The Citizen, 2006-12-07, Page 5THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2006. PAGE 5.
Other Views
An indefence'ible idea
Good fences make good neighbours
— Robert Frost well, that's one way to look at it I
guess — although I'm pretty certain
the American poet was thinking
about those picturesque, rambling, moss-
covered granite rock fences that run between
New England farms where Frost lived and
worked and wrote.
I doubt he was thinking of Hadrian's Wall,
the 'fence' that Roman legions erected a
couple of millennia ago to keep marauding
Picts out of England.
Or The Great Wall of China, designed to
rebuff the Mongol hordes.
He surely wasn't thinking of the Maginot
Line, a gigantic concrete bulwark thrown up
by the French to repel German forces in the
1930s.
Which the German armed forces promptly
marched around and captured from behind.
And I don't think Mister Frost could have
imagined the kind of fences Bush & Co. has in
mind. Chain-linked monstrosities 20 feet high
topped with concertina razor wire and
bedecked with floodlights, sirens and closed-
circuit surveillance cameras.
George would like one across the top of his
property and another across the bottom,
running from San Diego on the Pacific to
Brownsville, Texas on the Gulf of Mexico.
Is it a pipe dream? It isn't even that. It's a
shameless political hustle designed to fatten
selected contractors bank accounts and to keep
American citizens believing that terrorists are
everywhere 'out there' and the only way to
stop them is higher walls, more guns and
Guelph, a city of close to 110,000
residents has possibly the most
attractive downtown of any its size in
Ontario — but not on Saturday nights.
Late on Saturdays and sometimes other
weekend nights as many as 4,000 or 5,000
people, mostly young, spill out of 33 bars —
these are police statistics — in a city core of
only three blocks.
The results include rowdyism, shouting,
pushing and shoving, urinating in doorways,
minor vandalism such as breaking windows,
and sometimes fights. It is not a place where
mature, sensible people would want to be. .
This poses difficulties for Ontario's Liberal
government, which plans to steer much future
residential growth in smaller cities, including
Guelph into built-up areas, including
downtowns, for worthwhile reasons that
include preventing continued paving over of
precious farmland.
The question is whether people will want to
move into the cores of Guelph and other cities
when they would be kept awake or forced to
walk a gauntlet of rowdyism to enter or leave
their homes.
Guelph has more than most communities to
be proud of, including stately, 150-year-old
stone buildings, noted arts, music, crafts and
multicultural festivals and a university that,
while smaller than some, is consistently rated
among the best in Canada for the education it
provides and in the world for agricultural
research.
A financial magazine recently rated Guelph
the second-best place to live in Canada.
It also is public-spirited, having led the way
in North America in separating and recycling
waste, and volunteers spend time clearing
roads of litter thrown from cars and dumped in
rivers.
Four of this writer's five children have had
homes there and when the city is mentioned,
which is often, someone invariably points out
Guelph is a great place to live.
eagle-eyed, storm-trooper-enforced, ask-no-
questions vigilance around the clock.
And it's working. A shocking number of
Americans — even U.S. Congressmen — believe
in the depths of their super-patriot hearts that
the 9-11 terrorists came into the U.S. through
Canada — even after our then-U.S. ambassador
went on national television in Washington to
disabuse them of the notion.
The truth is not one known Al Quaeda
terrorist has been intercepted crossing from
Canada into the U.S. The closest we got was
when Ahmed Ressam was nabbed in 1999
trying to cross into Washington from B.C. with
a carload of explosives. He was taken down by
U.S. border guards.
On a tip from the RCMP who had Ressam
under surveillance.
In fact, the U.S./Canada fence is getting less
attention right now than the fence proposed for
the Mexican border. George and his cronies
are a little keener to get that one in place as
soon as possible, because it has a secondary
purpose — to stem the tsunami of Mexican
`illegals' streaming into the U.S. to take the
jobs Americans won't touch.
That fence is another huge hustle — not to
mention a joke. The U.S./Mexican border
But the city's daily newspaper, ,The
Mercury, which knows the situation better
than anyone, lamented in an editorial a few
months ago. "The incidents seem endless. A
young woman had to be tested for
communicable diseases after a man spit in her
mouth at a downtown bar."
"Rowdy bar patrons threatening the safety
of downtown taxi dispatchers every weekend.
A man acting unruly at a downtown bar who
ended up unconscious after being kicked in the
head by another patron." "The window of a
business smashed right in front of police at 3
a.m. on a Sunday. The late-night bus service
running from the downtown core to - the
university on weekends stopped following an
assault on a driver."
The newspaper said police have to deal with
drunks and riotous behaviour and safeguard
cab drivers and downtown employees, and
owners of downtown businesses must think of
closing up shop when they are greeted by
vandalism at their stores every Monday.
This writer checked at night on the main
street and within half an hour saw a melee
involving 10 young people in which two men
and a woman were dumped heavily on the
Final Thought
The unselfish effort to bring cheer to others
will be the beginning of a happier life for
ourselves.
