"Town and gown" coming together offers potential for Cranbrook but college sits in isolation from community

By Michael J Morris

As Jake McInnis was stepping down after 11 years as president of East Kootenay Community College, now College of the Rockies in 1993, I chatted with him about the possibility of Cranbrook becoming a college town.

At the time I was a faculty member at the college and editor of Insider, a faculty magazine. In the interests of full disclosure in writing about the college, I became the first elected faculty member of the college board of governors, and took early retirement in 2000.

The college was first established in Cranbrook in 1975 but in the beginning classes were held in various buildings mostly in the downtown area. The college web site said it operated from 17 different locations but by 1982 the Cranbrook campus was opened. It also hads a presence in other communities.

Jake arrived from Vancouver Community College as the present campus was being completed.

During our conversation, Jake, as we all called him, referring to it as an "incredible benefit" to the entire region, and that the potential was "incredible" not only for the benefit it provided to students but as an industry, providing jobs.

As one who went to university in Waterloo, Ontario just as the two universities there, University of Waterloo and Waterloo Lutheran University (now Wilfrid Laurier University) were in their formative stages, I was able to witness the beginnings of a Canadian college town. Over the years beginning about 1960, it's been most beneficial to Kitchener-Waterloo to become a college (university) town. 

In my four years in Waterloo, businesses sprung up simply to serve the university community. It has continued.

Over the years, just as I generally love downtowns, I have added campuses and college towns to my list and at the risk of angering all my British Columbia readers, my favourite campus is the University of Toronto where one can wander about, ending up at Queens Park, University Avenue and  into the heart of downtown Toronto. I spent hours exploring the "neighbourhood" when I attended U of T -- and yes I have roamed about the University of British Columbia campus too.

So I welcomed the opportunity to ask Jake about the possibility of Cranbrook as a college town.

His reply: "I actually think of the concept of Cranbrook as a college town. It is quite conceivable that it will become one - a Canadian college town." He was making the point that college towns are much more common in the United States.

"The college could eventually become the principal employer in Cranbrook. It is an ecologically, socially and economically sound industry."

Well, Jake retired, 22 years have now passed, and Cranbrook is no closer in the "college town" sense of the word to becoming one than when we had our chat for the Insider article. A college town becomes the centre - socially, economically, culturally -  with spin offs into all aspects of community life.

But, another comment Jake made has come true. "The college is an important and valuable resource throughout the region. We've won. We're on track. We look like a college. We act and behave like a college. We are known and understood as a college."

Don't get me wrong. The college contributes greatly to the economy of Cranbrook and region, as it sits in splendid isolation from the rest of the community at its local campus. And that may be just fine as far as Cranbrook goes. In large measure, the college sits on the outskirts in town, known best to those who have some direct connection to it as students, employees or those who may periodically visit for some function being held there. Jake saw so much more potential, and sadly 22 years have passed, and in many ways, COTR is still a stranger in a strange land, of, but not really an integrated part of the community in which its main campus is located.

Let me share one interesting deleopment on college towns from an article on college towns from Wikipedia:  "...notable development since the 1990s is the surge in popularity of retirees relocating to college towns. Retirees are attracted to these locations because of cultural and educational opportunities, college athletic events, good medical facilities (often at teaching hospitals affiliated with medical schools), a low cost of living, and often a pedestrian- or public transit-friendly development pattern. Several development companies now specialize in constructing retirement communities in college towns. In some cases the communities have developed formal relationships with the local institution."

Maybe, just maybe, it is time for "town and gown" to come together to maximize the potential of each to make Cranbrook a more vibrant place for everyone. 

My email is mj.morris@live.ca

"Demographic Tsunamai" Looming in Canada's Health Care System as Population Ages

By Michael J Morris

UPDATED! Just over six years ago I was standing in the security line at the Greyhound station in Calgary waiting to be cleared to board the bus to Cranbrook after a quick trip to Foothills Medical Centre a few days earlier by air ambulance. I had just been discharged from Foothills  and was anxious to get home where my cat Buckwheat had been looked after by friends for the previous 10 days.

I struck up a conversation with the lady behind me in the line, and after telling her where I had been, the conversation turned to the challenges facing the health care system. It turned out that she was a retired registered nurse who had also sat on health councils designed to provide input to the government from the people. Anyway, we chatted for a bit, and agreed that a national conversation by Canadians was needed on the health care system.

