My wife and I have taken to walking in the dark. It’s seems to be our only way to keep exercising as winter approaches, the daylight hours shorten, and the pandemic keeps us out of the gym.
I stopped in my tracks and laughed out loud the other night as we entered the intersection of 33rd and Ontario here in Vancouver. We both stopped to take a picture of the new banners at the corner of what used to be the community known as Little Mountain Housing.
If you don’t know about the sale of public land that had been dedicated to provided affordable housing in our city you can read about it, but you won’t learn much about the deal. Instead all that we know for sure is that there has been a long wait to realize any real gains for our city from the deal.
I’m not sure if Holburn is apologizing for the long wait; but I think they are. We should all take notice.
I was reading this very morning from Psalm 12 and the phrase in verse 5 captured me: “Because the poor are plundered and the needy groan, I will now arise,” says the LORD. “I will protect them from those who malign them.”
The issue remains, public lands have been sold that were dedicated to providing stability to the poor and vulnerable in our city. This land right in the heart of our municipality was set aside to provide housing stability and therefore opportunities for those who were vulnerable. I know that’s idealistic. I don’t romanticize the situation that existed there and that exists today in our city for those on the verge of homelessness. But I fear that Hoblurn’s promoted ambition to create “elevated lifestyles” is an idealism that does not include the poor.
I welcome correction.
I am self-publishing this note after a friend on Facebook credited me with a great deal of grace. Perhaps I should be more clear about the nuance of the word “apology.”
Dear Friend,
You are being very generous toward me. I also include in my use of the word apology the definition that may listed at the end of the dictionary entries for apology:
a reasoned argument or writing in justification of something, typically a theory or religious doctrine.
“a specious apology for capitalism”
The entry quoted above with it’s example comes right off a google search of “apology.”
I do think we must view marketing with a critical eye. I believe that a marketing decision and the product offered, in this case a banner on a fence, is actually a reasoned argument meant to persuade us of the developer’s view that their cause is just.
It’s rare for the defence to be so blatant, but there are examples all around us.
The irony of the phrase “Great Stories take time to write,” resides in the fact we have a population that lacks memory of “old” stories and is so intent on writing new stories without reference to the past and the people that lived here. We know that multiple erasers of public memory related to the place “Little Mountain” have taken place.
The cost held in this loss of memory for us as a people is the death of honour and thus a loss of compassion, kindness, and courage in service of others.
About two years ago I dreamed this parcel of land had been developed and on it was built a giant community centre with offices for every conceivable neighbourhood and social service agency. It wasn’t housing, but it was a beautiful dream. Thanks for writing about this topic.