Been doing some crystal ball gazing.
The smart money is on neither Doug Ford nor Justin Trudeau being around after the next provincial and federal elections.
At least Ford, who stole the party leadership fair and square, as they say, can go back to running the family business. As for Trudeau, hard to find work these days as a night club bouncer.
Meanwhile, over in the Liberal bull pen, Chrystia Freeland is warming up to make her pitch for the top job.
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Aaron Horovitz, elected mayor of Cornwall in 1930, was not Canada’s first Jewish mayor. In fact, there is no official record of who was the first Jewish mayor in Canada.
But it can be said with a degree of certainty that one of the first Jewish mayors in Canada was a General Store merchant who became mayor of Alexandria in 1915.
George Simon, a native of Brantford, served multiple terms – 15 in all – as mayor. He enjoyed several acclamations.
In 1923 he stepped aside to concentrate on his business, but was back in the mayoral saddle in 1952. He served uninterrupted until 1964 when he died after suffering a stroke.
Horovitz served multiply terms that added up to 18 years. He died in 1957 just weeks after he suffered his first mayoral defeat. Some say he died of a broken heart.
Not only did Horovitz serve longer than any other Cornwall mayor, the self-made millionaire businessman is the only Cornwall mayor to turn down the salary that went with the job.
HITS AND MISSES Does anybody really believe that a convicted Donald Trump would serve even an hour in the slammer. … With the regional war drums beating in the Middle East, the United Nations is again showing what a useless organization it is. … Her husband was paid $400,000 in his last year in the White House. Few weeks back, Michelle Obama is reported to have made $740,000 for a one-hour speech in Munich on diversity and inclusion. … One of the big lies told by bosses: “This will just take five minutes.” … At least one local church harvest supper broke with tradition and went with spaghetti instead of high-priced turkey. … A wise old nun once told me that too many Catholics are like submarines – they only surface in times of trouble.
BACK IN THE DAY Run-away food prices caught the attention of the federal government in 1959 when a Royal Commission was formed to investigate.
The commission report issued in November, pointed the finger at high spending on promotions, gimmicks and giveaways as one of the main reasons food prices were so high.
Green and Gold stamps, towels and face cloths in boxes of soap and dish ware were among the giveaways and gimmicks.
Instead of promotions, the commission said grocery store chains should use the money saved to reduce food prices which had skyrocketed in the previous 10 years.
But, the commission warned that gentle persuasion should be used instead of legislative medicine which would be worse than the ailment.
ALSO IN NOVEMBER 1959 – A chartered accountant with the Federal Department of Revenue was Cornwall’s new city treasurer. Robert Hamilton was a native of Westport, Ont. He would go on to become the city’s CAO. … Two large barns on the farm of Grant Gordon on South Branch Road were destroyed in an afternoon fire. Martintown fire fighters managed to save the house that was close to the barns. … Charlottenburgh Township council voted to join the trend to two-year terms from one-year terms. … The re-modelled MacDonell Memorial Hospital – formerly the Hotel Dieu Hospital – held its official opening. It served chronically-ill patients. … Cornwall’s first French-language radio station, CFML, went on the air. … Enrolment at St. Lawrence High School was 1,080, about 200 below capacity. … The Board of Broadcast Governors ruled that Canadian TV stations would be required to have 55% Canadian content within five years. … Recording artists The Ink Spots were playing at the J & S Club in Massena. The group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. … The 6 o’clock Report on CJSS TV featured Doug Johnson (general news), Don McGowan (Cornwall Dateline) and Carl Fisher (Sportsdesk). …… Joy Scott, Miss Cornwall Emard, represented the city and football club in the Grey Cup parade in Toronto. … Cornwall’s Billy Carter became the Eastern Professional Hockey League season’s first 20-goal scorer when the 21-year-old forward notched two goals as Hull-Ottawa Canadiens downed Kingston Frontenacs 6-2. … St. Lawrence High School Saints claimed the EOSSA football title with a 15-1 win over Cornwall Collegiate Raiders. Paul Charron and John Boots scored touchdowns with George Lagrue kicking a pair of singles. … Cornwall Minor Hockey Association, with 1,200 boys registered, secured additional ice time – eight hours a week – at the Water Street Arena for early and late season games, when outdoor rinks at the Athletic Grounds were not available. Outdoor rinks at the Grounds, where most of the games were played, were increased to three from two. … In an era when National Hockey League teams didn’t carry a spare goaltender, the Montreal Canadiens looked to the press box for help. The club signed sportswriter Jacques Beauchamp as a back-up to Jacques Plante on the road. He never got the call. Many saw it as a publicity stunt.
TRIVIA On July 24, 1967 a single four-word sentence uttered by this world leader while on a state visit to Canada tarnished relations between his country and Canada. Who said it and what did he say that brought swift condemnation from the Canadian government and cut short his visit?
TRIVIA ANSWER Samuel Langhorne Clemens was known by the pen name Mark Twain. He was born on Nov. 30, 1835 in Florida, Missouri and was the sixth of seven kids.
QUOTED “The secret of life is honesty and fair dealing. If you can fake that, you’ve got it made.” – Groucho Marx
ONE FINAL THING There have been 560 mass shootings (at least four killed or injured) in the U.S. this year. And up to Aug. 1, there were 25,198 gun-related deaths, 14,000 by suicide.
