The following is a copy of a letter to the Editor of the Sudbury Star:
Back in 2005, when I had been promoting Sudbury’s strengths in mining for a few years, my old nemesis, the late William McLeod, wrote a column calling me a “one-trick monkey.” Bill didn’t agree that Sudbury should try to become the province’s mining supply powerhouse. He thought the city should continue to “diversify,” but not around its mining core.
The truth is that I agreed with Bill that the city should promote its many other strengths. I promoted the School of Education at Laurentian, and later the School of Architecture. I proposed a diversified tourism strategy for the city – one which, alas, still has not been seriously discussed. I argued for a really dramatic emphasis on the city’s lakes in recruiting and tourism. I have pushed for legalization of northern produced cross-laminated lumber. And now I am campaigning for a School of Creative and Performing arts.
Thats what a one-trick monkey does, I guess.
Still, Bill’s one-eyed view of me prevails. In Saturday’s summary of candidates’ positions, Sudbury Star reporter Mary Katherine Keown wrote, “Unfortunately, Robinson seems to have a one-dimensional view on job creation for the nickel city, which is at odds with the Vision 2025 strategy city council unveiled in December.” Keown seems to have a one-dimensional view of my economic ideas. It was one glaring error in the Star’s otherwise excellent coverage of the soap opera this election has become.
http://www.thesudburystar.com/2015/01/31/accent-sudburys–sexy-byelection
David Robinson 