From The Editors

'Five days of action'

Posted by Phil Andrews

An email/invitation is circulating from some members of the camp opposed to the development of the Hanlon Creek Business Park site. An edited version of it is included in this posting.

We accessed the litigation referenced in the document. It's filed at small claims court in Guelph.

We'll have a story in Saturday's Mercury.

Next week looks interesting.

 5 Days of Action for the Hanlon Creek!



We're very excited to invite you to a full line-up of events next week.  See below for the basic details, and below that for more information.  There are lots of events, but they are all fairly short, so hopefully you can make it out to many of them.



For more information please see hcbpoccupation.wordpress.com, or email hcbpoccupation@gmail.com



*Monday November 23 - Hanlon Creek defender files lawsuit against Guelph
police board*

*Tuesday November 24 - Letters of concern delivered to Xterra Construction*

*Wednesday November 25 - Information picket at site of new HCBP construction
*

*Thursday November 26 - Demo at Xterra's office in Kitchener-Waterloo*

*Friday November 27 - Noon hour concert and rally at Guelph city hall*

*also Friday night - Dance party and fundraiser for the Hanlon Creek*

*

*

*Monday November 23, 1:00 - 1:30pm*

*Guelph Police Station, near corner of Wyndham & Fountain St.*



Come support and hear from Hanlon Creek defender Kelly Pflug-Back as she follows through with a lawsuit against the Guelph Police Services Board, and holds a press conference.



*Tuesday November 24*

*Xterra Construction office, 934 Guelph St., Kitchener*



Xterra Construction is the company who has successfully bid on the latest construction for the Hanlon Creek Business Park.  For $1.7 million of taxpayers money, they hope to tunnel pipes below the Hanlon expressway at Clair rd., to connect the HCBP to the city's water, electrical, and telecommunications infrastructure.



Too often people defend construction companies as 'innocent bystanders' who are just doing their job.  But if one's job is to facilitate the destruction of the earth and our landbase, then one must at least become aware of, and accept responsibility for, the results of these actions.



Folks from Guelph and Kitchener will be dropping off letters notifying them of the contentious history of the HCBP, and the associated environmental and social problems that have made it the most well-known environmental issue of the region.





*Wednesday November 25, 2:30 - 4:30pm  * Hanlon expressway and Clair rd., at the site of pending construction



Come join concerned residents of Guelph as we hold an educational rally at the site of the next round of proposed construction.  We will have a friendly presence, a press conference, and will offer informative flyers to drivers as they stop at red lights.  Warm drinks, baked goods, banners, and good folks will be present.  The more people the better!



We'll meet at the Via station downtown on Carden St. at 2:30, and will have free rides.




Thursday November 26, 11am - 2pm

*Xterra Construction office, 934 Guelph St., Kitchener*



This is the first large gathering of the week.  We'll be holding a demonstration at Xterra's office, to follow up on the delivery of our letters.  This is a non-confrontational rally that is an opportunity to demonstrate our strength in numbers.  Come hear from allies downstream of us in Kitchener/Waterloo and other guest speakers, about connections between the HCBP and environmental issues there.



We'll be meeting at the Via station on Carden St. at 11am, with free rides there and back.  Tentative schedule is for the demo to start at approximately 12 noon, and be back between 2-3.




Friday November 27, 12 noon - 1pm

*City Hall, 1 Carden st.*



Come down to city hall for a free lunch and noon hour concert and jamboree.
Or call it a hullabaloo, hootenanny, or kerfuffle.  Let's have a great time and remind those at city hall that there are many people in this community who are concerned about this issue and it's myriad connections to other issues, like protection of our drinking water and downstream communities, forest preservation, biodiversity, mismanagement of municipal finances, remediation of brownfields, colonialism and disproportionate impacts on Indigenous people, and more..



This will be another opportunity to learn about what's going on locally and how to get involved in this ever-expanding community effort.  Sidewalk chalk, street theatre, and ye olde town crier may all make an appearance.





And for the grand finale, Friday night there's a dance party for the Hanlon Creek!


Friday November 27, 9pm - late Guelph Googenheim, 29 Woolwich Street,  below
Gordon Taylor Music   Hanlon Creek Drum Ensemble Drum and Dance fundraiser
for the Hanlon Creek legal fees

$5, with fees going to support the legal defence during and after the occupation of the HCBP.



9:00 pm - Drumming welcome, ft. Prince Bamidele Bajowa of the Nigerian Yoruba people.  Guests encouraged to bring drums!

