Rats reproduce quite quickly, and in no time the quiet rat lifestyle had grown to become a bustling community. There were tunnels over tunnels, nests beside nests. There was much more social interaction between rats, and undoubtedly relationships, gossip, games and sport, in a rat kind of way. The numbers grew and in time, the rats were literally crawling all over themselves. Whereas once there was never a cross word or gesture, tempers occasionally flared and there were nasty rat squabbles. Even though there was unlimited food and water, little pink baby rats disappeared, leaving spots of blood in the nests. Some said it was the mother rat eating her young; others thought the nest had been raided by a relative.

The violence and death became quite gruesome, so the “experiment” ended. From that innocent effort to create an ideal rat environment, I learned that rats aren’t that smart after all. They didn’t seem to have the capacity to recognize the limitations of their environment. They chose to grow in numbers at the expense of their quality of life and when their numbers were unbearable, the resolution was violent. Foolish rats!

I know it’s bizarre to include the tragic tale of rats in the same column as one on politics, but there are many quality of life issues in Dufferin and Caledon that are related to population and growth in general. I’m just looking for reassurance that we plan better than rats, recognize the limitations of our environment and have the wisdom to put quality of life somewhere near the top of the list.

I don’t get good vibes on this issue from our provincial government. The Liberal planning initiative was the Places to Grow Act, not the Quality of Life Protection Act, or Sustainable Development Act. It’s all about growth for growth’s sake. The Liberals are imposing growth numbers on municipalities without any mention of sustainable numbers or eventual limits.

I’m hoping that, locally, our politicians can demonstrate more wisdom, find some common vision for our communities and exercise the fortitude to make decisions that will support that vision. To help them along, I think we should all ask ourselves what we want our community to look like in 50 or 100 years? Then confirm that our politicians share this view and are pursuing it.

Rob Strang is a former Orangeville town councillor, a professional engineer and a self-employed father of three, committed to promoting sustainable development.