5.10 The Money is Knocking, open the door with Richard Wong

First the song - then the script:

It’s time to Dance  by Heather McLeod Dec 16, 2023

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Chorus:

lC maj      l G maj       lC maj    lD maj      l

The music has started, We know the steps. It’s time to

l:G % % Cl D maj  lG%%Cl D maj  l

Dance. Dance for tomorrow

lC maj      l G maj       l C maj     l G maj    l

Dance like the world is burning. Dance like the times are turning

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lG % % Cl D maj      l e min   l A maj    l

Verse one:

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Big business boils down to people. To you & me & we. Building under-

lG maj           l%         l D maj         l  %          l

Standing. Building Sol-utions.

lC maj G maj l C maj G maj l D maj   l C maj l

Build relationships, built to last. Work together & we’ll - get it done

l:G % % Cl D maj  lG%%Cl D maj  l

Chorus

Verse two:

Big problems need big solutions. Big jobs need teams to work. Expect the respect

You give. You share what you know.

You learn and you grow. Build it to last. Work together & we’ll - get it done

Chorus

Bridge:

lA maj     l %     l  D maj    l %   l

It’s scary I know. You can’t see how it’ll go.

lC maj Dmaj   l G maj l C maj  D maj l G maj l 

But this one can’t be danced alone. Be brave.

l:G % % Cl D maj  lG%%Cl D maj  l

Verse three:

We are the experts in ourselves. Our needs, our fears, our home. Set clear expect-

Actions. Support the plans we made.

Build our future one choice at a time. Work together & we’ll - get it done

Chorus

lG % % Dl G % % Dl G % % Dl G     ll

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This is not a transcript. This is the script I wrote and brought into my blanket-fort recording space and did not strictly adhere too, then may have thinned in editing before posting this episode. Enjoy!

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Theme

Welcome to the last episode of Something Different This Way Come’s Fifth Season

The season focused on Hope & Action and the Northwest Climate Gathering

Which I helped organize and host last month here in Thunder Bay

This is the Finale for Season Five of Something Different This Way Comes.

It features my conversation last week with Richard Wong

And it’s a meaty one

Richard flew up from Toronto to take part in the Gathering, on his own penny

And was so engaged, so into it, not just from the moment he walked in,

Listening, sparking conversations and twice leading topics of discussions

But even before then

The perspective he brings to this conversation is sincere, thoughtful & remarkably well informed for a man who had never been to Thunder Bay before.

Richard is a lawyer who supports big development projects from inception to completion across the country, and for the last many years most of those projects are green

Green energy, green buildings, green transport -but mostly green energy.

I met Richard on my first trip to Quebec when we were 12 or 13,

Both students from Toronto on the same French language exchange

Then we went to the same high school - decades ago

- and we were out of touch when we connected recently online, and booked a phone call to catch up.

So it was a bit of a liberty when I called him up and told him about the Northwest Climate Gathering and asked him if he knew of anyone here who could bring some insight into the Corporate side of change for the better.

I truly did not expect Richard to offer to come, in person, on his own penny

But am so glad he did.

The moment he made the commitment, Richard immediately dived into preparations.

Sending me links to papers and reports and articles

Connecting with the people I asked him to co-present with.

Googling former journalist that I am, Richard found lots that was news to me

But rather than focusing this follow-up conversation on those kinds of facts,

We talk more about Northwestern Ontario, and Thunder Bay

From Richard’s perspective after his two day visit here at the Gathering

And it’s kind of dense. I found I was working hard to translate his very clear explanations into synonyms that helped me wrap my head around them.

Kind of like Bob MacDonald does in Quirks & Quarks.

Because Richard had to bridge some pretty vast differences in perspective in order to meet me, and I have to say pretty much all of us Community Leaders at the Gathering.

So before I share our conversation, I’m going to give you my introduction to three bridges I felt Richard was building in our chat.

And along the way, I’ll give you previews of the song for today’s episode

Starting now

llC maj      l G maj       lC maj    lD maj      l

The music has started, We know the steps. It’s time to

l:G % % Cl D maj  lG%%Cl D maj  l

Dance. Dance for tomorrow

lC maj      l G maj       l C maj     l G maj    l

Dance like the world is burning. Dance like the times are turning

lD maj     l C  maj      l G%%Cl D maj    l

lG % % Cl D maj      l e min   l A maj    l

That’s the chorus

So at the Northwest Climate Gathering last month, Richard led two topics, each with a co-leader he’d never met before but reached out to beforehand to prepare.

