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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2018-07-12, Page 5THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JULY 12, 2018. PAGE 5. Other Views Crisis showed we can still care illions around the world were captivated the last couple of weeks, firstly by the plight of 12 young boys and their soccer coach trapped in a cave in Thailand, and then by the dangerous and complicated attempts to rescue them. The fact that so many people cared shows we haven't completely lost our sense of shared humanity. Generally, the farther something is from us both geographically and from our shared world, the less we identify with it. People could have shrugged and thought "it's only a dozen kids on the other side of the world so why should I care?" Instead, people were able to put themselves in the place of those youngsters, trapped in the dark for 10 days before they were found, wondering if they would ever be rescued. We could put ourselves in the place of their traumatized parents, powerless to help their children, fearing the worst but holding out hope it would all work out and their sons would come home. We cared about the ordeal being experienced by people half a world away who live and look differently than we do. It's a refreshing change from so much of what's going on in the world these days where people are divided into "them" and "us" and only the "us" matters. Across Europe, fear of influx of refugees from the Middle East and Africa has helped elect new governments swearing to deny any access to desperate people seeking security and a better life. At least part of the success of Donald Trump in his 2016 U.S. Presidential election victory came due to his promise to halt the flow of undocumented migrants into his country. More than his pledge to stop the influx, however, it was the viciousness with which he denounced the migrants that permitted people to see them not just as people Keith Roulston From the cluttered desk like us, but as some sort of invading virus. When he began to treat people sneaking into the country as criminals, throwing them in prison and separating them from their children, there was a backlash as many Americans could put themselves in the place of the frantic parents and the terrified, lonely children. Trump was forced to rescind his executive order that children be separated from their children but many of his most ardent supporters shrugged and said the harsh action was essential to send a message to would-be invaders not to come. Here in Ontario, the new provincial govern- ment is playing to the same legalistic, border - defending part of the population by denying any responsibility for housing asylum seekers and blaming the whole influx on one Tweet by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau when he contrasted Canada's more welcoming refugee policies with that of the U.S. under Trump. But Canada is not exactly welcoming, either. Fewer than 30 per cent of the Haitians have been granted refugee status after flooding northward last year when Trump announced they'd have to return to Haiti. Others are being sent back to Haiti, to a country plagued with poverty and recent violence after the imposition of higher fuel prices by their government to meet the demands of the International Monetary Fund for a range of austerity measures. Sitting here comfortably in the First World, it's easy to dissociate ourselves from the problems of the Third World countries. But often we contribute to the problems that cause people to make dangerous and difficult journeys to seek a safer and better life for their children. The insatiable demand of people in the First World for everything from oil to diamonds to drugs, often leads to violence that makes life dangerous in their homelands. Our rich lives here have brought about climate change that often leads to droughts that destroy the subsistence lifestyle that allowed people to live in their countries. War and violence are legal reasons to claim refugee status in Europe, the U.S. and Canada, but being an economic immigrant seeking to have a better life means people can be sent home, as the Haitians have been. Part of our lack of empathy for these desperate people is that the problems seem so impossible to solve. Millions have boarded rickety boats to cross the Mediterranean Sea to a better life in Europe in a recent years, and still they keep coming, even if in somewhat reduced numbers. In the U.S., the Spanish- speaking portion of the population has continued to grow over the years as people keep sneaking across the border from Mexico. Canadians, remembering the acceptance of Syrian refugees two years ago, wonder how many more refugees we can accommodate, especially when Toronto's shelter beds are already full. So maybe the plight of the Thai soccer players and their coach, trapped in their cave was a story small enough for us to grasp and care about. Still, at least we didn't emulate the slogan on Melania Trump's infamous jacket: "I don't really care. Do U?" Why did the car cross the crosswalk? ave you ever looked at something, H thought, "That's not right," but had so many other people disagreeing that you figured you were missing something? There are probably situations like that happening in fine art museums everywhere, but to really understand what I'm talking about it has to something a little less subjective than melting clocks or cubism. Take, for example, the crosswalks in Clinton. They've been lauded recently for how great they are but when I approached the two of them north of Highway 8, I was perplexed. First, I thought that the northern -most one was a warning for the crosswalk between Bartliff's Bakery & Restaurant and Godfather's Pizza. I had to brake quickly when I realized that wasn't right. Secondly, I thought that they were cautionary lights as they are yellow. I don't know about everyone else, but for me, a yellow flashing light means proceed with caution, not a definitive stop. So when I saw those flashing lights for the first time, I actually didn't know I was supposed to stop, but I did slow down (thankfully). Before a letter to the editor (that's discussed below) pointed out my error, I thought yellow always means proceed with caution and red means stop. I haven't really told anyone about this, however, because of one simple fact: I felt like a bloody idiot having messed this up, not to mention potentially ticking off some pedestrians in Clinton. It was embarrassing to think that I had so thoroughly missed the point of the crosswalks. Because of that, I felt uncomfortable bringing it up