The Letter to The Editor They Didn’t Publish

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Letter to The Editor: Election Sign Pollution 

“The municipal election in Caledon is still a month away, and already the lawns, plaza boulevards and roadsides are being infested with an overabundance of election signs. Of particular discussion in my Ward 5 in the Bolton area, is why a Councillor candidate from Ward 6 has his signs all over every possible high visibility public space he can find in Ward 5, in fact all over Caledon. And why are those signs always in an unholy trinity of signs with a Mayoral candidate and a Councillor candidate for Ward 5?
The answer is twofold. All three share the same over zealous campaign manager, famed for pounding in signs wherever there’s a greenspace or fence or high visibility street corner. Secondly, name recognition. When you go to the polling booth, rushed and uniformed, the name you have seen most often on the streets can sway a tired mind to check off the most easily recognized name. It worked for “The Gang of Five” in the last election. Hopefully, it will not  work for the “Three Amigos” this time around.”
Skid Crease, Caledon”

On the 20th of September 2026, I wrote and sent this letter to the local Editor of our only print newspaper, the Caledon Citizen. I sent it in response to neighbours complaining about the walls of election signs that were beginning to dominate the Bolton landscape and every highway and byway through town and country in Caledon. Three in particular stood out. An interesting trio of signs from candidates: Mario Russo for Mayor of Caledon, Tony Caputo for Councillor, Ward 5, and most unusual was Cosimo Napoli for Ward 6,

People were asking, “Why is a Ward 6 candidate filling up the landscape with election signs in Ward 5? And why are the very large Russo, Caputo and Napoli signs always grouped together?” Note that signs for Tony Rosa would have joined that trio had he not been acclaimed, The answers are simple. First, to paraphrase the satirical “Eat shit, ten million flies can’t be wrong” poster: “Vote for ME! Ten million election signs can’t be wrong.”

That Letter didn’t get published in the Thursday’s edition. Here’s why it is important in the net municipal election

Rosa, Russo, and Napoli were part of the infamous “Gang of Five” along with Doug Maskell, who voted with our Strong Mayor as a pro-developer hive mind on almost every issue of land use, housing, greenspace  protection (or abandonment of it) for our Caledon rurban community. The “Swan Lake” debacle became their first defeat and led to a lot of reverse engineering in their Council motions and  electoral campaign literature.

Secondly, they all share the same campaign manager, Mr. Terry Groves. Now, there is no denying Mr. Groves’s energy and commitment in signage and leaflet delivery for his candidates, Unfortunately he appears not to have read the new By-laws that explains clealry where election signs can be placed legally. But that won’t matter on election day. A tuned out public will always go with the message most frequently broadcast. Like flies. Name recognition braqinwasing is just business. But it often doesn’t lead to ethical governance.

Mr. Groves, the ex-husband of the retiring Mayor, now handles the private $1.5 million raised by her “community galas” not sanctioned by the Town and not open for public audit. Caledon Community Inc. is the newly established non-profit charity that stores the monies raised by Ms. Groves “community galas”, and is continuing to solicit donations under a private email address. Although she promised full public accounting of the funds and who received them, she recently told The Enterprise, “I said I would. But you know what, thinking about it, I really don’t need to.”

Terry has left  his job as a school caretaker and is now the manager for a brand new business, the Renewed Hope Cafe in Bolton. You’ll never guess which political candidates regularly meet there with their campaign manager. But I digress. Here is the letter that did not get published. Ms. Groves, you really, really need to disclose your fundraising totals and community distribution before we…

Letter to The Editor: Election Sign Pollution

“The municipal election in Caledon is still a month away, and already the lawns, plaza boulevards and roadsides are being infested with an overabundance of election signs. Of particular discussion in my Ward 5 in the Bolton area, is why a Councillor candidate from Ward 6 has his signs all over every possible high visibility public space he can find in Ward 5, in fact all over Caledon. And why are those signs always in an unholy trinity of signs with a Mayoral candidate and a Councillor candidate for Ward 5?
The answer is twofold. All three share the same over zealous campaign manager, famed for pounding in signs wherever there’s a greenspace or fence or high visibility street corner. Secondly, name recognition. When you go to the polling booth, rushed and uniformed, the name you have seen most often on the streets can sway a tired mind to check off the most easily recognized name. It worked for “The Gang of Five” in the last election. Hopefully, it will not  work for the “Three Amigos” this time around.”
Skid Crease, Caledon”
Feel free to share – election day is coming soon, and we are sleepwalking into a real nightmare if a pro-development. anti-farmer, rape the greenspaces council is elected.
The way I see it.
Skid Crease, Caledon

“I was ready to jump in, and they emptied the pool.”

