magazine / oct09
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October 2009 issue |
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Reverberations
Seaway memories
The comprehensive article “Inland superhighway” (July/Aug
2009) by D’Arcy Jenish of next-door Ajax was great. His reference
to the grand opening ceremony on July 26, 1959, when Queen Elizabeth II
shared the stage with our prime minister and the American president, brought
back memories.
Controversy swirled as residents of those doomed villages and hamlets
along the St. Lawrence River wrestled with the heartache of losing their
homes and heritage, a sacrifice to progress. On trips to Montréal and beyond
prior to the completion of Highway 401, I passed through those communities
knowing and empathizing with their destiny.
Following the opening ceremony, the HMY Britannia proceeded to
Toronto. At that time, I was teaching at Chine Drive Public School, located
atop the scenic Scarborough Bluffs overlooking Lake Ontario. On one of
the final days of school, the staff and all our students lined the cliffs
to welcome the Queen’s yacht.
Today, as I dodge the increasing truck traffic on our highways, I cannot
help being convinced by the facts and figures relating to fuel usage and
cargo transportation on the enclosed St. Lawrence Seaway poster map. Kudos
to the Highway H2O coalition in its efforts to shift much more traffic
from the highway to the seaway.
Rod Mason
Pickering, Ont.
The St. Lawrence River was certainly part of being a Verdunite. When I
was a boy, there was just the Victoria Bridge, the lock and the river.
For my first 50 years, I witnessed great changes around the river. The
seaway was the greatest, followed by Expo 67 right beside it. The days
of the steamboats Rapids Queen and Rapids King shooting
the Lachine Rapids seem so distant. Now the world can sail halfway into
our continent, bypassing that navigational hazard.
H. R. Bryant
Brantford, Ont.
We received the latest issue with the St. Lawrence Seaway poster map and
we are wondering why the city of Kingston was not labelled on the map.
The map includes just about everywhere else along the way.
Jodie and John Vanderwerf
Kingston, Ont.
Kingston, Oshawa, Hamilton and some other seaway ports were omitted
from a small quantity of poster maps as a result of a technical error.
To receive a corrected copy, while supplies last, please send your name
and address to seawaymap@canadiangeographic.ca. — Ed.
Honouring wardens
The article “Wardens
in arms” by Ed Struzik (July/Aug
2009) well describes the important contributions made by park wardens
over the past century. However, some readers may be left with the impression
that the recent changes to the size and mandate of the warden service were
the result of a vindictive or anti-warden campaign by the Parks Canada
Agency. This is not the case.
It has been the position of the wardens’ union since 2006 that arming
all existing park wardens would be “inefficient and ineffective.” The
union demanded the creation of a law enforcement unit made up of less than
half of the existing wardens and recommended that only these individuals
should have side arms and that the remaining wardens should cease being
called park wardens and cease wearing the warden uniform. Parks Canada’s
opposition to the union’s arguments in this matter was well documented
in this and other media at the time.
The legally binding directive from the Canada Appeals Office on Occupational
Health and Safety upheld the union’s position and requires that no
potential ambiguity can exist in the identification of law enforcement
personnel. Therefore, to ensure the safety of our staff, only armed park
wardens can be permitted to wear the park warden uniform and be called
park wardens.
Alan Latourelle
Chief Executive Officer
Parks Canada
Ottawa
With 32 years of service in six national parks, I’m one of those
retired chief park wardens referred to in Ed Struzik’s article. In
my opinion, he has accurately reported on the family feud between Parks
Canada and its warden service. Like all family feuds, everyone loses and
nobody wins.
Best wishes to Parks Canada CEO Alan Latourelle and Director General Doug
Stewart as they attempt to turn a bad situation to the better. My request
is that they not forget that Canada’s most precious resources are
located within our park system. A cadre of 100 park wardens will be unable
to successfully protect these resources in our 42 national parks.
Ray Frey
Onanole, Man.
Reading Ed Struzik’s article brought back a flood of memories. From
1959 until my retirement in 1991, I worked as a biologist/research scientist
in many national parks throughout Canada, but primarily in the backcountry
of those national parks in the Rocky Mountains. I had the privilege of
working alongside numerous park wardens, and I found them to be the conscience
of Parks Canada, with an intimate connection to the real values of national
parks, which was sometimes lacking in senior management.
Their devotion to park ideals and their esprit de corps made it an honour
to associate with them. Park wardens have played an integral role in protecting
national parks and people for a century. As Canadians, we should be proud
of their efforts. Hopefully, the men and women in similar roles in the
next century will have the same dedication.
George Scotter
Kelowna, B.C.
There was one sentence in the “Wardens
in arms” piece that brought me up short and left me feeling
uncomfortable. It says: “By government order, neither Wesbrook
nor any other warden on active duty with Parks Canada is allowed to share
his or her thoughts about the decision.”
If this were the first time I had read or heard of something like this,
I might not have given it much thought. As it is, I wonder what is happening
to free speech in our country. Obviously, stories such as these indicate
our democracy is in danger.
When we sing our national anthem and promise to stand on guard for Canada,
I believe that means we should guard against the diminution of our democracy
and freedom. What is our government doing?
Grace Thompson
Cambridge, Ont.
Disturbing birds
The article “Birds on a wire” (“Discovery,” July/Aug
2009) says bird surveys indicate significant declines in about three
dozen songbird species, but the cause is not known. I find it puzzling
that there still seems to be little research on the impact of electromagnetic
fields on bird migrations (and other natural processes). Is it not possible
that birds’ tracking abilities and flight patterns are disturbed
by our ever-increasing use of electronic technologies?
Susan Kiil
Toronto
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* Letters may be edited for length, accuracy and liability.
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