Now, in the midst of a federal election campaign, Canadians should insist that the future of health care is an issue and all the parties clearly state their position.

My experience at Foothills and at the East Kootenay Regional Hospital  brought into clear focus that while I received excellent care in both hospitals, that may not always be the case as they are stretched to capacity, and packed with patients whose average age would be at least 60 by my unofficial survey. I wandered about the units I was in as soon as I was mobile and did an anecdotal survey on people's ages -- nothing scientific. And, the baby boomers are now starting to hit 65..

Let me be real clear on one thing. At Foothills which is a huge high level medical centre and at EKRH which is a regional hospital in a small community, I was so fantastically impressed by the professionalism and dedication to provide excellent patient care from doctors, nurses and all other staff despite how busy they were. Nobody ever lost his/her friendly attitude in either place.

To me, the looming health care crisis is the fault of successive federal and provincial governments, and to some extent municipal governments too, who have failed us as Canadian citizens by looking at our health care as a cost item in a budget rather than an investment in our well being. They knew the population was aging. They knew that health care professionals would be retiring. They simply failed to invest over the years and make necessary changes to ensure the viability of the health care system with a focus on patient care.

 Angela Mulholland of CTV News has  reported that "Most Canadians think this country needs a national strategy for seniors health care, believing such a plan would help keep seniors in their homes as long as possible, according to a new poll released by the Canadian Medical Association (CMA)."

According to a recent Ipsos Reid poll that was released along with the CMA's annual report card on health issues. It found that nine out of 10 Canadians feel that the entire health care system could be improved by keeping seniors at home as long as possible, to help lighten the load on hospitals and nursing homes. Mullholland reported.

It also revealed that only 37 per cent of Canadians have confidence in the ability of the current system to care for our aging population. 

As well, three-quarters of respondents said they were concerned for themselves about whether they would have access to high-quality health care in their retirement years.

Almost 80 per cent said they were concerned about having access to an acute care system, such as good quality hospital care, while almost an equal number worried about finding home care and long-term care, her report noted.

The CMA President Dr. Anna Reid told CTV News that  all levels of government need to act to address “the demographic tsunami” that is heading toward the health care system as aging baby boomers hit their most vulnerable years.

“The anxiety Canadians have about health care in their so-called golden years is both real and well-founded,” Reid said in a statement. “Let there be no doubt that a national strategy for seniors health care should be a federal priority.”

I was most fortunate to receive the care I did but four years later, here was a major report out where none other than the president of the CMA  predicted that a "demographic tsunamai" is looming in our health care system. The next time I may not be so lucky, and it will not be the fault of the dedicated professionals who do their best in a health care system unprepared to meet the challenges.

For example, when the paramedics, who by the way were super, wheeled me in to the Emergency entrance at Foothills, I thought I was on the set of the television drama "ER". How they ever manage on a daily basis to get everyone where they are supposed to go for treatment is really beyond me.

Without being melodramatic, I had this vision of being left alone in a hallway and become one of those horror stories we read about -- but the paramedics stayed right with me until I was in a bed in the emergency ward.

When I suggested a national conversation on the future of heath care in Canada, I did not mean another Romanow type commission or something run by the politicians. I am suggesting a grass roots chat among Canadians where they share their ideas, experiences and concerns about health care and let the politicians hear our voices. Perhaps it could all be done online with sites established where people could leave their comments. It can be by posting comments to candidates in all parts of Canada on Facebook and Twitter for starters.

Sadly, I have concluded that if we leave it to the provincial and federal governments, and municipal governments too,, it will be more of the same. For starters in a small way I invite you to leave comments here or email me at mj.morris@live.ca 

Political, economic and social challenges posed by decline of rural areas

By Michael J Morris

As I travelled from British Columbia to Ontario and back for a reunion in 2012, there was one constant refrain that stayed with me all the way, and remains with me now. I was witnessing first hand the decline of rural Canada, and quite possibly, if things don't change soon, Cranbrook may meet the same fate as I saw in other parts of the country -- boarded up hotels, service stations, stores, restaurants, and homes, in communities that may never have been really prosperous but held their own not so many years ago.

Transient that I have been, althought I have lived in Cranbrook almost 26, I am one of those fortunate Canadians who lived in Alberta. Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario before coming to British Columbia in 1989.

