Thursday, October 30, 2008

Making Our Community a Better Place to Live

In Toronto they are addressing a serious problem through a partnership of the Toronto Police Service and Henry’s Cameras.

To help make neighbourhoods safe you can trade in your pistol, assault rifle, operational rifle or shotgun and get cameras and imaging cards valued from $250 to $360 in exchange. The program runs from October 22 – November 23rd.

I don’t suppose there are many guns to be exchanged out here in beautiful by-the-lake and the escarpment too Burlington, but we, too, have problems that need solving.

Could such a program would work here?

Maybe if:

Anyone willing to sign a pledge that they will try to think of the wider world (or even the wider town) beyond their own street will receive something appropriate.

For example, promise to stop complaining about so-called empty buses (and take a look at your own single occupant driving habits) and you’ll get a Burlington Transit bus pass good for a year.

Put an end to your constant caterwauling that traffic isn’t moving fast enough because of various city-initiated traffic calming measures and you’ll get to stop and smell the flowers with a coupon redeemable at Burlington’s popular tourist attraction, the Royal Botanical Gardens.

And a free snow shovel will be available to those who stop phoning City Hall to bellyache that the other guy’s street is always getting plowed first.

What do you think? A good concept, right? The specifics might need some work.