Let’s start this one by saying “Happy
Anniversary.” This time last year, the attentions of our sorted little berg
were focused on the southern most end of the city, on a little parcel of land
which will eventually house the Hanlon Creek Business Park. A group
of well-meaning and devoted activists took to the land and settled there in an
effort to stymie construction, and to everyone’s surprised, it worked. For a
while anyway.
Many thought that the spring thaw would not
only mean the beginning of shovels in the ground for the HCBP, but a welcome
back for the protestors after the winter break. Yet this has not come to pass.
On the HCBP there are signs and security, but aside from a bizarre attempt to
grow illicit substances, there’s been neither hide nor hare of disruptive
activity. So what’s the deal? Was hating on the HCBP a passing fancy, or have
protestors merely admitted defeat in the wake of construction going full speed
ahead?
Or is it neither? For those on the left
that admire themselves as more active, there was another once in a lifetime
attraction that drew their attention this past June. If you have read the
papers then you know that the arrests made during the G20 in Toronto rounded up
the usual suspects in terms of direct action in Guelph. Trapped in
the midst of various states of legality, it’s probably hard to plot further
grassroots action when you’re sitting in jail for weeks. Understandable, but
the question’s been asked: does Guelph breed troublemakers?
As the Reverend Lovejoy once observed
“Short answer ‘yes’ with an ‘if’; long answer ‘no’ with a ‘but.’” So yes if you
count aggressive activism as a sign you’re a troublemaker. However, the answer
can also be no considering that a small group doesn’t indicate a wide-spread
pattern and the fact that all the big names in activism locally come from
hometown’s not named Guelph. But the Royal City does seem to be some kind of rally point for these like minded
people.
Now normally, finding a community where you
can be yourself amongst people who believe as you do is considered a good
thing, but some of people in Guelph, it seems, have had enough. A recent post on the subject of
Guelph-based political activists on the Mercury’s 59 Carden St blog elicited
nearly 100 responses, nearly all of which were of the “down with protestors”
variety.
On the one hand you can hardly blame people
for the reaction because aside from the disruptive nature of these protestors,
is their penchant for using illegal or borderline illegal action to get their
point across. Fair enough, but the tenor of some of the discussions goes deeper
than a “don’t-be-a-menace” type scolding. The inference instead being that if
you can’t work within the system, then you should sit down, shut up and accept
the world for how it is. Outstanding advice. They said the same thing to all
those people that protested the Iraq War when they said it would be costly and
wasteful and not yield a single WMD.
For some reason, we consider our democracy
as an entity that’s passive and inactive. Aside from the once in a while
sojourn to voting booth, if you could limit your participation to the council
chamber or a neighbourhood meeting behind close doors, that would be great.
Just so long as we don’t have to see it.
A special on MSNBC last weekend called
“Politics Gone Wild” showed debates in parliaments from India to South Korea where matters are settled more with melees than points of order.
Say what you want about the practice of chair throwing to silence an opposition
member, or eating a bill to stop its passing, but you can’t say that these
people aren’t passionate about the government. And I have to tell you, going
into election season, I hope that we the people of Guelph are even
half that passionate.
Just keep the throwing of office furniture
to a minimum.