with most other people. I know — the idea of me being anything but unapologetic and brash with my opinions may Denny Scott Denny's Den seem out of character, but it does happen every so often. However, as I discovered in the past week or so, I'm not the only person who finds the crosswalks miss the mark. Huron East Councillor Bob Fisher, who may be one of Huron County's foremost experts in accessibility due to losing his sight several years ago, penned a letter to the editor in last week's edition of The Citizen explaining why the crosswalks weren't suitable. The lack of an audible signal to find or use the crosswalk was a problem for people with vision problems said Fisher, and I agree. I pursued my post -secondary education in Brantford, specifically downtown Brantford, which is where a Canadian National Institute for the Blind office is located. W. Ross Macdonald School, a public school for the blind, is also close to the city's downtown core. As a result, there are crosswalks in Brantford that are full -on stop lights that provide the kind of auditory signals that Fisher says are important. They worked, as far as I know, and they were in place long before I started school 15 years ago. Fisher also explained that most motorists, this reporter included, are unaware that a flashing yellow light is a mandatory stop when at a crosswalk. I think it's silly to have an understood signal like a yellow light to have contextual meaning (we don't stop at the flashing yellow lights on deer signs, for example) and apparently, I'm not the only person who wasn't aware of that. The Blyth Business Improvement Area (BIA) also discussed the crosswalks and more flaws in the system were uncovered, including the fact that, from a few blocks back, the signs and lights are lost in the din of the buildings that surround them. During a North Huron Council meeting, Councillor Brock Vodden commented on how there had been a steep learning curve regarding not just installing the crosswalks but for their use as well. I understand that Clinton's crosswalks, being solar -powered and not requiring the same infrastructure as the $100,000 on - demand, red-light crosswalks Fisher says are best, are the less expensive option. However, when it comes to safety, maybe dollar value shouldn't be a factor in the decision making Take, for example, the microcosm that is my home: When it came time to start baby - proofing our home, we tried to stay safety - conscious above all else, including price. Sure, I eventually started building my own baby gates once I got the design down, but prior to that we went out and spent what I considered to be exorbitant amounts of money on gates that are so sturdy and complicated that it took me awhile to teach my parents how to use them. You can't cut corners with safety, especially when it comes to something as important as getting pedestrians from one side of the street to the other. I'm the kind of person who drives for a living and while it was on me to better understand the contextual meaning of the flashing yellow light at the Clinton crosswalks, I'm obviously not the only one who didn't get it. Fortunately, I figured it out without major incident. I hope everyone is so lucky. Shawn Loughlin Shawn's Sense Life as a must -read Admittedly it has been an adjustment over the last 12 years seeing people in coffee shops and sitting outside on benches flipping through the newspaper and seeing my face on one of the pages. Late last week a reader sent us a message through our website complimenting this very page, thanking Keith Roulston, Denny Scott and myself on our editorial work every week. This could almost be a sequel to last week's column in which I argued the virtues of discourse, debate and open-mindedness — especially on pages like this around the world. Since long-time syndicated columnist the late Arthur Black retired, I feel like people talk to me a lot more about our op-ed page than ever before. The conversation always revolves around the conflicting opinions presented. Readers often stop Denny and me on the street to compliment us on our columns. I'm sure the same happens to Keith. More and more, people are telling us that this is the first page they read when they get their newspaper. For all the reporting that we do on a weekly basis, that some readers most anticipate hearing an opinion from us every week comes as a surprise to me whenever I hear it. After all, who am I to provide any opinion? Keith used to tell me not to overthink my column. Really, he would say, most readers of The Citizen likely aren't cracking the paper open for columnist's opinions. On the contrary, I seem to remember my predecessor Bonnie Gropp dedicating one day per week to writing her column. I always fell somewhere in the middle. When I first started writing a column, I was very proud. I still am. I figured some read my column, but I certainly put more time and effort into my coverage of our communities than I did crafting my opinion week to week. Now, however, the more people tell me how essential this page is to their weekly lives, the more I feel like I better come up with something good. It's not always easy. But when I talk to people, they always speak about the opposing viewpoints the three of us bring to the table. Keith is a 40 -year veteran of the industry and a Lucknow native who is just now settling into (mostly) retirement, while Denny is a Huron County native and new father who is not afraid to voice the strong views he has. I, as most of you know, am a native of the GTA who made my way here over 12 years ago. No one would blame you if you wondered how our three faces ended up on the same page. But it's exactly that kind of eclecticism that people appreciated about what we do here at The Citizen on page five (and page four with Keith's editorials). Offering different points of view, which sometimes conflict with one another, is a healthy way to live your life, as I said last week. Working your way through a mountain of opinion pieces, all of which agree with your point of view, can go a long way towards making you feel smart, but you don't learn much (which may not be a problem for you, since you're sitting there feeling so smart). To get a compliment for presenting an opinion to someone who agrees with you is nice, but to receive a compliment from someone with whom you disagree is a much greater feat. As an opinion columnist, hearing that means that you've done your job. So while being part of the go -to page for readers is still something I'm getting used to (and something that freaks me out a bit) I'm glad that what we do is reaching so many.