Many Canadians still live in tiny, almost-perfect small towns. The rest of us know of one or two such bucolic gems not far away. These towns seem somehow locked in a timewarp. Nothing changes very fast - hence their charm. But don't be fooled. The appearance of immutability is an illusion. Herewith a cautionary tale of how one such Canadian town got hung out to dry.
There's a heart-tugging, hoary chestnut of a movie that shows up on the boob tube late at night from time to time called Mister Smith Goes to Washington. Jimmy Stewart plays a small town scoutmaster rube who takes on the mighty powers that be in faraway Washington. This being the movies, Jimmy Stewart ends up turning the capitol on its ear and exposing all those corrupt old pork barrellers who took him for a gormless rube. Vintage Hollywood stuff: Little Guy wins; Bad Guys disgraced; Decent Folk live happily ever after.
What happens in real life when ordinary citizens take on the power structure? You don't necessarily get a Hollywood ending. Sometimes you get a nightmare. Take the case of Centre Wellington, in southern Ontario. Centre Wellington is one of those bureaucratic amalgams made up of several small towns and hamlets. One of the components that make up Centre Wellington is Elora, a leafy, sleepy village with charming, century-old limestone buildings, and handsome, well-kept homes all on the banks of the meandering Grand River.
It's not uncommon to see a Mennonite horse and buggy rig tied up in downtown Elora - if there's room among the hordes of cars from out of town. Urbanites flock to Elora because it's beautiful. And because it's not far from Toronto, which isn't. Elora has managed to hang on to a lot more of its picturesque past than most small Canadian towns, so it was a bit of a shock for many of its citizens to discover that its own town council was seriously considering bringing a casino and a raceway to town.
Slot machines and race track touts in Elora? That would be like seeing the Queen in motorcycle boots. Like hiring strippers on Parliament Hill. It sounded more like a skit from This Hour Has 22 Minutes than a serious proposal, but serious proposal it was.
What had turned Council's head (and that of other 'progressive' townsfolk) was the smell of money. The folks making the casino/raceway overtures promised a kickback to local authorities to the tune of five percent of slot machine revenues - roughly $1.5 million a year.
So pretty much everybody in town was on one side or the other. A hastily formed Citizen's Coalition drew up a petition opposing the plan. Hundreds of residents lined up to sign. But it was Council that would make the decision no matter how many petitions were signed, and Council was split right down the middle. The deciding vote was cast by mayor George Pinkney and George followed the dollar signs. The casino and raceway would come to Elora.
But the Citizens' Coalition didn't give up. They raised enough money to take the issue to court, arguing that the Council's approval was hasty and flawed. The judge found in favour of council.
Which is when things really got ugly. Having won the court case, Council turned around and sued one hundred of the coalition members for over $100,000 in court costs.
So here you have an elected body suing citizens who had the temerity to - responsibly and democratically -- disagree with its decision. Oh well, all that money that would soon flow in from the casino/raceway coffers would surely heal a few wounds and salve a few consciences, right?
Well, a funny thing about all that money. It seems that, what with nothing actually being on paper and all, the casino and raceway backers have seen fit to 'revise' their offer. Turns out that $1.5 million a year was a little optimistic. It'll be more like, oh, maybe $200,000 a year. And oh yeah - the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Commission will be clawing back $850,000 plus interest to pay for unforeseen 'infrastructure costs'. So it looks like the Council got burned -- but not as much as the citizens who had the audacity to stand up to it.
Still, some things haven't changed. Elora is still a stunningly beautiful town. So beautiful that California filmmakers have used it more than a few times as a movie set. Sophie's Choice was shot in Elora. So was Trouble In Paradise.
But don't expect to see a re-make of the feel-good, little-guys-win Mister Smith Goes To Washington shot in Elora. All the spin-meisters in Hollywood couldn't weave a fantasy that big.