Halifax and Ottawa

While watching CBC's The National last night I was reminded of our fall trip to Halifax. They ran a story about the opening weekend of the new Halifax Central library. This is truly an amazing building and it was great to see so many there and to hear people of all ages so enthusiastic  about their new library.

This September's visit was just our second trip to Halifax. What a lovely city! While walking around, I couldn’t help but make a few comparisons to Ottawa. The construction of a spectacular downtown library is a case in point. The fact is they have beaten us. It's already open. Bruce Gorman, director of central library and regional services at Halifax Public Libraries, stated yesterday, "It'll be an icon, a beacon for our city, like the Eiffel Tower is for Paris."

Meanwhile, back in the nation's capital, Ottawa mayor Jim Watson announced during the summer election campaign  he's now for a public-private partnership to fund a new downtown library here. Get this--there was even talk of a new round of discussions about possible plans for a new main branch of our library! There have been talks before and many ideas have been floated and shot down over the years. The fact remains that we are now at the end of 2014, and we're not even at the drawing board yet. It takes years before anything is ever decided in Ottawa.

This summer saw the re-opening of Ottawa’s Lansdowne Park and the rejuvenation of professional football  as well. The new stadium is not called Frank Clair stadium anymore. (He was Ottawa’s best known coach.) No, of course, it's called TD Place. As my mother often says, "It's all about the almighty dollar." The former football  team was the Rough Riders. I agree it was kind of silly to have two teams with the same name (Regina) but really, Redblacks is the best they could come up with?! Ah, but I digress.

The wrangling over the re-development of Lansdowne Park went on for years. In the beginning there was going to be an international design competition but in the end, a private group of sports and developer types got control of the whole thing. A couple of months ago we walked around during an open house event. I did go in with an open mind. I was prepared to be positive, so yes, there are some green areas and there are a lot of benches and trees. The new stadium is impressive. I can see it would be a fun place to attend a concert or sports event.

However, there was no moment when I went “Oh wow!” If I had never seen the Cattle Castle (Aberdeen Pavillion) before, then that would have been my “Oh wow “ moment. It is a remarkable building and thank goodness it was restored several years ago. Another building that was saved and restored is the Horticultural Building. What simply does not easily blend with these architectural gems are the new buildings: the condos, the stores and the movie theatres. None of these were necessary        (unless you’re a developer looking to make money) but I could have accepted them if they were more attractive. So, we now have Whole Foods (often called whole pay cheque) and a movie complex which will take customers away from existing businesses along neighbouring Bank Street. The new public skating rink is a real asset but did we need a new Winners store there as well?

Over the years we have been lucky to visit many outstanding city parks: Central Park in New York, Balboa Park in San Diego, Luxembourg Gardens in Paris, and Stanley Park in Vancouver. It’s hard to enjoy those parks and not think about what could have been, on that magnificent site along the Rideau Canal in Ottawa. There are no condos, grocery stores or movie theatres in those other world famous parks.

Which brings me back to Halifax. That city is blessed with many parks, among them the Halifax Commons, Point Pleasant Park and the Halifax Public Gardens. Point Pleasant Park is an immense park with many paths.

While walking along the water you turn a corner and suddenly there is this beautiful gazebo - just one of the many visual treats along the way.

A gazebo..what a gift to a city!

The Halifax Public Gardens are a real treat.The actual gardens are stunning but it is not just the flowers. There is a huge pond, fountains,

stone bridges, walking paths and plenty of seating.  While there we had the good fortune to enjoy one of their free afternoon concerts.

It was a marvellous summer day. Hundreds of people were there, many of them getting an ice cream cone in the old Horticultural Hall  before sitting down to listen to the music. It was a perfect way to spend a summer afternoon.

Yes, our nations' capital could take a few lessons from this Maritime city. They know how to provide wonderful gathering places for their citizens. The Halifax Central Library is just another "Oh wow" place to add to their already impressive list.

Possessions

In case you think I disappeared into a frenzy of Chicken Soup book signings, it is much more mundane matters that have been keeping me busy lately. One of my sisters recently proclaimed me as a member of the club sandwich generation. This, after I recounted some of our recent time spent with our children, grandchildren and parents. However, I am not complaining. We are grateful to have this time to spend with our loved ones. As I think about Christmas gifts and shopping lists, perhaps time is the most precious gift of all.

