By Doug Draper
There is a classic old Three Stooges film about the three knuckleheads pretending to be plumbers and botching things up so badly in a house they were working on that water started squirting out from electrical appliance in the place.
Hey, knuckleheads! Who's running this place anyway?
When one of the house servants goes to turn the stove on and water comes showering out of the elements and bursting from a light fixture on the kitchen ceiling, he lets out with the words; “This house has sure gone crazy.”
These days it seems like Fort Erie, Ontario – a border community in Niagara I used to think had its act together as much as any municipality can in an age when so many municipalities across the continent are facing some pretty serious economic challenges – is a municipality that has sure gone crazy.
Indeed, when you have the mayor of the town, Doug Martin, make the following statement; “I’m not going to tell the clerk to tell the people we’re not crooks,” during one of the more recent (April 11) council meetings, you have got to begin to wonder if you aren’t watching a sequel to the classic old 1960s movie spook on nuclear war, Dr. Strangelove. It conjures up memories of that famous old Richard Nixon line too; “Your president is not a crook.”
But speaking of nuclear war, things certainly seem to have gone radioactive in the Town of Fort Erie over the past couple of years, what with the highly divisive battle over plans to build a high-rise condo in front of Bay Beach, one of the few remaining open public beaches (Bay Beach) along Niagara’s Lake Erie shores. Add a proposal to build a huge NASCAR racing car stadium in a rural area of the municipality and it is no wonder the town’s council chambers and the spacious lobby leading into it are packed full of residents many weeks for council meetings that can get a little on the heated side.
The Fort Erie mayor’s recent “we’re not crooks” line was part of a council discussion over a flyer that has been circulating around town – this one presumably produced by individuals or groups in favour of the Bay Beach Condo tower – that makes negative remarks about the town’s economy, the condition of the beach and some “crooked” actions on the part of some of the town’s councillors and others in the community.
This comes after the town’s Economic Development Office pursuing legal action against Sharon Bowers, a Fort Erie resident and longtime council watchdog, and some of the comments on her blog site, the Crystal Beach Strand, that it regards as defamatory. As an extra interesting wrinkle that may very well garner the town some widespread attention it may regret if this case goes to full trial, the Economic Development Office even named Google, Inc. in its suit, the internet host for Bowers blog and a multi-national corporation that could quite easily buy the Town of Fort Erie with the money out of its petty cash box. And actually, I’m coming to the conclusion based on the amount of email I am getting from frustrated Fort Erie residents these days, that a buying up of the town by Google might not go over so badly if Google promises to give a full hearing to the residents before embarking on development projects of a major nature.
Certainly, some of the comments that appeared on Bowers’ site were a bit over the top, as is the case with many blog sites all over this crazy world, and the site has been scrubbed of most if not all of those now. But you can visit Facebook and other sites in the same town, operated by people who support the condo tower, and find comments that stumble into the same off-colour zone as those posted on Bowers’ site.
How many more times do some of those bloggers have to keep calling some of the town councillors who question these developers “clowncillors,” for example? I’d like to think that if some member of the public stood up at one of the town’s council meetings and used that play on words to describe some of the elected representatives sitting around the council table, the mayor would call them out of order.
And how about a comment that talks about ‘blowing up the Peace Bridge’, as if to say that we might just as well blow up this bridge if we don’t move forward with the condo tower, NASCAR stadium, etc. At a time when our American neighbours are particularly sensitive about terrorist attacks and about anyone thinking about blowing up anything, how much more irresponsible can one get than talking about the blowing up of a major border bridge – even if it is only rhetoric – as a device for making an argument? Perhaps, out of respect for our American neighbours, if not for residents on both sides of the border, the town should conclude that the person who used that kind of language should be persuade legally, as much as Bowers.
One might have hoped that the EDO for the town and its mayor and council might just soar ahead of all of this stuff – the good and the bad and ugly – and just move on. Hey, if the EDO, the mayor and a majority of councillors truly believe they are on the right path, why not just ignore bloggers like Bowers. Take the high road, show some class, and move on. If you are right, then history will prove you are right.
But no. The EDO and a majority of the For Erie council has to get right down in the mud and by all reports, seems to enjoy it. What a shame and what an un-class act.
As a native Niagara resident whose family has a history in the south end of our region and has always had a soft spot in my heart for Fort Erie and the many people in that community whom I’ve know for years and whom I know care and are concerned about that community, I feel bad writing this and – forgive me – for getting back to this.
But the way the town is going now, I can’t help but get back to maniacal antics of The Three Stooges. And as Moe said to Curly in that episodes about the plumbers before hitting him on the skull with a wrench; “Now look what you have done you numbskull. You’ve wrecked all of our work.”