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Every once in a while we all listen in on a conversation that just grabs our attention and leaves us with food for thought. Recently I overheard a discussion that did just that. Before I begin, ponder if you had grown up with bibliophobia – the fear of reading – then suddenly challenge yourself to read a book a week in order to conquer your fear. You go to the library, and it is closed. In fact, your society has chosen to condemn literacy and burn the books!

Back to the conversation. It was among a group of women discussing what appeared to be a difficult situation – mother attempting to end a marriage and protect her children. She described to the others a moment when, as a young girl, she had gone to a community outdoor swimming pool with friends. They had a high platform diving pad that was the big challenge for kids to jump or adults to dive from the platform – a true test of courage,

The woman said she clearly remembered as a child climbing the staircase to the tower, curling her toes over the edge of the platform … and then backing away and descending the ladder to the ground. It caught my attention because I had done exactly the same thing in the 1950’s at the Olympic outdoor pool  in North York. The one metre and three metre springboards were no problem – my Dad had been a champion high school swim team diver in Windsor, and had taught me well.

But the concrete unforgiving edge of the five metre diving platform was a challenge I backed away from several times. The day I summoned the courage to take the jump, my Dad was watching from the pool deck. From his cheers and warm hug after, you’d think I had just done a swan dive off the cliffs of Acapulco. But what if, on the day I had made the decision to jump, that had emptied the pool?

Back to the present day discussion I overheard. The woman in question sounded like she had laboured long and hard about the decision to leave her partner – she sounded concerned about his reaction, concerned about her children’s safety. Having finally made the decision, she got blindsided by legal small print. She had been to lawyers several times to fill out the appropriate papers, had met her deadlines, and then was told her day to serve papers had been delayed, There was another form needed, and then another. And then the lawyers went on vacation.

And there she was, standing on the edge of the diving platform, finally confident In herself to take the jump … and they had emptied the pool.

Read the books before they burn the libraries, take the plunge before they empty the pool, and when it’s time to get out of Dodge, pack your bags and go and don’t look back. A cautionary tale, the way I see it.

Skid Crease, Caledon

Ecclesiastical Crime

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The term “Ecclesiastical Crime” originally referred to the buying and selling of Church offices, or personal salvation, and covered violations like heresy and schism by church officials. Today, it is specifically used for misappropriation of donation monies. A recent study by the Princeton Theological Seminary estimated that over $62 billion USA dollars are stolen from churches, para churches and secular organizations all over the world. These donations by “Christian” believers alone are lost through a web of money-laundering, embezzlement, and fraud. It is equally widespread among Churches, Synagogues, Temples, Mandirs and other cult compounds.

Often a church or para-church will set up an arms-length secular charity that will collect donations for “community care” programs like homelessness, If the private business is also offering pastoral care and spiritual guidance to their customers, you know that a para-church is involved. Donated funds can disappear anywhere – private purchases, political donations, bribery schemes, the possibilities are endless. While making donors feel all warm and fuzzy about their charitable donations that are supposed to assist local support services and global relief initiatives, the monies collected are rarely accounted for properly.

According to the data assembled by my research assistant Claire Ayigh, the collection plate is most frequently tipped into pockets that “support the personal luxury, private business ventures and lifestyle inflation of the internal perpetrators, as well as complex cover-ups to hide the thefts from auditors.” If there is a religious component involved, these “scam churches or institutional ‘pulpit predators’ exploit the mercy, empathy, and deep faith of their parishioners by weaponizing sacred concepts to extract wealth, compliance and unquestioning devotion.”

The recent case uncovered by the police in an operation called Project Great One, led to fraud charges against the pastor of the Vaughan/Woodbridge branch of The Miracle Arena for All Nations (MAFAN) whose leader, (and Honorary Doctor of Divinity) Prophet Kofi Danso, stated that Pastor Issac Oppong has now been dismissed from the para-church.

In a time of great financial insecurity, societal upheaval, and global chaos, it becomes much easier to prey on the kindness of a community. To quote the Hunger Games President Snow, “Hope is the only thing stronger than fear.” And like fear, hope can paralyze us into inaction. We hope, and hope that’s enough. Pierce Brown, wrote in his science fiction series  the Red Rising Saga, “Hope is an opiate, not a plan.”

We need a really, really good plan to get safely out of this current age of madness. So let’s be very careful about where we put our energies and our empathies and our donations for community care and global relief. The scam artists smell blood in the water and they are circling.

It’s time to get our feet back on solid ground. The way I see it.

***

NOTE: Prophet Kofi Danso’s honorary doctoral degree in divinity was awarded by the Canadian Christian Theological Seminary in Calgary, Alberta.

