Trees or People?

I live in Vancouver. It is a beautiful and scenic part of Canada. We have mountains and we have the sea and we have pretty mild weather too.

Until lately.

This winter we have been lashed by windstorms. Sometimes with hurricane force gusts.
There has been much damage, from downed power lines, to trees through roofs, and the worst visible damage....the damage to Stanley Park.

Stanley Park has always been marketed as the Jewel of our city. A great hunk of forest in the heart of the city. And for the tourists and those lucky enough to live close by or afford the parking, it is indeed a gorgeous place to visit.

And yes, the storm has caused some major damage and it has been very sad to see ancient trees turned to match wood in a blink of an eye. Some of these monsters were over 500 years old.

But what has set me off is that one of our local TV stations is doing a 'Save Stanley Park Fund.' They are looking for donations to give to our city and the Parks Board to 'fix' the park. And yes, I am sure a lot of things will cost a lot of money. The seawall is damaged. Roads are torn up, some of the venues are no doubt in need of repair. The lost revenue for the restaurants and concessions must be fairly high.

But isn't that what contingency funds are for? Is that not what a good chunk of our taxes goes to?
Is there not a budget for emergencies?

Right now our city is suffering its version of a 'deep freeze.' This mean emergency shelters are being opened to help the people who live on our streets and, no doubt, in Stanley Park. These people need blankets, clothing, food, shelter.

Right now organizations like The Anti Poverty Committee are fighting our City Hall and our corrupt Mayor in order to bring attention to those most unfortunate in our city. Thanks to events like the 2010 Olympics, our City is quite worried about getting rid of the 'problem' of homelessness. Thanks to events like the 2010 Olympics and the 'worry' about Olympic 'villages' and so on, social housing in Vancouver's new developments like the South, East False Creek area was cut to make it more desirable to developers.

Once again, those on the bottom of the food chain are being shafted.

And what is our local news covering? 'Save the Trees' and 'What are the right tires to use in the winter!' Not one story about the homeless and how they are dealing in this weather.

Instead we watch banks like the HSBC hand over $300,000 to the Park. And watch our local millionaire Jimmy Pattison double it.

Add this to the footage of the yuppy joggers crawling under downed trees and taped of areas because whatever happens 'don't ruin my run!' You begin to get the idea that Vancouverites might be a tad flakey and perhaps a bit out of touch with reality.

Trees fall down. It is nature. Stanley Park is not a Disney Land theme park. It was supposed to be a little bit of nature protected for the city residents to enjoy. It SHOULD remind us about nature and help us remember to RESPECT nature and all that entails...including wind storms.

I would also like to know what the Parks board budget gets spent on. I would like to know what our Mayor does with the money we so kindly donate to this 'fund.'

I imagine the homeless are so grateful we are going to such efforts to save the park.