Last weekend we helped Pat's family move his mother into another retirement home. The previous home was just fine and the staff members were very helpful. However this new place is closer to friends and family, so visits will be easier for them. This is Rita's fourth move, since leaving the original family home about a dozen years ago. Through these moves her belongings have steadily dwindled. It really makes you think about how much we accumulate and how much we really need.

Now I am not advocating a life with few possessions. We all derive pleasure from many of our things and that's great. I remember thirty and forty years ago, how much Rita enjoyed her belongings. She worked in a china shop and would put items on a layaway plan until she could afford them. When we visited, she was eager to show off her new figurines, china and pictures.

By the time we moved her out of her apartment last January, her tune had drastically changed. Her treasured things now seemed like a confusing burden to her. "They're only things.  What am I going to do with all this stuff?  Where did that come from?  Take what you want.  Please." She does not have a kitchenette in this new room so there is no need for dishes. However, it is me, not her, who is having a harder time adjusting. It is hard to imagine that a person who collected and enjoyed dishes so much can be reduced to none. I simply could not leave her without dishes. On a bookshelf we left, among other things, six salad plates, decorated with shamrocks, just in case. The  china we took home will always serve as a reminder of her and her love of china and all things Irish.

It is amazing how much stuff we all have. If there is a lesson in all of this, it is that we should continually evaluate our possessions and ask if we really need to keep them. I shudder to think of our kids having to deal with the amount of stuff that is currently living in our basement.

Memo to self: For 2015, for every new item brought into the house, discard at least two.

The ups and downs of Chicken Soup

Well, it looks like my fifteen minutes of fame has stretched to sixteen. Our local community paper, The Kitchissippi Times, did a piece on the book. That has helped with our fundraising campaign. Together with my parish of St Josephs, we are selling one hundred books, with proceeds going to the St Joes Supper Table. Sales are going well and it feels good to be able to help out in this way.

On the harsh reality side, I visited a couple of Chapters stores. I was curious to see how they had displayed the book. I expected a table, piled high with various Christmas books. After the rah rah book launch in Toronto, it was a downer to have a salesperson tell me that Chicken Soup does not really sell well anymore. They had a whole two copies in that store. Now I knew it was not a contender for a Giller, but two copies? In the next store, they could only find one beaten up copy, in their interior design/arts and crafts section. In the last store I ventured into, it was on a table they have labeled, "For the Old Soul." Yikes! What am I? Ninety-five?

Oh well, all that matters to me right now is that we have sold almost all the copies I ordered for the supper table and people seem to be appreciating them as Christmas gifts.

Chicken Soup for the Soul !

Well, here I am, lapping up my 15 minutes of fame!

In a year that has been super busy, with many family events, and little time for writing, I am pleased to say that a piece I submitted to Chicken Soup for the Soul, was accepted for publication in their new Christmas in Canada book, which went on sale last month.

Having a book launch for my own (unfinished) book is still a far off dream, so I decided to take part in the  Chicken Soup for the Soul book launch in Toronto last week.

Thirty-four of the ninety-six contributing authors were present at the event. 

 

We signed a lot of books.

That task was enjoyable as I got to know fellow contributors Crystal Thieringer from Ottawa (left) and Judi Peers from Peterborough (right).

I've known about my story making it into this book for a while now and although pleased with the news, I've been downplaying it. After all, this means that I have written only 1% of a book. (There are 101 stories in every Chicken Soup book.) However, now that the book is in the stores and I have been to the launch, I am more excited about the whole venture. 

At the launch, Canadian editor Janet Matthews spoke about the constant barrage of depressing, negative, often violent stories in the media.  Chicken Soup books are a little helping of something positive, something cheerful, a gentle reprieve. If you have been reading my blog, you know that I am sometimes negative myself, often grouching about local or federal politics. So I am pleased to have  a bit of my more cheery writing included in this inspiring book of Christmas stories. 

My story is simply a tale about our three fun-loving kids. There are other, more dramatic stories in the book. I'm not finished it yet, but many of the stories that I have read so far, are really heart-warming. Positive stories are welcome at any time of year but maybe especially now. In these short dark days, as we approach Christmas, in the aftermath of so many disturbing events, it simply makes me feel better, to read these stories that celebrate the goodness of people.