If those in favour of one more example of why we should think about moving to one ‘City of Niagara’, this is it.
(Share your comments below on this story and visit Niagara At Large at www.niagaraatlarge.com for more news and commentary on matters of interest and concern to residents in our greater Niagara region and beyond.)
Niagara At Large 
Also from Dr. Strangelove:
Gentlemen, you can’t fight in here! This is the War Room.
Great article. I did point out, in my latest issue of The Strand that many of the comments made in the flyer were made by contributors to Martin’s election campaign. Click Here for The Strand
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Pingback: Fort Erie, Ontario – One Municipality That ‘Has Sure Gone Crazy’
Fort Erie and its parochial administration are in some kind of Twilight Zone. Typical old-boys insiders’ club. I doubt most of them could manage a one car funeral.
Absolutely nothing this town does is truly progressive or of lasting value. (Well we do have a Walmart and Tim Horton’s if that is considered progress!). Jobs have left in droves and any economic, cultural, natural and historical assets have been and continue to be squandered. (A perfect contrast would be Niagara on the Lake which has taken full advantage of its historical, geographic and cultural assets).
Subdivisions are being built for someone, not sure for whom. Other areas, like along Dominion Rd. in Ridgeway, have been plowed up and deforested and left in a mess – but with services at the ready, for no one. There are big piles of soil elsewhere where other projects have fallen through. Meanwhile our hospital is gone and there are no jobs to attract anybody new.
The town keeps pushing the Casino as a big attraction and encourages people to “discover” it. There is an information centre opposite it which is about as empty and unused a waste of money as is imaginable. The previous location was at least convenient. I realize this is likely of provincial jurisdiction but was anybody thinking when that was built? No doubt an election gift for someone.
The Celtic Festivals and Friendship Festivals were once eagerly anticipated but are now shadows of their former selves.
Being at one of the busiest border crossing points should be an asset but that advantage too is being squandered.
Why do we need a race track (auto) with its noise and pollution in an environmentally sensitive area when it too will likely be a bust? How about clean and REAL industries? Look at places like Guelph and Cambridge and how they have advanced with jobs in relatively clean industries. Very progressive cities. I don’t care to live in a big city myself but surely some economic progress can be made considering our strategic location.
The town is dying. The essence of Crystal Beach as it once was is gone replaced by the new gated communities. Crescent Park is a swamp with all kinds of flooding problems. Jarvis Street is like a ghost town movie set. Half of the town (Point Abino lighthouse, lakefront properties and beach access, Marcey’s Woods, &c) is privatized and off limits to us commoners.
Best that unscrupulous individuals and investors grab a buck while they still can with stupid projects.
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Dear Doug,
Perhaps the Town should use it’s resources to sue these bloggers and flyer distributors? There seems to be a precedent for trying to silence the opposition.
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Ya, how about use the resources to fix the roads. Wait sorry ,What resources Redekop used all those up. Its pathetic that we as a town let this happen. Why don’t we do this ! Not vote in over aged people that have no vision to life let alone a town, get some youth into the mix with some new ideas.
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WHY CAN’T WE TRY TO GET ALONG , COMPROMISE, AND PROGRESS……. DIVERSITY IS WHAT MAKES THE WORLD GO ROUND……. DOESN’T FREEDOM OF SPEECH AND LETTING THE MAJORITY RULE EXIST ANY MORE……. WHY ARE WE SPENDING SOOOOOOOO MUCH TIME ON TOPICS AND VENTURES (e.g. the Peace Bridge) AND FIND OURSELVES GOING NOWHERE.
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Doug:
Your article appears to have left out a few salient facts.
1. Our legal system convicted Bowers of far worse crimes than “going a bit over the top”. She was found guilty under the law of the land.
2. Bowers proudly admits to being the first to use the term “clowncillors” when refering to members of the previous council that supported the tower.
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What is tragic is that Fort Erie Council is so unaware of the historic and natural heritage they need to protect. Both the Bay Beach scheme and the motorway, shows the need to simply “stand up to stupidity”. If Fort Erie was to decide to live within its urban boundaries and respect hazard land mapping along Lake Erie it would as beauty is more appreicated overtime, have the basis for a vibrant community, that people would want to invest their dreams and energies in. Instead the councillors seem intent on making the same mistake warned against in the Bible- of selling once heritage for a mess of pottage.
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If people want to “stand up to stupidity” they should be standing in opposition to spending $1,400,000.00 to repair a crumbling lighthouse in a locked out area. Brilliant invest in historic, natural heritage that can only be viewed from a boat.
