Hello, everyone.
On Remembrance Day, we commemorate those lost in conflict and we recognize so many sacrifices made by so many. So today’s article is more sombre than most, but this is important.
Today, many of us will wear a poppy, symbolic of the flowers growing in Flanders as they sounded the last all-clear. For more than a century the poppy has been a reminder of the great cost of war: the price paid in lives. And, every November 11, we stop to remember.
We all mark the day in our own way. I think of my grandfathers, each of whom served during the Second World War, and I think about the scale of war, and the Home Front, and what families endured. I think about a long-lived aunt who was part of a whole generation of girls whose sweethearts never came home from the Great War. I think about Thankful Villages - those rare communities without names on a war memorial - and note there are only 52 in England and Wales, and none in Scotland. And I remember that armed conflict never stops.
Every year, I think about Wilfred Owen, best-known of the war poets, who served during the First World War. I always read his poem, Dulce Et Decorum Est. (The full phrase translates as: It is sweet and fitting to die for one’s country.) Here it is in video form, read by the British actor Christopher Eccleston, with the text below.
It’s worth adding a warning here. Please be aware this is a hard-hitting piece, describing the realities of trench warfare.
Dulce et Decorum Est
By Wilfred Owen
Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs,
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots,
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of gas-shells dropping softly behind.
Gas! GAS! Quick, boys!—An ecstasy of fumbling
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time,
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling
And flound’ring like a man in fire or lime.—
Dim through the misty panes and thick green light,
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.
In all my dreams before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.
If in some smothering dreams, you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil’s sick of sin;
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,—
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.
Wilfred Owen was killed in action on Nov. 4, 1918, exactly a week before the war ended. His mother received her telegram on Armistice Day.
Developments in local government
Hello again, and thank you for your understanding as I mark this important day with an altered format. Respectfully, I’ll move now into an update of what’s been happening in our local government this week.
We remain in the eye of the storm, with the municipal election somewhere in our stormy past and the skies changing up ahead. I invested in some forward-planning this week and can see meetings and news and issues out the wazoo1 all the way to the end of the year, so stick with us at The Loon for tons of fun.
As you know, my approach with City Hall Notes is to brief readers calmly and in weekly increments - there’s no screaming clickbait here and, sometimes, it’s a bit quiet. This week is one of those weeks. Much of City business is taking place behind the scenes as everyone prepares for the inaugural council meeting on Tuesday (I’m watching for an agenda dropping this week) and all the other manufacturing-of-useful-bylaws coming our way before Jolly Old Saint Nick shows up.
But there are a few stories popping up, here and there, so let’s do some shares, shall we?
Heck, you know we will. Thanks for following along!
Two deputy mayors
It looks like council will be asked to approve a change in its leadership structure this term, with Mayor Josh Morgan seeking to appoint two deputy mayors instead of one. If it goes through, they will be Councillors Shawn Lewis (who was deputy mayor last session) and Corrine Rahman. Both are seen as potential successors to Morgan so this should be interesting.
Meanwhile, the key role of Budget Chair goes to Steve Lehman, apparently leaving out Elizabeth Peloza, which is also interesting, given that she has council’s biggest majority in percentage terms. We’ll look out for more on that.
Here’s a CBC report laying it all out.
Hey, don’t miss last Friday’s post from Steve Cordes, which is the first of two video interviews with re-elected Mayor Josh Morgan. Part two is incoming this Friday.
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Downtown London’s next four years
A bit more on last week’s launch of the Downtown London Business Association’s strategic plan. We’re now seeing some reporting and, with the core absolutely key to our local economy, it’s worth paying attention.
Here’s a piccie of the Values page of the plan, which I liked the look of.
The community team at Rogers tv has a video package explaining the whole thing, and over at Blackburn News our old pal Craig Needles has interviewed Downtown London’s interim executive director, Vicki Smith. Here’s a bit of Craig’s blurb:
What's in the plan? How do we make sure it is actually executed? How can the federal, provincial and municipal governments help? And what about those vacant downtown store fronts?
Good questions.
The Lightning Round
Let’s get efficient with a few more bits worth a look. Remember no link is a compulsory click. We’re learning together as best we can.
Planning
Residents of Cowan Crescent in south London spoke to Sean Irvine of CTV about concerns related to a proposed townhouse development (story is here). They want a change in access arrangements for a 11-unit project at 447 Commissioners Road East. They are opposing a route through their quiet dead-end street, asking for direect access from Commissioners instead. There’s a petition with 200 signatures.
Veterans’ housing
It’s Sean Irvine again, with this report about the Homes for Heroes Veterans Village near Parkwood Hospital. It expects to welcome its first residents in two weeks and will provide housing and support for 25 veterans at risk of or transitioning out of homelessness. WSIB - with its increasing local connections - announced $1 million to support the village, which cost $6 million to build.
Community facilities
We are back with Corrine Rahman, this time talking about a new community centre in the northwest of the city, and it’s Jack-of-the-Freeps with the story (paywall). The City says Ottawa will contribute $32 million toward that community centre, expected to cost $80 million and include the city’s seventh indoor pool. The city has set aside $50 million for the project and expects more than 300,000 visits a year, though the location and final design are still to be determined.
Homelessness
There was a fire in a building on Dundas, leading dogged Daryl Newcombe of CTV to create this desperately sad report in which he interviews a squatter there. My heart goes out to the poor man, and I note - not for the first time this week - that many folks choose not to go into shelters because they want to keep their pets. Upsetting one, there. Please be aware.
Policing
Not London, but worth noting that the police in St. Thomas responded to a call to cut costs by reducing their budget ask. Here’s the story from Dale Carruthers at the London Free Press.
Enough
That’s your City Hall Notes column this Remembrance Day. As always, thank you for being London Leaders and showing the way for our community. Thanks for subscribing, and especially for sponsoring - you are philosopher kings for helping five engaged Londoners do our thing.
It’s been a relief to get through the election, with all its heated debate and conflict and - frankly - weirdos everywhere. I’m happy to get back to issues-based shares and occasional pieces of deeper writing, and I’m also listening to feedback and planning some innovation around here. (In particular, I’d like to bring in guest writers for specialist topics, if there’s any interest.)
I’m posting this article a little early, to stay out of the way of 11 o’clock, when it’s time for quiet reflection. I’m back with a ROUNDUP on Friday and everybody else round here has exciting plans for post-election Loon v2, so watch this space.
Thanks for reading!
- Mike
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