Posts with the Doug Griffiths tag

Barris Beat

Evidence we’re winning

Written by Ted Barris on . Leave a comment
Jennifer O’Connell explains how MPs voted unanimously on a long-awaited installation on Parliament Hill.

During her speech at the Sam Sharpe statue unveiling, last Friday night, MP Jennifer O’Connell became emotional as she explained that the day before, Members of Parliament had voted unanimously to install Tyler Briley’s sculpture of Sam Sharpe in the Centre Block of Parliament in Ottawa.

And when Seamus O’Regan, the minister of veterans’ affairs, quizzed her about the community groundswell of support in Uxbridge that had brought this motion to the House, he seemed genuinely impressed.

“Who are these people?” O’Regan asked her. “What is it about Uxbridge?” (more…)

Barris Beat

Don’t blame! Get in the game!

Written by Ted Barris on . Leave a comment

There’s a cartoon I have saved in one of my filing cabinets. It goes back almost 25 years now. It depicts a person sitting at a table receiving members of the public at a local meeting – not a township council meeting – a kind of town hall meeting. There’s a sign above the receptionist’s head.

“Welcome to the Future of Uxbridge,” the sign says.

Meanwhile approaching the receptionist is a woman wearing a bandana and carrying a crystal ball. She looks very much like a fortune teller and asks simply, “Need any help?” (more…)