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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2018-04-19, Page 5Other Views When a country became a village /t's hard to say anything good can come from the deaths of 16 innocent people such as those who died in the horrible bus crash in Humboldt, Saskatchewan but we were given the gift of a few weeks of having the best side, not the worst, of humanity dominate the headlines. It was as if the entire country had become a village in the way people reacted to the tragedy. Just as neighbours in a small town drop off food for a grieving family, Canadians sought any way they could to give comfort to the survivors and to the families of those who were killed. Those efforts ranged from the simple symbolism of leaving hockey sticks on the front porch to mark the passing of so many young hockey players, to the wearing of hockey jerseys last Thursday as a show of solidarity with the families and the people of Humbolt. Then there is the GoFundMe campaign that has raised $11.5 million as this was written. People not just from Canada but around the world contributed to the fund. And for days, this generosity and shared humanity pushed aside the latest rants of U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, relegating them to the end of newscasts. We forgot about the head -shaking stupidity of the U.S. gun debate. All the things that we felt helpless to do anything about, such as the cruel civil war in Syria, were nudged to the sidelines as people found something in which they felt they could make a difference. When it was learned that Logan Boulet, one of the young victims of the crash had donated his organs which had gone to save or improve the lives of six other people, the number of people signing up to donate their organs in the event of their deaths increased by 100 per cent. Especially notable was that registration by 16 - The on Keith Roulston From the cluttered desk to 25 -year-olds, a group that seldom thinks of such things because they expect to live forever, increased by five times. In Alberta, more than 3,000 people signed up in one weekend. The human generosity of spirit seemed to extend to understanding and even sympathy for the driver of the transport truck who went through a stop sign and collided with the bus. Many people, including some of the families of those killed, seemed to postpone judgment and to realize that he must have been going through his own hell knowing the terrible consequences of his mistake. Who knows if such understanding will continue when the driver's identity becomes public but at least people shared their humanity with him for a while. The dark side of humans doesn't go away, of course. There were several reports of people stealing the hockey sticks left on porches. And then there were the cynics. Not content to simply marvel at this mass display of human generosity, they had to question it and filter it through their own agenda. Left-wing writer, activist and organizer Nora Loreto noted on Twitter that the huge donation to the Humboldt tragedy was a lovely gesture but thought it would have been nice to spread it around to those who don't have the privilege of being born white. "I'm trying to not get cynical about what is a totally devastating tragedy, but the maleness, the youthfulness and the whiteness of the victims THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, APRIL 19, 2018. PAGE 5. play a significant role," she wrote. Tactless as Loreto's comment was, it hardly deserved the deluge of hatred and vitriol it brought on social media that spoiled the feel - good aspect of the international reaction to the Humboldt tragedy. The haters in society surfaced again, undermining humanity's lovers. We can all share Loreto's curiosity as to why this particular tragedy, among so many others, struck such a responsive chord in the Canadian people. I, myself, wondered why Canadians responded more strongly than they did, for instance, in the 2013 Lac Megantic tragedy where a runaway train loaded with oil exploded in the Quebec town's heart, killing 47 people and destroying 30 buildings. Certainly the media has covered every aspect of the Humboldt tragedy, but part of the reason for that was the sense editors had that this story really mattered to their audience. Why some causes touch the human heart is always a mystery. In our reaction to the Humboldt crash I'm reminded of the response of Canadians in 2015 to the Syrian refugee crisis and a similar effort 40 years earlier for the Vietnamese boat people — efforts that required direct action to raise money and sponsor families. Yes, we might wish, like Loreto, that similar human generosity could be displayed toward all good causes — we have not donated nearly as generously to help the refugees of Myanmar as we did those of Syria, for instance. On the other hand, we can simply celebrate this time when the Humboldt tragedy brought out the best in human beings, and try to remember how good people can be when we're deluged with stories of the wrongs humans cause. oing evolution of Denny's Den Many people may not realize that Denny's Den is a physical space in the world, as much as it is a mental space. It wasn't named as such, and, likely, I'm the only person in the world who calls it by the name (which, in the interest of fairness, was actually coined by The Citizen's Dianne Josling and Joan Caldwell) but if you visit my house, Denny's Den is a real space. It originally started as a love seat, a couple of arm chairs, a bar and a fireplace but, as with all things, as life changed, so did the den. My wife decided the den needed a television, so now we have one there. Fortunately the design of the room prevents the television from being the centre of attention; that honour resides with the fireplace. The bar was destined to be filled with spirits, and even had space to hold a few favourite tomes that I could get lost in whenever I had a chance to sit down. The den featured a vintage fireplace, faux -rock wall and fit my idea of a place to sit and talk the world's problems through perfectly. Like I said, however, life moves forward and the den, like everything else, has to adapt. As I write this, for example, the den has a visitor: my daughter Mary Jane, who is feeling a bit under the weather. As she has grown, the den has become part - living room/part-toy room and, now, part - nurse's room. The purposes of the den have been redistributed: I read in bed and, on the rare occasion I do host people to discuss the problems of the world with, it's done around our stately dining room table (seriously, my wife found us this massive dining room table, when it's fully expanded, there's like 12 feet between the