Often in education, dealing with discipline problems, we avoid the WHY question and concentrate instead on WHAT did you do? It’s the Barbara Coloroso school of classroom management. And it worked.
The WHY question leads to, “My father drinks,” or “My mother beats me.” None of that solves the behaviour problem. The WHAT is simple: “I hit Jasmean.” If we had asked WHY did you hit Jasmean, we could have had a myriad of answers. “Is it acceptable to hit someone else in a discussion?” “No.” “How will you avoid this the next time you and Jasmean have a disagreement?” “We will talk it out or I will come to see you.”
Problem solving 101. It’s easy in the classroom with fresh minds. It’s not the same in civics with ambitious politicians. If you need to track down the root of an issue, you have to go to the WHY first. Why is Doug Ford pushing a housing crisis? Why are all of his developer friends supporting this push to unaffordable housing? Why was Bill 3 attached to cash incentives for municipalities to build more homes? Follow the money trail.
This isn’t just a Caledon issue. This is a southern Ontario issue. Wherever there is liveable real estate available someone is going to make a bundle. Unless you get kicked out of messing with Niagara-on-the-Lake, So, why re-route the 413 extension? WHY? Who stands to benefit from housing and close to smooth transportation in those areas? No way it could be the the influential developers who flock to Ford’s fundraisers? From one hand to the other.
This issue isn’t about our little Mayor. This issue is about the Ford’s government’s passing of Bills that allowed this to happen. From Bill 3 onward there’s the “WHY” and then we can get to the WHAT. What do we do about a system that is so corrupted in self aggrandizing greed that it destroys communities and ecosystems.
None of the developers involved are to be condemned. Most are hard working individuals who have struggled through immigration, from construction to development, and have built financial empires. They all give back generously from their profits to local groups, Especially at Doug Ford events. And they put their names on medical facilities and just so we don’t forget how caring they are. I would have preferred The Vaughan General Hospital, but there’s no community adulation to my family’s name in that.
If you want to know the WHAT is happening here, you have to trace the WHY. Follow the money trail. Billions are about to be made on the reroute of the 413, and our abandoned Science Centre is a sign of things to come. Swan Lake is our a canary in a developer’s coal mine.
Yes indeed, It’s like Leonard Cohen sings, “Everybody knows!”
The way I see it. 
We are bearing witness to one of the most obscene moments in 21st century history. A President with a malignant narcissistic personality disorder is sitting down with a President who is the epitome of the cold blooded killer to determine the fate of another country.
So, being me, I just had to meet Tony. Two days ago I walked up to the door and introduced myself and thanked him for making the world a more beautiful place. Tony invited me in and introduced me to his wife Lisa. We started chatting and discovered that we were both retired teachers. Not unusual, but then 6 degrees of Kevin Bacon happened!
We already knew things were rotten in many of our political states, but sometimes the explanations that politicians give for their actions is like we were in a dreamworld. “Oh yes, my family personally benefited from my cryptocurrency scam, but it did not affect my decision to allow people to bid for a seat at my dinner table.” “Oh yes, this developer contributed thousands to my personal fundraiser, but it did not affect my decision to change our laws to give him what he wanted.” Ay, there’s the rub.