As I said, it's in bookstores now. If you pick it up, I hope you enjoy reading it.

Leiper Win in Kitchissippi

What an exciting win for Jeff Leiper! Usually it is tough to unseat an incumbent but he did it handily last Monday with 7557 votes to Katherine Hobbs' 4197. Although his group ran a great campaign, they did not expect such a lopsided win. My involvement in his campaign was minimal. We had a meet and greet here for our neighbours and we worked as scrutineers on the day of the election, for those last crucial hours of 4 to 8 pm. Still, it was enough to make us feel that we were a part of the effort to bring a new face to city council. It was fun to go to his victory party and see a lot of neighbours there, who were just as happy as we were.

Big provincial and federal campaigns are largely fought in the media, with so much money for TV ads. It seems that municipal campaigns are a lot more work at the grassroots level. Voters get involved because they are concerned about local issues. Even such a simple gesture as having a lawn sign means that you talk to your neighbours more, because they may not have heard of your candidate. That's why door to door visits are so important; to put a face to a name. Jeff estimates that he knocked on about 16 000 doors over the past nine months and dropped over twenty pounds in the process. (I should get out and walk.) 

On election day I was impressed with the steady stream of voters, many who waited in lineups to cast their ballots. Sad to say, but the turnout across the city was a very pathetic 39.9%, probably because there was no real threat to Mayor Jim Watson. Here in Kitchissippi ward, the turnout was the best in the city, with 48.3%. That's still awful.

Mayor Watson cited a few issues the next day, things that he thinks folks are concerned about, like garbage and transit. What I am hoping is that new councillor Jeff Lieper will be able to pass along the message that he was elected because of concerns about developers. Many of us in this ward are sick and tired of developers in our city running the show and transforming our communities without consideration for established neighbourhoods. Go Jeff!

Ottawa, again

Well, they have started picking up the flowers and gifts from all around the National War Memorial. It's time to prepare the site for Remembrance Day ceremonies. Last Sunday, a few days after the incident, we visited there. I have never seen the War Memorial scattered with so many flowers. Not since Pierre Trudeau's death has Ottawa seen such a spontaneous outpouring of people and flowers.

No doubt the aftermath of this terrible incident will be felt in many places, for a long time.  Places of government in many countries have now adopted tighter security measures, as a result of our tragedy. The ongoing debate now is whether or not this really was an act of terrorism. 

I appreciated the comment I read in The Ottawa Citizen editorial of Oct 30th: "So while the shootings may fit into a broad definition of "terrorism", it's also important to remember that Zehaf-Bibeau's spiral

was a societal failure that needs to be discussed alongside any attempt to boost anti-terrorism legislation. In the end, it may be that getting help to vulnerable people before ISIL trolls on the internet ensnare them, would prevent many more potential strikes that weakening judicial oversight of police activities would."

As I said in an earlier post, we have spent millions on security around Parliament Hill over the past decade. It sure didn't seem to help that day. What about the Citizen's idea of getting help to vulnerable people?

While there are no guarantees, better funding for young families can only help Canadian society. Better access to childcare, improved access to affordable housing, increased funding for mental health facilities and drug treatment programs, increased funding for special education, more psychiatrists and psychologists; all of these measures would go a long way towards improving the lives of so many of our young people.

Right now the wait for subsidized housing in Ottawa is many years. It is almost impossible to get in to see a psychiatrist. If your child has learning issues and you cannot afford to pay for a private psychological assessment, you could wait years for your school to have one done. Poverty, untreated academic and mental health issues do not build model citizens.

This week I heard an interview with a refugee, speaking about the federal government's new legislation, which would restrict social assistance for refugee claimants. In the words of this refugee, "Canada should not accept refugees if they are not going to provide for them. It is like inviting someone to stay at your house and not giving them a meal or a bed." If the new measures pass, he predicted that many more refugee claimants will end up in homeless shelters.

So yes, we do need to have a good look at security on the Hill and find out what failed on Oct 22nd. However, guns in the hands of our guards and more bollards are not going to solve the problems facing our troubled families and young people.

