Scott Tracey
Jury of One
During my first visit to the site off Downey Road Thursday, I was momentarily struck by the mature trees and soft lapping of Hanlon Creek. It’s a wonderful spot, if you can ignore the jagged tree stumps and plastic silt barrier; the remnants of work crews.
That’s as far as the Drexler Construction work crew got, before protesters forced them to shut down.
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And since Monday morning, this land has been home to a core group of about 30.
On Wednesday afternoon, protesters were served with a trespass notice, giving them 24 hours to pack up their tents and shove off.
Not bloody likely.
Since the occupation began, it’s been perfectly clear the protesters have no intention of leaving the land at the mercy of the city and its hired demolition crew to be transformed into a bustling industrial complex.
The protesters will not simply move along to an “alternate” protest site offered by the city and allow Drexler’s bulldozers to continue their path of destruction, nor will they tuck and run at the first sign of police officers coming to enforce the trespassing notice.
There will not be an amicable ending.
The city and Guelph Police surely know this, but hopefully both sides can – or, if it’s happened by the time you’re reading this, did – find a way to end the conflict safely.
I admit I went to the site Thursday believing I would find many familiar faces among the protestors. Guelph has a well-documented history of anarchist protests, and from covering these events and related court proceedings I have become familiar with the city’s more active ne’r-do-wells.
My impression of Guelph protesters – shared, I’m sure, by other residents and the local constabulary – is that they cling to an issue and then set about causing as much trouble as they can in the name of that issue. Think burning barricades on the Hanlon Expressway and Gordon Street, for example.
Social issues become an excuse for causing trouble and tussling with the police. The actual cause is secondary, if it was ever a real consideration at all.
But those I spoke to this week were, for the most part, different. They’re nice kids, albeit initially suspicious of me with my cop-like hair and golf shirt. I don’t get the sense these Hanlon Creek protesters relish the thought of fighting with the police, or anyone else for that matter.
Rather, I believe they truly care about the property and about the ecological and social impacts of what the city envisions upon it.
I don’t think, however, this is a battle they can win.
As I drove around the site before venturing in Thursday, I noticed at one point along Downey Road you can see, in a straight line, the encampment and, beyond it, the Fairfield Marriott Inn across the Hanlon Expressway.
In fact, look in any direction from the camp site and it is clear you are in the city, from the roofs of luxury houses visible to the north to the peaks of luxury hotels to the southeast and cellphone towers in between.
This development is going to be built, and work on it will resume soon.
The city has insisted it has taken all the necessary steps to protect the ecosystem. I don’t know if that’s true, and I’m sure the best way to protect what’s there would be to just scrap the whole project.
But I’ve also been around long enough to know that’s not going to happen.
I suspect the protesters, while they might not admit it, know it, too.
Scott Tracy, if you know the best way to protect the the forest is to scrap the whole project, then sit down at the gates and tell the city, and the police when they come to develop and arrest, that “they are not welcome here.”
it’s only when all the people who do not want to see this forest destroyed come together and make sure it does not happen. writing with false objectivity will not inspire people; it will not even convince people to come out to protect whats left of the unique and important old growth ecosystem.
Scott, were you around during every other time that people came together to make change, and that change happened? it just takes more people. take a stand in your writing, and if you know its right, take a stand with your body and your freedom and protect a part of what we all need to live.
Great post Scott. They don’t sound like ‘grubby backpackers’ to me either.Too bad the Merc staff also includes neanderthal like Greg Layson.
I do not think that the people there actually know, deep down, that it is a pointless battle.
In fact, I don’t see it as a battle at all. I see it as the protesters giving the City an AMAZING opportunity to start taking the long view. Just because the area is surrounded by sprawl does not mean that it is too, destined for that fate.
Where is the HOPE? Writing a Blog to let people know that it is a good fight, but ultimately pointless does nothing to help the cause. Tell people that the protesters are OK kids, right on! tell them that we actually have a chance at protecting what is dear to us! Tell people that their voice counts and every time you want to see something protected your voice does NOT automatically get overridden by the “powers that be”.
Give us some hope. Give us some clarity that the will of people is powerful.
Personally, I think this sacred space can be protected. Just like I think that Site 41 can be protected. Just like I think that change IS possible.
I pray that you remember what hope is and that you are able to find the fire inside you that lights the candle of change, knowing that individuals can make a difference.
blessings
Those of you who think it is a pointless battle obviously don’t remember Clayquot Sound. Look it up, get informed.