10:30 pm - Liason into the hype DJ set ft. Josh Cold Killbert, Sebastian Butt, Tigre$$$$, and Wolk.



******************



More info about the lawsuit against the police:



On September 2, people visited the home of the owner of Drexler Construction, the construction company working on the summer's culvert.  A Drexler family member was read a letter encouraging them to drop the contract.



The next day, the City of Guelph announced they were canceling the culvert work for 2009.  The day after, September 4, the police announced a "criminal investigation" into charges of intimidation, based on the letter to Drexler.




On September 9, Kelly and Julian Ichim held a press conference at the police station where they read the letter, admitted being there, and tried to turn themselves in to the police for their "investigation."  Their lawyer, Davin Charney, said that evening, "This, to me, seems like another example where the Guelph Police are taking on a political role rather than simply a law enforcement role."



Even though the police were hyping up their investigation, and two people came to turn themselves in, the police didn't want anything to do with them.
Shortly after that, the two land defenders chose to begin the process of filing a lawsuit against the Guelph Police Services Board.  Mayor Karen Farbridge and councilor Gloria Kovach are both members of this board.



"The police are being used as a political tool to repress dissidents,"
Julian said that day.  Their lawyer said police "have shown contempt for freedom of expression and democracy."



On October 1, the police dropped the "investigation."

Localizing cheater story

Posted by Phil Andrews

I'm wondering whether we missed a chance to do a local reaction story on the international story about the apparent handball goal that propelled France into the 2010 World Cup this week.

It's tough to know when to have local staff tap local reaction on a story with elsewhere origins and to place such stories on local pages.

Might have missed one on this caper, however -- particulalry in light of Guelph Soccer's huge reach.

We'll see how the day's early assignments fare. Maybe we'll jump in.

Things that go boom

Posted by Phil Andrews

I had the opportunity last month to address a third-year science class at U of G.

The course was on pesticides and the environment.

The professor, Dr. Marc Habash, had me out -- among other guest lecturers in the class -- to discuss how to influence public opinion and public policy by such mechanisms as letter to the editor.

I spoke with his class on many things and specifically oftered some letter writing dos and don'ts. I also agreed to read and offer comments on a related class letter-to-the-editor assignment and to publish a sample if they were good fits for the Mercury letters section.

We have run three of the letters. A fourth will appear soon.

Were I to address the students again, I might have mentioned a seemingly sure fire way to receive wide attention and provoke a response. It seems dropping the phrases "gun control," long gun," "firearms registry" alone or in any combination gets noticed.

Last Saturday, Rob O'Flanagan offered an opinion on firearms in his weekly Freeform column. Its thrust was something along these lines: I've owned guns. I've used guns. Talk of scrapping the firearms registry had me considering getting a gun. But I don't think I need a gun. 

I didn't read it as anti-firearm or anti-firearm owner. But many others did. We posted the column online on Nov. 13. Within 45 minutes, we had five letters to the editor about it. By the end of the weekend, we had more than 15. We've published several of them.

Many are passionate and thoughtful. A few include invitations to Rob to go shooting and or hunting. And, a majority are ANGRY screeds that waste no time going after Rob.

Some representative quotations:

* "I'd hate to be a member of your family. You are truly nuts;"

* "Do you even have a family, or anyone you love? You could actually live with yourself after standing by seeing them brutalized, or looked into their dying eyes as they looked to you for help? You are sick, bro, and your dependents should be passed on to a responsible adult. 
The issue here, friend, is not guns. It's about being a man. I'm not huge on guns, they're way too noisy anyway. If my wife or three daughters ever need a MAN to help, give me a baseball bat, cast iron pan, fence post, or my registered axe. You get the idea...or maybe not. My girls get the idea, like the idea, and feel loved."

* "In Mr. O'Flanagan's article "Do I really need a rifle?" he suggests that allowing the murder of his own family would be easier to live with than shooting the murderous criminal bent on violently ending their lives.  This kind of warped ideology is not natural.  One must be indoctrinated for years to accept it.  Personally, I would do anything and use anything at my disposal, until my last breath, to protect my loved ones.  Each one of them knows this beyond any doubt. Common sense dictates that if one's life, and the life of their family, was in danger they would grab ANYTHING within reach to defend themselves: a lamp, a knife, a chair, even *gasp* a gun - but not Mr. O'Flanagan. At the threat of hurting Mr. O'Flanagan's most delicate conscience, I present this question:
Has your family been made aware that when push comes to shove, they cannot count on you to protect them? " 

This week Rob intends to revist the subject in light of the feedback he has received. We'll see what response that generates.