On my most recent trip to Ontario, I travelled by bus from Cranbrook to Calgary, flew to Ottawa, and then drove to North Bay, on to Sudbury and further across Highway 17 to Highway 129 and north for a high school reunion in my home town of Chapleau. I've made the Ontario portion of my trip many times, and that is when it struck me that things weren't the same, Some communities had all but disappeared except for the closed buildings. I flew back from Ottawa to Calgary.

Perhaps a sign of the times was that the busiest business anywhere on my trip was a Tim Hortons located just off the highway at Blind River, Ontario. 

While I noticed it most in Ontario, on the bus trips to and from Calgary, I saw the same situation developing in some communities in Alberta and British Columbia. Friends have  told me it's the same in Saskatchewan and Manitoba. I have to make a trip to Brandon, Manitoba, and if I can find a Greyhound bus that will get me from here to there and back, I will see for myself.

There has been some discussion recently about empty space in downtown Cranbrook, and as I continue my walking tours, I am noticing the same along 'The Strip' and certainly in the downtown area..

In those parts of rural Canada that have been especially hard hit, there has been a significant population decline, but so far statistically that does not seem to have become a significant factor in Cranbrook, although in the years I have been here, there has been a net population increase of about 15 to 20 percent. Not exactly inspiring considering that it was just over 16,000 in 1989.

Cranbrook may remain static for some time yet given its role as a regional service centre but if the outlying communities experience population decline, that will obviously affect this community adversely.

Writing in Dal News, a publication of Dalhousie University in Halifax in June 2012, Ryan McNutt notes that "the 'best of times' story is that Canada’s urban centres are strengthening in population, boosted in no small part by significant immigration numbers in major cities like Toronto and Vancouver. The 'worst of times' story ...  declines in rural areas, posing significant political, economic and social challenges for Canada’s future."

McNutt quotes Fazley Siddiq, economics professor at Dalhousie’s School of Public Administration and a fellow at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University as saying,  “It’s a real tragedy, because the metropolitan/non-metropolitan balance that we’ve had has been altered in a way that’s not desirable,” 

“It’s one thing to say that we’re becoming more and more urbanized, a modern industrialized country. Those developments sound positive, and they are in many respects. But behind the mask of that success is a hollowing out of much of the rest of Canada. And if it isn’t happening yet in certain parts of the country, the potential for this trend to get a lot worse is there.”

Dr. Siddiq noted that while urban growth is not without its challenges—congestion, pollution, traffic and infrastructure, housing and schooling—the increase in population brings with it more business activity and a larger tax base, which can support solutions for addressing those challenges. And then there are the positives of urbanization: more career opportunities, a younger dynamic population, housing booms and more."

Let me just add I believe that Cranbrook can avoid many pitfalls associated with urban growth mentioned by Dr. Siddiq with proper planning, and the creation of a conceptual framework that ensures a livable community in all its manifestations. That will take some compromising I know.

“A declining population, in contrast, I don’t see too many positives associated with it,” says Dr. Siddiq. “It can be quite traumatic for families and businesses when home prices go down, jobs become increasingly scarce and businesses no longer are sustainable in small communities. So then people leave, leading to another reduction in business activity and home prices. It’s a downward spiraling effect.”

Dr. Siddiq is studying population trends and their effect but in the McNutt article he did not sound overly optimistic: “Our history has been one of an expanding frontier, and economic activity spilling over. That’s why we have the country that we do. But whether we will continue to be able to sustain viable communities, viable populations, in far-flung areas, is something that causes me great concern.”

However, on a more optimistic note the Canadian Rural Research Network in its June 2013 report found that some rural areas are experiencing population growth - the one closest to Cranbrook that is included in top five rural regions in employment growth  is Camrose-Drumheller Economic Region in Alberta.  Showing employment growth above the national average for 12 consecutive months are  Thompson-Okanagan Economic Region and Cariboo Economic Region in British Columbia.

These regions may be places to start looking at how they are doing it, and they are not too far away.

The task of ensuring a viable future for Cranbrook, may not be easy, given the immense divide that seems to prevail within the community, but as Lyndon Johnson, former president of the United  States used to say when he was Senate Majority Leader, quoting from the prophet Isaiah, "Come, let us reason together." Much progress can be made when the focus is on those things that bring us together rather than those that divide us.

My email is mj.morris@live.ca

"When we enter into a child's world we are not in a strange land -- we are homeward bound."

Muriel Hunt Morris as young teacher

By Michael J Morris

Just recently I was having coffee with a friend, and told him I had no idea about a column which is pretty usual for me as I face the icy challenge of the empty page.

"You will think of something," he replied.

