Tuesday, September 15, 2009
From strange to weird to bizarre
(September 15) - The saga of the Hanlon Creek Business Park goes from strange to weird to bizarre. Construction has been put on hold until next spring because the city is committed to developing the site in the most environmentally responsible manner possible. They agreed they would not do any work on site during sensitive fish breeding seasons, and they are being true to their word.
They now have the strange task of proving a negative. They must prove there are no Jefferson salamanders in the creek beds and wetlands. If next spring rolls around and none have been found, opponents of the project will tell them to look again. You didn’t look everywhere, they will say. There could still be a stone left unturned somewhere out there. If there were no Jeffersons in the creek last October, they will say next April, there might be one now. Take another look.
It may be possible to prove a negative, if you have enough resources and the time needed to go back and make sure nothing changes. It would take more time than the city has available.
Other negatives are easier to prove. For example, you can easily show, beyond a shadow of a doubt, there are still no jobs in the Hanlon Creek Business Park. That’s because, after all the time spent searching for salamanders, there is still no business park.
Last week, things went from strange to weird. Some of the protesters went to the Drexler residence and delivered a message. They say they just wanted to pass the time of day in pleasant conversation and explain that the business owner, much like everyone else in Guelph, would have a happier life if the land didn’t get developed.
The police say Drexler felt threatened and intimidated by the visitors. It’s tough to get into the middle of a “yes you did, no I didn’t” argument that may or may not be settled in court. One thing is clear, though. The protesters were making sure Drexler knew they know where to find his family when they want to.
I’ve known people in the building trades. If you could get a PhD in machismo, they’d all be doctors. Meet them at a construction site, a negotiating table or on a golf course and they can be fearless. None would have got where they did if they went all weak in the knee when confronted by the people who camped out by Hanlon Creek. Going to their homes puts their families at risk, and that’s another story.
Imagine the outrage that would result if a construction worker went to a protester’s home for a similar “chat.”
By week’s end it went from weird to bizarre. A couple of the protesters who tried to tune up the Drexlers turned themselves in to the police and spoke to the press. Both came from out of town. One, Julian Ichim, turns out to have been the Marxist-Leninist candidate in various provincial and federal elections in Kitchener and, most recently, Stratford.
There are legitimate fringe parties with programs and platforms that deserve to be heard. The M-Lers are not among them. They built their organization on the backs of progressive groups, moving in to disrupt, dominate and destroy. For as long as I have known them, about 40 years, they have been at the centre of the loonie left. There is no reason to suppose they occupy any different ground today.
If Guelph’s environmental groups have been infiltrated by them, we should all be worried. Nothing good will come of it. The honest environmentalists who care about the business park should think twice about where, and with whom, they are going.
Subscribe to Posts [Atom]
