All cities chase dreams.
They want to be on the map, create a buzz, and be known for something significant.
They want to maintain a vibrant economy, keep their young people, provide a comfortable home, and “be a somebody.”
London, Ontario is no different. It dreams.
Two years ago the city dreamt of becoming a center for foreign trade, a distributor of cargo.
["Don't anchor your future on shipping stuff. Buy a scooter." GH, circa 1969]
A recent news report provides an update.
Headline - Cargo hub one pricey garage
Built by taxpayers at a cost of $11 million, London’s new airport cargo terminal has housed maintenance equipment, personal vehicles for airport executives and even a stag-and-doe party.
But in the year or more since the place was built - a project to help grow London’s economy and create jobs - it hasn’t attracted much new business, critics charge. (Oct. 15, London Free Press)
When I first heard about the cargo hub idea, two years ago, I penned a few thoughts about it for The Londoner, London’s community newspaper.
Shortly after it appeared I received a phone call from a hard-working city councillor who disagreed with my views, ones that questioned, for example, pinning a city’s hopes on shipping goods from here to there when we face a future of rising fuel prices.
At the time, though I felt I handled the criticism pretty well (32 years as an elementary school teacher helps in this regard), I was most proud of being able to express some of views succinctly in one of my favourite all-time lines, i.e., “we’re backing the wrong nag in this race, Pal.”
At the conclusion of our phone conversation, we simply agreed to disagree, and to this day, I still believe the cargo hub was a very poor idea.
Wrong nag, wrong era.
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Please click here to read about disagreements I have with other recent articles.
Also, stay tuned to read my columns about the cargo hub from 2009.
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