Never did I think that this week I would have been writing about my mother, Muriel E. (Hunt) Morris, and some comments she made a party for her when she retired after teaching at Chapleau Public School after 32 years in 1970. Mom also taught four years near what is now Thunder Bay.

Anyway, I came across  an article from the Sault Daily Star by the late Margaret 'Maggie' Costello, a distinguished American reporter and actress who had moved to Chapleau . Maggie had done a column about the party. It became the basis for my weekly column in the Chapleau Express, also posted on my own blog.

And why, you ask, am I sharing that event with you which occurred in "that place somewhere in Ontario", called Chapleau.

I am because of the overwhelming response I have received on comments my mother made at the party about teachers, parents and children.

Here they are as taken from the story by my good friend Maggie who I wish was here so I could thank her.

  "There have been many changes in education, but the function of teacher and parents has not changed. It is to guide children into self development, to create a climate for learning in school and at home.
 
"The home and school cannot be divorced if we are to be successful. The child must be encouraged to make the most important discovery of all -- himself or herself!. 
 
"The major concerns of childhood continue through the years."
 
"When we enter into a child's world we are not in a strange land -- we are homeward bound."

In 1968 when I was news editor at the Chatham Daily News, Mom decided to take a course and spend the summer with me. One day, the professor in typical professorial style commented that it was necessary to account for individual differences in children, and so on.

My mother raised her hand, and told him, "I think you mean all children are special with needs." Then she dropped the course.
 
Over the years, so many of my Mom's pupils have shared comments and memories of her with me which I have so much appreciated.

I was going to share some others with you but decided to simply focus on her comments at the party and let you think about them. However, I do thank everyone who has been in touch with me. 

As another school year begins, I believe her comments to parents,teachers, indeed to  all of us, apply today as much as they did in 1970. 

Mom died on March 4, 1989. My email is mj.morris@live.ca
 
 

"Number please?" from cheery voice of telephone operator soon as obsolete as land line phones

By Michael J Morris

When I was a kid growing up in a relatively isolated community in Northern Ontario in the 1940s, we didn't even have a telephone in the house. 

Then the local telephone company added more lines and we got a party line with another home, and by picking up the phone i heard the cheery voice of the telephone operator ask, "Number please?"

Soon thereafter, we got our own number which I still recall was 188, and during the 1960s when i was away from home at university and working as a newspaper reporter, operator assisted local calls were still in effect. In fact, I recall phoning the Chapleau operator late at night from wherever I was, and catching up on the local news. The operators knew everything and everybody.

For example, if I was calling Butch at home, the operator may say, "He is not there, He's at the Boston. He just called Roger from there."

Rotary dial phones and the beginning of the end for operator assisted calls, came to my small community about the end of the 1960s 

In 2015, the "land line phone" as they came to be called in recent years may soon be obsolete.

According to an article by Tamara Gignac in the Calgary Herald long time ago on December 27, 2013, "Land line phones — once deemed essential — are increasingly becoming irrelevant as younger users rely on cellphones or technologies such as Skype to communicate." 

Just try and find a landline phone in the Calgary International Airport for example, and for years I had trouble calling my buddy to tell him where I was in Orlando International Airport. But, progressive city that it is, they now have converted former pay phones into free complimentary ones for local calls.

I use Skype, Facebook, Twitter and email to communicate and  still have a land line phone, but I also have a new cell phone.  I primarily text on it, and when I'm having coffee in a restaurant, place it on the table just to show I am "with iit" like everyone else in the place.

Gignac quoted Tom Keenan, a professor in the University of Calgary's faculty of environmental design that In some ways, the 'classic land line' is already following in the footsteps of the rotary dial.

Professor Keenan predicts: “In the future, as phones merge with wristbands and smart watches, the land line will become a curiosity and houses will be built without them..."

In 2015 I am celebrating 21 years since I taught my first Writing for New Media course at College of the Rockies.My first fearless prediction was that the only constant in society was change -- and trust me on this one, I had a tough audience. Most of my students in that first class were college instructors, elementary and secondary school teachers and a smattering of college students.

The majority would not even agree that email would come into common use. And that's a  fact. I had business cards printed with my email on them. Only problem was, I had nobody to email.

Gignac also quoted Jim Carroll,  a trends and innovation expert: “We live in a world where technology enters our life, becomes a part of our life and then, boom, it’s gone."