The first topic he led was on Saturday with Bekeme Olowola

It was Engaging Successfully with Government and Corporations

Just think how much within that topic Richard could talk about - a semester at least,

The whole weekend easily

But I only gave him and Bekeme a hour.

And Bekeme’s insight into this is equally vast

She does many things but mostly she works to help Corporations be better partners with the community in which they do their business. She is a champion of ESG or Environmental, Social and Governance Investment standards, which is really just one of the tools she uses to help change the world, this corporate-dominated, ill-functioning macros economy of ours, for the better.

Together Bekeme and Richard decided to focus on how to approach engagement

Richard referenced the Just Transitions Guide which I will link in the show notes

And some success stories of First Nation communities in Northwestern Ontario collaborating in big energy developments they welcome.

Bekeme urged us to remember Corporations are not necessarily any worse than any other community. They are people working together towards shared goals, good goals.

And if you give them the respect you want, and give them the same clear understanding of your own goals and expectations that they will give you, you can get somewhere.

It takes time and respect, like any good and enduring relationship.

Now that is a bridge Richard and Bekeme are building, bridging a huge gap between their understanding of corporations and big business, and our deep prejudice.

Yes prejudice.

I think of the 2003 Canadian documentary the Corporation which concluded that Corporations are, by their very structure and mandate, psychopathic by nature.

I think of the way people working within larger Corporations often speak of the organization with despair and distance, as if they were entirely at its mercy with no confidence that they are valued or influential.

I think of it as Company town helplessness - that the Employer is too powerful to dare to do anything that gets you noticed.

I think that is the far end of this bridge I hear Richard building in this conversation I am prefacing.

Reaching towards that prejudiced perspective from his own experience that companies want to do the right thing just as much as you & I do. That they are aiming to solve and serve and get it right.

It’s a stretch, but so important

Verse one:

lA maj  a min l e min  l  A maj a min l e min   l

Big business boils down to people. To you & me & we. Building under-

lG maj           l%         l D maj         l  %          l

Standing. Building Sol-utions.

lC maj G maj l C maj G maj l D maj   l C maj l

Build relationships, built to last. Work together & we’ll - get it done

l:G % % Cl D maj  lG%%Cl D maj  l

The second bridge I think Richard makes in trying to bring the perspective of the big Corporations who are out there looking for opportunities to build the big solutions we need in this Climate Crisis, in this rapid transition from oil-dependant and Net Carbon Emitting, to fossil-fuel-free and drawing back down that excess carbon that’s fueling these devastating weather risks.

The second bridge he offers in this conversation, is to put context into the points when those corporations connect with communities in which they might, ultimately do business.

And this bridge makes me think about my own marriage.

Bear with me, but the parallels are really strong.

It’s not about Arno though, it’s about me.

See Sixteen years two months ago I was in my late thirties and had never had a love affair last more than a few months. Never made it to a one year anniversary.

And I didn’t realize how much I took that failure to heart until I signed on for online dating.

Not just any service, but Sympatico.

It wasn’t my idea. I had two friends Julie and Julie who worked at me for ages until I finally took the plunge.

So Sympatico marketed itself as giving you better odds of making the right connection, because they started with a long questionnaire, so they could tailor your matches.

And that questionnaire was a workout for me.

For a woman who’d been looking for love for a very long time, I was really unclear on what I wanted, what mattered to me.

I had not realized how much I’d concluded I’d be lucky to get anyone, I could not afford to set up any barriers, until I faced that questionnaire.

And I answered it carefully, careful not to close any doors if I could help it because, you know, clearly I was not going to have an easy go of it.

Then I hit submit and the floodgates opened.

I had so many matches. So many! It was a full-time job that kept me up at night.

Some people dumped me because I took too long to get back to them, or spelled their name wrong, or forgot where it was they lived again.

Because I was juggling correspondance with so many people.

Clearly my assumption that I had had no luck because I was so unattractive was not 100% solid.

So I started dumping a few people myself, nicely of course. As nicely as I myself would want to be dumped. I started articulating what I want and what I need and what I like and referenced them when I ended these online exchanges.

Because I have to admit it was as yet all online.

Still when Arno connected with me, and I so enjoyed his correspondence, and how enthusiastically he took me up on my request that we meet in person, I knew what boxes he ticked, what of my needs and likes and interests he met.

But it had been a journey.

Bridge:

lA maj     l %     l  D maj    l %   l

It’s scary I know. You can’t see how it’ll go.

lC maj Dmaj   l G maj l C maj  D maj l G maj l 

But this one can’t be danced alone. Be brave.

l:G % % Cl D maj  lG%%Cl D maj  l

Verse three:

We are the experts in ourselves. Our needs, our fears, our home. Set clear expect-

Actions. Support the plans we made.