Church after public money

Posted by Phil Andrews

With the City of Guelph's capital budget wish under review for myriad economic reasons, the campaign linked to restoring Church of Our Lady is seeking to tap Ottawa, the province and the City for a total of $500,000.

We're working on a story about the campaign. It will include Mayor Karen Farbridge asserting that they will be no reach into the civic piggy bank for the cause.

The City created a possible precedent for such asks, however, when it helped out Hospice Wellington and other secular players seeking big capital assists -- and Guelph Soccer, when it was after a unique financing package to develop the soccer dome.

In living colour

Posted by Phil Andrews

We've had a big-volume response to our exploration last weekend about the concerns of some Guelph residents about some student-rental housing properties around U of G.

For a spell, we had been planning to play this cartoon as out main front page image -- to go along with the story.

I wonder if that would have spurred even more feedback about the story or been regarded as over-the-top.

In the end, the cartoon appeared on page A3, in black-and-white. Our main front-page photo was a celebration shot after the city high school football championship.

Arnott playing defence

Posted by Phil Andrews

For the first time I can recall since moving to town, in 2005, we've received a Liberal communique attacking Ted Arnott.

The fax attack comes from Perth-Wellington MPP John Wilkinson. It suggests families in Wellington County will be "alarmed to find out Ted Arnott voted against cutting their taxes and creating jobs."

The assertion is in connection to criticism of Arnott for voting against legislation announced in the provincial budget.

"It's easy to be negative and say 'no' all the time. But the fact that Arnott won't commit to undoing any of the tax changes is proof that we're doing the right thing...." the release goes on to blather.

That's some serious politicking by a governing side with a year to go in its mandate.

Can the Liberals believe laying into a popular and respected constituency-first MPP such as Arnott -- a year out from an election call -- is going to have traction with residents of his riding?

Smells like desperation.

I mean, would Wilkinson have issued a communique praising Arnott had he backed the legislation?

Call back from Carson Reid

Posted by Phil Andrews

Carson Reid returned our call for comment today. We called seeking his comment late Thursday afternoon, shortly after reporter Greg Layson returned from an afternoon conference at the University of Guelph where a City of Guelph official made some compelling assertions in a keynote address.

Reid was apparently not aware the story we had called about had been published. Layson invited him to review the story and then offer comments. There was no follow-up call from Reid.

Had he called back, we had also planned to also raise the matter of his company's decision not to fight a ticket related to violating the Migratory Birds Convention Act, 1994. The ticket was issued this summer in connection with a federal Ministry of the Environment investigation into a case of tree-cutting on or about June 11, on property owned by Reid.

Reid has said he regards city tree bylaw charges laid after a civic investigation into the same matter as unfounded.

Lest we forget

Posted by Phil Andrews

The Mercury's online weekly poll is closing with a lop-sided result. About 82 per cent of respondents have registered that they believe Remembrance Day ought to be a statutory holiday.

It's an interesting issue. A pretty fair volume -- more than 1,100 -- votes were recorded.

Two asides:

1) My Manitoba in-laws were flabbergasted this week to learn Nov. 11 wasn't a stat holiday in Ontario.

2) When we lived in New Brunswick, there was a push to make it a stat day. But the political notion died when the province's Legion lobby urged it to remain a regular day so that people would break from their routines to participate in the day's ceremonies and so that schools would likely conduct ceremonies that kids would be obliged to attend. The thought was the day would just become an empty holiday-day if it became a day off on the calendar.

You may have read it here first

Posted by Phil Andrews

Mercury humour columnist Chuck Brown may be an oracle. In an Oct.17 column, he speculated that The Who might be the headliner act playing halftime at this year's Super Bowl. Brown wrote:

The Who is another possibility, though they are a little overexposed with their theme music appearing on CSI, CSI Miami, CSI New York and soon-to-be CSI Sudbury.

Now, Sports Illustrated is speculating that just might be the case. (Warning to readers the Sports Illustrated link also features a model with a painted-on The Who swimsuit.)

Phantom 407 bills

Posted by Phil Andrews

The Toronto Star is exploring stories of folks who have received bills from the company that runs Highway 407 for trips they swear they didn't take or that they took a long time ago and are only now being billed for -- with big interest.

I'm interested in whether we have any locals with similar stories to tell.

If so, leave a comment or contact me with your contact information at pandrews@guelphmercury.com.