Ottawa's Tragic Day

Centre Block during the Mosaika show

Ottawa. After Wednesday’s events, the very name will have a different connotation. Along with images of Mounties, Parliament Hill and the Rideau Canal, we must add terrorism.

I’ve lived in Ottawa for most of my life. Years ago, we always made a point of driving any of our out of town visitors around Parliament Hill. Now I don’t mean driving them along Wellington Street. No, I mean driving through the main gates, right up to the Centre Block, under the arch of the Peace Tower, and around to the back of the building where the library faces the Ottawa River.

9/11 changed all that. It has been a long time now since we were able to drive on Parliament Hill. Security has become much more evident in recent years. Some gates have simply been closed off. There is now a security station near the Hill, retractable bollards at all the entrances, and new fences. This past summer we took visiting relatives for a tour of Centre Block and were amazed at the new security measures. It was like going through an airport; we had to take off our shoes and send our belongings through a scanner. At one point I asked to remain in the room while they frisked my eighty-nine year old mother-in-law. The person in charge spoke to me very sharply and insisted I could not stay to explain things to her. I have often wondered how much all this heightened security has cost all of us.

So, how could Wednesday’s events happen? How did all these new plans fail? Ottawa will never be the same. No doubt, the security measures that I thought were way over the top, are going to be increased dramatically.

I was not in Ottawa on Wednesday. I was in Toronto.  Here in Ottawa, Pat and Aaron both ended up in lockdown situations for part of the day.  Traffic in my parents’ neighbourhood was closely monitored, as police thought a shooter might be along the Ottawa River.

I watched some of the coverage on TV, in Toronto, before catching an evening train home. As I got off the subway at the Yonge/Bloor interchange, it seemed that every corner of the globe was represented in the masses of people walking, talking, and moving all around me. People from every walk of life, every colour, every age and stage of life were going somewhere. That saying, “We’re all in this together”, came to mind.

I found myself at the bottom of a long staircase. I stood there for a few seconds thinking,  ”Really? I have to carry my backpack and suitcase all that way?” I must have looked pretty perplexed because a couple of women came over to me. They offered to help me carry my load and then helped me to find an elevator. While on the elevator, we got chatting and I asked one of the women about her t-shirt, Grandmothers Advocacy Network. There, in the midst of one of Canada’s busiest transit stops, they outlined the admirable goals of their organization. They work for changes in Canadian policies to improve the quality of life for grandmothers in sub Saharan Africa who are caring for millions of AIDS orphaned children. These women were supposed to be attending the Malala Yousufzai Canadian Citizenship event that afternoon with Stephen Harper, but it was cancelled because of the attack in Ottawa. How horribly ironic that Malala, a shooting victim herself, came to our supposedly peaceful country and her event was cancelled due to a random act of violence here.

When we parted, I made my way to Union Station. If you have been to Union Station in the past year you will remember the construction going on there. There is an outdoor staircase with no elevator. As I adjusted my suitcase to carry it up the stairs, a young man, with two kids in tow, stepped forward to carry it for me.

The train trip went smoothly. Across the aisle, a couple of young men met and enjoyed a very animated conversation. One of them had forgotten his phone charger. He walked along the train car and returned a minute later, having borrowed one from a fellow passenger. Behind me, an elderly gentleman asked the young man across the aisle from him about a baseball score. He really wanted to know who was ahead in the Kansas City/San Francisco game. The young man explained that he would be unable to get the game live, but that he could go to a sports site and check the score. A few minutes later, I heard him report that it was 7-2 for Kansas. The elderly gentleman was pleased with that news.

The events of last Wednesday have shocked all of us. I feel especially saddened by the fact that my grandchildren are growing up in a world with the possibility of random acts of violence. While terrorists are changing our world, they are a tiny minority. My train trip from Toronto to Ottawa on that tragic Wednesday confirmed my belief that most people are good.

When I got home I watched the news for a while and learned that Toronto Police Chief Blair had increased security on the TTC and had advised all passengers to be extra vigilant. I’m glad I didn’t hear that advice. It would only have added stress to my journey. As it was, I encountered nothing but helpfulness, friendliness and much concern for others, both those in front of us and those as far away as Africa.

Jack Layton’s famous letter to Canadians ended with “Love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic.” If someone like Malala Yousufzai can spread that same kind of message, then maybe we can as well.