What I Heard

While I wasn't able to listen to/watch the entire Council broadcast, I did take in the majority of the proceedings that dealt with the ward boundary review this afternoon/evening. 

Putting aside my initial confusion as to what kicking the issue to the GIC means (I've since had my vacuity eased with a gentle explanation...), I wanted to post my impressions of the interlude. And before I get into specifics, here's what I heard in how almost everyone spoke:

Discomfort. 

Hardly-disguised dread. 

Skepticism. 

Unchecked unsettledness. 

Mildy-muted fear.

I heard bordering-on-trembling voices, I heard hesitation as well as the kind of hurriedness present when someone's unsure and praying for the moment to just pass, dammit... I heard a group of people whose statements and comments were infused with low-level incredulity, head-shaking resignation. Within the brief set-piece, it all struck me as the sort of commiseration you'd hear amongst a band of brothers and sisters being forced on a mission they'd much sooner not be embarking on. 

You'd think they were discussing something important.

And now, random observations, quips and questions:

-This effort being perceived as an attack on Flamborough, on Dundas, etc. 

-The responsibility of media. 

-From me: Why do so many seem to feel that the OMB guidelines other than 'relative population parity' (more commonly referred to as 'rep by pop'), namely Communities of Interest Within a Ward, Physical Features Such as Natural Boundaries, and Population Trends and Expected Growth Patterns are under siege? You'd think that any discussion in and of itself is sure to assail these considerations. 

-There was a ton of defensiveness. And a ton of iteration after iteration of and reference upon reference to the ongoing Council efforts regarding harmony. Kumbayah, anyone...?

-From me: Why does the mere suggestion of a whisper of a murmur of a prospect of any review seem to be fuelled by such trepidation?

-The gist of everyone's contributions was the theme of 'risk'. As in the enormous kind. Huh? (If things are that precarious at City Hall, then maybe we do need to collectively sit down for a long session at the therapist's.)

-From me: If not now, then when? When will circumstances be such that it's necessary and prudent to initiate a ward boundary review?

There is special providence in the fall of a sparrow. 

If it be now, 'tis not to come; if it be not to come, it will be now; if it be not now, yet it will come—the readiness is all. 

Since no man, of aught he leaves, knows what is't to leave betimes, let be.

-Finally, nearing the conclusion of this portion of the meeting, Mayor Bratina suggested a vote, "Or we can do the traditional thing and put it off to the next term." Snare-snap, cymbal crash, and all that. (I laughed. I thought it was funny and well-timed.)

M Adrian Brassington