| Political Lessons Learned on the Seine River I learned a lesson in politics this week. Rather, I am still in the process of learning it. A few avid canoeists and board members had brought to our attention a makeshift wooden bridge over the Seine River at Nova Vista. I immediately called for a board motion to call for the removal of all unauthorized structures on the river, as this undoubtedly contravenes federal navigable waterway acts. Simple. Case closed. To my surprise our Green Team leader, a very polite young man, had serious problems with this. He had met the people at Nova Vista. They were very proud of their little bridge. He thought our decision very questionable at best. I decided to investigate. I went to the condo project in question, River Rock on the Seine, and immediately found several seniors busily stenciling vines on concrete walls, planting rose bushes, laying bark on trails and improving their already beautiful grounds. To my surprise they knew me by sight from various public meetings about the Bois des Esprits and made me welcome. One man, Dave Penner, showed me the 13 Canada geese goslings floating down the river with their proud parents, the riverbank hole where a groundhog family slept, and the 5 planks that someone had precariously placed over the river on cinder blocks. This site was originally a beaver dam 25 years ago. The city officials at the time decided to bypass the dam by installing a metal culvert (still there), setting it in place with cement. This caused the dam to breach and the river to lower. That very same Dave Penner then owned the land. Originally no deer came to his yard. No paths crossed his land. When times of low water came and the river was dying local people came to Dave and asked him to turn his back when they set stones into the river to hold some water back. Dave turned his back then. The water was raised and the turtles, fish and ducks still had a home. Dave fed the deer and they established well-worn paths to his home. Eventually Dave sold his land. His old house was torn down, but Dave lives there still, though in a condo now. He can still walk his land, but now he walks it with a hundred other seniors. Someone, Dave will not say who, laid a few planks over the stones. Now seniors can walk into the Bois des Esprits and see its beauty. Everyday they walk over those narrow planks to an ancient forest, the beautiful forest that SOS is desperately trying to tell everyone about. Without saying so Dave asks us to turn our backs like he once did. He asks us to forget the rules. He asks us to listen to the woods. Perhaps our Green team can improve the canoe portage at Nova Vista. Perhaps canoeists and hikers can learn to coexist. Perhaps SOS and Ladco can learn to coexist as well. A high level foot bridge at Southglen could link the communities of Royalwood and Dakota Crossing together. Bicyclists and pedestrians could then cross the river in safety to both visit the park and to shop the small businesses on St. Anne's Rd. The deer could pass safely underneath the bridge and the river ecology would not be unduly disrupted. Wouldn't that be a good idea? |