These days I have been reflecting on "Living in Michael's World", the title of a presentation that a colleague made to COTR New Media Communications students circa 1997 about my fearless predictions for the future. Stay tuned, and please feel free to share your thoughts with me. My email is mj.morris@live.ca

I may even share my new phone number with you so we can text each other.

Defining a city with a Creative Village within it generates economic development opportunities

photo by Michael Pelzer, Uneek Luxury Tours

By Michael J Morris

Laura Guitar says there may be 1,000 factors that define a city, that create that sense of place and the identity that others recognize, desire and support, adding but, first, we have to create that place for ourselves.

Guitar was writing on a blog in 2010 in support of  a Creative Village in Orlando, Florida. She argued that with its place-making, emphasis is on supporting emerging industry and a new model for economic development - a creative village is a step in that direction. 

She explains: "At its core, Creative Village is a real estate development, a chance to elevate a parcel of land into a place defined by a cohesive collection of buildings, residences, open spaces and institutions. Were that all Creative Village was about, however, it would hardly be as significant as it has the potential to become."

In Orlando, the creative village concept originated with  Buddy Dyer, the visionary mayor of the central Florida city best known for the Magic Kingdom of Disney, who saw the need to continue to grow the creative community such that economic development opportunities might be generated.

WOW! I have been intrigued by the Creative Village concept for some time, and have been following its progress in Orlando , and had a bird's eye view of the downtown area included from the top of THE VUE, a condo development in the city's downtown heart on a recent visit there. Thanks to Michael Pelzer of http://uneekluxurytours.com fo arranging my visit.

In fact, just recently I set out for a walk through downtown Cranbrook, trying to connect dots and visualize a Creative Village here. I walked further than I had planned and ended up at First Avenue South, walked up to Third Street South and headed back to the downtown area. I stopped for a rest at Rotary Park.

I have walked the downtowns of many cities in North America, and believe to really discover what the city is all about, you need to walk it, if possible many times.

Imagine a Creative Village in Cranbrook or where ever you may live.. First though, a caution from Mayor Dyer. He wrote in a column for the Huffington Post that it is the result of a decade of hard work by the Orlando community to diversify the economy beyond its base of tourism and create the industries and jobs of the future. Emphasis on the future.

"These transformational projects, which began in the years prior to the recession, are slowly paying dividends as our community moves from recession into recovery and, ultimately we believe, into prosperity."

The vision for the Creative Village says it will be magnet for knowledge workers to live, work, learn and play in a place where high technology, digital media, and creative industry that is connected to the surrounding community and plugged in globally, innovative in its architecture, thoughtfully in creating living and working space.

The mayor is talking about creating the industries and jobs for the 21st century which requires quite a change in thinking for everyone involved. The same would apply here, but as I walked along, "blue skying" if you will, it could happen anywhere..

The mayor also recognizes the "toxic political culture" that is current in the United States, and perhaps, in Canada  too. But, through seeking common, collaborative solutions, progress is now being made.

Other projects are also underway in downtown Orlando, all of which complement the Creative Village concept. 

Almost 20 years ago now, when I was at College of the Rockies, we hosted a conference Called 'The Future is Now' -- and while the speakers were excellent, including Angus Reid and Ken Dryden, and people from outside Cranbrook attended, very few from the community did. But that was then and this is now. 

Methinks, given the empty space, including entire buildings on my walk, the time may have come for Cranbrook to realize it is time to accept the future is now for some creative thinking about its future.

I will be going for more walks, and if you would like to join me, great. I go in the early evening. My email is mj.morris@live.ca. 

One final comment -- You should know that when I taught urban and cultural Geography, my students were encouraged to go for walks.  

Opening doors as "the last refuge for the scoundrel" alive in the heart of our city

By Michael J Morris

Some years ago now I was walking along Burrard Street in Vancouver in the early morning hours when I saw across the street from me on one of the churches a huge banner proclaiming, "God is alive in the heart of the city."

I had no problem with the words on the banner, but I immediately thought of the homeless who would be unable to seek refuge there because the doors were locked. Some were sleeping on the steps in front of the church.

Churches have generally kept their doors locked for years now except when open for Sunday services and other stipulated times ostensibly to keep the "bad" people out, whoever they may be.

Perhaps I watched The Hunchback of Notre Dame too many times and looked at the church -- no matter the denomination -- as the last refuge for the scoundrel. At times in my less than perfect life, I have been so grateful when I have found the church door open and I could enter, rest and pray other than on a Sunday.