head and the foot). Denny Scott Denny's Den It's not just the den, either, the house has changed. Ashleigh and I bought our home because it was a good size to have a family in. Soon after we moved here, we realized we had a lot more space than before and "the creep" started. The creep is what I like to call people's tendency to fill their space. Massive empty rooms, in my experience, feel unnatural for most people. They want to utilize space so they will buy furniture and knick-knacks to fill it up. Fitting a third person in, however, made us realize just how much we had crept. One storage closet was no longer enough. We needed to dedicate a portion of another room to storage, especially when it came time to start retiring some of Mary Jane's clothes. Some may think that I'm complaining here, but I'm not. I'm extremely happy to be fitting someone so wonderful in our lives. The changes prove that we're moving forward. Selling this or storing that is an evolution that proves that we're not stagnating. Seeing Mary Jane's bean bag chair and toys where once there was bare floor and footstools puts a smile on my face. So why does this matter? When I write about how things look to me from the den, I want readers to know that means from what has become very much a family room. While the den and I evolve, the point from which I'm writing evolves as well. I used to write about what interested me and had local applications, but I've found I'm considering the future with my writing a bit more. I'm doing that because I want to make sure my home, both the structure and the community, are what Mary Jane needs them to be. That's why I'm passionate about my community and the decisions made here. I wouldn't say I'm less interested in the problems of the world at large, but I am more interested in the problems outside my door. Instead of thinking of my own interests, and, to a certain extent, my wife's, I'm thinking about the interests of someone who will be walking the streets of this community, catching a bus here and growing up here. The den has changed: landscape images replaced with pictures of my daughter, scotch decanters replaced by sippy cups, bottles of single malt replaced with sleeves of Arrowroots, toys taking the place of comfy recliners and a fireplace that isn't on near as much as it used to be (can't have something that hot within Mary Jane's reach). Those changes, however, have happened as I have changed. It has changed from a place of peace and quiet to a place of activity and energy. A typical blustery Saturday afternoon in the den would see my wife reading a book on horses or listening to a podcast about, you guessed it, horses, while I flipped through any number of books, all while sitting in front of a roaring fireplace. Now, the only books out on a Saturday afternoon are colouring books and the only sounds are those of family -friendly television and music. It's still a sanctuary though. It's still a place where I seek resolutions to problems, big and small, and take time to think on the state of the world at large and the world outside my door. I just usually do it with Paw Patrol or Moana in the background instead of podcasts or country tunes and occasionally, I do it with a toddler sitting on my knee. Shawn Loughlin Shawn's Sense Run this town, man Last week many female professionals posted online about Equal Pay Day, which is recognized on April 10 and has been since 1996. On that same day, a very non - Equal Pay Day thing happened when the casting decisions of the upcoming movie Run This Town were announced. Equal Pay Day has been striving for over 20 years to draw attention to (and eliminate) the disparity between the money made by women and men doing the same job. Currently, in Ontario, women earn just under 30 per cent less than men according to the latest census. Now, back to Run This Town. The film is said to be loosely based on the Rob Ford scandal. Ricky Tollman, writer/director of the project, said that the movie is less of a Ford biopic, but rather the story of a young journalist trying to make his way. Ford is said to actually play a minor role in the film that aims to shine a light on the plight of millennials in a post -recession economy. The headline -grabber was that Damian Lewis, the handsome Brit from such iconic television shows as Homeland and Band of Brothers, would be playing Ford. The former Toronto mayor was a lot of things, but he wasn't exactly thin and most wouldn't consider him handsome in the classical sense of the word. Nevertheless, Lewis is Ford. However, it was another casting decision that caught the eye of dogged Globe and Mail (and former Toronto Star) reporter Robyn Doolittle, who found that "she" would be played by Ben Platt. Nothing against Platt, she insisted, but she was unimpressed that history was being rewritten to give the role to a man. There's no question Doolittle should be disappointed. She broke the story for the Toronto Star that Toronto Mayor Rob Ford had smoked crack — after months of investigation that involved dealing with alleged gang members — one of the biggest scoops in recent Canadian history, before her 30th birthday. Just like the age-old story of a woman coming up with a dynamite concept only to have a man pass it off as his own, Doolittle has seen her hard work diminished and then gift- wrapped and handed over to a man — at least as far as this movie is concerned. Tollman has creative licence to make changes to the story, depending on the circumstances, but given the current climate around gender equality, you wouldn't think he would be so tone-deaf with this change. In the days since the announcement, Tollman has come out and said that the movie is not specifically based on Doolittle's book or her reporting and that he has changed significant aspects of the story. However, what happened with the story and with Doolittle's achievement points to a larger problem with equality and recognition in the workplace. Doolittle should be celebrated. She is one of the country's most talented reporters and to have her accomplishments reappropriated from her, on Equal Pay Day no less, is salt in a wound that seems destined never to heal. But really, all women who have been talked down to in a professional environment know the sting she felt when she heard last week's casting news. It happens all too often and it doesn't seem to be going away. When he retired late last year, former Publisher Keith Roulston pointed to the role of women in the creation of our company and, now with new Publisher Deb Sholdice, the role they have in the future of the company. It's satisfying to work in an environment that rewards everyone on an equal playing field and embraces our differences as strengths.