Catpaw - diary of an angry cat

I often write about corporate greed and irresponsible behaviour. Today I am happy to bring you a tale of a good corporate citizen. One single person who, using his power as a corporate leader, will make a difference in the lives of 1000’s of lives here in Toronto.

For those of you not familiar with the current fiscal battles taking place in Toronto this year, the politicians here, in a snit of financial irresponsibility were set to close all the outdoor skating rinks in the city. This may not seem important to people in warmer areas, but here in Toronto, outdoor rinks are part of the city’s fabric. Outdoor rinks are popular centres in over 40 spots in Toronto - the home of many impromptu shinny games and family skating outings. Shinny - for the uninitiated - is the great Canadian sport of outdoor hockey. The best hockey games in the country are not played in arenas, nor are the best figure skaters to be found there. Look to the local rink, lips chattering with cold, feet turning to stumps of ice - it doesn’t matter, they skate on, tripping and falling, showing off incredible skills and more often than not no skills. Oh to be outdoors on a crisp winter night, listening to the shush of skates on ice, looking forward to a warm cup of chocolate or tea when you get in. Whether you are a skater or not, the sites and sounds of the outdoor rink are comforting. They are the sounds of a strong community at play.

City Hall was set to close the rinks - all of them - to cut costs. Not once did the greed hounds of public office look to their own perks and budgets to cut costs. Heaven forbid they should tighten their belts - give up their free Street and Rail passes? give up their chauffeured cars? Give up their free membership to the golf courses? Pay cut? Not after voting themselves a hefty pay increase of slightly less than 9% last year! Why should they attempt fiscal responsibility when it’s easier to slash city services. Average pay of city councillors in this city now sits around $94,000 - and we get arguing, bickering, childish behaviour for this. The increase came to about $6,100 per council member. Add this to their office expense budget of $53,000 per year plus numerous perks and you get the picture of growing citizen wrath.

How dare they close public rinks and more when they will not even look to their own budgets and bloated salaries?

If you are a Toronto councilor, I guess it’s easy. You come out with statements that imply you work hard and deserve the perks/money. This means the rest of us do nothing and don’t deserve to enjoy outdoor rinks or anything else. Shame on us for wanting a responsible government. Shame on us for wanting to enjoy our communities more.

For the sake of $160,000, Toronto was going to close the rinks. That’s what it costs to keep them open. Less than last years pay raise for the 44 councilors. Last years pay hike cost Toronto approx. $264,000.

In the midst of this shinning example of selfishness, a corporate knight in shining armour walked in. And from the most unexpected of places - MasterCard Canada.

Yesterday, Kevin Stanton, president of MasterCard Canada had his company donate the entire amount needed to keep the rinks open. No strings! No signs on the rinks, no ads, nothing. Just “Here’s the money, keep the shiny going”. In a letter, Mr. Stanton explained that he and his family have strong memories of their first days in Toronto. He is a transplant from the United States who seems to care very deeply for the community he works in. He said:

One of our earliest and fondest memories of this city was watching neighbourhood kids playing shinny at the outdoor rink in a local park…Those rinks are emblematic of the city during the winter, and we thought, you know what, we can step in here and help…

Just like that, we have our skating rinks back. One good corporate citizen. In this day of excess, this example stands out. Of course it’s good publicity. But it goes beyond that - much like Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty, this stands apart from the work-a-day corporate greed. Its the measure of a company that puts the community ahead for a change.

One person, one community in need, one gesture.

Yes it was MasterCard who supplied the funds, but it was Mr. Stanton who made it happen.

So thank you Mr. Stanton. Your children should be proud of you. You have set a high standard for them and for us.

It’s time our councilors stepped up and behaved like good citizens.

… but I won’t hold my breath

Stumble it!