Shortly after I was elected as the faculty representative to the Board of Governors at College of the Rockies, I convinced Dr Wm Berry Calder, the president, to let me go to Vancouver and look at outreach education programs in the Downtown Lower East Side.

I visited the Carnegie Centre and First United Church right in the heart of the area. I walked from my hotel despite warnings that I should take a cab. It was an overwhelming experience but in the midst of the misery, I met many dedicated people working to make each day a little better for those who had fallen through society's cracks. And yes, the doors of the church were open and some homeless people were resting on the pews. And students were learning too.

I also visited the Gathering Place, a living room for those who need it in downtown Vancouver. There people can get a shower, wash their clothes, have a meal, read, shoot pool, work out it in the fitness centre and get advice and counselling, and of course, just visit and be among people. I have also seen some of the poetry written and art work created by folks at the Gathering Place. Amazing!

The college did not introduce any new programs but to his credit Dr Calder did have a report prepared.

So, you ask, what's my point?

Well, I am really delighted that Street Angel was launched here in Cranbrook. Ktunaxa Nation deserves credit and support.

I wouldn't likely have known about a weekly breakfast served at the Cranbrook United Church, shared by three churches, but I have friends who help with it. Great stuff!

There are other grass roots and "church roots" projects too even if the main doors are not open as much as I would like to see.

Now, lately I have seen more "words chasing words" about the project for the homeless here, but nothing much concrete seems to happen. How about it folks? Other communities, like Medicine Hat claim to be ending homelessness. 


Whatever our circumstances today -- whether we relate best to the citizens of the Downtown Lower East Side in an otherwise beautiful city or are facing the prospect of job loss and foreclosure on a mortgage or are still sitting in a comfortable pew, I am sure there are times when we felt homeless even when we had a place to live.

In these challenging times I believe it is time to throw the doors of the community open so that such banner rings true, "God is alive in the heart of our city" or if you prefer a non religious reference, "We are alive in the heart of our city" -- no matter where we live!

My email is mj.morris@live.ca

"Culture of collaboration" needed in Cranbrook to move community forward

By Michael J Morris

 Buddy Dyer, the visionary mayor of Orlando, Florida, is "literally changing the face " of the city best known as a major tourist destination.

  Mayor Dyer, first elected in 2003,  in an interview with Orlando magazine  said “It’s about being able to create a vision and bring a lot of people into it, then move forward."

 The mayor has been real big on creating a "culture of collaboration" bringing together all levels of government, business people, educational institutions, the medical profession, and philanthropists, and of course the citizens of Orlando who have re-elected him.

The Dr Phillips Centre for the Performing Arts was opened on November 6, 2014, as one example, but he has also championed a sports and entertainment complex, the Medical City and Creative Village -- and other major projects.

On my recent visit to Orlando, I had the opportunity to visit the Medical City project. It is simply amazing.

 The Creative Village possibilities have intrigued me for some time, and at this point, in the interests of full disclosure, I visit Orlando regularly, and write for three blogs, owned by an Orlando based business.

 The article notes that "Thinking outside the box with proposals like ... Creative Village, the high-tech business-residential mecca that would be a metropolis in itself, goes along with Dyer’s vision of having the kind of city that will draw a creative class—'talented young entrepreneurs who are going to come up with the next innovation in emerging media or medical science or things of that nature.''

 Cranbrook voters went  to the polls to elect a mayor and council, and it seems to me they elected some candidates who would turn back the block to the old ways of running the city. That's not an option folks,  given the overall decline in relatively rural communities across Canada.

During a recent trip that took me through rural areas of three provinces, I was quite frankly shocked at the decline of rural communities. 

 Another option is to simply muddle along basically with same old, same old attitudes that are similar in nature to turning back the clock.

 There is a third option. Continue to define and implement a new vision for Cranbrook.

 Yes, there will be roadblocks but if Mayor Dyer can do it with all the challenges an American city faces, surely Cranbrook is up to the task before it.

 Just imagine, if we were able to attract those "talented young entrepreneurs" who will take Cranbrook to the next level as a better place to live, work and play. Mayor Dyer is moving Orlando from the city which Disney made famous, and adding to the mix for the 21st Century.

Let us move us forward positively in all aspects of community life, and not be divided with rhetoric and an approach to municipal government from a bygone age that some still like.

 Let's heed Mayor Dyer's advice that we continue with the vision, bring the entire community into it and move forward. My email is mj.morris@live.ca