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I must now correct Nick Stugar because he obviously does not even possess a rudimentary knowledge of the law:
I have not been found guilty of anything. The only thing that has happened is that there was an injunction stating that I had to remove (and not re-post) any inflammatory material about the EDTC and Jim Thibert. (I had already complied with that months ago.) I was also ordered to pay court costs of $6500. Please understand the difference between an injunction and a trial. Ironically, just yesterday I had a criminal background check done on myself at the NRP and I have no criminal record. Perhaps you should be made aware that you may have given me grounds for a slander suit.
As to the “clowncillor” reference: I did indeed coin the term. Actually, it started as a typo: hit the “l” after the “c” instead of the “o.” OMG! A new word! Used it to describe the circus-like atmosphere at a council meeting that I had attended in 2007. There was name calling and incredibly bad behaviour on both sides of the podium. It was a disgrace. Unfortunately the same behaviour was repeated many times over the next three years. But I also know when to retire a joke.
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Nick Strugar appears to have confused “the law of the land” with the rules of “The Man.” Laws never change -Nick- but good-ole-boy rules do, and so do good-ole-boy judges. Let us hope, for misogyny-reduction purposes, Miss Bowers get’s a fair hearing in a proper court, if in fact that’s still possible in the right-wing country now referred to as “The Harper Government.”
“Surely by now there can be few here who still believe the purpose of government is to protect us from the destructive activities of corporations. At last most of us must understand that the opposite is true: that the primary purpose of government is to protect those who run the economy from the outrage of injured citizens.”
— Derrick Jensen (Endgame: Volume 1: The Problem of Civilization)
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Nick appears to be confusing “the law of the land” (the law of the land is a collection of natural forces) with the *rules* of “The Man.” Laws don’t change, good-ole-boy rules do -though- and so do good-ole-boy judges. Miss Bowers, a speaker of truth to good ole boy powers, is being persecuted for telling the truth and speaking up against small town idiocracy & chamber-of-commerce-driven gov’ment.
[“Surely by now there can be few here who still believe the purpose of government is to protect us from the destructive activities of corporations. At last most of us must understand that the opposite is true: that the primary purpose of government is to protect those who run the economy from the outrage of injured citizens.”
— Derrick Jensen (Endgame: Volume 1: The Problem of Civilization)]
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So we are to listen to and believe Eric who espouses the philosophy of Derrick Jensen. Derrick Jensen is an anarchist who believes that modern civilization is doomed. He opposes industry and technology and advocates a return to wild primitive living. Is it possible that he and Eric use the same primitive substances?
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“People have a right to voice their opinions about environmental issues in their communities. Sometimes that right is threatened by lawsuits that are intended to silence people. Those lawsuits are called Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPP). We want Ontario to outlaw SLAPPs, as Quebec and many American states have already done. Support for creating such a law in Ontario is growing. Environmental Commissioner Gord Miller has called SLAPPs a threat to public participation and asked the government to create effective laws to prevent them.” http://environmentaldefence.ca/campaigns/protecting-public-participation
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Good job Hill, Lubberts and Collard. You’ll probably be slammed right out of the next election with more ‘flyer’ tactics but if you can ever penetrate the thick skin of the ‘in-people’ and stay alive politically, I think we’ll all be the better for it.
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It is very interesting from a point of view of a former citizen of Crystal Beach where I was born (in the 50’s) and grew up in the 60’s & 70’s. ( as they say ” if you remember the 60’s, you weren’t there” ) That this is nothing new for “this” particular council in Ft. Erie.
It has been a downward spiral path for the area. As far back as 1953 when Ft. Erie put the first nail in their coffin by stubbornly not giving a tax break to the Ford Motor Co. (3000 Employees) which subsequently built a factory in an another small community at the time called Oakville.( Pop. 182,000 )
Right from the advent of Regional Government in Niagara in 1970, with the amalgamation of the former towns of Ridgeway, Stevensville, Crystal Beach, and Bertie Twp with the town of Ft. Erie, it appears that the former Village of Crystal Beach has gotten the raw end of the deal.
I remember the village being completely self sufficient with its own Council, water works,sewer treatment plant, Fire Dept., independent policing (OPP) and a bustling main street (Derby Rd. or as the locals called it Hot Dog Alley) and a swell of tourist in the summer due to the Amusement Park.
Oh how times have changed ! But I digress…
That being said, I am sure the Rebstocks never envisioned the squandering of there wonderful land and waterfront property to a developer. Or that this once living, growing community would have to fight for its life, with its present local government the way it has.
I hope that you can all try to get along and see some reason on both sides, but as they say and I have read many times on the Web, so it must be true, that Common Sense is Dead, if only for the benefit of this jewel on Lake Erie, Crystal Beach.
Thank You
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