Editorials - July 12, 2024

Last week, the Ford government recognized the vital role that local newspapers play in their communities by directing the four largest government agencies (LCBO, the Ontario Cannabis Retail Corporation, the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation and Metrolinx) to spend at least 25 per cent of their advertising budgets with Ontario publishers.

 

Thank you for this vote of confidence. This spend will help to ensure that local journalists can continue to cover the news of their communities for their readers. We hope that the other levels of government, especially the municipalities, pay close attention to this example. Community newspapers are the most reliable vehicle for communication to your constituents and this investment should not go unnoticed. 

 

Over the last 15 years, advertising budgets have been replaced by free or low-cost social media, leaving important messaging to the whim of Meta algorithms. Advertising revenue is needed to keep reporters on staff to cover council meetings, community events, elections, fundraising efforts for arenas and pools and to keep the public informed. – DS

In the days following Andrea Robin Skinner’s revelation to the Toronto Star regarding sexual abuse at the age of nine by stepfather Gerry Fremlin, her mother, Alice Munro, has been called a failure of a mother by some and been accused of betraying a now-shattered fan base. This comes after Skinner said she told her mother of the abuse and yet Munro chose to stay with Fremlin until his death in 2013.

 

Skinner is to be commended for her bravery, refusing to keep the secret that so damaged her for decades and shifting the burden of the abuse to the abuser, not the survivor. Furthermore, Skinner is hoping to help usher in an era of open discussion about sexual violence and telling the truth about what she says is an epidemic towards women.

 

Munro, for decades, was lauded as a writer who understood the complicated and sometimes messy aspects of human nature and family. She wrote with a realism that demanded readers interweave their own stories into those they were reading. It is then, perhaps, no surprise to learn that her family had its own tortured history; a hurtful tragedy that could have been believed and related to in one of Munro’s stories.

 

For Huron County, which so celebrated Munro and her writing, the discussion has been reframed. Some will vilify Munro for the role they see her playing in this abuse, while, for others, nothing will change. Yet, at its core, this is a story about Skinner, her decision to discuss her abuse, her healing journey and this revelation’s role within it. Since her death, Munro has been celebrated and written about in glowing terms, including within the pages of The Citizen. The recontexualization that comes as a result of Skinner’s piece goes to show that the hidden lives that so many lead - which Munro so explored - can so often hold dark secrets and prove that you may never know someone in full.

 

Abuse is not a complication, but a life-changing crime that has affected millions, many of them without famous mothers. Skinner has told her story and hopes to empower others to do the same. – SL 

Few spectacles in democratic history capture the messy, unpredictable nature of the process quite like the recent snap elections in France. Triggered by President Emmanuel Macron’s hasty and unexpected dissolution of the National Assembly, these elections have left the political landscape in a state of tumultuous uncertainty.

 

As the far-right National Rally (RN), led by the polarizing Marine Le Pen, surged in popularity, many feared the implications of an extreme-right victory. The RN’s growing support prompted an unlikely alliance between Macron’s centrist bloc, Ensemble, and a coalition of left-leaning parties dubbed the New Popular Front (NPF). The NPF is a motley crew, consisting of Marxists, communists, social democrats and Greens who share little common ground beyond a staunch opposition to RN. 

 

The strategic coalition agreed to drop respective trailing candidates to consolidate votes and prevent an RN victory. The strategy succeeded in stymieing the ascent of La Pen’s minions but the aftermath is anything but straightforward. The NPF emerged with the most seats, but the results did not deliver a clear mandate to any single party. France is now left with a fractured parliament that may result in legislative gridlock.

 

Some might view this outcome as a failure of the democratic process. However, it is a reminder of democracy’s core principle: a reflection of the people’s will, however fragmented and contradictory it may be.

 

It is worth recalling Winston Churchill’s oft-quoted adage: “Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others that have been tried.” In its raw, untidy form, democracy in France has once again proven to be an exercise in collective will, requiring patience, persistence and, above all, a commitment to the principles of representation and governance. The path forward may be unclear, but it is a path charted by the people, for the people. – SBS