A recent decision by the Municipality of Central Manitoulin to enter into a memorandum of understanding that would allow neighbouring M’Chigeeng First Nation to utilize the municipality’s waste treatment facilities should an overflow situation be imminent is yet another example of neighbours helping neighbours that is a hallmark of Island life.
This is just the latest example of Island municipalities working together for the common good. In the case of the Central Manitoulin/M’Chigeeng MOU, the two communities are putting in place the protocols that would be necessary to protect the shared resource of Lake Mindemoya—from which Central Manitoulin draws its drinking water supplies.
But there is also the Northeast Town’s ongoing agreement with neighbouring Sheguiandah First Nation on the use of the town’s landfill site and the temporary agreement that allowed Aundeck Omni Kaning to use the landfill while putting in place its own transfer station.
Other examples include the Manitoulin Mutal Aid agreement that sees fire departments across Manitoulin lending aid to its neighbours.
In a world where it seems we are being endlessly polarized and divided by political gamesmenship, Manitoulin communities stand as shining examples of how people of good will can work together to their mutual benefit.
Too often the world is focused on that which divides us, bent on endlessly nurturing past grievances or shortcomings and the diplomatic failures of national leaders to resolve conflicts. The result leads to an endless cycle of wars—despite the very clear evidence that working together actually benefits us all.
Currently, struggles for world domination are herding us all down the tariff rabbit hole, and one of the current candidates for leader of the most powerful nation on earth even has the weaponization of tariffs as one of the central tenants of his election platform.
Globalization has been blamed for the hollowing out of American industry, despite the mountains of data showing that free trade has improved the North American lifestyle.
The bilateral free trade in automobile manufacturing of the historic US-Canada Auto Pact led the way to the establishment of the North American Free Trade Agreement and then the expanded Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement, were all measures that improved lives on both sides of the borders between our nations.
The continuing economic reverberations of the global pandemic, the shortfalls of provincial domestic policies that have largely contributed to the current housing shortages and the rampant inflation that is just now coming under control have made of us meaner and angrier citizens looking to settle blame—and as per usual foreigners make for an easy target.
Populist politicians take advantage of that for short term political gain—but there is danger in that demonization that history points out to us only too clearly should we only deign to look.
The Baby Boom bulge has been looming on the retirement horizon for decades, with economists warning of the challenges that lie ahead when too small a fraction of the population is of working age. That future has arrived and the short-term solution was to encourage more immigration in order to stave off the pain.
There are many boogeymen to blame for our current challenges, but nearly all of them can be found in home grown and short-sighted political leaders more focused on gaining or keeping power and not enough on providing sustainable solutions. Our national lack of productivity has far more to do with inflation and poor economic performance than the levels of immigration. But immigration is an easy target.
We are a country built largely on immigration—a settler nation if you will, as are our neighbours to the south—and our immense successes have their roots in the open doors we have offered the world.
Working together is a far more sensible approach to the challenges facing the globe—unfortunately it isn’t always the easy road to office.
Thankfully, here on Manitoulin, as rural people tend to do, we work together for the common good. Let’s keep it up.
