Tag Archives: discussion

Rallying the Troops: the No Casino-Rethinking Ontario Place Walk

On a newly minted sunny Saturday afternoon in Toronto over a hundred civic-minded Torontonians, with kids in tow and a few curious tourists gathered at Ontario Place for one of the annual global Jane’s Walk organized by Trinity-Spadina MPP Rosario Marchese, OPSEU representative Laurie Miller and No Casino Toronto co-founder Peggy Calvert.

With the council vote less than three weeks away, what worried Calvert were councillors in Scarborough and North York still being undecided. Although she felt “cautiously optimistic,” Calvert said she gave more weight to “cautiously.” Which is why this walk, felt like and was more of an information session, pep rally to recruit people to approach undecided residents in the aforementioned enclaves and to visit in person, which Marchese suggests is more effective, or write a letter to their councillors to convince them to reject a downtown Toronto mega-casino.

The marquee speaker was Ontario Place’s original architect Eberhard Zeidler who spoke fondly and nostalgically about the noise challenges of the Forum’s, the famous open outdoor amphitheatre encircled by grassland, massive concerts in its heyday. He would like to see a park that welcomes people of all ages much like surprise guest speaker architect and urban planner Ken Greenberg who gave an impromptu speech. He spoke of being called in to help cities dealing with “the negative impacts of the casinos” and what he would like to see happening to Ontario Place and Exhibition grounds. He proposes “repurposing the original structures” that were built in response to Montreal’s Expo ’67 and perhaps placing “universities” or other learning facilities and recreation spaces. “What we really need is a great park space,” he explained, “it should have special things in it like the annual Exhibition… all kinds of revenue producing things,” but, he added, “there should be a great place for people to come with their families or alone… to enjoy this wonderful space on our waterfront.”

The event did not last the two listed hours. Energy seemed to wain as the crowd thinned despite the offer of brightly coloured gift bags, No Casino signs in need of new lawns and Laurie Miller’s creative on-the-spot project that included drawing pictures of a new Ontario Place with big colourful chunky chalk that I would have salivated over as an 8-year-old. But Marchese felt optimistic because the No Casino movement has “mobilized public action” and has made people realize “that public space is under threat and that they need to come together, have their say in order to prevent these kinds of threats.”

John Sewell, former mayor of Toronto, makes a similar observation in his City Hall column, he says, the “casino has created a new and fresh political alignment in the city. I suspect it will spill over to the other big issues that now swirl around the city [like] Porter Airlines [wanting] to bring jets to the Island airport and extend the runway.” He’s right. One woman was handing out “no jet” buttons even before the walk started and Peggy Calvert said that the jets were next on her list of concerns. As casino opponents anxiously await the council vote on May 21st it seems they have found comfort and inspiration in creating a new civic movement.

[audio:http://www.rosalinkrieger.com/wp-content/uploads/KenGreenberg_May4_2013_JanesWalk.mp3]

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What will you tell your children about the Boston Marathon bombings?

I take my work as a teacher very seriously especially in the aftermath of tragedies like the Boston Marathon bombings. I answer pretty much every question students throw at me, like, “Why did Hitler hate Jews so much?”, “Is The Diary of Anne Frank a good book? and “Why did the U.S. bomb Japan and not Germany in World War II?” I really feel that it is my responsibility, as an adult, to respond honestly and openly to their questions because they need guidance. It is my goal to draw them into a complex yet understandable discussion and show them how to use reason to unpack very difficult issues.

This weekend, my first student, an 18-year-old, wanted to discuss the Boston Bombings. She was feeling sad and defeated by the hateful act. Like many of us often do, she focused solely on the two suspects and their single act, which is exactly what the bombers and their ilk want. They want you to despair, feel defeated and hopeless about humanity. Which is why they targeted the marathon, the quintessential life-affirming event. The attack was the ultimate anti-social, anti-life, anti-hopeful act. They wanted to destroy what they did not have. I told her to mourn the dead and the injured and to think about what they will have to endure but to also focus on the fact, that the majority of the people at the marathon, EVERYONE except for the two suspects, did good things! That, “the vast majority stands against that darkness,” Patton Oswalt posted.

Our children and students, of all ages, need to feel positive about people, safe and proactive. I gave my student an exercise. I asked her how would she discuss the Boston Marathon Bombing and similar events with an 8-year-old? We brainstormed and came up with the following discussion points: possible causes (anti-social behaviour, alienation, outmoded notions of masculinity) and prevention (rejecting constrictive notions of manhood, more mental health resources, family intervention, coping skills, group discussions at her Church) because make no mistake there are other young men on the cusp of making a similar hateful statement on an international stage. Our young men are still bottling up rage and feel justified in harming other people in great numbers.

At the end of today’s session I told her she can call or email me if she needed to talk about the attack and I told her father about our discussion, about how we all have to be concerned about our young men and he said it was a good idea. Those of us who want to understand why a person commits such a heinous act is not out to “make excuses for it” as Prime Minister Harper suggests. We just want to stop the next attack and make our children feel safe and positive. We want them to reject and denounce this ultimate act of hate. So, turn off the 24-7 media coverage but don’t avoid your children’s questions. They need your calming and thoughtful presence more than ever.

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