Road," because these jobs give a false sense of security to the local employment profile. Consider the federal government staffing cuts. The province's debt-load, and the very real possibility, of future cuts to its bureaucracy. How depressed do you want to get? You see, historically speaking, I'd rather be enlightened by the truths of the economy, than live with the impulses of delusion, that often paint possibility where there is none.
While I sympathize with my reader-friend, there are troubling aspects to the local economy, that are irreparable. Just as many homesteaders, at least the ones who could physically do so, abandoned Muskoka entirely. In this region, there is nothing that will change local unemployment trends in the near future, and possibly for the next decade. The politicians who claim that diversification of the economy is possible, are misrepresenting the information they have at their disposal. With the current social / economic crisis, in our region, with more numbers added each month, there is no possibility this can be reversed, in a region that is over-retailed, under industrialized, and in that historic relationship with seasonal tourism. With the huge debt-load being faced by thousands of Canadians, and the potential of not only increasing unemployment, but many more personal bankruptcies, blending in with weak government initiatives to do anything more than plug holes in the proverbial dam, I find it difficult to provide optimism where I can find only potential for greater disaster.
The historical precedent is this. The ill-prepared settlers who arrived here, without much of anything to assist their survival, other than gumption and desperation, either stayed and made working homesteads, and learned to live with less, or they moved on to more fertile ground, in a better suited region. There are many accounts of this, particularly so with the Icelanders in the 1870's, who came to Muskoka looking for the milk and honey, and instead found rock, trees and swamp in north Muskoka. So many moved on to western Canada and the United States. While I am a big Muskoka supporter, and have been since I arrived here from the city, circa 1966, our family are amongst the survivors, who have had no choice but to diversify constantly, to make lives for ourselves in the hinterland of Ontario. There are thousands of success stories this way too, and if one has a passion for the region, and the willingness to take whatever chances are necessary, to balance life and economy, then, I would say, the pioneering spirit has planted a strong, healthy, resistant seed.
Our family, in one way or another, has always been involved in the seasonal tourist enterprise. My wife's family were pioneers in Ufford, and the Three Mile Lake area of the present Township of Muskoka Lakes, and they knew all about poverty and the fearful enterprise of struggling for survival. They made it! As a result, I have two boys today, who are Muskoka entrepreneurs, who have invested in main street commerce, here in Gravenhurst, begun on a pittance of capital, but pioneer determination to succeed. To this day, they haven't borrowed a cent from a bank, to fund their retail enterprise. They don't even accept credit cards or debit transactions, knowing they must run a lean business, yet provide every customer service expected of modern day retail. They are now entering their seventh year, and have just recently expanded into antiques and collectibles, to offer their own speciality of diversification, to meet the demands of their customers. There are success stories out there. But there is no minimizing, the destructive force of increasing poverty, on our entire region. From experience however, there just isn't a cure-all other than stop-gap measures that don't provide solutions…..just patches on top of patches.
The municipalities of this region are fighting a losing battle with both the province and the federal government, and for once I have to admit…..no amount of criticism aimed at them, is going to fix the problems of economic disparity. The upper levels of government stick to the stats they approve of……..not the ones you and I know, from everyday living in a small town, in a rural region, of a province very much in harm's way of indebtedness.
In tomorrow's blog, I'd like to begin sharing a few historical accounts, that in a small but significant way, point out, the relationship we have had with hardship from the beginning……and that it is all related to the present day…..despite the fact, historians are seldom invited to participate in municipal debates on the situation. Refusing to take into account the economic history of our region, destines their research to be hollow at the centre, and unreliable generally. We've had generations to deal with inequality in Muskoka, yet it always amazes me how our politicians will make naive statements about it, as if the circumstance was out of the ordinary, and an unexpected phenomenon we could blame on another country's fiscal problems. Our problems are homegrown. Sorry if we don't agree. I invited you to prove me wrong.
More to come on our historic economic woes.
Thanks so much for joining me today. Even though we don't always agree……shared opinions create enlightenment…..and we can never get too much of this! Please come again.
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