One dreary, wet, dark and lonely night, I sat in the deserted waiting room of the Windsor airport. Waiting for the last flight out.

Looking up, I saw the enemy. He approached, drenched from the rain outside, rivulets of water flowing down his briefcase.

I braced. Our gaze met.

Herb Gray was a senior Liberal cabinet minister. I was a Conservative opponent. In the House of Commons, we were foes.

This night, we were both moist and tired after public events, eager to get back to Ottawa and bed. We were also both hungry in an airport where the only option was a vending machine.

“Snickers or chips?” I asked him.

So, Snickers it was. Together we munched through six of them. And got to know each other, as people.

Turns out he wasn’t a monster in a blue suit, but the son of Belarusian immigrants who became a lawyer, then an MP, the first federal Jewish cabinet minister then deputy prime minister.

Herb was also a rocker, happily trading his briefing dossiers for a piano keyboard to hammer. He mesmerized.

That night taught me pre-judging others is dangerous and wrong. In this world there is no black and white.

And this brings us to the lord mayor. Plus the Shaw.

Last week, in case you missed it, this column did a dive into the festival’s financials, now that the theatrical charity is engaged in almost $100 million worth of construcion projects in our bucolic little burg.

I wanted to know the viability of its business model, the source of funding and the endgame. Is this still an artistic enterprise worthy of oodles of tax money, the sympathy of donors and exemption from all heritage rules? Or, has it become a non-tax-paying corporation heavy into real estate development?

After all, were it not for government cheques and tax-deductible donations, the Shaw would have lost about $20 million last year on its theatre operations. But here it is, throwing up a five-building artists’ village and about to erect a $85-million, 55,000-foot mega complex.

Meanwhile it’s taking tens of millions more in public funding while having a $40-million investment portfolio managed by a Montreal firm.

It seems appropriate, given the impact on all of us, to have clarity and transparency. Yes, the Shaw brings huge economic benefits to NOTL.

It’s also tearing down heritage structures, reducing the tree canopy, irreversibly altering the Old Town, erecting a massive industrial building in our midst and turning prime residential streets into dump truck corridors for the next three years.

So, I asked some questions of Shaw boss Tim Jennings. Alas, he has decided not to speak with me.

“An interesting article on Shaw in that you have sounded a few alarm bells on its future,” writes Michael Eagen. “We have been supporters for a number of years but have been concerned about so much expansion and the source of income to support all. Keep up the good work even though there are a few ‘sensitive’ souls out there.”

And one of those souls belongs to our lord mayor.

Gary Zalepa has super-mayor powers bestowed by the province, is a big booster of the Shaw Festival and its property developments, works at being mayor part-time and remains an executive with real estate firm Century 21.

Mr. Zalepa ran a real estate brokerage in town before joining C21 and has served as a director of the Niagara Association of Realtors, plus the provincial and federal industry bodies.

Last year, while serving as mayor and helping approve the Shaw’s expansion, Mr. Zalepa was named one of the Top 100 Most Influential Voices in Canadian Real Estate, crowning his 30-year career in the business.

But he clearly doesn’t like me. The note below arrived the evening after last week’s column was published — from Mr. Zalepa’s private email account.

The lord mayor and I have never spoken. It may be time for a few Snickers.

“Mr. Turner,

As a resident of Niagara-on-the-Lake I was deeply troubled by your remarkably uniformed (sic) written opinion.

I wish to add my comments to the hopefully numerous residents and those who care deeply of our Town, who will take exception to your poor judgment.

Your comments do not reflect the true community leadership of Mr. Jennings and his remarkable commitment to our Town.

I say unfair to you Mr Turner.

By the way, no person is compelled to speak to you. I certainly am not compelled to.

Write that.

Gary Zalepa”

Garth Turner is a NOTL resident, journalist, author, wealth manager and former federal MP and minister. garth@garth.ca