OPINION
Kanata Kourier-Standard - JUNE 16, 2011
6
Little steps prevail in this big fight
T
he Canadian Cancer Society’s Relay For Life is more than just a fundraiser. It’s a common cause, a united battle against a disease that has touched all of our lives. Hundreds of people will once again participate in this year’s Relay for Life at Walter Baker Park in Kanata on June 17 to 18. The Brookstreet Cancer Supporters alone have raised $24,000 this year. Donna Peplinskie, a payroll administrator at the Brookstreet Hotel, said she expects this weekend’s walk to be very emotional. She is looking forward to walking the survivor’s victory lap during this year’s Relay for Life. According to the Canadian Cancer Society, which is the largest national charitable funder of cancer research in
Canada, contributed $49.5 million to fund hundreds of research projects in the country across a broad range of disciplines and types of cancer. Canadian Cancer Societyfunded research has led to major advances in knowledge about this disease. This knowledge has led to improved treatments for cancer with fewer side effects, to more sophisticated methods of detecting cancer earlier and to information about how to prevent cancer. The foundation is now in place for the current generation of researchers to do more for cancer research than any other generation before it. The next 10 to 20 years of cancer research hold great promise. This organization is a national, community-based group of volunteers whose mission is the eradication of cancer and the
enhancement of the quality of life of people living with cancer. The society is key in many roles including research, advocacy, promotion of healthy lifestyles and strategies and provinding information about care and treatment while supporting families of those striken with the disease. The society has 170,000 volunteers across Canada. It is thanks to these generous people, who work in partnership with approximately 1,200 dedicated staff, that the Canadian Cancer Society enjoys such a strong presence throughout the country. Participants in events like the Relay for Life are a big part of this success story. It’s because of you and the fundraising you do, that huge steps are being taken in this world-wide fight.
COLUMN
Getting around the politics of getting around
E
lection season and construction season merge once again with the announcement that the province will spend a ton of money to make things easier on the Queensway. Who knows? It might work. Mostly it hasn’t. The creation of more lanes leads to the creation of more cars and a quick return to the congestion that began it all. It can only be a pipe dream in this age when people are driven by cars, but wouldn’t it be nice if that kind of money — $200 million this time — could be spent on light rail and buses. These thoughts are occasioned by a week in Toronto, a vastly different city but with some conditions that should be familiar to us. Spending some time there, mostly on foot, gives you a useful perspective on getting around in the city. First, any city is better if you don’t have to drive in it. Toronto’s network of subways, buses and streetcars takes the strain out of getting around the city. If you can walk a few blocks, public transit will get you at least close to where you want to go. You save the big parking fees and the mental anguish that go with driving a car in that city.
KANATA
CHARLES GORDON Funny Town We don’t have public transit like that. Ours is not bad for getting from a suburb into downtown. But you wouldn’t want to spend a day trying to hit all the Ottawa high spots — the National Gallery, Carleton, U of O, Rockcliffe, the Newport and the Prescott — by bus. Mind you, not all of Toronto is that well served either. If you live within reach of the subway, you’re fine, but many don’t. It has been observed, rather ominously, that the people most likely to vote for Rob Ford, the ultraconservative winner in Toronto’s 2010 mayoralty race, were those who lived in areas with the worst public transit. In Ottawa, an ultra-conservative could pick up quite a few votes, using that criterion. But transit isn’t taken that seriously here, especially po-
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litically. If transit was uppermost in people’s minds, a city politician who failed on transit issues would be out of work quickly. Transit matters less here, and the reason for that is that it is still possible to drive. Sure, you can run into a little congestion, a five-minute delay here, a 10-minute delay there, but most downtown traffic problems could be solved easily by opening up a big trap door under the tour buses on Wellington Street. Meanwhile, people still think it is easier to drive. In Toronto, some people think that. You can see them, not moving on the Gardiner, not moving on the Don Valley Parkway, trying to circle the block for the fifth time to find a parking space, stuck in the left-turn lane on King or Queen. Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on how you look at it, some of that grief is headed our way. Notice how many of the downtown parking lots you used to frequent aren’t there any more? It happens here too: more condos, more people, fewer parking lots. The bad thing is that it is harder to drive a car; the good thing is that fewer people will try. All of which poses a challenge to the
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public transit people. If you don’t want people to drive in Ottawa, what alternatives are you going to give them? Oh, right: a tunnel under downtown. Do you we (a) really think that’s going to happen? or (b) really think that’s going to solve everything? Good public transit, which most of Toronto has, is not only about getting to work and back. It is also about getting to the store and back, getting to the hockey game and back, getting from the museum to the shopping centre and over to the supermarket before heading home. It would be worth a lot more than $200 million to have that here.
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