Usually I'm fairly upbeat and see the glass as half full rather than half empty.
A decision our city council took recently saddens me because it did not support a group of people who not only need support but deserve it.
For some time native individuals and groups have been talking about establishing a Friendship Center. Many other cities have aboriginal friendship centers and many different groups have established friendship centers. A friendship center sounds like a good deal to me.
So the group set up a plan as to what the Friendship center would do. They set up a business plan. They researched funding.
Next came finding a site for the center. This is where the wheels fell off the bus. 20 sites were considered. Of course, a site was chosen. But could they have chosen any worse site. A site was found in an industrial land which also encroached on some park land. Now this site is away from other groups and transportation would be a problem . Buses don't run to industrial areas in this town. This would be a lose lose situation.
So my take on this is that it's the same nonsense as John A. Macdonald practiced when aboriginals were put on reserves. Find the poorest , junkiest land and make it a reserve. If it's got stones...give it to the Indians. Make sure there's lots of bush and sloughs. Throw in a little alkali. So our city is behaving like governments of 150 years ago.
I believe the Center should be in a main part of the city. It allows easy access for friends to gather and also go to other facilities. Other friendship groups have very suitable sites. Elks, Moose, Foresters, Legion, Masons all have centers. They earned and deserved good sites and have made good use of them. None of them are put a way in an industrial area.
Sometimes there is just a right thing to be done. Forget about all the whiners and NIMBYs. Something needs to be done right. Let's just suck it up and do it. Quit worrying about getting elected to council again . Just do what has to be done.