 

Ontario Nature Youth Summit 2026

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This past weekend, from September 11 to 13, 2026, Ontario Nature (ON) held its 15th annual Youth Leadership Summit at the supernaturally beautiful Tawingo Outdoor Centre in Huntsville, Ontario.  Originally known as the Summit for the Environment, Ontario Nature’s annual event is now called the Youth Summit for Mother Earth and incorporates a deep respect for indigenous teachings, cultures, and the sovereignty of our First Peoples in North America.

The ages of the attending youth range from 14 to 20, and the program is run “by youth, for youth” … BUT … they welcome Elders into their young circle of passion and enthusiasm with respect. I had been invited as a guest speaker and workshop leader at the first Summit held at Cedar Glen YMCA fifteen years ago. The event disappeared from my radar during Covid when they lost their new site at Geneva Park YMCA on Lake Simcoe.

Then a notice popped up on my email this spring that there was going to be a Summit at Camp Tawingo. They were back! And it turned out, so was I. Under the leadership of Christine Ambre and her Ontario Nature Youth Council leaders, the three days were an inspirational blend of indigenous wisdoms and ceremonies, up close looks at wetlands and insects and herptiles and birds, the macro world of nature photography, the impacts of climate change, and the power of finding and using your voice. “I have seen the truth, I am speaking the truth.”

The youth represented a cross-section of Ontario’s cultural diversity from across the province and it was remarkable to see, once again, how complete strangers could become a community in only three days. Our wise elders, Chris and Jackie. kept us tuned into the rhythm of the land and water, and respect for Mother Earth.

As it did fifteen years ago, when I was honoured to help Sarah Hedges launch the first ON Youth Leadership Summit  at Cedar Glen YMCA, this Summit re-inspired all of my ecological engines. The Tawingo Outdoor Centre staff, in the halo of Jack Pearse, original founder, and his legacy, welcomed everyone with open hearts. This Youth Council is the voice of a healthy future for Ontario ecosystems and communities. They know exactly what the adults voting for their futures are leaving them. They don’t like lies, they don’t like media spin, and they want real change, meaningful positive action.

The goodbyes were both joyful and tearful as the buses left Tawingo.

In my own notes I wrote, “Who will protect Ontario from our own government. from bills that eliminate environmental protections?  We don’t need more jails, the Trump threat is overplayed, and the greed for development is obvious. We need more environmental education in our school systems and more opportunities for youth to engage in experimental learning in a natural setting. Our Ontario government is misusing taxpayer dollars to promote an agenda few of us want.”

Our youth want honesty and integrity and genuine caring for their future, not greed for the next  developer’s donation. To Paraphrase the Tina Turner song, “They don’t need another hero, they don’t need to know the way home. All they want is life beyond our Thunderdome.”  And they want to be the positive agents of change.

As one of the Tawingo staff wrote to me in a book inscription, “We can make a difference, you and I ,,, we can make a difference if we try. Drop a pebble in the water, just a splash, and it’s gone. But there are half a hundred ripples circling on and on and on.”

Making the world a more beautiful place, one pebble at a time, The way I see it.

Skid Crease, Caledon

*****

NOTE; The primary mission of Ontario Nature is to protect wild species and wild spaces through conservation, education, and public engagement. The Youth Summit for Mother Earth is just a part of the wide range of youth programs organized by ON, as well as their myriad programs for all ages.

Rewild the Child

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A child’s mind explodes:
“Classrooms are prisons
And we will not be told
What to learn, and why,
And what to believe,
And what to buy.”
We tear up our room,
We tear off the bars,
We run to the beach,
We remember the stars.
Our breathing slows,
Our panic ebbs away,
Our bare feet in the sands
Our ears on the waves
Our hearts in your hands.
We are one with the water
And one with the land.
“Our school is here,” we cry,
“In these breathable spaces,
Outside of the cages,
The judgemental faces.”
The parents sigh, knowing
The children are right, and knowing
The cost of speaking
Our Truth
To a system immersed
In reducing our worth.
So, we sit on the beach
And understand that we are
Fire, Earth, Water and Air.
 We find peace in the sun
knowing that we and our ecos
Are One.
We dream of the guides
Who’ll help us discover what’s true,
Who will understand pain and
How to find a way through.
And the mentors that we’re
Seeking to teach us,
The ones who see me and you,
Are the Elders who taught us to believe
In what we already knew.
***
This poem is dedicated to all of the educators who broke down the walls and guided their children into the sacred spaces and places, close to nature, inspired to be good stewards of this miracle that is our Home Planet. And to all of the students who taught us that “normal” is not. The way I see it.
Skid Crease, Caledon