April 2001
LAND O'LAKES -NEWS & VIEWS HomeThe Story of Our April Fools Issue
by David Brison
The Frontenac New, published an April Fools issue on Wednesday April 4. It was dated Wednesday April 1. We further changed the price on the banner to $1000 an issue, added a bunny. The idea was to tip people off that something was amiss and that it had to do with April 1.
The lead Fools story, by yours truly (and it had a big headline), was on the amalgamation of the three townships in Frontenac County and two townships in Lennox & Addington into one big township called: North of the 401 in Frontenac and Lennox Addington. I said that a source close to the government tipped us that it was in the offing.
The idea, based on my admiration for the April Fools genre in newspapers from England, was to start plausibly and then get progressively more absurd to gradually evoke the theres something wrong here reaction leading to the revelation that the reader had been had. I naively thought that people would realize something was wrong when I said that the new mayor could be chosen either through a game of skill (golf) or a game of chance (a card game).
It was a big mistake many, if not most, got so mad at the thought that the Mike Harris government would do this to them, and coupled with the strong feeling that they might, didnt venture beyond the first two paragraphs. A good many then called their councillor or mayor, very irate, to ask what the hell was going on. They werent very impressed when their local politicians told them that they knew nothing about an impending amalgamation. After all it was in the paper; and any politician worth their salt should have known about it.
When word began to filter down that it was all a joke, many were mad at me, and by extension the paper. The local politicians werent impressed because on top of poking fun at them in the story itself, I made them appear ignorant, and then have to take up countless hours explaining what had happened to irate constituents.
Stan Johnston, mayor of North Frontenac received four phone calls only an hour after the paper was in the mail and had a steady stream of calls through to 11:30 at night. Anger was the common theme at the government for putting them through another hassle, at Stan for not informing them about it in advance, and then of course at me for deceiving them and getting everything all stirred up.
North Frontenac councillor Elaine Churchill works at the post office in Plevna. She got another reaction from her elderly constituents, I could see the look of panic in their eyes, Elaine said, and I hadnt read the paper yet so had no idea what was going on. They werent very impressed with that either.
One man told Central Frontenac mayor Bill MacDonald that he should go after me with a baseball bat because I had said that Bill might go back to counting trees if he wasnt chosen by his colleagues as the new mayor.
There was talk of a motion of censure in one of our councils it didnt materialize, but was seriously considered.
In retrospect, it is not hard to see what went wrong -- I hit a very sensitive nerve for many people sensitive, because everyone has just been through the loss of their townships when the government imposed amalgamation in 1998. Things have settled down now and for many, municipal government again looks more stable. But others are still fighting the old battles and nobody apparently wants to go through another period of destabilization that a super-amalgamation would bring.
Further, there is a very strong sense in our northern communities that we dont control our own destinies; that the important decisions are made by others living in urban areas, and there is little we can do to change matters. This lack of control over our lives, which in the minds of many can lead to unwanted change, angers and worries people. Life is hard enough as it is without having to deal with something new being imposed.
I deeply regret having put people through such anguish and turmoil, and have stated this in our April 11 edition.