— Helen Keller
stretches for 1,951 miles. The proposed fence?
Just 700 miles long.
Except Congress has only approved half the
$2.2 billion price tag. So how much fence
might eventually get built?
"Maybe 300 miles" admits a spokesman,
who added that the Department of Homeland
Security would erect fencing where it "feels
like it makes sense."
So...not so much a picket fence as a few
randomly scattered pickets. That should thwart
illegals and Scare off the terrorists.
As for the future border between Canada
and the U.S. — that's even more Brave New
World-ish. Homeland Security secretary
Michael Chertoff has unveiled Project Secure
Border Initiative — a plan that calls for an array
of sensors, infrared cameras, watchtowers —
even drone aircraft that will eventually
monitor the entire border from the Atlantic to
the Pacific.
"What, we are looking to build is a virtual
fence, a 21st century virtual fence," said
Chertoff.
Watchtowers? Infrared cameras? Drone spy
planes? Doesn't sound very virtual to me.
So much for our great International
Boundary. Five thousand, five hundred and
twenty-two miles of what used to be the
world's longest unmilitarized border.
Winston Churchill once visited these shores
and mused about that border. He called it "that
long frontier from the Atlantic to the Pacific
Ocean, guarded only by neighbourly respect,
and honourable obligation".
Respect? Honour?
How...quaint.
ground, the face of one covered with blood,
and a pool of blood bigger than a dinner-plate
left on the sidewalk.
One reason so many young' people go
downtown late at night is the university had
five bars, but has closed all but one under
pressure to reduce drinking on campus and
selfishly dumped most of its drinking
problems downtown.
But no-one suggests all or even most, of the
problems are caused by students. A consensus
among residents, politicians and police
appears to be a small minority of students is
involved in drunkenness, rowdy behaviour and
minor offences.
Non-students, some of whom come from
other communities including Toronto to buy or
sell drugs, knowing Guelph's downtown will
be jammed with people weekend nights, are
responsible for most violence.
Ontario also •has several other cities with
misbehaviour problems in which it will try to
persuade residents to live downtown and many
obviously will be willing to accept some extra
noise and overcrowding for the convenience,
but they will not want drunks shouting on their
doorsteps.
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greeting I expect, but it was
typical of Bob, who delivered it
with his huge hug and genuinely-glad-to-see-
you smile that are guaranteed to make you
believe him.
My sister-in-law and her husband arrived
from British Columbia two weeks ago for a
family. wedding. Their arrival is always
eagerly anticipated by the family. As it is with
loved ones living too far away, the visits are
never often enough or long enough.
And then there's the reality that is my
brother-in-law. Trust me, this is not your
ordinary guy, and certainly not an easy one to
put into words. Every family has the one they
describe as colourful but Bob is a rainbow
spectrum.
To say he's larger than life won't do it either.
There are too many people to whom that
applies and he'd be an amalgam of them all.
It's more like Bob lives large. He is a
veritable dynamo who doesn't stand still
much, especially if there are people around to
entertain. He's loud, often crude and a
relentless tease.
And not one of us would change one part of
that. Because with all of that comes a heart of
gold, a devotion to family that is unmatched
and a stalwart loyalty. He never met a stranger
and if he loved you, you never doubted it.
More than a decade ago, Bob suffered a
slight stroke. It was a warning, a tough one for
someone who lived life the way he did. Play is
an integral part of his being, matched only
how hard he works. The idea that he needed to
take it easy wasn't exactly welcomed.
And not exactly followed either,
unfortunately. A few years ago he was struck
again, this time more seriously 4nd the
consequences were far more debilitating. One
of the most difficult situations for him to face,
however, was not being able to work. When he
managed to find employment after his
recovery, you would have thought he'd won
the lottery.
Bob as you can see is not a complicated
man. His needs in life are simple — pride, love
and fun. With a job, his family and never-
ending circle of friends he had all that.
And that's a reality that now offers us some
comfort. After a day last week at his beloved
cottage, followed by an evening of cards and
laughter, Bob went to bed and passed away.
Those who loved him can only miss him, but
with the knowledge that this was a life lived
well.
One of the most important things to do when
grieving is remember. Bob left us with a lot of
memories and stories to share that will remain
part of Gropp family legend for years to come.
To outsiders, perhaps some stories might
seem irreverent, but for those who knew him
they are anything but. There will certainly be
tears, but it's impossible not to think of him
with laughter. He was Boo Boo. He was The
King. (Though he secretly coveted the Mr.
Cards title.)
Bob never minded looking the fool if it
meant it brought a smile to somebody's face.
And thanks to him, we smiled a lot.
Remembering the many times and why is one
way to honour his memory.
Obviously the circumstances have made his
passing even more difficult for his family in
B.C. However, we here are so grateful that we
had this visit with him. That smile that made
you feel you were really the only person he
wanted to see at that time is a memory that's
fresh, one to hold and treasure forever.
Thank you Boo Boo — for everything.
Hello Beauty." Not usually a
Rowdies threaten growth plan
Another goodbye
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