Build our future one choice at a time. Work together & we’ll - get it done

This transition from climate crisis feeding to climate crisis solving will mostly happen right in front of our noses. Here where we live.

In how we get places, where our food is grown, how we take care of one another and support newcomers to our community.

It’s not just what fuels the power plant that feeds our grid.

That’s just a drop in an ocean of change that will, that needs to, change our culture

Make us value what is most essential, instead of taking it for granted and focusing our attention on the baubles and exceptions that have so distracted us for so long.

The third bridge I think you will hear Richard building towards me in this conversation, is stretching from the win / lose way we tend to talk about big projects.

That reminds me of Romances that end with a wedding, and tragedies about love lost.

When we all know the real point, the real meat, the real power of a marriage

Is the relationship

And that’s a living, growing, changing thing

It’s a commitment.

So Richard more than once walks us through the path

Starting with before you even know you’re being watched.

Corporations are actively looking for partners and places to do business.

They are researching this area much as Richard did - how do we look from a distance, online?

What are our plans? Our track record? Our reputation?

This is a step we can stage-set, but can’t observe really.

Unless it is successful and the Corporation commits to step one - the date

The community engagement.

Which Richard talks about a lot.

And again I think of romance. Because in an old fashioned, patriarchal romance dating is not terribly sincere. There are facades, there are assumptions.

But we know building a solid foundation for a lasting commitment

That takes vulnerability, honesty, a sincere getting to know you that is open to both success and failure.

And then, if it goes well, the story doesn’t end when the project is okayed,

Just like a marriage doesn’t end with a wedding. Or it shouldn’t

 Verse two:

Big problems need big solutions. Big jobs need teams to work. Expect the respect

You give. You share what you know.

You learn and you grow. Build it to last. Work together & we’ll - get it done

Chorus:

llC maj      l G maj       lC maj    lD maj      l

The music has started, We know the steps. It’s time to

l:G % % Cl D maj  lG%%Cl D maj  l

Dance. Dance for tomorrow

lC maj      l G maj       l C maj     l G maj    l

Dance like the world is burning. Dance like the times are turning

lD maj     l C  maj      l G%%Cl D maj    l

lG % % Cl D maj      l e min   l A maj    l

The second topic Richard led at the Northwest Climate Gathering he led with Summer Stevenson, the Sustainability Coordinator at the City of Thunder Bay.

The topic was Big Community Projects

And after a bit of an introduction they split that into two groups

The one Richard led discussed - Where is the money?

And really after spending that weekend at the event with us.

Bringing his perspective as someone who’s supported so many big projects from start to finish, I think Richard wants us to understand that the money is there. The money is watching us and looking for evidence that they can work with us here, that we’d prove to be successful partners in building solutions, improvements, moving this planet towards the changes we know are needed.

But there are a few flags we are waving that might be discouraging some of those big solution providers from engaging with us just yet.

One of them is a history of not achieving our plans.

A big theme at the Gathering was people pointing to official municipal plans

Our Sustainability Plan, then the Net Zero Strategy that replaced the Sustainability plan in 2020.

Pointing to the goals and decisions committed to in those plans, and strategizing how to get those things actually done.

Now that is a great big flag scaring the money off.

If I’m understanding Richard’s careful and gentle answers to my questions in our conversation correctly.

Here, finally, is that conversation (recorded on zoom on Saturday December 9, 2023)

Richard Wong came to Thunder Bay to take part in the Northwest Climate Gathering

And joined me for this conversation from Toronto

Now here’s the song that conversation inspired me to write

This is It’s Time To Dance

That concludes the final episode in season Five of Something Different This Way Comes.

Find link to all the references I promised at www.SomethingDifferentThisWayComes.ca as well as lyrics and chords for that new song.

This season I focused on hope and action for Northwestern Ontario towards the plethora of diverse solutions that beacon us towards a fairer, more affordable and healthier future.

I hope to have updates on some of that action to share with you in my next season

Look for it in the Spring.

Meanwhile I’m volunteering on the committee struck to review the City of Thunder Bay’s Council’s structure - and would welcome your thoughts on that front.

You can contact me through the website www.SomethingDifferentThisWayComes.ca

With any ideas or feedback you have

A positive review, a recommendation, even a donation through my Go Fund Me campaign that would be fabulous too

Theme up

Something Different This Way Comes is a one woman show

All opinions voiced by me are my own. So is the research, the editing, the songwriting and the guest booking. I’m Heather McLeod

Thank you for listening

May 2024 be a great year for you, full of welcome change and deepening relationships with all the people and the places that you love.